©ARNAB PAUL

INTRODUCTION:
The jigs and fixtures are the economical ways to produce a component in mass. So jigs
and fixtures are used and serve as one of the most important facility of mass production system.
These are special work holding and tool guiding device. Quality of the performance of a process
largely influenced by the quality of jigs and fixtures used for this purpose. What makes a fixture
unique is that each one is built to fit a particular part or shape. The main purpose of a fixture is to
locate and in the cases hold a workpiece during an operation. A jig differs from a fixture in the
sense that it guides the tool to its correct position or towards its correct movement during an
operation in addition to locating and supporting the workpiece.
An example of jig is when a key is duplicated, the original key is used as base for the path
reader which guides the movement of tool to make its duplicate key. The path reader of a CWC
machine here works as a jig and the original is called template. Sometimes the template and jig
both are the name of same part of a manufacturing system.

PURPOSE AND ADVANTAGES OF JIGS AND FIXTURES:

Following the purpose and advantages of jigs and fixtures:
(a) It reduces or sometimes eliminates the efforts of marking, measuring and setting of
workpiece on a machine and maintains the accuracy of performance.
(b) The workpiece and tool are relatively located at their exact positions before the
operation automatically within negligible time. So it reduces product cycle time.
(c) Variability of dimension in mass production is very low so manufacturing processes
supported by use of jigs and fixtures maintain a consistent quality.
(d) Due to low variability in dimension assembly operation becomes easy, low rejection
due to les defective production is observed.
(e) It reduces the production cycle time so increases production capacity. Simultaneously
working by more than one tool on the same workpiece is possible.
(f) The operating conditions like speed, feed rate and depth of cut can be set to higher
values due to rigidity of clamping of workpiece by jigs and fixtures.
(g) Operators working becomes comfortable as his efforts in setting the workpiece can be
eliminated.
(h) Semi-skilled operators can be assigned the work so it saves the cost of manpower
also.
(i) There is no need to examine the quality of produce provided that quality of employed
jigs and fixtures is ensured.

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DEGREE OF FREEDOM (DOF)

In physics, the degrees of freedom (DOF) of a mechanical system are the number of
independent parameters that define its configuration or state. It is important in the analysis of
systems of bodies in mechanical engineering, structural engineering, aerospace
engineering, robotics, and other fields.
A single rigid body has at most six degrees of freedom (6 DOF) 3T-3R consisting of three
translations (3T) and three rotations (3R).
 Moving up and down (elevating/heaving);
 Moving left and right (strafing/swaying);
 Moving forward and backward (walking/surging);
 Swivels left and right (yawing);
 Tilts forward and backward (pitching);
 Pivots side to side (rolling).

3-2-1 PRINCIPLE OF LOCATION USED IN JIG & FIXTURES:

[1] It is also known as six pin or six point location principle. In this, the three adjacent locating
surfaces of the blank (work piece) are resting against 3, 2 and 1 pins respectively, which prevent
9 degrees of freedom.
[2] The rest three degrees of freedom are arrested by three external forces usually provided
directly by clamping.
The 3-2-1 principle states that the six locators are sufficient to restrict the required degree of
freedom of any work piece. In this, motion is restricted using clamps and locators. A three pin
base can restrict five motions and six pins restrict nine motions
Methodology of 3-2-1 Principle: For this, refer the below figure:
[1] The work piece is resting on three pins A, B and C which are inserted in the base of the fixed
body.
[2] The work piece cannot rotate about the axes XX and YY and also cannot move downward.
[3] In this way, the five degrees of freedom 1,2,3,4 and 5 have been arrested.

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[4] Two pins D and E are inserted in the fixed body, in a plane perpendicular to the plane
containing pins A, B & C.
[5] Now the work piece cannot rotate about the Z axis and also it cannot move towards the left.
[6] Hence the addition of pins D and E restrict three more degrees of freedom, namely 6, 7 and 8.
[7] Another pin F in the second vertical face of the fixed body, arrests degree of freedom 9.
The above method of locating a work piece in a fixture is called the 3-2-1 Principle.

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LOCATING DEVICES
Locating Pins and Buttons
• Generally Pins are longer than Buttons
• Pins are used in horizontal direction
• Buttons are used in vertical position
• Selection of head shape depends on the type of surface to be located
• Flat heads are used to locate flat surfaces
• Curved heads are used to locate circular and irregular surfaces

Flat Locator:
Used for location of flat machined surfaces of the component.

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Cylindrical Locators:
Used for locating components having drilled holes.
 The cylindrical component to be located is gripped by a cylindrical locator fitted to the jig’s body
and inserted in the drilled hole of the component.

Conical Locator :
Used for locating the workpieces having cylindrical hole.
 It is superior as it has a capacity to accommodate a slight variation in the hole diameter of the
component without affecting the accuracy of location.

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Adjustable Supports and Locators

Pins and locators adjusted to locate and support irregular surfaces
• Screw Type
• Spring Type
Screw-type Supports and Locators
• One or Two screws are used to adjust the locating position
Spring Type Adjustable Supports
• Spring is used to set the location and a set screw is used to lock the locator

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Edge Locators
• Edges of the machine work table used as the reference surface for locating the workpiece
• Ideal locators for pallet type fixtures

Vee Locators
Vee locators are a specialized form of locating element. They are used mainly for round or
cylindrical workpieces.
The vee accurately locates and centralizes a round workpiece, or a workpiece with
radiused ends. Vee pads are well suited for corner mounting a square or rectangular workpiece.
The corner selected for the location should be a machined right angle to ensure accuracy. Vee
blocks, readily available up to 18” long, are used mainly for cylindrical shafts or bars.

Clamping devices:

 If the work piece cannot be restrained by

the locating devices or elements, it become necessary to clamp the work piece in jig or
fixture body.

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 The most common example of clamping devices is bench vice.

 The purpose of the clamping is to exert a pressure to press a work piece against the
locating surfaces and hold it there in a position to the cutting forces.
 In bench vice the movable jaw of the vice exert force on the work piece, there by holding it
in correct position of location in the fixed jaw of the vice.
 The commonly used clamping devices are follows:

(A): Clamping Screws:

Clamping screws are used for light clamping. Clamping screws are shown in fig.

(B): Hook Bolt Clamp: This is very simple clamping device and is only suitable for light work and
where usual tip of the clamp is inconvenient. The typical hook bolt clamp is shown.

(C): Bridge Clamp:

It is very simple and reliable clamping device. The
clamping force is applied by spring loaded nut.

(D): Heel Clamp: These consist of a rusted plate, center stud and heel. This trap should be
strengthen at the point where the hole for the stud is cut out, by increasing the thickness around
the hole. The design differ from simple bridge clamp in that a heel is provided at the outer end of
the clamp to guide its sliding motion for loading and unloading the work piece.

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(E): Swinging Strap (Latch Clamp):

This is a special type of clamp which provides a means of intry for loading and unloading the
work piece. For this the strap (latch or lid) can be swing out from the work piece. The typical
swing strap or latch clamp is shown in figure.

(F): C-Clamp:
To unload the work piece, the locking nut is unscrewed by giving it about one turn and this
releases the c- clamp. When the clamp is removed or swing away the work piece can freely pass
over the nut. To reverse procedure is adopted for loading the work piece.

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TYPES OF JIGS
Template Jig
• A simplest type of jig
• Simply a plate made to the shape and
size of the work piece with the require
number of holes
• Placed on the work piece
• The hole will be made by the drill
• Guided through the holes in the
template plate
• Hardened to avoid its frequent
replacement
• This type of jig is suitable if only a few parts are to be made

Plate Type Jig

• An improvement of the template type
of jig
• Drill bushes are provided in the plate
to guide the drill
• The work piece can be clamped to
the plate
• Employed to drill holes in large parts,
maintaining accurate spacing with
each other

Open Type Jig

• The top of the jig is open
• The work piece is placed on the top

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Channel jig
• A simple type of jig having channel like
cross section
• The work piece is fitted within the
channel
• Located
• And clamped by locating the knob
• The tool is guided through the drill
bush.

Leaf Jig
• A sort of open type jig
• The top plate is arrange to swing
about a fulcrum point
• It completely clears the jig for
easy loading and unloading of the
work-piece
• The drill bushes are fitted into the
plates
• Also known as leaf, latch or lid

Box Type Jig

• When the holes are to drill
• More than one plane of
the work piece
• The jig has to be provided
with equivalent number of
bush plates.
• For positioning jig on the
machine table
• Feet have to be provided
opposite each drilling bush
plate.

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• One side of the jig will be provided with a swinging leaf

• For loading and unloading the work piece
• Take the form of a box.
• Jig should be as light as possible

Types of Fixtures
Turning Fixtures:
These fixtures are generally mounted on the
nose of the machine spindle or a faceplate, and
the workpieces hold them. The fixture may have
to be provided with a counterweight or balance
the unbalance fixture whenever necessary.

Milling Fixtures:
Milling fixtures are typically
mounted on the nose of the
machine spindle or a faceplate,
and the workpieces hold them. The
table is shifted and set in the
proper position about the cutter.
The workpieces are located in the
base of the fixture and clamped
before starting the operation.

Broaching Fixtures:
Broaching fixtures are used on different broaching machines to locate, hold and support the workpieces
during the operations, such as keyway broaching operations, such as keyway broaching, hole broaching,
etc.

Indexing Fixtures:
Several components need machining on different surfaces such that their machined surface surfaces or
forms are evenly spaced. Such elements must be indexed equally as many as the number of surfaces to
be machined. The holding devices (jigs or fixtures) used are made to carry a suitable indexing
mechanism. A fixture having such a device is known as an indexing fixture.

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Grinding Fixtures:
These fixtures may be the standard work-holding devices, such as chucks, mandrels, chuck with shaped
jaws, magnetic chucks, etc. For external surface grinding, cylindrical grinding utilizes plain or tapered
mandrels. The workpiece is located and held on the mandrel with the help of the bore so that the external
surface may be machined truly concentric to the bore. For internal grinding, the chuck is the most
standard fixture. For holding irregularly shaped components, the fixture is designed the same as turning or
boring fixtures.

Boring Fixtures:
This fixture incorporates almost all the prevailing principles of jig and fixture design; their construction
need not be as sturdy as that of the milling fixtures because they never have to bear as heavy cutting
loads as involved in milling fixtures because they never have to endure as heavy cutting loads as involved
in milling operations.

Tapping Fixtures:
Tapping fixtures are specially designed to position and firmly secure identical workpieces to cut internal
threads in drilled holes. Odd-shaped and unbalanced components will always need such fixtures,
especially when the tapping operation is to be carried out repeatedly on a mass scale on such parts.

Duplex Fixtures:
It is the name given to the fixture which holds two similar components simultaneously and facilitates
simultaneously machining of these components at two separate stations.

Welding Fixtures:
Welding fixtures are carefully designed to hold and support the various components welded in proper
locations and prevent distortions in welded structures. For this, the locating element needs to be careful;
clamping has to be light but firm, and the placement of clamping elements has to be clear of the welding
area. The fixture must be pretty stable and rigid to withstand the welding stresses.

Assembly Fixtures:
The function of these fixtures is to hold different components together in their proper relative position when
assembling them.

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