Ryobi Corner Cat Finish Sander

Executive Summary

The purpose of our project is to analyze the function and design of a Ryobi Corner Cat Finish Sander. We will first walk through the disassembly of the product step by step in order to discover each component's design and how it fits with the final product. yea, i'm pretty sure we can edit stuff now

Introduction

The Ryobi Corner Cat Finish Sander is used for light, detailed sanding. It runs on 120V AC power at a speed of 12,000 orbits per minutes. It features an ergonomic comfort grip, a dust bag, triangular pad design, and velcro for easy removal of sandpaper.

Our group consisted of...

Greg Cummings: oral presentation

Anthony Wasch: oral presentation

Rick Hills: written presentation

Jeff Ackerman: written presentation

Jonathan Loebel: CAD drawings

(All members contributed to the assembly and disassembly process)

Before Disassembly

Initially, we believed the Ryobi Corner Cat was used for sanding and polishing wood and other surfaces.
We thought it worked by converting electrical AC power from an outlet into mechanical energy using a motor.
We assumed the vibration was due to a rotating weight much like the ones in cell phones or gaming controllers.
It sounded much like a vacuum and the presence of a dustbag meant that there was a suction component involved within the sander.
We estimated that the sander contained 37 components all made of either plastic, rubber, aluminum, copper, canvas or velcro.

Disassembly Procedure

Step #	Process	Tool Used	Difficulty
1	Removed top (3 screws)	Philips Head Screwdriver / Hands	easy
2	Unscrewed 2 inside screws	Philips Head Screwdriver	easy
3	Unscrewed casing (4 screws)	Philips Head Screwdriver	easy
4	Removed 2 screws near the top	Philips Head Screwdriver	easy
5	Removed bottom plate (5 screws)	Philips Head Screwdriver	easy
6	Removed inner bottom plate (4 small screws)	Philips Head Screwdriver	easy
7	Removed 3rd tier of bottom screws	Philips Head Screwdriver	easy
8	Removed half of the casing	Hands	easy
9	Removed interior supports	Hands	easy
10	Removed motor from casing	Hands	easy

After Disassembly

Part Table

Part #	Part Name	Quantity	Material	Function	Reason for Shape	Manufacturing Process	Image
1	Top Screws	3	Steel for durability	Fastening top	Threaded for fastening	Machined
2	Inside Top Screws	4	Steel		Threaded for fastening	Machined
3	Side Panel Screws	4	Steel	Fastening sides together	Threaded for fastening	Machined
4	Bottom Screws	5	Steel	Fastening bottom	Threaded for fastening	Machined
5	Inside Bottom Screws	4	Steel		Threaded for fastening	Machined
6	Third Tier Bottom Screws	2	Steel		Threaded for fastening	Machined
7	Case	2	ABS Plastic for light weight, cost, ergonomics	Holds all components together, allows for air flow	To fit components, aesthetics, air flow for cooling and dust collector	Injection-Molded
8	Top	1	Rubber for grip, ergonomics	Facilitates grip, reduces vibration transfered to user	Curved and ribbed on sides for grip	Injection-Molded
9	Dust Collector	1	Canvas and ABS Plastic for dust collection, durability	Collecting dust during sanding operation	Space for collecting dust	Injection-Molded (ABS Plastic) and Sewn (Canvas)
10	Bottom Cover	1	ABS Plastic	Protecting Velcro pad while not in use and doubles as a sandpaper punch to maintain sandpaper shape	Fits iron-shaped Velcro pad and punches sandpaper for extended use	Injection-Molded
11	Velcro Pad	1	Velcro Sheet for easy fastening	Fastening included sandpaper/scrubbing pads for sanding/polishing using Velcro	Iron-shaped for flat sanding on wide back and fine sanding on tip and Velcro surface to easily affix sandpaper/scrubbing pads	Manufactured
12	Bottom Piece	1	ABS Plastic	Attaching Velcro pad, allow fan to pump dust through pad to dust collector, transmit mechanical vibration to Velcro pad and sandpaper	Holes to allow dust to travel through, fits form of case while allowing for vibration, fits iron-shaped Velcro pad, and has a slot for shaft to transmit vibration from the motor	Injection-Molded
13	Fan Housing	1	ABS Plastic	Funneling dust pumped up by fan to dust collector, separating components, and providing support for structure	Fits case to support it and has a large hole to allow dust to travel through	Injection-Molded
14	Plastic Supports	2	ABS Plastic	Fastening the Bottom Piece to the case during operation	Plastic supports fit tightly, strongly affixing the Bottom Piece to the case, and are good at absorbing vibration with their rib-like structure	Injection-Molded
15	Switch	1	ABS Plastic	Click the switch connected to the cord inside, which closes the circuit and sends AC power to the motor	Fits into side within finger reach for one-handed use	Injection-Molded
16	Cord	1	Copper and Plastic	Transmits AC electric power to motor and when the switch is closed	Electric wires are insulated by plastic and the long length allows for use further from outlet	Manufactured
17	Stator	1	Cast Iron, Copper, Plastic	Coils supplied with AC current produce a rotating magnetic field causing the rotor to rotate	Surrounds the rotor to create a rotating magnetic field around it	Machined
18	Rotor	1	Cast Iron, Steel, Copper, Plastic	The rotor is attached to the slightly offset and weighted output shaft that is given torque by the rotating magnetic field, creating non-symmetrical motion at high speeds which causes the bottom piece and Velcro pad to vibrate when connected; the fan at the bottom sucks dust through the holes in the bottom piece and Velcro pad to the dust collector and helps cool the motor by promoting air flow	Slightly offset and weighted on one side of the fan to produce asymmetrical rotation and create vibration; fan shape	Machined	First video of Rotor, Second video of Rotor

Accessories

Type	Quantity	Recommended Use
Heavy-Duty Scrubbing Pad	1	Paint and rust removal
Light Scrubbing Pad	1	Light scrubbing and cleaning
Polishing Pad	1	Polishing
60-Grit Sanding Sheet	2	Coarse sanding
120-Grit Sanding Sheet	3	Light sanding
240-Grit Sanding Sheet	2	Finish sanding