Automatic Division of Solid Models of Products into Machinable Parts - Application to Polyhedrons

摘要

Though solid modelers are often used in designing products in recent years, they cannot draw products as assembly drawings. This paper shows a method to automatically divide solid models of products into machinable parts. In present stage, the shapes of products are limited to polyhedrons and parts are machined by only square endmills. Firstly, this method divides solid models of products into blocks called solid elements by extending their surfaces. Machinable parts are made by combining the solid elements under several conditions that can reduce the numbers of them.