可互換零件

可互換零件是指一些規格和用途都相同的零件。可互換零件是依照技術規格而製造，以確保幾乎完全相同，而且無需任何定製便能夠與同類組件匹配。這種互換性令設備的安裝和維修難度降低、耗時縮短，同時最大限度地降低了對安裝或維修人員的技能要求。美國發明家伊萊·惠特尼是早起提出這一概念的人之一。

零件的互換性是通過結合機械加工操作的一些創新和改進以及一些機床的發明實現的，如滑架車床、螺紋切削車床、轉塔車床、銑床和金屬刨床。除此之外，用於機床引導夾具的發明也是至關重要的，這些夾具可以將工件固定在適當位置，用於檢查成品零件的精度。^[1]隨着電氣化時代的到來，生產效率的提高，大規模生產可互換零件變得更加容易。^[2]而在現代社會，隨着數控機床的普及，生產可互換零件變得更加容易。

首次使用

人類最早使用可互換零件的歷史可追溯到兩千年前的迦太基，在第一次布匿戰爭中就得到了應用。迦太基擁有強大的海軍，其船只有標準化可互換零件，甚至帶有類似於「標籤A到插槽B」的裝配說明。^[3]

參考文獻

^ Hounshell, David A., From the American System to Mass Production, 1800–1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States, Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984, ISBN 978-0-8018-2975-8, LCCN 83016269, OCLC 1104810110
^ Ford, Henry; Crowther, Samuel, Edison as I Know Him (PDF), New York: Cosmopolitan Book Company: 30, 1930 [2011-09-29], （原始內容 (PDF)存檔於2012-10-11）
^ Rome, Carthage, and the Punic Wars （頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）
Meanwhile Carthage was mass producing warships. And that's not an exaggeration either about numbers or about shipbuilding methods; Carthaginian warships were built up of standard interchangeable parts. We know this not only from contemporary accounts, but also from recovered Carthaginian ships like the half of a Carthaginian ship shown in (c), above, that was recovered off the coast of Marsala at the western tip of Sicily; it was brand new when it was sunk by the Romans, and it still retains marks giving assembly instructions ("tab a into slot b", etc.) Other recovered ships had identical parts.

[Hounshell-1984-1] Hounshell, David A., From the American System to Mass Production, 1800–1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States, Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984, ISBN 978-0-8018-2975-8, LCCN 83016269, OCLC 1104810110

[2] Ford, Henry; Crowther, Samuel, Edison as I Know Him (PDF), New York: Cosmopolitan Book Company: 30, 1930 [2011-09-29], （原始內容 (PDF)存檔於2012-10-11）

[3] Rome, Carthage, and the Punic Wars （頁面存檔備份，存於互聯網檔案館）
Meanwhile Carthage was mass producing warships. And that's not an exaggeration either about numbers or about shipbuilding methods; Carthaginian warships were built up of standard interchangeable parts. We know this not only from contemporary accounts, but also from recovered Carthaginian ships like the half of a Carthaginian ship shown in (c), above, that was recovered off the coast of Marsala at the western tip of Sicily; it was brand new when it was sunk by the Romans, and it still retains marks giving assembly instructions ("tab a into slot b", etc.) Other recovered ships had identical parts.

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