Generally, the positioning for various machining operation are carried out using jigs, fixtures, SPM's (special purpose machines), CNC machine etc, which consumes large amount of time and money. Due to intense competitions in the market there is a desperate need to deliver components with minimal time and cost. All the above constrain have passed the way for the development of a new technique called "REPLICATING POSITIONER" that makes use of a locating plunger when the plunger is moved to a

more »

... tion. This technique, if employed, reduces the time and cost to a considerable value thus making it economically viable. The working of replicating positioner can be explained as follows: Consider that a customer wants a rectangular plate with 9 holes on the surface. In current day practice, this need can be accomplished by using a jig boring machines or SPM's or other CNC machines. Use of these machines consumes lot of time and money. This can be minimized by using the replicating positioner which makes use of a locating plunger to replicate the position of the holes i.e. when given such kind of a plate with multiple holes and if the number of pieces required is more, then a model/template as per the given drawing is manufactured which acts as a reference for the rest of the pieces. This is done by fixing the model/template onto a plate at the bottom of the positioner and then a plunger is fixed to the slide using a bracket. The work is placed on top of the surface and is centralized with the drilling machine spindle. After this the spring loaded plunger is inserted onto the first hole of the 9 holes and the whole setup is clamped and the drilling of that hole is carried out. To drill the next hole, the plunger is pulled up and moved to the second hole so the same distance is travelled by the work with respect to the machine spindle and is thus the second one is drilled. Similarly by moving the plunger to all the 9 holes and by clamping, multiple holes can be drilled in a short span of time without any jigs which is more economical than any other techniques.