Equipment, Industrial

(in machine building), devices designed to set up and hold blanks or stock in the proper position relative to the working members of a machine tool and cutting tools, to move parts or articles (accessory attachments), and to perform assembly operations.

In terms of the degree of specialization, industrial equipment is classified as specialized equipment, designed to process specific parts (or groups of separate parts); multipurpose adjustable equipment, to process parts of various shapes and dimensions, with resetting for each standard size by replacement of some elements, adjustment of their positions, and additional alignment; and multipurpose equipment, to process parts of various shapes and dimensions without resetting. In terms of the type of layout, a distinction is made between unitized equipment, which consists of independent, standardized multipurpose assemblies and subassemblies, and specialized equipment composed of special-purpose assemblies and parts. Unitized equipment includes multipurpose jigs, which may be assembled from warehoused parts and subassemblies and then disassembled after use.

Industrial equipment usually includes mounting, clamping, guiding (or adjusting), indexing, and rotating elements, and also mechanized (mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, pneumohydraulic, and electromechanical) drives to actuate the elements.

In modern practice, industrial equipment includes monitoring, adjustment, interlock, and safety devices. The monitoring equipment is usually directly linked to the machining process and is interconnected with the basic equipment. When a part has reached a specified dimension during the machining process, the monitoring equipment sends a command impulse to stop the machining. The adjustment devices check the parts immediately after machining and send a command impulse for the automatic correction of the settings on the mechanisms. The interlock and safety devices send a command impulse to stop machining in case of a disruption of setting or a broken tool.