Every single mechanical engineer has to study a subject called mechanics. Some call it MOM, some call it SOM, some call it EM. But whatever you may call it, it's always there and it's always the same. This subject tells us how to decide whether our design will fail or not. And it is a very complex subject. And the bad news is, we only study this until we get familiar with the concept of Simulation. Once you start doing simulations, there is no going back. I had a glimpse of simulation very early in my college life, way before it would have according to my syllabus. And then I got myself involved in another project that made me understand simulation to a very great extend. This was the design and manufacturing of HAWT. Basically, we were trying to make a hybrid wind turbine that can produce electricity safely inside a crowded city. And the very first step included the Fluent based simulations. Actually, the first step was a literature review, but yeah you got the point. So, my s...
This was the time when I had understood the design procedure of a product. I had started working with CAD Software. I knew that before manufacturing the product, we need to design the product. And let me tell you one thing: there is no one more interested in making CAD design than a second-year mechanical engineering student who has just understood the software. So, here I was making the design in Fusion 360, having discussions with my teammate, finalizing the dimensions of the project. All this without even understanding what a Press Mechanism is.
Yeah, we didn't study what was meant by a press mechanism and started making a design that will somehow "press" or crush anything placed inside it. We made a beautiful CAD model, showed it to our Professor, who said that we can proceed. Now, this project was to be made in 6 months alongside our studies. So we used to work on it twice every week. Given the absence of CNC machines in our college, this project took us a lot more time than we expected.
And at the time of the final presentation, our professor saw our project and openly warned us to either make a new project in the next 24 hours or give the new project next year (which means a re-appear). I don't have an image of the initial model, but I can tell you what it was: a nut and a threaded rod. Rotate the rod and the nut will crush everything. And yeah It seems so idiotic, but it took us 6 months to manufacture it. So here we were, calling every one of our friends, researching what exactly was a press mechanism. And after 24 hours we came up with this.
Image: CAD Render of the design (Fusion 360)
Anyways, this was our new design. And we had to make it in under 24 hours. So we started by making the design process easier. Every single part was made up of rectangular steel sections. The holes were drilled. The design was optimized to ensure the same thickness of holes and the same thickness of steel sheet throughout the product. This was the final product we made, without the help of any CNC machine in just under 6 hours.
Image: Manufactured prototype.
It seems like a very bad project. But remember, looks are deceptive. This worked amazingly: we were able to cut small plastics using this. And also keep in mind that we made this in under 6 hours without any help from a CNC. That means we had to cut each metal piece by hand, file them by hand, and give them the required finish by hand.
And here's a diagram of what exactly is this with dimensions in actual ratios.
Image: Detailed Diagram.
I don't think any other information is required to understand this project. Basically, this mechanism converted the rotary motion to linear motion with a fast downward motion. This project not only made me understand the importance of CNC but also that it is most important to understand the manufacturing processes before making a CAD design. Also, it helped us see our hidden potential. Actually, every student's hidden potential. We can make just about anything in very little time given the right amount of motivation!
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