Page 40 - Modular design for machine tools

12 Modular Design Guide and Machine Tools Description

Das Baukastensystem ist ein Ordnungssystem, das den Aufbau ver-
schiedener, zusammengesetzter Gebilde durch Kombination einer gewis-
sen Anzahl vorhandener Bausteine aufgrund eines Bauprogramms oder
Baumusterplans und eines bestimmten Anwendungsbereiches darstellt.
(The BBS is an ordered system, by which various integrated structures can
be formed on the basis of the “Structuring program or Structuring master
plan” and also by combining certain number of predetermined modules in
accordance with the objective application areas.)
Brankamp and Herrmann also suggested that the term BBS was
originally used in relation to the bookshelf around 1900. On the
extension of the bookshelf application, the predecessor in the machine
tool sphere was the headstock of the engine lathe in the late 1920s,
where 63 different gear trains were able to be produced on the basis
of a group of 63 different gears and gear blocks. They furthermore
envisaged that the modular design was based on the “eigen module”
having the following functionalities.
(a) Well-defined interface to ensure the stiffness.
(b) Interchangeability.
3. In the late 1960s, Koenigsberger stated in his review paper [6] that
modular design is a variant of standardization for the entity more than
the functional complex, expecting the improvement of economic aspect
in manufacturing from both the manufacturer’s and user’s viewpoints.
In addition, he suggested that modular design facilitates the manu-
facture of the machine tool in various sizes, ranges, and working
capacities, as well as the scope and type of machining processes.
4. In offering his own suggestion, Koenigsberger introduced the proposal
of Tlusty in relation to the following basic conditions for being a
module.
(a) The alternative designs and combinations must cover the full
range of requirements.
(b) The performance must meet the specifications.
(c) The connecting elements, e.g., slideway, shaft centers, clutch or
coupling arrangements, and so on, must be so designed as to
ensure interchangeability [6].

On the basis of these definitions, the whole concept of modular
design can be depicted as shown in Fig. 1-7. Importantly, Brankamp
and Herrmann, and Koenigsberger as well, proposed this concept
around 1969 [5] and 1974 [7], respectively. More specifically,
Brankamp and Herrmann proposed a modular design of different-
kind generating type, simultaneously classifying it into the five
variants; however, because they obviously neglected to mention
the hierarchical aspect, there remains something to be seen in the