Mechanical Engineering Drawings
(Technical Drawings)
Formats and the Title Block
Drawings made for mechanical design are known as technical
drawings. There are various elements of a technical drawing that
have relative importance and relationship to each other.
Every drawing should contain select information including the
format size, the title of the part, the assigned part number, the
relative scale of the drawing, the design and drafting approval
data, the date in which the drawing was produced, and general
notes.
The method of presenting and locating this information on a
drawing varies from one industry to another, yet most methods
derive from the American National Standards Institute and the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ANSI/AMSE Y14.1-1995
DRAWING SHEET AND FORMAT STANDARDS) specification.
Formats and the Title Block continued
The format size and orientation chosen depends on the size and
complexity of the object designed.
This may further be influenced by the standards set forth by the
customer, or your company.
For instance, some companies prefer to use one dedicated
format size for all drawings to keep them consistent from one
design to the next.
There are ten format sizes available in which the last four special
sizes are not often used.
Of these ten sizes, the first four are the most commonly used
formats (A– D).
Formats and the Title Block continued
E (34 x 44) A0 (841 x 1189)
D (22 x 34) A1 (594 x 841)
C (17 x 22) A2 (420 x 594)
A3 (297 x 420)
A4 (210 x 297)
B (11 x 17) A (8 1/2 x 11)
Formats and the Title Block continued
Ten format paper sizes
• A – Size = 8 1/2 x 11 (landscape or portrait orientation)
• B – Size = 11 x 17 (landscape or portrait orientation)
• C – Size = 17 x 22 (landscape orientation)
• D – Size = 22 x 34 (landscape orientation)
• E – Size = 34 x 44 (landscape orientation)
• F through J are available although not commonly used.
Formats and the Title Block continued
The components that make up the drawing format include:
• Drawing field
• Title block location and contents
• Revision block location
• Parts listing or the Bill of Materials (BOM)
• Zoning
Every drawing has a drawing field (working area / space).
This is the main body of the drawing and is used to draw the
object and all necessary views.
This area will also include the related dimensions and notes to
complete the drawing.
There is an imaginary border of approximately ½ inch (shown by
the dashed lines) towards the inside to prevent the drawing
information from overflowing past the bordered format.
Formats and the Title Block continued
DRAWING FIELD
or
WORKING AREA
Typical ANSI/AMSE Y14.1-1995 Drawing Format
Formats and the Title Block continued
Typical Drawing Title Block
1. The Title Block 10. DRAWING (DWG) NO.
2. CONTRACT NO. block block
3. DRAWN BY block 11. RELEASE DATE block
4. CHECKED BY block 12. SHEET block
5. DESIGN block 13. SCALE block
6. DESIGN ACTIVITY block 14. Standard Drawing
7. Company Name and Tolerance block
Address block 15. FINISH block
8. Format Size block 16. TREATMENT block
9. TITLE block
Formats and the Title Block continued
1. The Title Block - is located in the lower-right area of the
drawing format and includes areas for specific
information.
Most companies use pre-printed sheets with the
company’s name, address, logo and borders as well as
other pertinent information related to its particular
business.
Title block sizes and the type of information required will
vary depending on the size of the company and the
types of products it manufactures.
Some companies require basic information in the block,
while others, especially those under government
contract, need to provide more data.
2. CONTRACT NO. block - The contract number is entered
here only when appropriate or required.
Formats and the Title Block continued
3. DRAWN BY block - The drafter’s name appears here in
printed form. In addition, the day, month and year the
drawing was completed is usually shown.
4. CHECKED BY block - This is the name (usually a signature)
of the person who is assigned to check the drawing for
accuracy and completeness.
5. DESIGN block - This is the name (usually a signature) of
the responsible engineer.
6. DESIGN ACTIVITY block - This is the name (usually a
signature) of the program manager or chief engineer.
7. Company Name and Address block - This block is for the
company name, address, and trademark or logo.
Formats and the Title Block continued
8. Format Size block - This block contains a letter indicating
the appropriate size of the drawing format.
9. TITLE block - This is where the drawing’s name or title for
the part or assembly is placed.
10. DRAWING (DWG) NO. block - The drawing’s number is
inserted here. Every company has some form of part-
numbering system.
11. RELEASE DATE block - This block is for the date that the
drawing is released for manufacturing. It does not
change when the drawing is revised. It reflects the
original information.
12. SHEET block - This block contains the number of sheets in
a drawing set. (E.g.: 1 of 1; 1 of 2; 2 of 2; etc.)
Formats and the Title Block continued
13. SCALE block - This block indicates the scale of the part in
the drawing. (E.g.: 1:1, FULL, 2:1, 4:1, 1:2; etc.)
14. Standard Drawing Tolerance block - This gives the
drawing’s default tolerances for dimensions unless
otherwise specified.
**As a side note**: This information is usually established
by the company based on their requirements or
industries standards. This information is not usually
changed from drawing to drawing, hence the title
Standard, and instead any global tolerance changes
should be noted in the general notes.
15. FINISH block - This block specifies the type of surface
coating or process to be applied.
Formats and the Title Block continued
16. TREATMENT block - This block notes the type of material
treatment to be applied. (E.g.: Heat Treat, Rockwell
hardness, temper, etc.)
17. Revision area - Most drawings require one or more revisions
during their lifetime. Revisions can be in the form of a slight
change in shape, dimensions, text, etc. due to changes in
design, changes in a customer’s requirements, or to correct
errors in design or drafting.
Formats and the Title Block continued
To perform an engineering change to a drawing, an
authorized person must write a formal document stating all
the things that are to be changed.
This document is an Engineering Change Notice (ECN) or
Engineering Change Order (ECO).
To record engineering changes on drawings, a revision
block, is established.
According to ANSI specification, the revision block is
located in the upper-right corner of the drawing and
provides space for a zone location, revision letter,
description of the change, date, and approval for the
change.
The ECN/ECO number is usually also noted.
Formats and the Title Block continued
DRAWING FIELD
or
WORKING AREA
18. Parts List - The parts list is located in the lower-right corner
of the drawing, directly above the title block. The list
indicates the items, materials, and quantities required to
complete the part or assembly. It is referred to as the Bill
of Materials (BOM).
The parts are normally arranged with “Make” items listed
first followed by “Buy” (or purchased) items. Items are
usually listed in an ascending numerical order.
Formats and the Title Block continued
Typical Drawing Parts Identification Location (BOM)
Formats and the Title Block continued
19. Parts Identification - An item number is required for each
part shown on an assembly. This ties the item to the parts list
(18).
The method for keying the two is through the use of balloon
numbers, which consist of identification numbers placed
inside circles called Item Balloons.
Each item balloon is attached to a Leader. The leader is a
thin line that ends in an arrowhead that points to and
touches the related part in the drawing field.
The leader is almost never shown as either a horizontal or a
vertical line (always at an angle) to avoid confusion with
other lines on the drawing.
The item balloon should be placed horizontally or vertically
aligned, and in numerical sequence when possible.
Drawing Notes
Drawings include a variety of notes and information for the
customer and fabricator to interpret and use. This subsection will
cover the location and precedence of these notes.
There are three main types of notes used on a drawing, listed in
their order of importance, which are the Title Block notes, General
notes, and the Part Detail notes.
Title Block Notes General Notes
Formats and the Title Block continued
Item balloons are usually .625 inch (5/8”) in diameter with .50
inch (1/2”) text, however they can vary in size from .31
(5/16”) to .75 inch (3/4”) in diameter, depending on the size
and scale of the assembly drawing.
20. General Notes - Usually located in the upper left corner of
the drawing field, or occasionally in the lower left corner
depending on the company standards.
These are used to indicate general manufacturing
information.
Drawing Notes continued
The Title Block contains an area where Standard Tolerances are
noted and apply to the entire drawing unless otherwise specified.
This area also contains additional information that applies to the
entire drawing. That is, unless the General notes for the drawing
have information that contradicts this information.
General notes supersede the information in the Title Block (that’s
why the UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED is noted in the block).
General notes also carry the “UNLESS OTHERWISED SPECIFIED” note
and since they apply to the whole drawing, they can only be
superseded by the Part Detail note.
Drawing Notes continued
Part Detail Notes
Part Detail notes have the highest priority in the chain of notes. A
part detail note is used to describe a specific function that only
applies to the highlighted feature of a part.
This can by anything from a change in dimensional tolerance for a
feature, a note about a change in surface roughness, or a note
about a surface treatment.
Drawing Notes continued
In summary, the precedence of drawing notes allows for
information stated on a drawing to be superseded by virtue of
where the information is noted.
