Layout drawing

Article By:

Mann, Robert W. Formerly, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Last reviewed:January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.374100

A design drawing or graphical statement of the overall form of a component or device, which is usually prepared during the innovative stages of a design. Since it lacks detail and completeness, a layout drawing provides a faithful explanation of the device and its construction only to individuals such as designers and drafters who have been intimately involved in the conceptual stage. In a sense, the layout drawing is a running record of ideas and problems posed as the design evolves. In the layout drawing, for instance, considerations of kinematic design of a mechanical component are explored graphically in incomplete detail, showing only those aspects of the elements and their interrelationships to be considered in the design. In most cases, the layout drawing ultimately becomes the primary source of information from which detail drawings and assembly drawings are prepared by other drafters under the guidance of the designer. See also: Drafting; Engineering drawing

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