Camera Manufacturing Field Trip: Processes and Materials Exploration

1. Camera Lab 5 Manufacturing Field Trip

2. Shutter: Mechanical Flash: Electrical & Mechanical Case: Manufacturing & Materials Camera Systems: Reverse Engineering

3. Shutter: Mechanical Flash: Electrical & Mechanical Case: Manufacturing & Materials Camera Systems: Reverse Engineering

4. Some things to think about, and who might think about them: • Materials (MSE, Chem E) • Processes (ISE, WE, Chem E, ME) • Tooling: molds and dies (ME, ISE) • Production setup and plant layout (ISE)

5. Some questions a designer might ask: • What’s the best material for this part? • Given the best material, how do I form it? • How will my design affect how the part is manufactured? • How does the manufacturing process affect my design? • Can I make this using fewer parts?

6. Some things a manufacturing engineer might think about: • How can I make this component most efficiently? • How can I make it with the least amount of material, energy, and labor? • What manufacturing process is best suited to this component?

7. Today we’ll look at three important manufacturing processes: • Thermoplastic injection molding • is used for almost every part of the camera, except the circuit board, shutter, and springs. • Sheet metal forming • is used to make the shutter, springs, contacts • Machining • is used to make the molds for injection molding, and the dies for metal forming.

8. Injection molding • Injection molding is a widely used process used for forming the groups of polymers known as thermoplastics. • Thermoplastics undergo a physical change during molding, and can be remelted and reused. • The other group of polymers, thermosets, change chemically when processed, and can’t be reused.

9. To form polymer resin into components, we need to: • Bring it to a liquid state • Inject it under high pressure into a mold • Let the resin cool and solidify • Open the mold and eject the part • Close the mold and start again

10. The injection molding machine: • Heats the polymer until it’s liquid • Clamps the mold shut • Injects polymer into the mold cavity • Holds it under pressure until it’s cool enough to retain its shape, and • Ejects the part and starts the process again...

11. The injection molding machine: chemical chemical

12. The injection molding machine:

13. The injection molding machine:

14. If we look at injection pressure vs. time:

15. Some problems: • Filling the mold before the plastic freezes • Designing the mold so that the part can be ejected easily • Designing the part and mold so that we can produce the parts and make a profit.

16. What about the metal parts? • There are several different ways of forming metal: • forging • extruding • drawing (the aluminum can!) • bending • rolling

17. Today, we’ll look at blanking: • Blanking occurs when we punch a hole in a sheet of metal, and keep the piece (blank) that we punch out. • When we punch a hole and “keep the hole”, then the process is called piercing.

18. The blanking process:

19. The piercing process:

20. The punch press:

21. How do we make the tools that form the metal and plastic? By machining: • Milling • Turning • Grinding • Sawing • Electric discharge machining

22. Probably the most important machining process is milling. Milling machines: • Can make a variety of complex shapes • Can machine essentially any material • Can be computer controlled • Are widely used to make molds and dies • Use a rotating cutter to machine a fixed work piece.

23. A CNC vertical milling machine:

24. Machining parameters:

25. What we’ll do today: • Form into supergroups of 12 • Go to Baker Systems 090 (basement) • Your supergroup will move through four different stations: injection molding, sheet metal forming, machining, and fixed-assembly. • See handout for memo discussion questions.