Articulating Jig for Railside Bungalow Roofs
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The sponsor of this project is Modern Manufacturing Limited (MML). MML builds aluminum bungalows that house railway controls and components. The current process that MML uses to assemble and install the roof assemblies of these bungalows has shown to be inefficient and not as ergonomically friendly as they desire. Our team set out to design a new system for assembling and installing these roof assemblies that will not only be easier for the assemblers, but will also improve the safety and comfort. The previous process has the roof assemblies being assembled on stationary stands, requiring the assembler to move around the assembly to gain access to welding points. The previous process also required three to four additional assemblers to assist with the installation of the roof on top of the bungalow assembly, which was done using an existing bridge crane. Our improved design includes a new assembly jig for the roof to facilitate fabrication. This jig has the ability to locate and hold the components required for the roof assembly, and allows for the assemblers to rotate the entire assembly for access where required. Also included in our design is a new jib crane that uses a horizontal trolley to move the entire jig assembly towards and away from the bungalow assembly. The horizontal trolley uses a vertical hoist that is attached to the roof jig to move it vertically and into position for installation on the bungalow. Also attached to the horizontal trolley is a vertical stabilization beam. This vertical stabilization beam uses a vertical trolley to attach the horizontal trolley to the jig assembly. This way when the jig assembly is being moved in the vertical direction it will not sway or rotate, as it would if it were only being lifted by the hoist. The final design uses a W18 X 50I-beam on the main jib crane to which our horizontal trolley is attached. The horizontal trolley uses a W8 X 21 I-beam, as its vertical stabilization beam, and a 6,600lbcapacity hoist to lift the roof jig and roof assembly. The final jig design uses metal “ribs”...