METHODS OF MANUFACTURING A WORKPIECE FIXTURE FOR SUPPORTING A WORKPIECE IN A PRECISION MANUFACTURING PROCESS; METHOD OF GENERATING A SUPPORT BLADE MACHINING PATTERN; AND TARGET MATERIAL FIXTURE

摘要

Method of manufacturing a workpiece fixture for supporting a workpiece, comprising; i) providing a generic material fixture and a sheet material supported thereon; ii) precision processing the sheet material to form support blades for a target workpiece fixture, each support blade having a support locus, the support locus of at least one said support blade having at least one interstice, and, iii) constructing a target workpiece fixture comprising the support blades, wherein the support loci together define a workpiece support and wherein the or each interstice is positioned based on where a target pattern and the loci support coincide. A second aspect is directed towards generating a support blade machining pattern, comprising; a) providing a model of support loci of a target workpiece support; b) determining the coincidence between a target pattern and a model of the support loci of the target workpiece support; c) determining the location of at least one interstice based on the coincidence, and, d) generating a support blade machining pattern comprising the outline of each support blade for the workpiece fixture. Third and fourth aspects are directed towards a method of manufacturing using the method of the first aspect, and, a target material fixture, respectively.