workpan

plural workpans

1. A pan that is part of a machine or system that holds the work that the machine or system operates on.

   To direct each workpan to its correct position, the conveyer pans have been designed with holes at both ends into which pins are inserted.

   1953, Charles Burton Gordy, Production Control, page 243

   5 more examples

   These racks can be carried about and used as workpans or, because of the brackets on their sides, can be stacked one in the other and so used as bins.

   1948, Transport Management: The British Journal of Trade and Transport, page 46

   An automatic timer, which initiates the plant cycle, opens the charge and discharge doors of the hardening furnace and raises the dipping gear of the oil quench with its loaded workpan to conveyor level.

   1966, Metallurgia: The British Journal of Metals - Volumes 73-74, page 23

   Each version has a 12 x 20 inch bolster mounted in a 29 x 22 inch workpan, 14 inches deep. High-speed filling or draining of the 43 gallon workpan from the 60 gallon reservoir takes only 30 seconds through built-in plumbing.

   1969, Lester Gray French, Machinery - Volume 76, page 124

   An operator is required to set up the work, dress the graphite wheel, fill the workpan with the dielectric fluid and start the machining cycle.

   1970, Tooling - Volume 24, page 26

   Cutting speed is controlled by amperage, or cutting current. Surface finish of the work is controlled by the frequency at which the cutting current pulses occur. A workpan is provided on the machine for setup of the work.

   2004, Rex Miller, Mark Richard Miller, Audel Machine Shop Tools and Operations, page 371