workpan

From work +‎ pan.

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

     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.

   • 1953, Charles Burton Gordy, Production Control, page 243:

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

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

     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.

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

     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.

   • 1970, Tooling - Volume 24, page 26:

     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.

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

     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.

   • 1991, James A. Brown, Modern Manufacturing Processes, page 74:

     Oil which appears black in the workpan is not necessarily dirty in the gap.