An inexpensive, vacuum-operated, part-holding fixture was designed and built at Mound Laboratory to hold molded plastic parts for precision surface grinding. The part-holding fixture, or vacuum chuck, incorporated a precision ground substratum which supported the product and provided an accurate datum to meet product design requirements in length and flatness. Interchangeable part holding and positioning masks made the basic vacuum chuck and complementary grinding machine, retrofitted with a digital readout system, applicable for grinding various sized and shaped products. In a demonstration test, the vacuum chuck system and grinding process reduced the grinding and part loading labor costs for one product by approximately 47％ while producing the product within tolerance specifications.
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