Conceptual design and development of pneumatically controlled flexible fixture and pallets

Fixture performance influences the product manufacturing quality, productivity and cost. Flexible fixtures (FF) provide solution to the problem of costly redesign of fixtures due to changes in dimensions/geometry of parts to be manufactured. Various areas related to design of FFs have already been very well described by various renowned authors. This paper carries out the conceptual designing of pneumatically controlled FF and pallets for machining (drilling and milling) operations. Pneumatic cylinders and electric motors were used as actuators. The first part considers introduction and literature review with significant researches and requirements of fixtures over time. After that, different aspects related to fixture design have been presented to give a deep and quick understanding of fixture design and its criteria for drilling and milling heads. Then, conceptual designing of pneumatically controlled FF and pallets has been discussed. The shortcomings of the existing studies are stated and future directions are proposed.