Automated Roll Carousel
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Date
2022-12-07
Authors
Dallarte, JC
Jain, Roshan
Patel, Deval
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Abstract
The client requested engineering students at the University of Manitoba to create a design that automates material changeover during a manufacturing process. Currently, an operator must manually load and unload a roll of fiberglass fabric onto a static rack for processing. The automated design reduces the physical labor required by the operator, lowering safety risks involved with lifting 70 kg rolls of material. This design is called an automated roll carousel due to the structure and functionality of the design. The basic principles of the automated roll carousel involve rotation as a means of transportation of the rolls. An electric motor rotates a circular carousel via a geartrain and a chain. This carousel can hold eight rolls of material and can bring the material from an initial loading position to the correct feeding position for the material processing step. This carousel can then rotate to the next material as required by the operator. Three main factors of the automated roll carousel will be detailed. The structure included all static components and some non-drivetrain rotating components. The structure of the carousel will be detailed in this report, including all analytical and numerical analyses of all components under stress. The alignment and loading mechanism design will be outlined following the structure. The alignment included ways of constraining the roll to the mandrels while allowing for roll size adjustability via alignment cones. Loading the mandrels into the carousel was designed for simplicity and safety, maintaining low physical operator effort. The drivetrain and motor system were designed to be simple, safe, and efficient. The drivetrain has been designed to be compact and have enough power to rotate the entire carousel. As such a 2 HP electric motor was chosen, which was connected to a gearbox with a 1166 speed reduction ratio. This reduces the speed of the motor to 1.25 RPM, which is a safe speed for the carousel to operate at. The motor and gearbox are fully shielded, so there is no safety risk during operation. The gearbox includes a power-off brake that can render the carousel immobile at the press of a button. The operator can rotate the carousel forwards and backwards due to 3 phase power and open loop control. This design was quantified by its deliverables. A CAD model and drawing package were prepared for the client, which they can use to manufacture the carousel should they wish to proceed with the project. A bill of materials was also prepared, to quantify materials required to build the design. Quality engineering rigor was applied to the design, ensuring a quality design. Overall, the automated roll carousel properly meets the automation objective given by the client, reducing operator effort, and leading to a more efficient process.
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Mechanical Engineering