Square Foot Manufacturing (SFM) was developed at the Institute of Production Engineering at the Helmut-Schmidt-University / University of Federal Armed Forces Hamburg. SFM is a small factory on one square foot which produces micro geometries with several micro machining units which can be considered as modules. In this paper the concept of a mechanical interface for the coupling of small machine tool modules is described, which results from the systematic analysis of enablers and requirements. It takes advantage of the minor size and light weight of the modules through its coupling principle, magnetism. Preliminary studies showed that the magnetic adhesion is adequate to couple modules for low force manufacturing methods. The affecting stresses are very small, so the interface is only elastically deformed. Further research concerning accuracy and stiffness is required.
展开▼
