University Project

[jdgrace470]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if I can pick your brains, I have been asked on my course to design (via CAD/sketch/annotation) an enhancement to a tool to improve it or to successfully combine tools to make a better end product. Now - it must be the way my brain works, but I feel that each tool serves a purpose and they are made with specific characteristics in order to serve their purpose in the most effective way - and changing/combining the characteristics will just compromise this..

Therefore I am totally stumped! I'm curious to know if anyone has ever been using a tool and thought, 'I wish my tool could do this' or 'I wish it had this'..

Project spec
It can be from any point of view, such as: Health & safety, increasing productivity and efficiency or physical quality of the tool.. It just can't have already been done yet!
The tool will need to be looked at from different perspectives as I will need to show multiple ways of fixing the issue with the tool.

Example

The example we were given was to add a heat monitor to the front of a drill to display the temperature of the drill bit, you can then make a number of adaptions to the drill i.e different cooling systems to it etc.

I just thought it'd be worth asking the experts - if anyone has a suggestion then it'd be great to hear from you.

Thanks,
John

 

[riclepp]

I would ask aces and eights as he makes tools so might be able to help.

But good luck for the project

 

[powertools]

Thats easy. Looking at from the efficiency aspect I would like all my tools to perform their normal tasks without my input other than putting the project plan on the bench in the morning and collecting the finished item at the end of the day.

 

[bugbear]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if I can pick your brains, I have been asked on my course to design (via CAD/sketch/annotation) an enhancement to a tool to improve it or to successfully combine tools to make a better end product. Now - it must be the way my brain works, but I feel that each tool serves a purpose and they are made with specific characteristics in order to serve their purpose in the most effective way - and changing/combining the characteristics will just compromise this..

Want to see the offspring of the mating of an adjustable spanner with a mole grip?

http://www.tooled-up.com/product/stanle ... 610/10056/

BugBear (I've got one - I don't use it often, but when you need it, you need it).

 

[MIGNAL]

Thats easy. Looking at from the efficiency aspect I would like all my tools to perform their normal tasks without my input other than putting the project plan on the bench in the morning and collecting the finished item at the end of the day.

Already been invented. It's called money. With it you can buy your finished item.

 

[powertools]

I would like a tape measure with like a slow retract so that it dosen't take the top of your finger off as it snaps back or cut your finger as you try to slow it down.
I would like a drill with a light that actually points to the center of the end of the drill bit and not 1" away.
I would like a system for storing power tools that stops the cables from tying themselves together when I am not looking. I could also do with that on my desk for the wires to the computer.
I would also like a small square that has an inbuilt laser that projects across a large panel and therefore has the same usage as a large square.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As far as keeping your cables from tangling, that's been invented already. It's called a cable tie. Just tie them up when you put your tools away.

 

[Fromey]

Lever cap for a hand plane iron. There are two tensioning points; the central screw and actual lever. Why 2 seperate things? It's inefficient. Do away with the lever and have all the tensioning mechanism based on the screw. Your challenge is to design a way to do it. Has to be efficient, simple to manufacture and not impede the tool's function.

 

[CraigyCraigo]

Perhaps look at the use of ceramics as plane irons or ceramic composites for plane irons. Increased hardness equates to increased sharpenability and longevity of the edge! Brittle fracture shall be the enemy here so think it out carefully! You could also look at techniques such as hiping (hot isostatic pressing) for the bodies to finish near net shape and have a more durable body with less potential defects and thus lowering scrap rates due to them breaking the surface during machining! Cost will be an issue here also.

Hopefully one of the above could be of use to you! This was a 5 minute think, if I think of anymore tomorrow I'll post up!

What you studying?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

When I have my brilliant idea, the only people I'm going to tell are the Patent Office.

 

[Fromey]

When I have my brilliant idea, the only people I'm going to tell are the Patent Office.

True. I have an interesting idea about graphene that I'm currently investigating with a prominent UK university. So I'm not going to talk about it here!

 

[jdgrace470]

Thanks for the feedback all. The course I'm on is actually a Building Services Engineering BEng course.. So dealing with industrial plant rooms, HVAC systems, lifts etc at London Southbank University. The spec sheet mentioned many tools used in woodworking hence why I posted it on here

I've come up with a couple of concepts this morning.. Still a pain in the rear as the majority of things have already been put into production, leaving the ideas that are impractical!

 

[Jelly]

I've come up with a couple of concepts this morning.. Still a pain in the rear as the majority of things have already been put into production, leaving the ideas that are impractical!

A 4 sided planer that's compact enough for enthusiastic hobbyists and small commercial businesses, currently the smallest ones are the size of a large chest freezer and even ancient ones change hands for £3500 upwards... by running it off of one biggish motor, minimizing the distance between cutter heads, and using sprung rather than pneumatic pressure shoes for automatic jointing, you could probably get it down to the size of a small cabinet saw, and running on 1 phase supply (though possibly exceeding the 13A that a BS1362 3-pin plug can deal with, requiring a IEC 60309 plug instead)

That's only half the battle though, as you also need to simplify the machine as much as possible, so that it's easily usable and maintainable, which probably means adjusting the rise and fall of the top and offside heads with an accurate handwheel & screw mechanism, with a tensioner on the drive belts to those two heads.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Thanks for the feedback all. The course I'm on is actually a Building Services Engineering BEng course.. So dealing with industrial plant rooms, HVAC systems, lifts etc at London Southbank University. The spec sheet mentioned many tools used in woodworking hence why I posted it on here

I've come up with a couple of concepts this morning.. Still a pain in the rear as the majority of things have already been put into production, leaving the ideas that are impractical!

Isn't that rather like the guy who said about 100yrs ago that everything worth inventing had already been invented?.......or the one who said there was only a need for seven or eight computers in the world?........just a thought..

 

[Jelly]

Thanks for the feedback all. The course I'm on is actually a Building Services Engineering BEng course.. So dealing with industrial plant rooms, HVAC systems, lifts etc at London Southbank University. The spec sheet mentioned many tools used in woodworking hence why I posted it on here

I've come up with a couple of concepts this morning.. Still a pain in the rear as the majority of things have already been put into production, leaving the ideas that are impractical!

Isn't that rather like the guy who said about 100yrs ago that everything worth inventing had already been invented?.......or the one who said there was only a need for seven or eight computers in the world?........just a thought..

Yeah, the problem is that if you sit down to invent something; it's a seemingly impossible task... To innovate, you first need a problem that's either totally unsolved, or has an unsatisfactory solution; by solving the problem, you create the idea to develop into an invention!

 

[kingcreaky]

depends how seriously you take your coursework.

I mean, how about a spoon on the other end of a fork?
or, a built in pencil into a tapemeasure or into a saw?
or a standard electric plug that lights up that can replace any appliance plug to encourage things like drills and saws to be left in the switched off position?
or hoover connected to a bin?
or bottle opener conneted to a cigerette lighter
or a crow bar attached to the end of a hammer

i cold go on all day. so long as you can justify concept I guess anything? but that could just be the way my brain works