Compressed Air and Its Uses

Compressed Air

Compressed air has many uses in the industry. Compressing air is an effective means of storing energy and transporting it over large distances.

Some of the applications of are:

As a source of energy to drive machines and pneumatic tools, which are smaller than electrically driven tools.

In Shot blasting applications
In Spray painting
In control systems. compressed air is widely used in the petrochemical industry where electric power cannot be used due to the risk of fire.
In Braking systems in trains.
In Refrigeration
In spray cans such as those used in perfumes and other sprays.
In cleaning

Pneumatic Tools

Pneumatic tools are tools which are driven by air. In these tools, compressed air from a cylinder is made to pass through a control valve which is operated by the user. The air is then passed through a small turbine which generates rotary motion. This rotary motion is used to drive a shaft.

This rotary motion can be used for drilling or grinding purposes. The air is then drained through an outlet.

Advantages

It is easily available

Tools can be smaller than electric tools.

These tools can develop high torque

They can be used in environments where there is a risk of fire

They are not affected by temperature

They are clean and do not leave any residue

It can be guided easily through small tubes wherever required.

Disadvantages

They are noisy

Leakages occur frequently

Air should be dried properly otherwise there can be condensation.

Positive Displacment Compressors

Positive displacement compressors suck a specific quantity of air into a cylinder. The piston then compresses it. The output of a positive displacement compressor is always.

Examples of positive displacement compressors are Reciprocating Piston compressors, Rotary Screw compressors, Scroll compressors and Rotary Vane compressors.

Positive displacement compressors can build very high pressures. The downsides are high noise, lesser efficiency, leakages from the seals and frequent maintenance.

Single and Double acting compressors

In single acting compressors, air is drawn and compressed on only one side of the piston. When the piston moves down, the suction valve opens and air enters the cylinder. When the piston moves up, at the end of the compression, the discharge valve opens and the compressed gas is released.

The other side of the piston is connected to the crankshaft.

In a double acting compressor, air is drawn and compressed on both sides of the piston. The piston is operated by a connecting rod through an airtight seal. There are compression chambers on both sides of the piston and a set of suction and discharge valves

Deciding Between Domestic or Foreign Manufacturers

If a company wants their new product to be mass produced and sold to the public, they have to decide where and how to have it manufactured, since this is critical to the success of their business. They should consider several factors in deciding between US-based and overseas manufacturers.

Depending on the company’s product and needs, they can make a decision based on the things offered by local or foreign manufacturers.

Domestic Sourcing

If the company has a specialized, in-demand product that has to be delivered right on schedule, it would be best to choose domestic sources. Products manufactured in the US have high standards in labor and manufacturing, making sure of a good work environment, safe employees and most importantly, a better quality product. This is critical as compared to the disasters that happen at overseas factories. This makes it a more ethically sound choice, and lets the company stay away from public relations disasters – like for example, a poor working conditions expose.

In addition, local manufacturers maintain strict intellectual property right protections, meaning, no one can copy or mass produce it. All Americans speak English, so there is no language barrier that will cause confusion in terms of communications.

Since there are no customs and shipping time, it will be faster to ship orders. In case there are any problems, it will be easy to meet with the manufacturer in person.

Lastly, choosing a domestic manufacturer lets a company use a valuable marketing tool such as the “Made in the US” stamp.

The disadvantage of choosing domestic sourcing has something to do with the costs involved. US labor laws require higher wages, plus better facilities, as compared to other countries, increasing the expenses on payroll and infrastructure.

Foreign Sourcing

Overseas manufacturers are a lot cheaper than domestic manufacturers. Labor costs could be reduced up to 80%. The money that can be saved can be channeled towards product marketing and development.

A number of countries have given incentives like lower taxes and less regulations/red tape to attract more companies. This will enable them to quickly begin operations and scale the business whenever necessary.

Also, there is a large number of workers who are willing to work for much lower wages. This minimizes production delays since employees are always readily available.

However, there are also a number of issues with foreign manufacturers. A lot of discerning consumers consider them inferior when in comes to quality, and some countries have few intellectual property protections, which pose a risk for businesses. Moreover, shipping can take weeks or months instead of days because of the long process of customs and importation.

Finally, the decision depends on a company’s manufacturing requirements. Since there are several companies and different products, there is no right answer. Companies have their own unique needs and goals. Is the company selling a highly-specialized or a time-sensitive product which needs to be produced on a reliable timeframe?

There are many factors to take into consideration when making the best choice for a business, so companies should not choose the cheapest alternative, but rather the manufacturer that will give the most value in the long run.

Shot Blasting Machine: What You Need To Know

Shot blasting is a technique used to clean, fortify (strengthen) or polish metals. The method is used in virtually all industries that use metals such as automotive, construction, foundry, aerospace and several others. The question arises, how is shot blasting carried out? A machine (shot blasting machine) comes to our rescue. The machine strongly blasts the metal under processing to remove such impurities as rust, scale and welding slag.To efficiently carry out its job, the shot blasting machine is composed of components that each carry out a particular function as explained below:-

The Blast Wheel

The blast wheels are a critical spare part of blasting equipment. A blast wheel produces the centrifugal force required to project the abrasive particles. The rate of work and kind of job affect the number of wheels that are installed on the blasting machine.

Cabinet

The cabinet is a closed booth free of vibration, and it is made of steel. It is lined with a wear resistant liner, usually an Mn alloy. The cabinet provides an environment where the abrasive particles (traveling at high speeds of 50 – 100m/s) can be treated.

Work Handling

This component varies greatly from machine to machine, as it directly depends on the following two factors; the type of machine you are using and the size and quality of the particles to be obtained in the end. For example, roller conveyor type shot blasting machine is designed for heavy-duty beams, steel profile and fabricated work pieces.

Elevator

The abrasive recovery system is recovered at the lowest end of the shot blasting machine cabinet and linked to the screw conveyor on the base of the elevator (which also carries the separator). The elevator is a critical part since it’s malfunction will translate to low production rates of the shot blasting machine. It thus requires constant maintenance.

Air Separator

The principal goal of the separator is to clean is to clean the abrasive particles origination from the blast wheel. When abrasive metal particles enter the blast wheel, they must be rid of all contaminants as the cleaning makes the shot blasting machine work efficiently.

Dust Collector

As the name implies, the work of this component is to collect dust during the blasting process. The dust originates from the cabinet ventilation and separator. It usually creates laden air creating an avenue for environmental pollution and the potential health risk to the workers in working in the industry. To curb the problems, the user of the machine should assure proper work to the dust controller.

The importance of this machines can’t be stressed enough. The significance is explained by their widespread use in the machinery world. However, users need to fully understand the annals of shot blasting machine for them to harvest the power at their disposal fully. Proper knowledge will also ensure that minimal (if any) environmental pollution is caused, and consequently reduced health risks to workers in a given industry.

Invention Blueprints

Patent Drawings

Patent drawings are one of the most important and key features required from the USPTO while an Inventor files for a patent. These invention blueprints, or patent drawings consist of dimensions, views, and other information to help relate not only the inventions look, but also its functionality. CAD is the tool in most cases that is used in order to design patents. Any Inventor should definitely familiarize themselves with CAD because it is a staple within any type of design now a days, and especially within Inventions and prototype design.

CAD Designers

Invention designers or CAD designers are the ones who actually manipulate CAD software into creating something known as a 3D model. 3D models are used for several different things, and invention blueprints as well as patent drawings are just a few. These complex design files hold all the necessary information to instruct machines that manufacturer rapid prototypes and inventions how to operate. These CAD files are extremely diversified in the sense that one 3D model can perform several task. In the end if an Inventor chooses the right Invention Designer this fact will permit them to save money by purchasing more than one service from the invention design company.

3D Modeling Services

The majority of 3D modeling services perform only certain types of design in which inventions and prototypes are not usually within. 3D modeling services will generally only perform design task such as architectural work, mechanical, electrical, or some specialty field. If you’re interested in finding a CAD design service who specializes in invention design, your best bet would be to search online. Invention design services are out there, but if you’re not careful it’s easy to get mixed up with the wrong one who can turn your patent mission into a complete nightmare.

CAD Prototype

So within the first steps an Inventor takes they are normally notified that they will need a CAD Prototype. Unless an Inventor creates the prototype from hand a CAD file will surely be needed. In all reality when someone thinks of the word prototype they normally associate a high dollar amount for cost with it. Really this is the furthest thing from the truth if you can find an honest invention design service or rapid prototype service to perform your needs. Really an Inventor should look for one service to not only design the prototype, but also make the prototype. If found this service should produce reduced cost to the Inventor since they are purchasing more than one service from them.

Purpose of Tensile Testing and Its Use in the Plastic Industry

One of the most elementary tests that can be performed on a product is the tensile test to check the breaking resistance of a product. A test specimen is kept under tension to practice opposing forces acting upon opposite faces both located on the same axis that attempt to pull the specimen apart. These tests are simple to set and complete and reveal many characteristics of the products that are tested. These tests are measured to be fundamentally the reverse of a compression test.

Purpose of this test

Usually, this test is designed to run until the specimen breaks or fails under the specific load. The values that are calculated from this type of test can vary but are not limited to tensile strength, elongation, ultimate strength, modulus of electricity, yield strength, and strain hardening. The measurements taken during the test reveal the characteristics of a material while it is under a tensile load.

Tensile Testing for Plastics

Composites and Plastic are polymers with substances added to improve the performance or reduce costs. Plastic may be pressed or cast or extruded into sheet, film, or fibre reinforced plate, glass, tubes, fibre, bottles and boxes. Thermohardening or thermosetting plastics can be brittle or hard and temperature resistant. Thermosets include polyester resins, epoxy resins, polyurethane, phenolic resins, non-meltable, non-deformable and polyurethane. Polymers and plastics can be tested to measure product quality. The tests measure the weight required to split or break a plastic test material and sample elongation or stretch to that breaking load. The resulting data help to identify product quality and quality control checks for materials.

Plastic testing instruments, universal test machines provide a constant rate of extension because plastic tensile test behaviour is dependent on the speed of the test machine. The specimens loaded on the machines are set as per ASTM, DIN, ISO tensile test specimen dimensions. The Plastic tester machine should always rely on standard terms and conditions. As per ASTM D638, Plastic tensile test standards help to measure strain below 20 percent extension values. High strain can be measured by the machine, digital reader. Thin sheet sample testing is done as per the standard ASTM D882.

A high-quality testing machine is designed to measure the strength of a specific product, test method and product type. A good instrument can be the only solution required for your quality assurance and a worse choice can make you go in the loss too. So choose the instrument smartly.

Plastic Injection Molding In Manufucturing

Injection molding is an essential stage in the manufacturing of many materials that are made from their molten forms. In this process, the raw form of the object to be made are carefully put under high temperatures to melt and then injected into a mold and during the solidification process, the mold takes the desired shape.

Examples of materials that are used in this process are; plastics commonly known as thermoplastic and other polymers, glasses, metals in a process known as die casting and elastomers. Many manufacturing companies carry out this process since it is used in the manufactures of things such as home appliances automotive, parts, among many other daily essential gadgets that we come across.

What sets Injection Molding Manufacturers apart?

Despite such a step being the only way manufacturers get their end product, variations do occur and the following several aspects are the reason this happens.

The best companies always keep up with the technology; this has greatly affected the quality of those that have adamantly refused to embrace it. There are new and faster ways of doing things as opposed to how they used to be done, and therefore quality and customer preference has improved with technology.

Manufacturers require a dedicated team of engineers who design products that are in compliance with the law and those that are self-marketing. This is a huge standard that has widened the gap between different manufacturers.

There is the standard way of doing things such as mixing of the right materials in injection molding plant for one to get the right end product. The cost of these raw materials may be costly but only the best companies will ensure this is not a reason to compromise on their product.

A team of dedicated individuals, this allows minimal supervision and encourages accountability; hence everything is made with the right amount of precision, maintaining a high-quality product.

Manufacturers have always learned to maintain such an impressive portfolio by ensuring they do timely prototyping, lagging at this has consequently affected the performance and the overall rating of any company. Injection molding companies are typically supposed to prototype their product before the actual manufacture to ensure they get the desired product when the process commences.

Conclusion

This crucial process carries the weight when we come to the manufacturing of any product, and thus observing such guidelines as the ones that have enabled companies to scale big heights is encouraged. Take time to research on those that are highly ranked and have gotten accreditations from the manufacturing authorities and have great products in the market.

Developing Innovative Products

Phase 0: Feasibility Analysis

The goal of this phase is to identify existing technology to achieve the intended high-level function. If technology can be purchased as opposed to developed, the scope of subsequent development phases changes.

Simply put, product development companies research and assess the probability that the current technology can be used to reach the intended functionality of the product. By doing this, the development efforts are reduced, which in financial terms represent a great reduction in development costs.

Moreover, if the technology is not yet available, then the assessment can result in longer development cycles and the focus moves into creating the new technology (if humanly possible) that can accomplish the functionality of the product.

This is an important part of the in any product development process because it is safer and financially responsible to understand the constraints that a product can have prior to starting a full development cycle. A feasibility study can cost between 7 -15 thousand dollars. It might be sound very expensive for some, but when it is much better than investing $100k+ to end up with a product that no manufacturer is able to produce.

Phase 1: Specification or PRD (Product Requirements Document) development

If your product is feasible, congratulations! you are a step closer to creating your product and you can move into documenting what is going to go into the product itself, aka the guts (product objective, core components, intended end-user, aesthetics, User interphase, etc).

In this phase, product design and engineering focus on documenting the critical functionality, constraints, and inputs to the design. This is a critical step to keep development focused, identify the high-risk areas, and ensure that scope creep is minimized later.

This document will help you communicate the key features of your product and how they are supposed to work to all members of your team. This will ensure that you keep everyone involved on the same page.

Without one, you are more likely to stay off track and miss deadlines. think about the PRD as your project management breakdown structure (BDS)

Phase 2: Concept Development

Initial shape development work identifies options for form, as well as possible approaches for complex mechanical engineering challenges. Initial flowchart of software/firmware also happens here, as well as concept design level user interface work. Aesthetic prototypes may be included in this Phase, if appropriate. Prototype in this phase will not typically be functional.

Phase 3: Initial Design and Engineering

Based on decisions made at the end a concept development phase, actual product design and engineering programming can start. In this phase, Level 1 prototypes are often used to test approaches to technical challenges.

Phase 4: Design Iteration

This part of the project is where we focus on rapid cycles, quickly developing designs and prototypes, as the depth of engineering work increases. This phase can include Level 2 and 3 prototypes, typically through multiple cycles. Some products require as many as twenty prototype cycles in this phase. Others may only require two or three.

Phase 5: Design Finalization / Optimization

With all assumptions tested and validated, the design can be finalized and then optimized for production. To properly optimize for production, product design and engineering teams take into account the target production volumes, as well as the requirements of the manufacturer. Regulatory work may start in this phase.

Phase 6: Manufacturing Start and Support

Before production starts, tooling is produced, and initial units are inspected. Final changes are negotiated with the manufacturer. Regulatory work also should wrap up in this phase.