1. Simplify the design and reduce the number of parts because for each part, there is an opportunity for a defective part and an assembly error. The probability of a perfect product goes down exponentially as the number of parts increases. As the number of parts goes up, the total cost of fabricating and assembling the product goes up. Automation becomes more difficult and more expensive when more parts are handled and processed. Costs related to purchasing, stocking, and servicing also go down as the number of parts are reduced. Inventory and work-in-process levels will go down with fewer parts. As the product structure and required operations are simplified, fewer fabrication and assembly steps are required, manufacturing processes can be integrated and leadtimes further reduced. The designer should go through the assembly part by part and evaluate whether the part can be eliminated, combined with another part, or the function can be performed in another way. To determine the theoretical minimum number of parts, ask the following: Does the part move relative to all other moving parts? Must the part absolutely be of a different material from the other parts? Must the part be different to allow possible disassembly?
2. Standardize and use common parts and materials to facilitate design activities, to minimize the amount of inventory in the system, and to standardize handling and assembly operations. Common parts will result in lower inventories, reduced costs and higher quality. Operator learning is simplified and there is a greater opportunity for automation as the result of higher production volumes and operation standardization. Limit exotic or unique components because suppliers are less likely to compete on quality or cost for these components. The classification and retrieval capabilities of product data management (PDM) systems and component supplier management (CSM) systems can be utilized by designers to facilitate retrieval of similar designs and material catalogs or approved parts lists can serve as references for common purchased and stocked parts. 3. Design for ease of fabrication. Select processes compatible with the materials and production volumes. Select materials compatible with production processes and that minimize processing time while meeting functional requirements. Avoid unnecessary part features because they involve extra processing effort and/or more complex tooling. Apply specific guidelines appropriate for the fabrication process such as the following guidelines for machinability:
4. Design within process capabilities and avoid unneeded surface finish requirements. Know the production process capabilities of equipment and establish controlled processes. Avoid unnecessarily tight tolerances that are beyond the natural capability of the manufacturing processes. Otherwise, this will require that parts be inspected or screened for acceptability. Determine when new production process capabilities are needed early to allow sufficient time to determine optimal process parameters and establish a controlled process. Also, avoid tight tolerances on multiple, connected parts. Tolerances on connected parts will "stack-up" making maintenance of overall product tolerance difficult. Design in the center of a component's parameter range to improve reliability and limit the range of variance around the parameter objective. Surface finish requirements likewise may be established based on standard practices and may be applied to interior surfaces resulting in additional costs where these requirements may not be needed. 5. Mistake-proof product design and assembly (poka-yoke) so that the assembly process is unambiguous. Components should be designed so that they can only be assembled in one way; they cannot be reversed. Notches, asymmetrical holes and stops can be used to mistake-proof the assembly process. Design verifiability into the product and its components. For mechanical products, verifiability can be achieved with simple go/no-go tools in the form of notches or natural stopping points. Products should be designed to avoid or simplify adjustments. Electronic products can be designed to contain self-test and/or diagnostic capabilities. Of course, the additional cost of building in diagnostics must be weighed against the advantages. 6. Design for parts orientation and handling to minimize non-value-added manual effort and ambiguity in orienting and merging parts. Basic principles to facilitate parts handling and orienting are:
8. Design for ease of assembly by utilizing simple patterns of movement and minimizing the axes of assembly. Complex orientation and assembly movements in various directions should be avoided. Part features should be provided such as chamfers and tapers. The product's design should enable assembly to begin with a base component with a large relative mass and a low center of gravity upon which other parts are added. Assembly should proceed vertically with other parts added on top and positioned with the aid of gravity. This will minimize the need to re-orient the assembly and reduce the need for temporary fastening and more complex fixturing. A product that is easy to assemble manually will be easily assembled with automation. Assembly that is automated will be more uniform, more reliable, and of a higher quality. 9. Design for efficient joining and fastening. Threaded fasteners (screws, bolts, nuts and washers) are time-consuming to assemble and difficult to automate. Where they must be used, standardize to minimize variety and use fasteners such as self threading screws and captured washers. Consider the use of integral attachment methods (snap-fit). Evaluate other bonding techniques with adhesives. Match fastening techniques to materials, product functional requirements, and disassembly/servicing requirements. 10. Design modular products to facilitate assembly with building block components and subassemblies. This modular or building block design should minimize the number of part or assembly variants early in the manufacturing process while allowing for greater product variation late in the process during final assembly. This approach minimizes the total number of items to be manufactured, thereby reducing inventory and improving quality. Modules can be manufactured and tested before final assembly. The short final assembly leadtime can result in a wide variety of products being made to a customer's order in a short period of time without having to stock a significant level of inventory. Production of standard modules can be leveled and repetitive schedules established. 11. Design for automated production. Automated production involves less flexibility than manual production. The product must be designed in a way that can be more handled with automation. There are two automation approaches: flexible robotic assembly and high speed automated assembly. Considerations with flexible robotic assembly are: design parts to utilize standard gripper and avoid gripper / tool change, use self-locating parts, use simple parts presentation devices, and avoid the need to secure or clamp parts. Considerations with high speed automated assembly are: use a minimum of parts or standard parts for minimum of feeding bowls, etc., use closed parts (no projections, holes or slots) to avoid tangling, consider the potential for multi-axis assembly to speed the assembly cycle time, and use pre-oriented parts. 12. Design printed circuit boards for assembly. With printed circuit boards (PCB's), guidelines include: minimizing component variety, standardizing component packaging, using auto-insertable or placeable components, using a common component orientation and component placement to minimize soldering "shadows", selecting component and trace width that is within the process capability, using appropriate pad and trace configuration and spacing to assure good solder joints and avoid bridging, using standard board and panel sizes, using tooling holes, establishing minimum borders, and avoiding or minimizing adjustments. Elementary Knowledge of Screws Machine screws are extensively used for securing parts. The number of different types and sizes of machine screws, nuts & bolts prohibit the possibility of introducing them all here so the following information addressed the elementary information only. Types of Threads Almost of the thread have triangle shaped threads. On the other hand, square shaped and trapezoid shaped thereads are used moving machinery which need high accuracy, such as a lathe. In respect to thread standards, there are a metric thread (M), a parallel thread for piping (PF), a taper thread for piping (PT), and an unified thread (UNC, UNF). The following information is related metric threads, because they are the most widely used in Japan and many countries around the world. Terms used for Threads Figure 1 shown an image of a thread. One of the most important terms used is that of the outer diameter. In the case of a metric thread, the bolt is named in accordance with its outer diameter e.g a bolt with a 5 mm outer diameter is known as an M5 bolt. The "Pitch" of the tread is another important feature of a thread. The pitch is defined as the interval (distance) between adjoining threads. e.g. Nuts & bolts must have the same pitch as well as diameter if they are going to be used together. The principles of cutting threads in nuts and bolts is that the bolt (male thread) is usually cut from a rod of material which has the same diameter has the intended finished bolt. The nut is made from a larger stock witch has a hole drilled through it that is slightly larger than that of the rod diameter. A thread of the same pitch is then cut which results in two mating threads. The same principles apply for cutting holes in places and other work pieces. (such an in the cylinder discussed earlier.) Screw and Clearance Hole Screws are typically used for securing mating parts. When two pieces are joined together using screws, one piece is made with threads, and another piece is made with clearance holes, which have bigger diameters than that of the screws. If the diameter of the clearance hole is too small, the piece cannot be assembled as the screw will not fit through the hole. Also, if the diameter of the clearance hole is too big, , the piece will be loose as the hole will provide a sloppy fit. Therefore, we must provide make suitable diameter clearace holes. As a "rule of thumb", the diameter of the clearance hole has more 10 % than the diameter of the screw. For examples, the clearance hole for a M3 screw has 3.2 mm or 3.5 mm diameter. the clearance hole for a M4 screw has 4.2 mm or 4.5 of diameter. And we would make a hole with 5.5 mm of diameter for a M5 screw. When we make the male thread, generally we use a die tool. When we make the female thread, we use a tap tool. If we do not have the suitable tools, we can also make the thread using a lathe as described in Chapter 3. Caution When we make the threads using the tap or the die, care should be taken in respect for the following. (1) Start the thread with a perpendicular positioning of the tap or the die. (2) Turn the tap or die in quarter turns and "back off" quarter turns to remove melat chips so that they don't clog the tool. (3) Always use a cutting oil. Figure 5 shows taps which are used to make female threads. They are usually used with a tap handle as shown in Figure 6. In respect to the tread cutting process, we first, we make a hole with suitable diameter and suitable depth (see Table 1). Next, we start to turn the tap in a clockwise direction. There are typically three types of taps used as seen in figure 5. Of the three tap types there is a tapered tap to facilitate the initial thread cutting, an intermediate type that is used to progress the thread after it has been started and then finally, a "Bottoming" thread which is used to obtain the full thread depth when cutting a thread that does not go the whole of the way trough the piece. Taps can be easily broken and if the tap is broken in the work piece, it can be almost impossible to remove. It is therefore, very prudent to take care to ensure that metal chips do not build-up in the tap and also that the tap does not overheat as a result of the cutting process through the use of a cutting lubricant. Recommended Tap Hole Size Table 1 lists diameters of hole sizes for metric female threads and piping threads (PT, PF). Please note that the diameter of the hole equals the approximate difference of the diameter of the thread and the thread pitch. It may be necessary the allow a grater hole clearance if for example we were making a thread in hard stainless steel. Cutting using a Hand Die Figure 8 shows a die and a die handle which are used to make male threads. The procedure of the threading is the same of the taps. But it is more difficult to start the thread cutting process than with tapping as dies do not have an equivalent to a tapered starting tap with perpendicular than the tapping. The thread cutting process using a die usually typically results in a smaller diameter of the original piece so care needs to be taken in selecting the correct size stock. If the stock is too small, this will result in a shallow thread depth resulting in an unsatisfactory thread. The die also created a bevel on the thread which is necessary for a close fit. If you have a lathe, the job of cutting a thread can be easier as it is possible to use the "STOPPED" lathe to assist in starting the thread as shown in figure 9. The die is pushed by the drill chuck aligned perpendicularly to the piece and after. After enough thread is cut, the drill chuck is removed and the die handle is then turned by hand. More on Threads How does the screw make perpendicularly? If the thread needs to be held perpendicular to the piece, then it is important that the thread incorporate a shoulder to act as a "load bearing surface" as depicted in figure 10.The threaded section does not have the mechanical properties necessary to remain perpendicular without such a shoulder. |
AuthorMuthukrishnan Kumarasamy Quote of the dayArchives
December 2013
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