Naming Conventions for Mechanical Parts

Military specifications use specific practices for this.

There are industry practices, but. I've been out of that field for 30 years.

Tent, general purpose, medium . . . . or GP Medium for short and everyone knows what you are asking for.

But you have to file a DD Form 61 for a nomenclature assignment IAW the DD Form 1423 for CDRL's per MIL-HDBK-1812.

Item names for military products are actually derived from the instructions in ASME Y14.100

Per MIL-STD-196, "5.6 Item name. Every effort shall be made to select an approved item name from the H6. When an appropriate name does not appear in H6, a new name shall be developed in accordance with ASME Y14.100."

Thanks, I knew it was something like that.

We had huge books of specs and what wasn't in the books was on microfiche.

For the kids here:

Microfiche - Merriam-Webster

IHS stands for Information Handling Services. This company started >50 years ago as a distributor of industrial catalogs on microfiche. I think maybe microfiche was New Technology at the time. Who knows ... IHS might have created some of those catalogs the military passed around (I remember my Navy brother-in-law telling me about them).

I remember microfilm, too, AND those manual readers for same, Dukanes I think they were.

Instead of plowing through hundreds of 'feesh' you now have:

http://catalog.data.gov/dataset/federal-item-name-directory-h6-search-tool

Cheers !!

Sure they do,........ now they post and ask the question on CR4 and don't open the catalog.

We're just a live, slightly delayed and sometimes snarky and cranky search engine.

That's just the price they have to pay. :-)

They can ask for the definition of "widgets", wonder how many answers we would get there??

Things have changed.

Now I'm sitting by the pool watching kids swim (they have no.feeling) and typing into my phart smone, which I could use to look up that web site.

Grace,

If you allow "ten different engineers name parts" then you deserve what you get!

Plan:

Pick someone who has seniority and a good head on their shoulders and make them the Part Naming Guru for the project.

To be fair, share the load pick someone else for the next project.

After ten projects you will know who is the best at "Part Naming" and have that person draft some guidelines and procedures for all future projects.

Excellent point. I'm a mere technical writing student, completing an industry project requirement for my credential; so, I have zero authority that way.

If you as an mooulize it great. But look at you inventory software on how it best can handle it first.

That's modularlize not mooulize

Must have been all that dairy work...!

I'm still working on trying to spell it correctly

Turboencabulator, supercalifragilistic--damn, I've almost used up my 40 characters, and I ain't even half done yet...

There's no fun in using the convention. I designed an encapsulation jig a while ago which had to be stable in 2 positions to allow initial filling at an angle to avoid trapped air, then final filling in the vertical position. It is the Wibbly Wobbly Potting Jig & you won't find that description in federal or NATO nomenclature guides.

Jig, potting, wibbly wobbly ...

Well, Government excluded, you should not use the 'Noun, Adjective, Adjective' format for part naming, as that format is for filing and/or data retrieval.

For Example:

• Bearing Retaining Plate not Plate, Bearing Retaining
• Socket Head Cap Screw not Screw, Socket Head Cap
• Tapered Roller Bearing not Bearing, Tapered Roller

But, the above notwithstanding. Many components do have a preferred designation sequence. For Fasteners, and the like, check out the Machinery's Handbook. Under each type there should be a 'Designation' paragraph or statement. Take Machine Screws for example:

Nominal Size; TPI; Nominal Length; Head Type and Driving Provision; Header Point (optional); Material; Finish

Example: 6-32 x 3/4 Type 1A Cross Recesses Fillister Head Machine Screw, Steel, Zinc Plated

Now, when you do break it up for filing purposes there are some minor conflicts in regards to proper Clerical Filing Systems methodologies vs. the format of a desired Parts DataBase as found in industry...

Take 'Machine Screw' and 'Cap Screw' for example. These are called multiword strings and are not to be reordered into Screw, Machine or Screw, Cap... according to the rules of Alphabetical Order anyway. Otherwise, we'd see Angelis, Los and Juan, San.

But that would mean for a Socket Head Cap Screw, we'd file it under Cap Screw, Socket Head rather than Screw, Socket Head Cap; and you'd be correct from a clerical standpoint. But, if it doesn't suit your needs; and you'd rather have all screws filed together - make your own standard. At the end of the day, you're only developing a filing system - which, again, is separate from your part naming system.

In regards to your other question about what properties would be included in the part name and in what precedence they would be listed... First the name should focus on what the part is NOT what it does. It's not an ACME 5000 Widget Secondary Drive Belt... it's just a Drive Belt, or Mechanical Belt or even a Power Transmission Belt. The rest of the name describes the Drive Belt in greater detail...

Heavy Duty V-Belt; Rubber Body with Polyester Cords

That's it, and you may have 100 of these in your parts database all with the same name, but different part numbers. Then you have to drill down into the item to see the extended description: top width, outside length, etc.

But again, it's your filing system so maybe you want to go with:

HD V-Belt - 375TW x 312TK x 25INLG

The thing that will help you out the most is to remember the name is about the part, not the part's function (what it is vs. what it does), and there is a difference between a name and an extended description because at the end of the day a...

B18.3.1M - 10 x 1.5 x 40 Hexagon Socket Head Cap Screw, Alloy Steel, Zinc Plated...

is just a Socket Head Cap Screw. So, be acceptant to the fact that that you will never fit the entirety of the extended description into a 40-character limit; so don't even bother trying....

• Name: Socket Head Cap Screw; 10x1.5x40
• Filed Under: Screw, Socket Head Cap; 10x1.5x40
• Want more detail - drill down into part entry to see extended description.

In closing, there are naming and part numbering systems/standards for most of what's out there, you just have to know where to look... e.g. R-37-5 (3 x 1/4) Steel is specific Grating designated per the appropriate ANSI standard... but it's part name is 'Metal Bar Grating'... clean and simple.

If you run into specific problems with specific items, stop back here and we'll help you out. Otherwise, as others have mentioned - assign one capable person with maintaining organizational naming conventions.

"assign one capable person"

Therein lies the problem, we suffer from several people creating names, each in their own unique style. They are also from a range of nationalities which compounds the problem.

I have seen that...

Do each of these individuals redesign the company Letterhead, Logo, or Business Card Graphics to suit their own taste?

Naming the things that you design is part of your organizational Identity and Branding - directly impacting how what you design is referred to in the industry and by other Departments within your orginization; and thus should be controlled as such.

This sounds more like a managerial issue as opposed to a engineering naming a drawing issue.

Maybe I was just always lucky to work for companies that had a handle on this. Most of the ones I've worked for, it fell on the Checker to not only check fit and finish and the like but also Part Numbering and Naming Conventions.

It was not uncommon for me as an early Draftsman to get a detail back that not only had mark-ups on the detail's dimensions but also within the Title Block and almost always on the part's name.

I've worked in that sort of organisation but it is nothing like my present company.Things are very much looser, especially when we are collaborating on projects with external agencies.

Thanks for taking the time to respond with the helpful info, JavaHead. Much appreciated. The part descriptions I'm attempting to find and set up conventions/standards for are used in the company's database system (specifically, Sytleine, made by INFOR). So in maintaining consistency in naming, the purpose is to facilitate searches of parts within the database.

I've been referring to how McMaster-Carr describes their parts (www.mcmaster.com)--they use a slightly different format for their screws. For example: Black-Oxide Alloy Steel Socket Head Cap Screw, 0-80 Thread, 1/16" Length (Material first; measurements last). They appear to consistently use the adjective + noun format, as you have recommended. For example, Multipurpose 932 Bearing Bronze, Bar, 1/4" x 4" or Steel Tapered-Roller Bearing, Roller Assembly, for 1/2" Shaft Diameter.

I'll definitely have a look at the Machinery's Handbook for how description formats vary with different parts. I've read through a lot of online engineering forums regarding this topic, including the same ones recommended by others replying to my post. I didn't find many satisfactory answers--it's also a new field for me as I'm not an engineer.

Thanks for responding!

This is how it was done in the British army in WWII

Today we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And tomorrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But today,
Today we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all the neighbouring gardens,
And today we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,
When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see
Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech, the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our case we have not got; and the almond blossom
Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For today we have the naming of parts.

Henry Reed

The abbreviated version is:

This is my rifle, this is my gun;
This is for fighting, this is for fun.

[with suitable pointing gestures]

That's right, and I believe the motto of the Texas Rangers is "If you kill for pleasure, you're a sadist, if you kill for money you're a mercenary, if you kill for both you're a Texas Ranger".

If I may weigh in as a librarian by training and a taxonomist by recent experience ... pick a standard and stick with it. At national and international levels there are competing naming conventions for all kinds of stuff, despite the ISO and the UN and various other acronymed agencies. If you use an existing standard that other companies use, you'll be OK.

This also could depend on the system you're using to store the tagging. How many descriptors will it take?

Thanks for your reply. The system takes 40 characters for the description (which must include the part name and descriptors), including spaces.

I've just dug out my copy of the NATO codification guide (which I haven't looked at for about 35 years). This describes the method of naming items, I found a web page with an example. I can remember having to enter part names with a limited size of character string (can't remember how many characters). The rules for when the name was too long were first look for any double letters & delete one of each pair. If the name was still too long you then deleted all of the vowels.