| 摘要 |
A workpiece holder assembly for vacuum-holding an aircraft wing skin or other workpiece for machining includes a base plate formed preferably of metal and adapted to be installed in a well area of a mill bed having vacuum passages therein, and an insert tool formed preferably of polymer material and adapted to be removably installed in a recess formed in the base plate. The base plate and insert tool have vacuum holes extending therethrough for communication with the vacuum passages in the mill bed. The surface of the insert tool facing away from the base plate includes one or more seal strips retained in grooves for sealing against a surface of a wing skin or other workpiece, and also includes one or more depressed regions for accommodating one or more protruding features that project from the workpiece surface, such as padups, steps, or taper planes on the inboard end of a wing skin panel. A plurality of insert tools having different configurations adapted to accommodate different workpiece configurations are interchangeably installable in the recess of a single common base plate. The tooling is converted to a different configuration for machining a different workpiece configuration by removing the existing insert tool from the base plate and installing a new insert tool. The invention facilitates manual conversion of the tooling by virtue of the removable insert tools, which can be made light enough in weight to be readily installed and removed by a worker without the use of cranes or other heavy equipment.
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