PECO Group Internal and External Search Results

ME 492 Winter 2008

Students:Jeff Bennet

jonathan boschieroKiehl McIntyre

Ryan Ernst

Advisor:David Turcic

Presentation Break Down

• Brief Overview of Project and Goals (with Analogy Break)

• Meet the Insert

• Identification of Materials

• Assuring Proper Depth

• Fine-Tuning the Heating Process

• Purging When Necessary

Brief OverviewProject: We will be retrofitting this machine.

It’s name is Lola.

Lola heats up aluminum and steel inserts then pushes them into indentations in nylon panels.

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Brief OverviewGoals: We will address the following.

• No process preventing the wrong insert getting pressed.

• Nothing assures inserts are pressed deep enough.

• Heating of inserts is inconsistent.

• Tube full of inserts is a hassle to empty.Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Analogy Break: The Zipper of Innovation

Great idea!

Awesome research!

Great idea!

Awesome research!

Great idea!

Awesome research!

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Meet the Inserts.

Two Types of Inserts: Aluminum and Stainless Steel

Same Size: 2.3 cm tall and 1.8 cm wide

Pressed into two different makes of panel.

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Identification of Materials

Differences in materials we tried to exploit:

• Mass: Scales or spring-activated trap doors

• Conductivity: Voltage drop or current

• Emissivity: Surface property detection

• Magnetism: Attract or repel the insertsOverview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Identification of Materials

Solution:Our external searching turned

up capacitive proximity sensors.

There is a range of distances where the sensor will detect stainless steel but not aluminum.

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Assuring Proper Depth

How to push top of insert into panel relative to panel surface:

• Contact switches on moving platform

• Ultrasonic sensors for ram and panel

• Pressure tap for piston’s air line

• Linear encoder read by moving laserOverview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Assuring Proper Depth

Solution we settled on:Controlling the position of the surface!

We will keep the surface of the panel against a known datum and move the piston relative to that.

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Fine-Tuning the Heating Process

Our team is still conducting experiments to find the source of the insert temperature inconsistencies.

Depending on the results, we will choose a refinement.

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Fine-Tuning the Heating Process

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Solutions we are still considering:

• Forced Convection in the tube

• Better insulation of the tube

• Extending heated section of the tube

• Monitoring insert temperature

Purging When Necessary

Design of other components comes first, a system for evacuating the inserts out of the column can be worked around everything else.

The rest of the system comes first.

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Purging When Necessary

Methods currently in consideration:

• Better hook and rod device

• Pez dispenser action

• Clearing a fall path

Overview Analogy Meet Insert Materials ID Depth Heating Purging

Summation

Our internal and external research have been tightly meshed.

Discoveries of existing technologies have introduced new design concepts.

Some phases of the design rely on decisions from previous phases.