SQUARE FOOT MANUFACTURING - A MODULAR AND MUTABLE DESKTOP MACHINE TOOL SYSTEM

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.