Hand Lever Research Articles

Mobile Crane for Workshop

Abstract: In material handling, the cranes play a vital role in modern manufacturing industries. In our project we aim to fabricate a hydraulic operated floor crane for handling various kinds of materials. The hydraulic floor crane consists of mast, boom, base, lift cylinder, hand lever, hook and wheels. The hydraulic cylinder is pumped with the help of hand lever at the same time the material with the help of hook and hydraulic cylinder released to the pressure valve so the material is unloaded. The material from one place goes to the other place with the help of hydraulic floor crane. The crane reduces the worker’s fatigue and increases the overall efficiency of production process with good safety. The crane is fabricated with complete clear front, small compact frame, good reach, high lift. The crane has the capacity of lifting 250kg to half ton with wide spread application in the shop floor. Thus the floor crane would serve as a safe and versatile model for material handling operations.

Smooth Path Planning for Redundant Large-Scale Robots using Measured Reference Points

Assistance systems generating paths for large-scale robots automatically ensure comfort for the operator and save time compared to operation by hand levers. For an industrial use case, a previously saved path with multiple measurement points needs to be replayed on demand in a time efficient fashion. For this purpose, an existing algorithm for smooth path planning is extended by modifications to allow its application to redundant large-scale robots. Due to low computational effort, it is possible to implement the proposed algorithm on the control unit of the system online. The resulting path fulfills the requirement of being continuously differentiable and all actuator limits are respected. A numerical simulation shows the effectiveness of the proposed path planning algorithm. The smooth path of the tool center point position in world coordinates is still very close to the measurements to prevent collisions, but brings the opportunity to save time while reaching for the same target position.

Operations of Knapsack Sprayer and Its Impacts on Physiological Parameters of Selected Operators

The study was aimed at determining the impacts of operating Manually Operated Hand Lever Knapsack Sprayers (MOHLKS) on physiological responses of the operators as dependent on anthropometric variations and sex. Twenty eight subjects, (4 female, 24 male) Mean ± SD: Age 22.5 ± 1.92, 24.29 ± 2.2 years; Body Mass Index 24.6 ± 4.8, 21.7 ± 2.4 kg/m2 were employed in the study. Selected anthropometric parameters of weight and height were used to determine body mass index (BMI), with these are arm-reach forward, elbow to fingertip, hand length and hand width were measured to establish human variations in diversity. Subjects undertook the operation at 5 replicates each, before and after which information about operators’ body pain locations and body physiological changes of heart rates were obtained. Measured parameters were used in the determination of expended energy (EE), physiological cost (PC), oxygen intake (VO2) and aerobic power (VO2max). Alongside with these were operational parameters of stroke, pace and time taken to get the operation done and environmental factors of temperature and relative humidity. The results revealed on the average that the BMI (24.61 ± 4.78 kg/m2) in female operators was higher, this corresponded to PC and VO2, while the VO2max (34.83 ± 3.30 ml/min/kg) in males is higher. More EE was obtained in female subjects (3.53 ± 3.76 kCal/min) as compared to male subjects (3.42 ± 7.48 kCal/min). The main effects plot of operational factors on EE displayed the stroke made by the subjects during spraying operation as parameter with largest effect on EE. Regression equation for EE and PCI is given as PCI = 1.97 + 25.2 EE, while the P-value at α = 0.05 is 0.000 and R2 = 98.8%. Post operational body pain showed that 19 out of 28 subjects incurred at least one type of body pain, with shoulder pain as most frequent. The results of the study suggest that early incidence of fatigue may occur in female operators as compared to the males, and in addition, cumulative trauma at shoulder, back, and upper and lower arm may result over time. Hence, it is recommended that the tank volume should be reduced and the straps for the shoulders should be supported with additional cushion.

Development of a Simple Laboratory Equipment for Determining the Flexural Strength of Light Materials

The search for engineering materials for light weight applications, material conservation, and cost effectiveness necessitated the development of new materials. However, the properties of these materials need to be investigated to ascertain its suitability in its application. Hence, the engineering students need to understand the behaviour of these materials and the methods of investigation. This paper presents the development of a piece of simple laboratory equipment for determining the flexural strength of light materials for student practicals. The development process involves the design and construction of the equipment for carrying out 3-point test on a given specimen. The equipment has various components, such as the pivots, force gauge, gauge holder, rack and pinion gear, hand lever and the frame. The graphics design and simulation were done with solidworks software, version 10. The materials used for the production of these components were selected in line with material selection guidelines and also according to the mathematical designed parameters. The selected materials were locally sourced for cost effectiveness. The construction processes involve basic engineering process like cutting, filling, drilling, welding and surface finishing, at the total cost of 125 USD. After construction, the equipment was used to perform a 3-point test on three different materials (Perspex, Plywood and Particle Board), and flexural strengths of 86.3MPa, 26.62MPa and 21.96MPa respectively were obtained. The equipment is recommended for testing a low ductile material requiring a maximum flexural force of 500N and maximum deflection of 0.1m. Hence, it can be used in high colleges for the study of strength of materials.

Simulation of an electro-hydraulic circuit for ALARS

In this paper, the authors present hydraulic and electro-hydraulic simulations of the circuits needed for ALARS (Automated Launch and Recovery System). In fact, the ALARS is used to launch the side-scan sonar into the sea. First hydraulic circuit has the following devices: tank, filter, fixed displacement pump, check valve, 4/3- way valve with two buttons, throttle valve, pressure relief valve and hand lever valve, tanks reservoir, filter and double acting cylinder (Cy 1-1). Afterwards, second hydraulic circuit has the following devices: pump unit, 4/2-way hand lever valve, throttle valve and two double acting cylinders (Cy 2-1 and Cy 2-2). Forward, the first electro-hydraulic circuit has the following devices: lamp, valve solenoid, pressure relief valve, double acting cylinder (Cy 3-1), throttle valve, 4/2-way solenoid valve, fixed displacement pump, valve displacement pump and tanks. Ultimately, the second electro-hydraulic circuit has the following devices: tank, pump unit, pressure relief valve, double acting cylinders (Cy 4-1 and Cy 4-2), relay, valve solenoid, and lamp.

The use of double-acting cylinders in electro-hydraulic circuit

The paper presents aspects related use of double-acting cylinder. Besides, in the article are presented three hydraulic schemes that double acting cylinder. Meaning, two hydraulic circuits and one electro-hydraulic circuits. First hydraulic schemes has the following devices: fixed displacement pump, air filter, 4/3 way hand lever valve, tanks reservoir, filter and double acting cylinder (Cyli 1-1). However, second hydraulic scheme has the following devices: fixed displacement pump, 4/3 way hand lever valve, check valves, valve office and two double acting cylinders (Cyli 2-1 and Cyli 2-2). Forward, the electro-hydraulic circuit has the following devices: tanks, throttle check valves, 5/2 way hand lever valve, fixed displacement pump, lamp, relays, relay with switch-on delay, valve solenoid and double acting cylinder (Cyli 3-1). The design and simulation of the all three circuits from this article is done FluidSim software from Festo.

Automatic Pneumatic Sheet Metal Feeding and Cutting Machine

Abstract: Today in the rapid competition of the industries to get the best quality of the product in the minimum required time is the main aim of industries. To get the best quality and maximum production most advanced machines are used. But there are no facts that use only the advanced machines, to maintain their performance is real requirement of the industries, also to give proper facilities to the workers with good environmental condition and to reduce their efforts is one of the objects to achieve the best quality and high production. Sheet metal is simply a metal formed into thin and flat pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metal working and can be cut and bent into a variety of different shapes. Countless everyday objects are constructed of the material. Thicknesses can vary significantly, although extremely thin thicknesses are considered foil or leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 in) are considered plate. Sheet metal also has applications in car bodies, airplane wings, medical tables, roofs for buildings (Architectural) and many other things. Sheet metal of iron and other materials with high magnetic permeability, also known as laminated steel cores, has applications in transformers and electric machines. There are three primary procedures in Layout. They are Parallel, Radial, and Triangulation. The major aim to our experiment is to study about pneumatic control system, study about double acting cylinder, study about the advantage of pneumatic hand operated valve and study about high speed blade. We are using scissors for simple sheet metal cutting. It is a manual method so that sheet metals are to be wasted sometimes because of mistakes happened such as wrong dimensions etc., and also even a simple cutting may take long time. We are using a pneumatic system for sheet metal cutting in an easy way. It is operated by a pneumatic hand lever of two ways control valve. Control valve is operated by a compressor. Keywords: Pneumatic, Automation, Sheet Metal, Pneumatic, Valve, Cutting Machine

From Machine to Musical Instrument

Media histories of music often frame technological innovation in the early twentieth century within a general zeal for automated musical reproduction. The engineering efforts of the Aeolian Company and its Pianola counter such narratives by fostering active music-making rather than passive listening. As a pneumatically powered attachment to a piano, the Pianola was initially limited to reproducing strictly mechanical renditions of music from perforated paper rolls. But the invention of the Metrostyle in 1903, a hand lever to achieve tempo-specific effects, significantly refined the musical capacities of the instrument. It allowed for inscribing onto the music rolls authoritative performance instructions that could be enacted by the player. Revisiting the various places that the Metrostyle Pianola inhabited, from the manufacturing site to the concert hall and the bourgeois living room, I illuminate the different sociocultural relationships and musical experiences that it mediates. By relegating certain tasks of conventional piano-playing to the mechanical workings inside the instrument, the Pianola was marketed as facilitating simplified music-making in ever wider parts of society. The Metrostyle annotations served as a pedagogical device for instructing novice players in principles of nuanced and tasteful interpretation. My analysis exposes the reciprocal relationships between the instrument and its human players, from attempts to adapt the physical interface to human physiologies, to the ways in which the instrument, in turn, imposes certain mechanistic affordances on its players.

Automatic idiyaapam maker machine

Idiyaapam Making Machine is used to make the favourite dish of Tamil Nadu idiyaapam automatically. Nowadays, in homes manual hand operated idiyaapam making machines are employed and it has string hopper to extrude idiyaapam flour. It takes more time to make the dish and it is hard to turn the hand lever when the density of rice flour mixture is high. This is an era of automation and needs simple and automatic idiyaapam maker in which it extrudes the flour in the form of strings. In this work, the fabrication of automatic idiyaapam maker is carried and the rice flour would be extruded. Initially the wet flour composition should be fed into the machine and a collecting plate is kept at proper place in which strings are extruded. While the machine gets started, the flour composition is extruded the flour strings are formed. While accumulating strings, the collecting plate should be rotated to avoid overlapping of strings. Whenever the plate is filled up to the required amount, further forming of the strings should be stopped. Then the plate with the flour strings is shifted away from the extruding unit.

Prototyping of manual wheelchair with alternative propulsion system

Aim: This paper presents the study, design and prototyping of a manual wheelchair, named handwheelchair.q, with an innovative propulsion's system. The research is based on a novel system of propulsion that is more efficient and ergonomic than the hand rim one. The main goal of the designed prototype is to facilitate the mobility and to extend the reachable areas while reducing the required time.Methods: The propulsion is realised through a rowing-inspired gesture.Results: This gesture avoids the damages caused on shoulders by the compressive force of the hand rim and lever systems.Conclusion: The prototyping allowed the analysis of the project parameters and their influence on the kinematic characteristics of the prototype and the biomechanical characteristics of the gesture. The same propulsion's system can be adopted on wheelchairs devoted to sport activities, representing the starting point for a future prototype of racing wheelchairs. In this regard, the wheelchair's braking system has been redesigned in order to improve efficiency and safety.Implication for rehabilitationThe use of the Handwheelchair.q may have positive impacts in terms of the quality of life, in order to reduce the shoulder pain caused by the handrim and lever system.In addition, it can be a good tool for rehabilitation because the activity can be performed outdoor.

Knapsack sprayers: effort required for pumping lever operation

ABSTRACT: Various equipment, mainly manual knapsack sprayers, are used to apply agrochemicals by smallholder farmers. They are highlighted by their versatility of use and mainly by their low cost for farmers. Few operator-related studies were reported in the literature regarding the effort required to operate the knapsack sprayer lever. Knapsack sprayers were evaluated regarding the effort required to move their hand levers, reach and maintain the 300 kPa pressure, and return to the initial position. The objective of this study was to evaluate the operator’s effort to operate the hand lever using the “Super magro” biofertilizer as fluid. It was concluded that all knapsack sprayers are within the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) standards regarding the effort required to operate the hand lever. However, restrictions have been reported in some manual knapsack sprayers regarding international standards.

Novel Approach of Implementing Effortless Manoeuvrability in Vehicle for Physically Challenged

Automobile is a comprehensive invention which became a basic need for every human. But some modifications were necessary in automobile design in case of differently abled person. The existing vehicle comprises with usual hand twist acceleration, hand lever braking and handlebar steer control. Conventionally, three wheeled rear axles are used by physically challenged person. If the physically challenged person is about to park his/her vehicle then he/she should get down for moving the vehicle. Hence a reverse drive feature is proposed for vehicle which can help them to move in reverse direction when they are in seating position. In our proposed vehicle, the acceleration can be controlled either by right hand twist accelerator in handlebar or by foot pedal. The acceleration switch determines the working of accelerators. For left hand impairment, they can switch to foot pedal acceleration. Here the rear braking is applied by left hand brake lever or foot brake pedal (to apply rear brake if they are left hand impaired).

Physiological parameters depending on two different types of manual wheelchair propulsion

ABSTRACT Objective. The purpose of this study was to compare aerobic parameters in the multistage field test (MFT) in hand rim wheelchair propulsion and lever wheelchair propulsion. Methods. Twenty-one men performed MFT using two different types of propulsion, i.e., lever and hand rim wheelchair propulsion. The covered distance and physiological variables (oxygen uptake (VO2), minute ventilation (VE), carbon dioxide output (VCO2), respiratory coefficient (RQ), and heart rate (HR)) were observed. Physiological variables were measured with Cosmed K5 system. Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, t-test, Wilcoxon test and effect sizes (ESs) were used to assess differences. Statistical significance was set at p < .05. Results. A significantly longer distance was observed in lever wheelchair propulsion than in hand rim wheelchair propulsion (1,194 and 649 m, respectively). VO2max and RQ were higher in hand rim wheelchair propulsion. All physiological variables for the last (fifth) level of the test in hand rim propulsion were significantly higher than in lever wheelchair propulsion. ES was large for each observed difference. Conclusion. The lever wheelchair propulsion movement is less demanding than hand rim wheelchair propulsion and longer distances can be achieved by the user. There is a need to check lever wheelchair propulsion in different types of field tests.

Design and Fabrication of a Manually Operated Hydraulic Press

The paper presents the development of a manually operated hydraulic press which encompasses the design, fabrication and performance evaluation of the press. The components parts of the machine were designed using various design equations. The design results were used to select materials for various components. The detailed drawing of the developed machine was done using Pro E software. In fabricating the machine, mild steel was used as the locally sourced material. The use of mild steel is due to the fact that its strength, rigidity and machinability falls within the design specifications. Some components of the machine developed include; the frame, cylinder mounting table, press pin, working table/bed, hydraulic tank, and hand lever. Some of the bought out parts include: ram assembly, pressure hose, pressure indicator and hydraulic pump. In evaluating the performance of the machine developed, mild steel plate of length 220 mm, breadth 70 mm and thickness 20 mm was put on the machine working table. This piece of material was bent after pressing the hand lever. The pressure at which bending took place was read to be 50 bar as indicated on the pressure gauge. The machine developed was also used to press a sleeve of internal diameter of 85 mm and external diameter of 89 mm into the cylinder of an engine block at a pressure of 15 bar. The cost of the machine as at the time of fabrication is N398,440.

Design of pneumatic proportional flow valve type 5/3

In this paper the 5/3-way pneumatic, proportional flow valve was designed and made. Stepper linear actuator was used to move the spool. The valve is controlled by the controlled based on a AVR microcontroller. Virtual model of the valve was created in CAD. The real element was made based on a standard 5/3-way manually actuated valve with hand lever, which was dismounted and replaced by linear stepper motor. All the elements was mounted in a specially made housing. The controller consists of microcontroller Atmega16, integrated circuit L293D, display, two potentiometers, three LEDs and six buttons. Series of research was also conducted. Simulation research were performed using CFD by the Flow Simulation addition to SolidWorks. During the experiments the valve characteristics of flow and pressure was determined.

A PROPER MECHANICAL SYSTEM FOR SOWING WHEAT CROP IN SEMI-ARID SOIL

Different mechanized systems were investigated to select the proper machinery system for sowing and grain covering operations of wheat crop in semi-arid soil. The mechanized sowing systems included using the bandwidth distributor (B), and fertilizer spreader (F) machinery techniques. While, the grain covering operations were performed using rotary tiller(R), and chisel plow (P) each followed by lever(L) machinery techniques Measurements of the revealed properties in top soil layer, grown plants characteristic crop yield, the system energy consumptions, , and system cost, were taking into consideration to compare between the tested field treatments. The gained results showed that:- - Applying the bandwidth distributor (B) to perform wheat sowing, and using the rotary tiller followed by a lever to perform grain covering operation revealed lower soil compaction (17.61%) and better soil profile leveling25.26 % lead to increase number of plants(347.60 /m2 and improve grain germination percent (85.95(%) and provided the heights crop grain yield (2.834 ton /fed). -Generally the results indicated that, sowing with fertilizer spreader, and grain covering with . chisel plow followed by lever gave the highest energy value (19.5 kW.h/fed) While lowest consumed energy (8.1 kW.h/fed )with hand broadcast and lever, was performing using rotary tiller followed by lever machinery techniques demolishes the differences in the energy consumed by the sowing system. - Performed grain covering using rotary tiller(R), or chisel plow(P) each followed by lever machinery techniques have high effect on the system cost. But it should be denoted that operation at high speed, and large width will decrease cost per fed, and demolish the cost differences between investigated covering systems.

Inexpensive Digitization of an SEM

Abstract Because of the high cost of Polaroid film, many years ago we fitted our Hitachi S-450 scanning electron microscope with a 35 mm camera. At that time, we used a Pentax ME Super, which was totally manual and had to have the film advanced by a hand lever. This was an annoyance, but when we set up the system, Polaroid Type 55 film was about $2.00 per photo, and the cost of 35 mm spooled in our lab ran about $.10 per photo. When we traded the Hitachi S-450 for the later Hitachi S-570, we moved the 35 mm system to this microscope. About 1999, when the Pentax ZX-50 with motorized film advance became available, we adapted it to the S-570, using the Pentax electric shutter release. The lens used with both of these cameras was an elderly 50 mm screw-mount Pentax Macro lens that focused well on the CRT of the SEM.

Beta oscillations in a large-scale sensorimotor cortical network: directional influences revealed by Granger causality.

Previous studies have shown that synchronized beta frequency (14-30 Hz) oscillations in the primary motor cortex are involved in maintaining steady contractions of contralateral arm and hand muscles. However, little is known about the role of postcentral cortical areas in motor maintenance and their patterns of interaction with motor cortex. We investigated the functional relations of beta-synchronized neuronal assemblies in pre- and postcentral areas of two monkeys as they pressed a hand lever during the wait period of a visual discrimination task. By using power and coherence spectral analysis, we identified a beta-synchronized large-scale network linking pre- and postcentral areas. We then used Granger causality spectra to measure directional influences among recording sites. In both monkeys, strong Granger causal influences were observed from primary somatosensory cortex to both motor cortex and inferior posterior parietal cortex, with the latter area also exerting Granger causal influences on motor cortex. Granger causal influences from motor cortex to postcentral sites, however, were weak in one monkey and not observed in the other. These results are the first, to our knowledge, to demonstrate in awake monkeys that synchronized beta oscillations bind multiple sensorimotor areas into a large-scale network during motor maintenance behavior and carry Granger causal influences from primary somatosensory and inferior posterior parietal cortices to motor cortex.

Shoulder-arm muscle load and performance during control operation in forestry machines: Effects of changing to a new arm rest, lever and boom control system

Three work station design studies in forestry machines were carried out with regard to shoulder/ arm muscle load. (1) In an arm rest study, a movable (in the sagittal plane) arm rest was compared with a fixed one; (2) in a lever study, a mini lever with a small deflection was compared with an ordinary hand lever; (3) in a boom control study, a computer controlled boom system was compared with an ordinary boom system. In the arm rest study eight male subjects carried out lever operations in the laboratory. In the lever and boom studies, 15 male forestry students operated forwarders. Muscle load, cycle time, skill, perceived exertion, heart rate and preferred set up were recorded. The muscle loads on the upper trapezius, infraspinatus, extensor carpi ulnaris and flexor carpi radialis were recorded by electromyography. With mini lever and movable arm rest the upper trapezius load was reduced with preserved or decreased cycle time, although the grand mean of the ‘static’ load level was only about 2% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and the effects of the new designs were small (about 0.7% MVC). The subjects preferred the lever/arm rest also giving the lowest muscle load. No differences between levers or arm rests were found in skill, perceived exertion or heart rate. It was not possible to draw any definitive conclusions regarding effects of the boom control system, due to technical problems. According to the literature, the duration of lever operation has increased considerably in forestry during recent years as part of a rationalization process. Partly due to this, it is suggested that the investigated work station improvements may not be sufficient to eliminate the risk for shoulder-neck disorders.

Lead‐time Models of Business Processes

In recent years, time‐based competition (TBC) has drawn the attention of several practitioners and academicians. Much evidence has been put forward from case studies in order to show the benefits that derive from time compression. Nevertheless, there is a lack of conceptual models and operating tools to support lead‐time reduction. Provides a conceptual framework for modelling the lead time of business processes in order to design effective re‐engineering. Two levels of lead‐time modelling have been identified: an aggregate level, which accounts for the relationships between lead times of different phases of a process, and a detailed one, which allows the mechanisms of lead‐time making to be clearly understood. Reviews existing time models and proposes two new detailed models in order to cope with the growing need for process re‐engineering. Presents these models in terms of time components and composition laws. Suggests a process taxonomy to select the suitable lead‐time models depending on the process characteristics at both the aggregate and detailed level. Finally, shows how detailed models could be used to link lead time to process performances on the one hand and to managerial levers on the other. Thirteen time‐drivers, affecting the lead time of a given process and its basic components, have been identified.