Abstract: A fixture for supporting a workpiece during machining including an L-shaped, rigid, primary body member forming two panels or faces of the assembled fixture. The fixture also has two secondary panels which, when mounted to the primary body member, form a cube. The secondary body members are detachably mounted permitting their removal for the design and mounting of a workpiece frame within the fixture. One panel of the primary member has a device for clamping a workpiece support frame to the fixture. All external fixture locating and indexing devices are mounted on the primary member and are thereby permanently located with respect to each other.

Abstract: A system is disclosed for machining parts particularly parts having high volume demand, above average accuracy and requiring strict cost control. The system uses a plurality of cubic fixture cages to be conveyed between multiple work stations. At each work station the cubic fixture cage is lifted from the conveyor and indexed with respect to the tools at the work station by lift means in the cell part whereby the initial control is located at the top of the fixture cage, an area free of chips and other debris. The cubic construction for the fixture cage provides a positive, uniform and repeatable tooling index based on the geometric center of the cube, thus permitting the fixture cage to be rotated about both its vertical and horizontal axes utilizing a single, universal tooling reference point.