Square Foot Manufacturing—A Modular and Mutable Desktop Machine Tool System

Abstract

This article presents the theoretical concept and the practical implementation of Square Foot Manufacturing (SFM). The concept meets the demands for micro manufacturing with modular, mutable, ad-hoc configurable, and function-integrated small machine tools. Here, a feed unit, a measuring system, a workpiece clamping device, and mechanical interfaces are described as components of the machine tool system to prove the feasibility and advantages of the SFM concept. The feed unit uses the principles of a monolithic flexure-based mechanism combined with piezo stack actuators. High precision is guaranteed by avoiding positioning errors and friction of conventional guidance systems. A low-force clamping device uses an elastic deflection of its chuck to securely fasten micro workpieces. It also acts as a workpiece carrier allowing for various production layouts. The mechanical interfaces are based on a kinematic coupling to provide high repeat position accuracy. The interface is necessary to obtain the SFM-typical high modularity and interchangeability of modules. Experimental measurements are shown to verify the performance of the components.

Sustainability in Ultra Precision and Micro Machining: A Review

“…In addition to reducing the consumption of resources, machine mass could be reduced and a higher machine dynamic, i.e. faster axes movements, could be realized [17]. Furthermore, it is necessary to adapt the machine tool components to the requirements of square foot manufacturing.…”

“…The quality of the resulting cutting edge depends on the grain size of the cemented carbide [31]. Therefore, ultrafine cemented carbide is commonly used with a grain size of 0.2 m [17].…”

About Determining the Error Budget of a Miniaturized, Modular Machine Tool System for Micro Production

“…The force is applied by a monolithic compliant lever which can be clinched or stretched. To monitor the clamping process, a miniature load cell is mounted between chuck and lever [5]. The mechanical interfaces [6] consist of two platforms which can easily be coupled and uncoupled without additional tools.…”

“…To monitor the clamping process, a miniature load cell is mounted between chuck and lever [5]. The mechanical interfaces [6] consist of two platforms which can easily be coupled and uncoupled without additional tools. Kinematic couplings to ensure the position as well as six magnets to provide the preload are applied in each interface.…”

Recent Developments in Desktop-Sized Machine Tools

“…micro milling [2] and micro grinding [3] on ultra precision (UP) machine tools. Commercially available UP machine tools exceed the size of components and micro structures by several orders of magnitude [4]. Commonly, the workpieces are very small, with sizes under 100 x 100 mm² and the diameter range of the micro tools, e.g.…”