Supporting and Locating Principles

Jigs and fixtures must accurately & consistently

position the workpiece relative to the cutting tool,
part after part. The locators must ensure that the
workpiece is properly referenced and the process
is repeatable.

OBJECTIVES
 Referencing and basic rules of locating
 Identify the types of locators and supports
 Specify the use of locators and supports

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Principles of Referencing
 Referencing- process of positioning the workpiece relative
to the workholder, and the workholder to the cutting tool.
 Referencing the workholder to cutting tool is performed by
the guiding or setting devices (drill jigs- using drill bushings,
fixtures- using keys, feeler gages, and/or probes).
 Referencing the workpiece to the workholder, on the other
hand, is done with locators.
 Poor design of the locators lead to improper location of the workpiece
and the part will be machined incorrectly.
 Likewise, if a cutter is improperly positioned relative to the fixture
leads to incorrect machining.
 So, in the design of a workholder, referencing of both the workpiece
and the cutter must be considered and simultaneously maintained.
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Repeatability: Locating the work
 Repeatability is the ability of the workholder to consistently
produce parts within tolerance limits, and is directly related
to the referencing capability of the tool.
 The location of the workpiece relative to the fixture and of
the fixture to the cutter must be consistent.
 The workholder must be designed to accommodate the
workpiece's locating surfaces.
 The ideal locating point on a workpiece is a finely machined
surface. Machined surfaces permit location from a
consistent reference point.
 Cast, forged, or sawed surfaces can vary greatly from part to
part, and will affect the accuracy of the location.
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The Mechanics of Locating
A workpiece free in space can move in any direction. This motion
can be broken down into 12 "degrees of freedom”, which must
be restricted to ensure proper referencing.

Crucial element in workholder design: locators, not clamps,

must hold the workpiece against the cutting forces.

 The devices that restrict a workpiece's

movement are the locators.

 The locators must be rigid enough to

maintain the position of the workpiece
and to resist the cutting forces.
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Locator and workpiece

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 Locators provide a positive stop for the workpiece. Placed
against the stop, the workpiece cannot move.
 Clamps rely only upon friction between the clamp and the
clamped surface to hold the workpiece. Sufficient force
could move the workpiece.

 It should be noted that clamps are intended to hold the

workpiece against the locators.

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Forms of Location
Following are the three general forms of location: (i) Plane, (ii)
Concentric, and (iii) Radial
Plane locators locate a workpiece from any surface. The surface
may be flat, curved, or have an irregular contour.
 Concentric locators locate a workpiece from a central axis. This
axis may or may not be in the center of the workpiece.

Radial locators restrict the

movement of a workpiece
around a concentric locator.

Mostly, locating is performed

by a combination of all these
locational methods.
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8
Basic Rules for Locating
(i) Positioning the locators, (ii) Part tolerance, (iii) Foolproofing, and (iv) Duplicate location

(i) Positioning the locators:

 Locator should contact the work on a machined surface. This
ensures the accurate placement of the work in the tool and
ensures repeatability.
 Accurate location is important to achieve the repeatability.
 Locators should be placed as far apart as possible to permit
the use of fewer locators which ensures complete contact.

To avoid the chip

clogging and
jamming, relief
may be provided
on the locators.
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(ii) Part Tolerance:
 As a general rule, the tool tolerance should be between 20
and 50 percent of the part tolerance.

 Specifying tool tolerances closer than 20 percent increases

the cost of the tool and adds little to the quality of the part.

 Locators must be designed to fit the part at any size within

the part limits.

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(iii) Foolproofing:
Foolproofing means by which the tool designer ensures that
the part will fit into the tool only in its correct position.
Generally a pin will be provided to prevent the part from
being loaded incorrectly.

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(iv) Duplicate Locators:
 The use of duplicate locators must be avoided. Locator
duplication implies more than one reference and causes
position related issues.

 Locational inaccuracies develop because of the difference in

position and location tolerances between the tool and work.

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Restricting Planes of Movement
An object is free to revolve around or move parallel to any
axis in either direction (total 12 DOF).
To accurately locate a part in a jig or fixture, movements
must be restricted. This is done with locators and clamps.
Using pin- or button-type locators minimizes the error by
limiting the contact area and raising part above chips.

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3-2-1 Locating Method (using external flat surfaces)
Placing the part on a 3-pin base, five directions of movement
are restricted. 2-more pins restrict another three directions
and 1-more pin restrict another one direction.

The remaining three directions will be restricted by a clamping

device. This 3-2-1, or 6-point locating method is most common
external locating method for square or rectangular parts.

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Locating using a Hole: Primary and Secondary
 The holes on a part provide an excellent method of locating.
One of the hole is used as a primary locator, and other holes
is used as a secondary locator.
 Primary locator is a round pin (9 DOF), and the secondary
locator is a diamond pin (2 DOF, alignment purpose).

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Locating the work: Types of Locators
Locating from a Flat Surface:
 There are three primary methods of locating work from
a flat surface: (i) solid supports, (ii) adjustable supports,
and (iii) equalizing supports.
 The above locators set the vertical position of the part,
support the part, and prevent distortion during the
machining operation.

 Solid supports are the easiest to use. They can be either

machined into the tool base or installed.

 This type of support is normally used when a machined

surface acts as a locating point.
Fig. Solid Supports
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 Adjustable supports are used in combination with solid
supports, when the surface is uneven, e.g. cast parts.
 There are many styles of adjustable supports, more
common are the threaded , spring, and push types.
 The threaded style is the easiest and most economical, and
it has a larger adjustment range than the others.

Fig. Adjustable Supports (threaded, push and spring)

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 Equalizing supports provide balanced equal support through
two connected contact points.
 As one point is depressed, the other raises and maintains
contact, especially necessary on uneven cast surfaces.

 Before choosing a support, designer must consider the

shape and surface of the part and type of clamping device.
 Support must be strong enough to resist clamping pressure
and cutting forces. Clamps should be positioned directly
over the supports to avoid distorting the part.
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Locating the work: Types of Locators
Locating from an Internal Diameter:
 When large holes locate the work, fasten the internal locator
with both screws and dowels. Under normal conditions, two
dowels and two screws are needed to hold the locator.
 With shank-type locators, it is a good practice to use the press-
fit locator rather than the threaded locator for accuracy.

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 Pin-type locators are used for smaller holes and for aligning
members of the tool. Special bushings should also be used so
that they can be replaced when they wear.
 Pins used for part location are made with either tapered ends
or rounded ends, allowing loading and unloading simple.

 The main difference between the pins used for location and the
pins used for alignment is the amount of bearing surface.
Alignment pins usually have a longer area of contact.

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 Another style of pin is the diamond pin (relieved locators) ,
which is normally used along with the round pin. It is easier to
locate a part on one round pin and one diamond pin.

 Relieved locators reduce the area of contact between the

workpiece and the locator. Decreasing the contact area has
little or no effect on the overall locational accuracy.

 Reducing the contact area helps make the jig or fixture easier
to load and unload.

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 The split contact locator is used for thick workpieces. Here,
small split area used rather than using the complete thickness
of the part for location.
 This design provides full location and makes the locator less
likely to bind (jam) in the workpiece.

 The raised contact locator reduces the contact area and raises
the point from base where the locator and workpiece touch.

Fig. Split contact Fig. Raised contact 23

 Spherical contact locator will not bind in any locating hole. A
spherical locator greatly reduces the contact area by removing
all the material not directly in contact with the workpiece.

 Spherical locators are impossible to bind because, unlike with

cylindrical locators, the distance between the opposite sides of
the contact area is always same.

Fig. Cylindrical contact Fig. Spherical contact

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Locating the work: Types of Locators
Locating from an External Profile:

 Locating work from an external profile, or outside edge, is the

most common method in the early stages of machining.

 Nesting locators position a part

by enclosing it in a recess, of the
same shape as the part.

 The most common type is the

ring nest, which is normally used
for cylindrical profiles. The full
nest is for non cylindrical parts.

Fig.Ring
Fig. Full Nest
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 The partial nest is a variation of the full nest and encloses
only a part of the workpiece.
 Vee locators are used mainly for round work. They can locate
flat work with rounded or angular ends and flat discs.

Fig. Partial Nest Fig. Vee locators 26

 Adjustable-stop locators keep
the cost to a minimum.

 Sight locators align rough parts

for approximate machining.

Fig. Adjustable-stop locators Fig. Sight Locators 27

 Ejectors are used to remove work from close-fitting locators,
such as full nests or ring nests.

 Ejectors speed up the unloading of the part from the tool,

which reduces the in-tool time and increases production rate.

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Spring-stop buttons and spring-locating pins, while not
locating devices, do aid in properly locating a part.

These devices are used to push the part against the locators
to ensure proper contact during the clamping operation.

Fig. Spring-locating Pins Fig. Spring-stop Buttons 29

Summary: Supporting and Locating Principles
To achieve proper location, the locators must properly
reference the part and ensure the repeatability.
– Referencing is the process of properly positioning the part
with respect to the cutter or other tool.
– Repeatability is the feature of location that permits the parts
to be made within their stated tolerances, part after part.

Critical aspects of locating a part: Position, locational

tolerances, foolproofing, and avoiding duplicate location.

Locators positioned under a part are referred to as supports.

Locators at part edges are called locators or stops.

Next Topic: 05 Clamping and Work Holding Principles