Improve Manufacturing of the 16″ HVF Spring Assembly

2024 ME

The objective of this project is to redesign the 16” spring frame housing and assembly process to allow spring compression within the housing.

Team Members

Joseph Alberta | Cash Balocik | Megan Swantner | David Taylor |

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Project Summary

Overview

The 16-inch High Volume Feeder (HVF) spring assembly consists of two compressed rubber sandwich mounts in a containment housing. The current assembly procedure requires the rubber mounts to be initially compressed into a holding frame and then pressed from the holding frame into a spring containment housing. Moving the springs in the holding frame poses a safety risk to their assemblers, so the rubber sandwich mounts should be compressed within the housing. Additionally, when the rubber sandwich mounts fail, entire assemblies must be shipped to their customers to replace them since the assembly process utilizes a large hydraulic press. To solve these problems, different methods of high force compression were researched and analyzed for viability. A power screw concept was chosen due to its monolithic design that shares many similarities with the current design. FEA simulations, thread calculations, torque calculations, and cost estimations were used to ensure the functionality of this design.

Objectives

The goal of this project was to redesign the 16” HVF spring housing and process to allow for spring replacement in the field with no large equipment. This new process should also increase safety for operators by being performed within the housing.

Approach

  • Met with sponsor to determine specifications for final design
  • Generated 38 unique solution concepts
  • Selected concepts for further analysis and refinement based on weighted criteria
  • Created 3D models of designs
  • Analyzed designs using a combination of hand calculations and Finite Element Analysis
  • Selected final design based on weighted criteria and simulation results
  • Used compression testing to validate design and determine proper spring rate
  • Provided bill of materials and engineering drawings to Eriez for prototype production

Outcomes

  • Adapted housing to compress springs within the spring frame housing
  • Improved worker safety by eliminating the need for partially compressed spring transportation
  • Improved field reparability and ease of maintenance
  • Maintained a similar design to Eriez, ensuring similar vibrational characteristics