Page 108 - Modular design for machine tools

72 Modular Design Guide and Machine Tools Description

2.2 Effective Tools and Methodology
for Modular Design
Admitting that the principles of both separation and unification are
facilitated by the trial-and-error method employed by learned and
mature designers, an extremely crucial problem in the modular design
is how to execute the principle of adaptation. As can be readily seen from
Sec. 2.1 and will be stated in Chaps. 3 and 4, some computer- aided
methodologies are now available with the assistance of the machine
tool description. Although the computer- aided methodology is very pow-
erful, the manually based method is, in certain cases, very effective and
aids in the understanding of the essential features of modular design.
Thus in the following discussion, some manually based methods of old
are reproduced.
In the late 1970s, Ikegai Iron Works proposed a variant of modular
design applicable to the TC and MC, which can promptly respond to the
machining requirements of users. In this case, the adaptation of the
modules was simulated by using wooden blocks of different colors, as
shown in Fig. 2-4, after classifying users’ requirements into the shaft-
like part, flange and gear blank, boxlike and flat-like parts. As can be
imagined, this simulation can now be performed by the three-
dimensional CAD (computer-aided design).

Figure 2-4 Simulation for structural configurations possible by using colored wooden
blocks (courtesy of Ikegai Iron Works).