Gate 4 - Product Explanation and Reassembly - Group 6 2012

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== Mechanisms ==
 
== Mechanisms ==
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This section overviews the mechanisms that are present in the impact wrench.
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'''Mechanism: Plunger/Back Plate and Switch'''
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 +
The plunger acts as a '''''gate valve''''', connecting the user interface (back plate) with the control of the air flow to the rotor mechanism.
 +
 +
*The plunger is connected to a switch on the back plate which allows the user to rotate the plunger. It is an obstruction inside of the valve sleeve, and as it is rotated it becomes less obstructive to the air flow, allowing more air to pass through the valve. It can also be turned such that the motor would spin in reverse.
 +
*The switch on the back plate uses a spring inside a pin to create compression so that once the pin enters one of the grooves designated for specific pressures, it locks into place until the user applies force to move it to another setting.
 +
 +
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'''Mechanism: Rotor and Fins'''
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The rotor and fins act together as an '''''impulse turbine''''' to alter the pneumatic, stored energy to rotational energy via impulse, which it uses to spin the hammer.
 +
 +
*The fins serve as a point of impact for the compressed air flowing into the housing. The direction of the flowing air is changed, thus creating an impulse, or change in momentum that is transferred to the fins, causing the rotor to spin.
 +
*The rotor is connected to the hammer and spins due to the force exerted by the compressed air on the fins. The spinning completes the conversion of the potential energy of the compressed air into mechanical energy and finally the torque output. 
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 +
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'''Mechanism: Trigger'''
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The '''''trigger''''' is a central part of the interface between the user and the control mechanisms of the impact wrench. It is the control mechanism that serves as a signal to allow air to flow into the device.
 +
 +
*The trigger is engaged by the user when the user applies pressure perpendicular to the surface of the trigger.
 +
*The force exerted by the user on the trigger overcomes a spring mechanism in order to cause the shaft attached to the trigger to push the tipper valve to a position which allows for air to flow into the wrench. When the user releases the trigger, the spring forces the trigger back into place, thus disengaging the shaft from the tipper valve and allowing the tipper valve to close, no longer allowing air to flow into the device.
  
 
== Design Revisions ==
 
== Design Revisions ==

Revision as of 20:13, 29 November 2012

Click here to return to the main page for Group 6.

Contents

Gate Introduction

This gate has several parts. The first part is project management. This section discusses the roles of each member and challenges faced. The next section is the reassembly, where videos of the wrench being reassembled are shown and the process is described. There is a section that describes the mechanisms used in the impact wrench and finally a section with three design revisions on the system level.

Project Management

This section is a table of what changes group members had to make to have the gate progress.

Critical Project Review

Management Roles Goals Successes Challenges and Resolution
Communication Liaison
  • Serve as a point of contact for instructors
  • Compose and disseminate communication between group and instructors
  • Create a continuum of evaluation for group interactions
  • Continuous documentation of group’s interactions have created an organized resource for further evaluation of group interactions and provided a framework for future decisions on how work is to be divided and delegated
  • Gate 4 has proved challenging in terms of documenting group interactions. For this Gate, the majority of the work has been done in small group settings, many of which have not been attended by the Communication Liaison. Fortunately, group members have been very responsive in providing feedback as to how work for the Gate has been progressing, and assistance has been sought on a regular basis for the resolution of various challenges.
Project Manager and Intra-Group Communications Coordinator
  • Make appropriate divisions of work for larger sections of Gates and delegate tasks accordingly
  • Set timeline for work to be done, including internal group due dates for work leading up to class due dates
  • Arrange group meetings, including coordinating group member availability and booking learning space in campus libraries as necessary
  • Preside over group discussions and mediate group conflicts
  • Group time and physical meeting space has been consistently coordinated and made available throughout the project
  • Work has been divided in a fair way with extra attention paid to facilitating multi-tasking among group members – e.g. parts were broken up for analysis by system to create focus points for each member that can be carried through other parts of Gate
  • Group members have honored intra-group due dates and stayed on schedule without exception
  • Gate 4 has demanded more coordination and collaboration among members focusing on individual parts of the Gate. The division of the work among members has been characterized by overlap among the sections of the Gate, with members working on multiple sections. Thus, the number of large group meetings has decreased while the need for smaller meetings as two or three members working on the same section has increased. Members have reacted positively to this and have successfully coordinated small group efforts and meetings while maintaining contact at the group level via E-mail updates and brief in-person communications.
Technical Expert: Communications Technology
  • Lay out guidelines for best practices and consistency in formatting group submissions of individual contributions to project to optimize both efficiency in uploading to the wiki page and appearance
  • Compile and format group submissions into wiki form and create wiki page with appropriate flow and a single “voice”
  • Group members continue to be guided by the very specific direction on how to submit their respective parts and how to send those submissions laid out in the last Gate. Any questions or requests for clarifications have been met with clear, complete responses.
  • The wiki page continues to see consistent improvements in the use of media and its presentation
  • Timing has become an issue as many members have had exams in the weeks since the last Gate was due, and communication has been sparse over the holiday. This has left relatively less time than was available in previous Gates for the Technical Expert to upload the wiki and reap the benefits of the group members’ constructive criticisms for improvement. To address this challenge, the Group has already started discussing the work to be done for the next Gate and is already looking toward improving this Gate and the previous Gates for the final project submission.
Technical Experts: Dis-assembly Technicians
  • Serve as a resource to other group members seeking more in-depth explanations of parts and part interactions
  • Oversee the reassembly of the impact wrench, creating a detailed explanation of the process for both group members and the wiki page audience
  • Technicians have been exceedingly available to group members to answer questions or provide insight outside of classroom and formal group meetings
  • Technicians’ past experiences in working with machined items have proved invaluable to group’s ability to use the resources of the machine shop and its tools to reassemble the impact wrench
  • The Technicians faced a few challenges in re-assembling the impact wrench but were able to overcome those challenges through their creative use of tools and by using their knowledge of how parts work and interact. The re-assembly process was recorded, and other challenges arose in editing the video and syncing the video with the sound, however, this challenge was resolved by reaching out to other group members with video editing software and skills.

Product Reassembly

Mechanisms

This section overviews the mechanisms that are present in the impact wrench.

Mechanism: Plunger/Back Plate and Switch

The plunger acts as a gate valve, connecting the user interface (back plate) with the control of the air flow to the rotor mechanism.

  • The plunger is connected to a switch on the back plate which allows the user to rotate the plunger. It is an obstruction inside of the valve sleeve, and as it is rotated it becomes less obstructive to the air flow, allowing more air to pass through the valve. It can also be turned such that the motor would spin in reverse.
  • The switch on the back plate uses a spring inside a pin to create compression so that once the pin enters one of the grooves designated for specific pressures, it locks into place until the user applies force to move it to another setting.


Mechanism: Rotor and Fins

The rotor and fins act together as an impulse turbine to alter the pneumatic, stored energy to rotational energy via impulse, which it uses to spin the hammer.

  • The fins serve as a point of impact for the compressed air flowing into the housing. The direction of the flowing air is changed, thus creating an impulse, or change in momentum that is transferred to the fins, causing the rotor to spin.
  • The rotor is connected to the hammer and spins due to the force exerted by the compressed air on the fins. The spinning completes the conversion of the potential energy of the compressed air into mechanical energy and finally the torque output.


Mechanism: Trigger

The trigger is a central part of the interface between the user and the control mechanisms of the impact wrench. It is the control mechanism that serves as a signal to allow air to flow into the device.

  • The trigger is engaged by the user when the user applies pressure perpendicular to the surface of the trigger.
  • The force exerted by the user on the trigger overcomes a spring mechanism in order to cause the shaft attached to the trigger to push the tipper valve to a position which allows for air to flow into the wrench. When the user releases the trigger, the spring forces the trigger back into place, thus disengaging the shaft from the tipper valve and allowing the tipper valve to close, no longer allowing air to flow into the device.

Design Revisions

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