Page 52 - Modular design for machine tools

Basic Knowledge: What Is the Modular Design? 23

Spindle Spindle head
head unit A unit A

Spindle head Spindle head
unit A unit A

Case of four-head planomiller
Figure 1-13 Unit construction employed by Newton Co. in beginning of 1940.

unit construction was reported by the late Mr. Hayasaka of Ikegai Iron
Works in the beginning of 1940 based on his on-the-spot investigation
into the U.S. machine tool industry. In fact, the machine was announced
to be capable of creating more than 10 variants to the milling machine
and planomiller. On that occasion, there were strong influences derived
from the war in Europe, and the U.S. machine tool manufacturer
received a huge number of the orders from the United Kingdom and
France in addition to assisting the war supplies production of the United
States itself. As a result, the manufacturer concentrated its production
activity on the specified unit, resulting in the increased production
volume of the conventional machine tool of unit construction type. In
fact, Hayasaka suggested at first that the division of works was very pop-
ular, and a fast-growing trend was to use the unit construction system.
For instance, the manufacturer purchased easily the spindle head unit
from 15 companies, the hydraulic feed unit from 8 companies, and the
hydraulic pump from 4 companies. In addition, General Electric,
Westinghouse, and Wesche Electric provided the motors of geared,
flange-mounted, and torque types, respectively. Hayasaka also suggested
that either a conventional or a special-purpose machine was able to
produce by combining the commercialized units with an object-oriented
basis. It is, furthermore, worth suggesting that the technological