A workpiece conveyance pallet which can reduce the manufacturing cost and improve the reliability. The workpiece conveyance pallet includes a rest surface on which a workpiece is mounted, and a clamping mechanism which clamps the workpiece, the clamping mechanism including an openable and closable, first claw and second claw, a biasing section which biases the first claw and the second claw in the closing direction, and a movement restriction section which detachably engages with the first claw and the second claw when the first claw and the second claw are opened.

A manufacturing fixture process, and associated device for practicing the disclosed process, includes supporting a component during manufacturing by at least one rest pad, and sensing and transmitting a force signal exerted on the rest pad by the component during manufacturing by at least one sensor associated with the at least one rest pad. The process further includes clamping the component onto the rest pad by a clamping component configured to rigidly hold the component, receiving and monitoring the force exerted on the rest pad by a force monitoring system configured to receive and monitor the signal indicating the force exerted on the rest pad, as well as determine whether the force exerted on the rest pad is within a predetermined range, exceeds the predetermined range, and/or is below the predetermined range, and outputting the force exerted on the rest pad with an output device.

An additive manufacturing system includes an additive manufacturing (AM) device, a first sensor device, and a compute device. The AM device is configured to form a bulk component in a layer-by-layer manner, by at least iteratively depositing a first layer of raw material onto a working surface in a deposition chamber, consolidating the initial layer into an initial additive portion of the bulk component, then forming subsequent additive portions of the bulk component by depositing and consolidating a subsequent plurality of layers of the raw material onto the first additive portion. The first sensor device is configured to measure an actual composition of at least one first byproduct portion formed upon consolidation of one of the first or subsequent layers of raw material in the deposition chamber. The compute device includes a processor and a memory, and is communicatively coupled to the additive manufacturing device and first sensor device. The additive manufacturing device and compute device provide an in situ sensor analysis of the component while in a formation state during a build process by comparing an actual composition of the at least one first byproduct portion to an expected composition range stored in the memory.

A machine tool is equipped with a rotary table, and a clamp mechanism which clamps the rotary table in a manner so that the rotary table does not rotate. A clamping operation by the clamp mechanism is started after a standby time has elapsed from completion of indexing of the rotary table. The machine tool further includes a positional deviation calculating unit adapted to calculate a positional deviation of the rotary table when the clamping operation by the clamp mechanism is completed, and a standby time changing unit adapted to shorten the standby time in the case that an absolute value of the positional deviation is less than a threshold value, and to lengthen the standby time in the case that the absolute value of the positional deviation is greater than the threshold value.

A workpiece conveyance pallet which can reduce the manufacturing cost and improve the reliability. The workpiece conveyance pallet includes a rest surface on which a workpiece is mounted, and a clamping mechanism which clamps the workpiece, the clamping mechanism including an openable and closable, first claw and second claw, a biasing section which biases the first claw and the second claw in the closing direction, and a movement restriction section which detachably engages with the first claw and the second claw when the first claw and the second claw are opened.

An additive manufacturing system includes an additive manufacturing (AM) device, a first sensor device, and a compute device. The AM device is configured to form a bulk component in a layer-by-layer manner, by at least iteratively depositing a first layer of raw material onto a working surface in a deposition chamber, consolidating the initial layer into an initial additive portion of the bulk component, then forming subsequent additive portions of the bulk component by depositing and consolidating a subsequent plurality of layers of the raw material onto the first additive portion. The first sensor device is configured to measure an actual composition of at least one first byproduct portion formed upon consolidation of one of the first or subsequent layers of raw material in the deposition chamber. The compute device includes a processor and a memory, and is communicatively coupled to the additive manufacturing device and first sensor device. The additive manufacturing device and compute device provide an in situ sensor analysis of the component while in a formation state during a build process by comparing an actual composition of the at least one first byproduct portion to an expected composition range stored in the memory.

A manufacturing fixture process, and associated device for practicing the disclosed process, includes supporting a component during manufacturing by at least one rest pad, and sensing and transmitting a force signal exerted on the rest pad by the component during manufacturing by at least one sensor associated with the at least one rest pad. The process further includes clamping the component onto the rest pad by a clamping component configured to rigidly hold the component, receiving and monitoring the force exerted on the rest pad by a force monitoring system configured to receive and monitor the signal indicating the force exerted on the rest pad, as well as determine whether the force exerted on the rest pad is within a predetermined range, exceeds the predetermined range, and/or is below the predetermined range, and outputting the force exerted on the rest pad with an output device.

A machine tool is equipped with a rotary table, and a clamp mechanism which clamps the rotary table in a manner so that the rotary table does not rotate. A clamping operation by the clamp mechanism is started after a standby time has elapsed from completion of indexing of the rotary table. The machine tool further includes a positional deviation calculating unit adapted to calculate a positional deviation of the rotary table when the clamping operation by the clamp mechanism is completed, and a standby time changing unit adapted to shorten the standby time in the case that an absolute value of the positional deviation is less than a threshold value, and to lengthen the standby time in the case that the absolute value of the positional deviation is greater than the threshold value.