Plastic Sample Cutting System
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Date
2018-12-05
Authors
Poo-Cheong, Dean Tin Vee How
Soni, Harsh
Khattra, Varinder
Reyes, Renz
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Abstract
The goal of this project was to provide Winpak with a solution to cut two different sizes of samples; 8 in x 10 in and 10 cm x 10 cm rectangles for samples of up to 600 microns in thickness. The solution provided would primarily need to be safe, require less force to eliminate physical strain for the operator, be easy to use and reduce the overall cutting time. The team has designed four devices to meet Winpak’s needs. These devices were named 10 cm x 10 cm Portable Cutting Device, 8 in x 10 in Portable Cutting Device, 10 cm x 10 cm, 10 cm by 10 cm Stationary Cutting Device and 8 in by 10 in Stationary Cutting Device. The portable devices are meant to be light and mobile to allow the operators to move them to the desired location with ease. The stationary devices are to be used if the portable devices are in use or out of order. Based on the research findings, there exists a gap between the force that can be applied by the operators at Winpak and the required force to cut the plastic samples to the required sizes. In order to reduce the gap with the operator force required for the portable cutting device the team decided to have blades angled at 4° staggered around the blade frame. The required force to cut the sample was decreased from 2990 lb for a blanking process to 28.07 lb. One of the main features of the two portable devices is the sample press mechanism which prevents the sample from sliding while being cut to reduce inaccuracies. The mechanism also prevents the sample from being stuck in the blade assembly after the cut is made. All four devices include safety guards to protect the user from the sharp edges of the blades. The devices should require minimal training and be easy for the operators to use since it used a similar mechanism to the manual guillotine being currently used in Winpak’s laboratory. The devices were optimized through a preliminary FEA and analytical stress calculations to...