Automatic Machine For Sorting Reusable Paperbord

Automatic machine for sorting reusable paperbord

Table of Contents

1. Executive summary

2. Introduction

3. Analisys

3.1. Marketing plan

3.2. SWOT Analisys

3.3. Demand analisys

3.4. Competitor analysis

3.5. Costumer target

4. Idea generation and choosing the solution

4.1. Conceptual design

4.2. Concept selection

4.3. Modular system versus compact system

4.4. Final concept

5. Description of the machine components

5.1. Feeder – Analysis and Calculations

5.2. Conveyor – Analysis and Calculations

5.3. Sorter – Analysis and Calculations

5.4. Frame, bolt connections, weldments and sensors

5.5. Operating principle

6. Economical Evaluation

7. Final Conclusion

8. Bibliography

9. Appendix

Appendix 1 – Project description

Appendix 2 – Process report

Appendix 3 – Feeder module – motor calculations

Appendix 4 – Feeder module – belt calculations

Appendix 5 – Feeder module – friction coefficient

Appendix 6 – Conveyor module – motor calculations

Appendix 7 – Conveyor module – shaft calculations

Appendix 8 – Conveyor module – belt calculations

Appendix 9 – Sorter module – motor calculations

Appendix10 – Bolt connections

Appendix11 – Weldings caculations

Appendix12 – Production flow – times

Appendix13 – Cost estimation

Appendix14 – Technical drawings

Executive summary

Project’s Primary Purpose

The primary objective of this project is to design a sorting machine for reusable paperboard that can be safely and easily used in aluminium can producer and bottling factories.

Cost, maintenance, safety, durability and ease of use are the main criteria taken into consideration, each one of them influencing the design decisions.

It is this project’s hope that the final design, by balancing the above-mentioned criteria, will successfully fulfil the needs of the target group.

Methods used to solve the problem

To answer the questions that the project raised, I focused on key statics, dynamics, machine dimensioning, material science, manufacturing processes, and CAD drawing taught through-out the 7 semesters. An array of internet-based secondary sources was also in my focus for research purposes.

Important Findings and conclusion

From the beginning of the project I had to bear in mind that the sorting machine has to be easily adaptable to the needs of the can producers. I intended to make as little changes as possible to the process of sorting that is done manually at the time I started the project..

I started with the data we had at the time which is that two workers undertake sorting paperboard for 8 hours a day, reaching a result by 18-20 pallets/day.

The next step was to find the best concept for to replace manual labor with an automatic or semiautomatic machine and increase efficiency. I looked at different types of sorting instalations and at the concepts that would best suit my criteria. Different decisions had to be made like: which kind of sorting element the system should use (conveyor, robotic arm or crane), or if the system should be modular or compact. My final choice after using a scorecard with the most important criteria was that my system would be modular and the sorting will be done by a scanner that will transmit the information to a piston which will comand a table to guide the paperboard to the right stock.

From this point on I started with drawings and calculations. Though I have not been able to cover all and my solution can be improved, it is my hope that this project offers the basis in what would become a successfully marketable solution.

Introduction

Nowadays, reusing of the resources is an efficient and affordable alternative to the traditional one that wastes or in the better case recycle them. Furthermore, prices of the expendable supplies have increased in the last few years, which means, in fact, increasing the price of the final product.

Packing industry uses enormous amounts of consumable (paper, cardboard, plastic and other recyclable materials), which can be reused in certain situations. Reusing the resources is beneficial not only ecologically, as well as financially; it's better and cheaper to reuse once or several times, if applicable, the resources that you have already paid for. Big companies are increasingly interested not only in recycling their waste, but in reusing them, if possible.

Working in a factory producing aluminum cans I noticed that this sector – sorting paperboards coming from packaging – can be optimized by replacing the two workers who were sorting paperboards (me being one of them) with an automatic or semi-automatic paperboard sorting machine. The reason I chose this topic is to improve the quality of work and lowering the production costs.

After a survey of the existing offer on the market and structural possibilities I will move on to the machine design itself and its necessary calculations.

Waste sorting is the process of separating and classifying waste according to differences between their physical characteristics.

In principle there are several types of waste sorting (dimensional sorting, densitometric sorting, optical sorting, magnetic sorting, flotation and manual sorting) and refers to mixed waste and sort them by categories: paper, glass, plastic, metal.

However this project focuses on:

a single type of waste : paper waste sorting;

a particular case: paperboard coming from packaging aluminum cans.

a particular type of sorting: qualitative sorting of paperboard in order to be reused in the same process.

Sorting of recyclable materials in order return it in economical circuit and reducing the amount of waste delivered to landfills, is one of the new strategies based on the principles of sustainable development. As the amount of waste delivered to landfills is lower the lower the costs, on the other hand sorting recyclable materials (cardboard, paper, foil, etc.) represent a substantial source of profit.

By their specific, waste sorting installations design is unique, and depends on:

available budget

available space

degree of automation desired

Sorting installations are complex systems that are placed, as appropriate, in the sector for recovery of materials for recycling them.

Sorting installations are designed and dimensioned according to the area in which they are used, the type of waste, the area available and the financial resources of contractors. A sorting installation is composed, as appropriate, of the following categories of machines and equipment: sorting cabins, sorting sieves, horizontal or inclined conveyors with rubber mat or chain, special lanes equipped with magnetic separators or electromagnetic reels for extraction of ferrous and nonferrous metals (Al, Cu, Ag) precontainers and containers, air filtration and ventilation equipment, etc.

Analisys

Marketing plan

For now on, I will take in consideration only the aluminium cans factory case because I was working there and I know how the process of sorting the paperboard is developed in present. I think my machine could add a big improvement in eficiency.

In the aluminium cans producing factory, for transportation to the bottling factories, the cans are packaged in layers of approximately 290 cans, each layer separated by paperboard (size 1345 mm X 1195 mm).

It is used a significant amount of paperboard as a support and protection for the layers of aluminum cans for transport to bottling factories. Packaging is done automatically and over every row of doses is placed a sheet of paperboard.

This paper is collected when unpacking of the aluminum cans pallets to the bottling factories and send it back to producing aluminum cans factory along with the empty pallets. The paper is arranged on pallets, but unsorted, sorting being done manually in the producing aluminum cans factory.

Because working in a sterile environment, packaging paper used must also meet the quality conditions, so sorting is done manually, each piece is controlled in part after footprints, holes, any torn edges, dust and other debris.

Paperboards are brought ​​from bottling factories in pallets of approximately 350-400 sheets per pallet. The worker is standing, has the pallet in front, and sorts the sheets as follows:

take a paperboard sheet, followed by a visual inspection (to put away those with holes, or marks, or broken edges), if is bad he put it directly to the bad stack, otherwise

turn the sheet, in that way he get rid of dust and other debris, then another visual inspection and if is good goes in good stack, if is bad goes to bad stack.

Good and bad pallets are placed on both sides of the pallet that need to be sorted.

The cans producer company uses 2 people for sorting the reusable paperboard, 7 days a week, 8 hours a day. On average, they are sorting 16 to 20 pallets in 8 hours. This operation is repetitive; the worker does the same thing for 8 hours which is not so exciting and standing on your feet which, on long term is not so healthy.

My project goal is to design an automatic machine for sorting the paperboard, which can replace the human work, icrease the eficiency to 30 pallets in 8 hours and be adjustable to a wide range of paperboard sheets.

SWOT Analisys

Table 1 SWOT Analisys

Demand analisys

I took into account the current context oriented recycling and personal experience of working in a factory producing aluminum cans. I observed that although the market there are various waste sorting systems, that systems are sorting in general the household waste, putting them into categories for recycling, rather than reuse.

A man who sorts paper work for 8 hours, it is repetitive, monotonous and tiring long term and could be easily replaced or relieved by using an automatic sorting machine.

So for this particular case, I noticed a need for a specific machine, and I thought I could use the opportunity to study more closely the issue in my final project.

Competitor analysis

Identifying/knowing competitors in the market is vital for any product or campany. Having fewer competitors on the market contributes to higher profit, better chance to create unique value for the product thus greater market share, etc. The frequent questions that need to be enlightened are: who are the competitors, what threats do they pose, their objectives, etc.

After making thorough researches it was concluded that at this moment on the market I can not find a product with the necessary caracteristics; a machine which make an automatic sorting of paper by taking in consideration the quality of the paper sorting it in 2 stacks :

paperboard with zero defects, which can be reused for packaging

paperboard with defects, which can be sent for recycling.

Thus it can be concluded that there are no rivals to face when entering the market.

Furthermore, by making researches and by observation, it was assumed that there are no barriers to face when entering on the market with a sorting paper machine. The reasons for low entry barrier are, among other things, number of suppliers for the components of the machine. Meaning, in order to build the sorting machine, it is not necessary to produce the components as there are countless suppliers on the market who can provide them. Many suppliers give consumers the opportunity to choose between suppliers which results in having fierce competition on the market which basically is correlated to low prices. Normally, when such a product well received in the market, there will always be some who steal the principle, improve it and marketing it.

Costumer target

The analysis of the consumer assesses the customer segments this machine can serves. When the ideea of the project cames in my mind, I had already identified my target customers, conveyed their needs and thought how this product might satisfy these needs.

For the beginning my target customers would be:

producing aluminum cans factories

bottling factories.

Both types of factories i, which can be sent for recycling.

Thus it can be concluded that there are no rivals to face when entering the market.

Furthermore, by making researches and by observation, it was assumed that there are no barriers to face when entering on the market with a sorting paper machine. The reasons for low entry barrier are, among other things, number of suppliers for the components of the machine. Meaning, in order to build the sorting machine, it is not necessary to produce the components as there are countless suppliers on the market who can provide them. Many suppliers give consumers the opportunity to choose between suppliers which results in having fierce competition on the market which basically is correlated to low prices. Normally, when such a product well received in the market, there will always be some who steal the principle, improve it and marketing it.

Costumer target

The analysis of the consumer assesses the customer segments this machine can serves. When the ideea of the project cames in my mind, I had already identified my target customers, conveyed their needs and thought how this product might satisfy these needs.

For the beginning my target customers would be:

producing aluminum cans factories

bottling factories.

Both types of factories it would have advantages using sorting technology proposed by me advantages which mainly consists of:

increase efficiency

contribute to a greener solution

time savings

cost savings

I have also to make a choice considering that:

if the user of the machine will be a bottling factory, I have to adjust the speed of the machine to the production speed that they already have and

if the user of the machine will be a cans factory, the speed of my machine can vary from the speed that is in use right now, I mean 20 pallets in 8 hour, to double or triple this speed. I can’t go very fast because I will not have so many pallets to sort and also is becoming very difficult to have and maintain a high speed.

My choice is to sort 30 pallets in 8 hour, in cans factory, with possibilities to adjust my speed if my machine works in bottling factories.

Idea generation and choosing the solution

To find out ideas to develop the equipment I am going to design I decide to use some methods which are intended to help stimulate creative thinking. They work increasing the flow of ideas by removing the mental blocks that inhibit creativity.

Brainstorming

I spend a few minutes writing first ideas that come into my head.

crane

conveyor

robotic arm

air system

sensors

chemical

optical

hydraulic

pneumatic

mechanical

Morphological chart method

I define this main possible solution for my machine and I choose to follow the path from table below : conveyor – air – sensors – hydraulic.

Table 2 Morphological chart

Conceptual design

In order to find the most suitable concept for the sorting paperboard machine, certain goals, constraints and criteria had to be set.

Fig. 1

Concept 1 – Crane

This is a system that uses a crane to sort the paper. The sorting process is started with the scanning to find out is the paperboard is good enough, after that the crane takes the paperboard with four suction cups and move further to good or bad stack.

Cleaning take place somewhere between.

The crane is installed over the pallet.

Advantages:

ease to handling,

cheap

Disadvantages:

require lot of space,

hard to install

Fig. 2 Crane

Concept 2 – Conveyor

This system use 2 rollers for taking the paperboard from the pallet and moving further to a conveyor where the paperboard is cleaned and scanned. Further, the paperboard is sorted and put in good or bad stack.

Advantages:

cheap,

ease to install

Disadvantages:

require lot of space,

a lot of moving parts

Fig. 3 Conveyor

Concept 3 – Robotic arm

This solution take in consideration the using of a robotic arm which takes the paperboard through four suction cups.

Before this action the paperboard is cleaned and scanned on one side where those four suction cup will touch the paperboard.

After that is cleaned and scanned on the other side and put it in bad or good stack.

Advantages:

possibilities for automatization,

ease to fit in small spaces

Disadvantages:

high safety requirements,

very expensive

Fig. 4 Robotic arm

Concept selection

To complete the convergent process of idea generation I started with requirements analysis, by choosing the criteria.

A criteria is the driver for the customer choice. Criteria give the possibility to classify the ideas in order of their goodness so they are used to assess the quality and suitability of the ideas.

For doing that it is used the decision matrix method. It is decided on a grading scale where points are given to each idea/criterion; it is given different percentages to different criteria, depending on their importance for the customers. The sum of these marks must be 100%. After that, for each idea, it is given a grade (from 1 to 5), that represents how much the idea respects the criteria. The mark is multiplied by the percentage and after that, all the results are sum for each idea. In the last column of this matrix is found the rank which goes from 1 to 10 according to the number of ideas on the decision matrix. The best ideas will be the ones with the highest total mark therefore, the first in the rank.

The selected criteria concerning equipment are:

Selection criteria:

Installation: the product should be easy to install

Ease of use: the man intervention in operating the machine should be as little as possible.

Ease of manufacture: it should be easy to make

Maintainability: the machine must be easy to clean and to fix.

Price: my product should be as inexpensive as possible, as it is intended to replace the manual work

Safety: any possible dangers should be taken into consideration and the design should prevent or minimize their occurrence

Reliability: the design should be as reliable as possible through simplicity, as too complicated systems are more prone to malfunction than the easy ones.

Grade from 1 to 5, 1 = low

Table 3 Decision matrix

Modular system versus compact system

After designing, the machine can be used anywhere it needs or can be sell to companies.

I can see two different locations to implement this project, resulting in two different approach:

Cans factories: The cans factories can use the machine for sorting the paperboard that is sent back from the bottling factories after the transportation. If the machine will be use in cans factories I have to take in consideration that in front of the machine will stand a pallet with paperboard, which weights around 350-400 kg and this pallet needs to be lifted up to the feeder so the paperboard sheets can be tacked one by one. Results that I will need a system which lift up the pallet when is full and put it down on the ground when is empty.

Bottling factories: The bottling factories can use the machine for sorting the paperboard that came from the packaged cans. In that case there is no need for the lifting or descending system because the machine stands in the beginning of the production line and the paperboard will come directly. In exchange it will be necessary another conveyor to take the paperboard directly from the place where the pallets with cans are unpacked and transported to the feeder.

Because of these two different scenarios I have taken into consideration the possibility to choose between a modular either a compact model of the machine.

Using a modular system is very useful for selling this machine to different factories (cans either bottling) because being modular the machine could be adjusted on specific customer needs.

On the other hand a compact system is easier to build because the same model of the machine it's produced all the time and a serial production is cheaper that a production adapted on customer needs.

I choose modular system thinking that more flexibility will invite the customers to help in designing their own machine, considering their specific needs, prices and space adaptability. See appendix xxx

Final concept

After study of morphological chart and decision matrix, I choose to make my machine as follow:

A feeder will take the paperboard one by one from the pallet with two rollers driven by the same shaft and push it further in the guidance; further, the paperboard will pass trough a vacuum cleaner which will aspire the dust from the surface of the paper; if is necessary, (depending where the machine will be placed) a lifting table will be added under the paperboard pallet which will lift the pallet with 500 mm in 16 minutes.

A conveyor will takes the paperboard from the guidance by two rollers and drive further to a 2nd conveyor; after the rollers, two sensors which will scan the surface after defects. In the moment the paperboard touch the 2nd conveyor it will be clean and we will know if is good or bad.

A sorter will make the separation between good and bad paperboard and send it to the right stock. The sorter is actually a table, which is lifted up by a piston activated trough the signal from the scaner.

From the dates I have, we know that, the can producing company uses 2 people for sorting the reusable paperboard, 7 days a week, 8 hours a day. On average, they sorted 20 pallets in 8 hours.

I set a goal that it will be acceptable if my machine will sort 30 pallets in 8 hour using just one man for feeding and take out the pallets.

Fig. 5 Schematic view

Description of the machine components

The assembly is composed of several components starting with a subassembly which takes the paperboard from the stack piece by piece and send it further to be cleaned (Feeder); the following subassembly is the one that analyses and transport the paperboard (Conveyor) to the end of the line where the paperboard is sent in the good or the bad stack (Sorter).

Feeder – Analysis and Calculations

Feeder module has the function to take the paperboard, to clean it and push it forward to the Conveyor module.

The feeder system is composing mainly by four parts:

a mobile frame with a turning shaft; on the shaft I have mounted 2 rubber rollers that takes the paperboard using the friction force (rubber with high friction coefficient – Lintex);

an automatic lifting table will be added in front of the feeder; this will lift the pallet to a proper high in order that the paperboard to be accessible for the feeder;

a guidance which guide the paperboard forward on the right direction;

a vacuum cleaner with 2 suction blades mounted right after guidance for aspiring the dust from the both surfaces of the paperboard.

Frame

The mobile frame is composed by a frame with a turning shaft, which lies on the paperboard stack on the pallet and using the friction force, to take the paperboard, one by one and send it further. The turning shaft has two rubber rollers and it’s operated by a 90 W gear motor.

The automatic lifting table has to lift the pallet 500 mm in 16 minutes(this is the time needed by the feeder to empty a pallet).

The guidance is a table of 2 mm thickness, shaped in a truncated cone, for guiding the paperboard forward.

Cleaner

For cleaning the dust from the surface of the paperboard is using a vacuum cleaner, which has two blades placed after the guidance. The blades are placed above and underneath the paperboard, covering in this way the whole surface of the paperboard that need to be cleaned.

Fig. 6 Feeder module

Motor

I started analyzing the speed needed for the feeder: how fast do I want the feeder system to move? A preliminary value for the angular velocity is calculated out from the idea that I want to sort 30 pallets in 8 hours; which gives me the time needed to sort one paperboard:

If I use a shaft of 30 mm diameter with rubber roller mounted on (95 mm diameter), I need 14 revolutions in one paperboard length which gives me the velocity of the rollers and shaft.

Further, based on this speed, I calculated everything else for my system.

Because I don’t want to push very hard on the mobile frame I use high friction coefficient rubber, for the roller mounted on turning shaft.

I will use a motor with gearhead (reduction ratio 30:1) from Panasonic Motors with following parameters:

Shaft

For transmitting the rotation from motor to the shaft I use belt and pulley dimensioned to increase the speed from 45,833 rpm to 48,741 rpm which I need.

For the turning shaft I use a diameter of 30 mm which sustain the stress due to torque force.

Lifting table

The lifting table will be bought from a supplier (Shree Balaad Handling Works) taking in consideration that it needs to lift the pallet which weight ca. 457 kg with a course of 500 mm in 16 minutes (this is the time needed by the feeder to empty a pallet). When the pallet is empty, the table will go down and a worker will replace it and start the system again.

Fig 7 Lifting table

Cleaner

The vacuum cleaner will be bought from a supplier (Nilfisk) taking in consideration that it needs to have two blades with width of 1200 mm.

Fig 8 Industrial vacuum cleaner

Conclusion

In conclusion, the feeder system it will work as follow:

the worker will load the pallet on the lifting table and he will start the machine.

first it will start the lifting table and then with a delay of 1.5 seconds the feeder module and vacuum cleaner.

the feeder it will run in cycles of 1 second run – 1,7 seconds stand by, in this way I avoid congestion in guidance.

when the pallet is empty the feeder stop, the lifting table goes down and a warning lamp light up.

For more details see Appendix 3, 4 and 5.

Conveyor – Analysis and Calculations

The conveyor system function is to take the paperboard, scan it and transport it forward to the sorter. The conveyor is composed by three parts:

two rollers, rotating in opposite directions, which take the paperboard,

two fixed-position scanner, placed after the rollers, above and underneath paperboard for analyzing the quality of the paperboard,

a conveyor to transport the paperboard to the sorter.

Conveyor

The conveyor will work with one geared motor of 90 W, which turn the two shafts, one of each ends. The conveyor’s driving shaft operates also one of the rollers through pulley and belt, which operate the second roller through spur gear. The two rollers are moving in opposite directions due to two spur gears pushing the paperboard to the conveyor.

Fig. 9 Conveyor module

Motor

I start my calculations with the time needed to sort one paperboard:

I use a shaft of 30 mm diameter with rubber roller mounted on (95 mm diameter), which gives me the velocity of the conveyor belt:

After that, all the velocities in the system, both angular and linear, were found. I will use a gear motor (reduction ratio 50:1) from Panasonic Motors with following parameters:

For transmitting the rotation from motor to shaft I use belt and pulley dimensioned to increase the speed from 28 rpm to 34,861 rpm which I need.

Shaft

The driven shaft of conveyor transmitted the rotation to rollers through belt and pulley, mounted on the other end of the shaft.

For having an opposite rotation for rollers I use two spur gear of 49 teeth.

For turning shaft I use a diameter of 30 mm which sustain the stress due to torque force.

Fig. 10 Shaft

This shaft is the most stress of the whole system due to forces acting on it, and therefore I took it as a reference, so all shafts are the same size. For more details see Appendix 7.

Scanners

Two fixed-position scanner, are placed after the rollers and have the function to analyze and find the defects. It is actually an industrial 2D laser scanner used to identify the defects (holes, marks, broken edges) on the paperboards sheets. Once the defect was identified a signal will be sent to a cylinder which will command the sorter table to move in the needed position.

The scanner will be bought from a supplier (RIEGL) taking in consideration that it needs to cover an width of 1200 mm

.

Fig. 11 Scanner

Conclusion

In conclusion, the feeder system it will work as follow:

The paperboard which is clean coming from Feeder module is taking by two rollers moving in opposite direction.

The paperboard is going through scanners placed above and underneath. The scanners will give the signal to the sorter table, if the paperboard is good or bad.

After that the paperboard is going on the conveyor to the next module.

For more details see Appendix 6,7 and 8.

Sorter – Analysis and Calculations

The sorter system has the function to sort the paperboard, and is composed by two parts:

a table which is commanded by a cylinder to move up or down guiding the paperboard to go down in the bad stock if is bad or go further on the next conveyor,

a 2nd conveyor which transport good paperboard to the good stock.

Sorting table

The sorting table is placed between the 1st conveyor and the 2nd conveyor and through the information received from scanners it’s moving according to the needs. The system is very simple: a table operated by a small piston which, by changing position, directs the paperboard to the proper pallet: A (good paperboard) or B (bad paperboard). Considering that most paperboards are in good condition and will therefore get into the pallet A, the basic position of the table is horizontally, aligned with the conveyors, allowing passage from the 1st conveyor to the 2nd conveyor. When the piston will receive a signal that the paperboard is bad, the table will lift up, letting the paperboard to fall down, under the table, in the pallet B.

Fig. 12 Sorter module

2nd Conveyor

For the 2nd conveyor I use the same 30 mm diameter shaft with rubber roller mounted on (95 mm) and I have also the same velocity for conveyor belt:

Motor

I will use a gear motor (reduction ratio 50:1) from Panasonic Motors with following parameters:

For transmitting the rotation from motor to shaft I use belt and pulley dimensioned to increase the speed from 27 rpm to 34,861 rpm which I need.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the sorter system it will work as follow:

as soon as the sorting table has received the signal from scanners, it will move up or down, depends if the paperboard is good or bad.

if the signal sent the paperboard is bad is going down to a pallet; if is good is going further to another conveyor to the good pallet.

When pallets are reaching a certain high a sensor turn a warning lamp light.

The worker will take the full pallet and put another empty one,.

For more details see Appendix 9.

Frame, bolt connections, weldments and sensors

For frame I will use square profile ISO 20x20x2 with filett welds between them throat thickness of 2 mm.

Bolt connections are made by countersunk screw ISO 2009-M6x35 with hex nut DIN 439-M6; bolt class 4,6.

The sensors will be bought from a supplier ( RIEGL) and it is a distance laser sensor.

For more details see Appendix 10 and 11.

Operating principle

In conclusion my machine will function as follow:

A worker will load the pallet on the lifting table and starts the process.

The Feeder module is starting its cycle of 1 second, run and 1.7 seconds and goes in stand by for feeder rollers. The paperboard sheets will be taken from the pallet one by one with a delay between them of 1.7 seconds. When the pallet is empty, the warning lamp is turn on and the lifting table is going down for another pallet.

The paperboard goes further to the guidance and to the rollers from Conveyor module. Between the guidance and the rollers are the vacuum cleaner blades which remove all the dust and debris. Next, after passing the rollers from Conveyor module the paperboard goes through the two laser scanners that inspect if the paperboard is good or bad, and further to the conveyor. In this point the paperboard is clean and I know if is good or bad. Depends of the laser scanners readings (bad or good paperboard) the sorting table from Sorter module will move to the correspondent position (down if paperboard is good or up if paperboard is bad; the default position for the table is horizontal, in line with conveyors). The paperboard will goes to the god or bad pallet.

When one of the pallet reach a certain height, a distance a laser sensor will activate and light up the correspondent lamp (bad paperboard – Conveyor module lamp; good paperboard -Sorter module lamp).

The time between two loads will be 16 minutes, so during the process the worker will have time to unload and replace the empty pallets.

From study of production flow, I re-calculate the number of pallets which my machine can sort in one shift of 8 hours, and is 24 instead of 30 which was my initial target.

In the end, if I use my machine, with just one worker, I will be capable to sort 24 pallets compare with 20 that can sort 2 people. It’s seems that is not such a good improvement, so further I will make some economical evaluation.

For more details see Appendix 12.

Economical Evaluation

I start my economical evaluation with cost estimation for my machine which includes all the equipment’s used for producing the machine: motors, laser scanners, sensors, vacuum cleaner, conveyor, frame, lifting table and the production cost.

The resulting cost of machine is 35.200 krone.

After that I make the assumption that the company gain, in this case, comes from the amount of sorted paperboard minus expenses to sort them. The company don’t need to buy new paperboard every time, just sort the existing ones and refresh the paperboard stock.

I will do my calculation for one day (8 hours shift).

Right now they use two workers which sort 20 pallets in 8 hours; =>7.000 paperboard sheets.

This 7.000 paperboard sheets is a cost reduction for the company of 23.339 krone because they don’t have to buy this amount of paperboard.

Expenses for sorting them, including wages, transportation and reusable paper cost are 11.870 krone.

So the company saves: 23.339 krone -11.870 krone = 11.469 krone.

If they use my automatic machine after 8 hours results 8.400 paperboard sheets sorted.

This means a cost reduction of 28.006 krone.

Expenses in this case are 12.233 krone.

The company saves: 28.006 krone – 12.233 krone = 15.773 krone.

In percentage the company savings, only for paperboard, is increasing with 32%;

In other words the company acquisition of paperboard will decreas with 32%.

Time needed to cover the investment (machine cost) it will be 8.1 days.

For more details see Appendix 13

In conclusion, I believe that my machine brings an improvement in the efficiency of the sorting process. Even if my project does not come with a revolutionary new idea, since sorting paper is already used, at least I can say that that automating the process of sorting proposed by me contribute to streamline the process with a minimum investment which is quickly recoverable.

Final Conclusion

At the beginning of this project, it came to my mind some question about how to solve those problems which this project had as purpose.

After finishing a process for carrying out my project I can answer to some of the questions I had.

What type of technologies should I have in mind to study, select and implement in the project? After some methods to stimulate ideas (Decision Matrix and Morphological Chart Method) I concluded in designing a modular machine with a feeder module, a conveyor module and a sorter module, which can be adapted to the necessities.

What kind of sensors should I use? I will use distance laser sensors.

What kind of materials should I use? For the frame I used metal square profile ISO 20x20x2 with filett welds between them, throat thickness of 2 mm.

Which will be the material, engineering and manufacturing costs? From the cost estimation result that my machine will cost ca. 35.200 kr

What can be done in order to decrease as much as possible the sorting errors of the machine? Using the hight quality fixed-position scanner

How will I dimension the system? Depending of paperboard measurements, stress calculations, and available space.

Should I focus on cheapest (simplest) solution or just on designing a really efficient machine? Which is the optimum solution? The solution chosen seams a good choice since is not very expensive and is ease to produce.

Talking about the project I have came to a conclusion. My studies and work experience in this field have helped me to get closer to a possible solution in this project, but to have been an excellent project I would have needed to spend more time researching information and studying applicable methods. Otherwise I think that my project reflects in a certain way that even thou I was just one person working at this, it was possible to reach my goal.

I believe, that it it would be easier to work in a team, because a team provides multiple perspectives on how can make a project, or how a goal can be reached by formulating many alternatives for each situation.

Working alone can be sometimes frustrating due to the different situations that emerge in day to day work: when can be difficult to always to stay focus on the objectives that need to perform and can be lost in details, or when you need to an putt effort to come with innovative ideas.

Focusing on the experience of a project done alone, I believe that it has been an good experience, because I have proved that, despite the difficulties and lack of support of a team I can do a good job by myself, without any help, that I can structure my activities and organize my time and resources to achieve satisfactory results.

For all this we think that the experience has worth it to help me grow as person, improve in labour and personal aspect.

.

Bibliography

1. Cross, Nigel. Engineering Design Methods – Strategies for product design. 4th edition.

2. Hibbeler, R.C. Engineering Mechanics Dynamics. 11th Edition in SI Units.

3. Norton, Robert L. Machine Design. 4th Edition.

4. Peder Klit, Knud Casper & Niels L. Pedersen. Machine Elements. 1st Edition.

5. Fischer, Ulrich mfl. Mechanical and Metal Trades’ Handbook. 1st English edition.

6. Hibbeler, R.C. Mechanics of Materials. 7th Edition in SI Units.

7. Waguespack, Curtis. Mastering Autodesk Inventor 2013 and Autodesk Inventor LT 2013.

8. Kalpakjian, Serope. Manufacturing Processes for Engineering Materials. 5th Edition in SI Units.

9. Hibbeler, R.C. Engineering Mechanics Statics. 12th Edition in SI units.

10. http://www.contitech.de/. [Online]

11. http://www.hydraulicliftingequipment.com/scissor-lift-table.html#portable-scissor-lift-table. [Online]

12. http://industrial.panasonic.com/ . [Online]

13. http://www.riegl.com/products/industrial-scanning/. [Online]

14. http://industrial.panasonic.com/ww/i_e/25000/fa_pro_sgeard_shing1_e/fa_pro_sgeard_shing1_e/ctlg_geared_e_13.pdf. [Online]

Appendix

Appendix 1 – Project description

Background description

Nowadays, reuse of the resources is an efficient and affordable alternative to the traditional one that waste or in the better case recycle them. Furthermore, prices of the expendable supplies have increased in the last few years, which mean, in fact, the increase of the price of the final product.

Packing industry uses enormous amounts of consumable (paper, cardboard, plastic and other recyclable materials), which can be reused in certain situations. Reusing of resources is beneficial not only ecologically, as well as financial; it's better and cheaper to reuse once or several times, if applicable, the resources that you have already paid for. Big companies are increasingly interested not only in recycling their waste, but in reusing them, if possible. One clear case is the aluminium cans producing industry.

During my student years I was temporary working for an agency from Horsens. Among other jobs I was sorting reusable paperboard for a company that is producing aluminium cans for breweries and beverage industry. For transportation from the company to the bottling factories, the cans were packaged in layers of approximately 290 cans, each layer separated by paperboard (size 1345 mm X 1195 mm). On each pallet were approximate 21 layers of cans. After that, the paperboards were collected and sent back to the cans producer company, but before they could be used again was necessary to be sorted (to put away those with holes, or marks, or broken edges). The company used 2 people for sorting the reusable paperboard, 7 days a week, 8 hours a day. On average, they sorted 20 pallets in 8 hours.

The job generally consisted in sorting paper according to its state, if it was good re-use, recycle if it was bad. It was a tedious monotonous work and more suitable for an automatic machine. So that’s how the idea of this project came.

Purpose

The project focuses on designing an automatic machine which can replace the manual work and also to streamline the production process, being smart enough to be able to replace human decisions regarding the quality of paper. Therefore, I will try to design an efficient, smart and reliable machine.

Problem formulation

For the challenge of designing an efficient machine, I have propounded some questions so I can have a look on them and be able to answer the main question of the project: how to reach the goal of designing an efficient machine?

Some of the questions to ask are the following:

What type of technologies should I have in mind to study, select and implement in the project?

What kind of sensors should I use?

What kind of materials should I use?

Which will be the material, engineering and manufacturing costs?

What can be done in order to decrease as much as possible the sorting errors of the machine?

How will I dimension the system?

Should I focus on cheapest (simplest) solution or just on designing a really efficient machine? Which is the optimum solution?

These are some of the expected problems that I must face in order to solve the project.

Delimitations

This project is not going to focus on the use of advanced technologies, that is to say, I am going to work with common technology available in the market and at everyone’s hand at the time of making the different installations. I will not study the in-depth market research, promotion, price and maintenance, so, I will work at the designing and calculating of the system.

After designing, the machine can be used anywhere it needs or can be sell to the companies.

The machine that I will design should perform the following tasks:

to check if the paperboard sheets had holes, or marks, or broken edges;

to make a decision if the paperboard sheet is good enough;

to turn the sheet from one side to another (in that way we get rid of dirt and dust);

to put the paperboard sheet in the good or the bad stack;

to wrap the full stacks and store them.

to adapt to the size of paperboard need to be sorted

I will not go into detail about sensors, but will only describe what functions I need them to meet. The choice and programming of sensors will be delegated to someone with good knowledge in the field.

Choice of model and method, procedure

The following chart shows my principal point to deal with to reach my goal:

Time schedule

Sources, references and literature

For the subject of the project I expect to use a large amount of information that I gain from various sources.

I intend to use notes from the library and also notes from the courses followed at VIA. For example:

Machine dimensioning MDI

Designing in 3D CAD

Mechanics, Materials

Internet will be of great use because it is a vast and up-to-date network of information about the topic that interests me. And I also need the internet to access companies catalogues for choosing the equipment that will be installed conform to my calculations.

http://industrial.panasonic.com/

http://uk.misumi-ec.com/

http://www.hydraulicliftingequipment.com

http://www.directindustry.com/

Using all these sources and literature will also develop and improve my capacity of assimilation and synthesis. I will keep a close track of the sources and I will highlight them in an annex at the end of the project for later consulting.

Appendix 2 – Process report

Planning

I started out with the idea phase, then looked into some general stuff about waste sorting and sorting installations, then looked into parts and materials and at the end finished off the CAD drawings and calculations.

Log book

Because I worked alone on this project, I failed to keep a diary of activities. It's easy to get lost, and in case of problems there is no one standing behind you. Meetings with supervisor were through e-mail.

Working Process

This project started with a general research for obtaining all the relevant information to produce the appropriate sorting machine. When all the information was obtained I start making all necessary calculations and designing the chosen solution for the sorting machine. This was done by using 3D drawing program Autodesk Inventor. Once I was satisfied with the designs and calculations, I came to writing the report and putt it all together.

Reflections

I chose the paper sorting machine, because I did not have any better ideas at the time when I had to hand in the project description. Everything was confusing in the beginning since I failed my final project. The failure of the last project also left some marks concerning self-confidence.

I made an effort in order to finish the project and I had to ask for a time extension. Due to different personal problems I have had a harder time this time than during the last projects. Also the workload leading up to the project period and taking place while moving with my family to another city (that had been planned before finding out the result of the final exam) gave me some issues to my progress.

When it comes to my time schedule, I know I never follow it, even though I have actually thought about it and planned very well. Stuff always comes up and changes everything, as it does in the real world. But with the advices of my supervisor I manage anyway and redo the schedule in another way, and then I follow that new plan.

Difficulties

Sometimes I could not done specific part of the project on time, and sometimes I missed the support of a team, but not very often. In spite of some bad time management, I had no major problems.

Learning

After finishing my project, I have learned and have realized some issues which certainly will be useful in the future.

In most I have learned how to organize myself, to respect the deadlines and catch up with them. I have improved my knowledge of design, technical drawing and design data which suit to the requirements.

Appendix 3 – Feeder module – motor calculations

Appendix 4 – Feeder module – belt calculations

Appendix 5 – Feeder module – friction coefficient

Appendix 6 – Conveyor module – motor calculations

Appendix 7 – Conveyor module – shaft calculations

Appendix 8 – Conveyor module – belt calculations

Appendix 9 – Sorter module – motor calculations

Appendix 10 – Bolt connections

Appendix 11 – Weldings calculations

Appendix 12 – Production flow – times

Appendix 13 – Cost estimation

Machine price

One paperboard price

Actual company savings

Compay savings if using Automatic Machine for Sorting Reusable Paperboard

Appendix 14 – Technical drawings

Appendix

Appendix 1 – Project description

Background description

Nowadays, reuse of the resources is an efficient and affordable alternative to the traditional one that waste or in the better case recycle them. Furthermore, prices of the expendable supplies have increased in the last few years, which mean, in fact, the increase of the price of the final product.

Packing industry uses enormous amounts of consumable (paper, cardboard, plastic and other recyclable materials), which can be reused in certain situations. Reusing of resources is beneficial not only ecologically, as well as financial; it's better and cheaper to reuse once or several times, if applicable, the resources that you have already paid for. Big companies are increasingly interested not only in recycling their waste, but in reusing them, if possible. One clear case is the aluminium cans producing industry.

During my student years I was temporary working for an agency from Horsens. Among other jobs I was sorting reusable paperboard for a company that is producing aluminium cans for breweries and beverage industry. For transportation from the company to the bottling factories, the cans were packaged in layers of approximately 290 cans, each layer separated by paperboard (size 1345 mm X 1195 mm). On each pallet were approximate 21 layers of cans. After that, the paperboards were collected and sent back to the cans producer company, but before they could be used again was necessary to be sorted (to put away those with holes, or marks, or broken edges). The company used 2 people for sorting the reusable paperboard, 7 days a week, 8 hours a day. On average, they sorted 20 pallets in 8 hours.

The job generally consisted in sorting paper according to its state, if it was good re-use, recycle if it was bad. It was a tedious monotonous work and more suitable for an automatic machine. So that’s how the idea of this project came.

Purpose

The project focuses on designing an automatic machine which can replace the manual work and also to streamline the production process, being smart enough to be able to replace human decisions regarding the quality of paper. Therefore, I will try to design an efficient, smart and reliable machine.

Problem formulation

For the challenge of designing an efficient machine, I have propounded some questions so I can have a look on them and be able to answer the main question of the project: how to reach the goal of designing an efficient machine?

Some of the questions to ask are the following:

What type of technologies should I have in mind to study, select and implement in the project?

What kind of sensors should I use?

What kind of materials should I use?

Which will be the material, engineering and manufacturing costs?

What can be done in order to decrease as much as possible the sorting errors of the machine?

How will I dimension the system?

Should I focus on cheapest (simplest) solution or just on designing a really efficient machine? Which is the optimum solution?

These are some of the expected problems that I must face in order to solve the project.

Delimitations

This project is not going to focus on the use of advanced technologies, that is to say, I am going to work with common technology available in the market and at everyone’s hand at the time of making the different installations. I will not study the in-depth market research, promotion, price and maintenance, so, I will work at the designing and calculating of the system.

After designing, the machine can be used anywhere it needs or can be sell to the companies.

The machine that I will design should perform the following tasks:

to check if the paperboard sheets had holes, or marks, or broken edges;

to make a decision if the paperboard sheet is good enough;

to turn the sheet from one side to another (in that way we get rid of dirt and dust);

to put the paperboard sheet in the good or the bad stack;

to wrap the full stacks and store them.

to adapt to the size of paperboard need to be sorted

I will not go into detail about sensors, but will only describe what functions I need them to meet. The choice and programming of sensors will be delegated to someone with good knowledge in the field.

Choice of model and method, procedure

The following chart shows my principal point to deal with to reach my goal:

Time schedule

Sources, references and literature

For the subject of the project I expect to use a large amount of information that I gain from various sources.

I intend to use notes from the library and also notes from the courses followed at VIA. For example:

Machine dimensioning MDI

Designing in 3D CAD

Mechanics, Materials

Internet will be of great use because it is a vast and up-to-date network of information about the topic that interests me. And I also need the internet to access companies catalogues for choosing the equipment that will be installed conform to my calculations.

http://industrial.panasonic.com/

http://uk.misumi-ec.com/

http://www.hydraulicliftingequipment.com

http://www.directindustry.com/

Using all these sources and literature will also develop and improve my capacity of assimilation and synthesis. I will keep a close track of the sources and I will highlight them in an annex at the end of the project for later consulting.

Appendix 2 – Process report

Planning

I started out with the idea phase, then looked into some general stuff about waste sorting and sorting installations, then looked into parts and materials and at the end finished off the CAD drawings and calculations.

Log book

Because I worked alone on this project, I failed to keep a diary of activities. It's easy to get lost, and in case of problems there is no one standing behind you. Meetings with supervisor were through e-mail.

Working Process

This project started with a general research for obtaining all the relevant information to produce the appropriate sorting machine. When all the information was obtained I start making all necessary calculations and designing the chosen solution for the sorting machine. This was done by using 3D drawing program Autodesk Inventor. Once I was satisfied with the designs and calculations, I came to writing the report and putt it all together.

Reflections

I chose the paper sorting machine, because I did not have any better ideas at the time when I had to hand in the project description. Everything was confusing in the beginning since I failed my final project. The failure of the last project also left some marks concerning self-confidence.

I made an effort in order to finish the project and I had to ask for a time extension. Due to different personal problems I have had a harder time this time than during the last projects. Also the workload leading up to the project period and taking place while moving with my family to another city (that had been planned before finding out the result of the final exam) gave me some issues to my progress.

When it comes to my time schedule, I know I never follow it, even though I have actually thought about it and planned very well. Stuff always comes up and changes everything, as it does in the real world. But with the advices of my supervisor I manage anyway and redo the schedule in another way, and then I follow that new plan.

Difficulties

Sometimes I could not done specific part of the project on time, and sometimes I missed the support of a team, but not very often. In spite of some bad time management, I had no major problems.

Learning

After finishing my project, I have learned and have realized some issues which certainly will be useful in the future.

In most I have learned how to organize myself, to respect the deadlines and catch up with them. I have improved my knowledge of design, technical drawing and design data which suit to the requirements.

Appendix 3 – Feeder module – motor calculations

Appendix 4 – Feeder module – belt calculations

Appendix 5 – Feeder module – friction coefficient

Appendix 6 – Conveyor module – motor calculations

Appendix 7 – Conveyor module – shaft calculations

Appendix 8 – Conveyor module – belt calculations

Appendix 9 – Sorter module – motor calculations

Appendix 10 – Bolt connections

Appendix 11 – Weldings calculations

Appendix 12 – Production flow – times

Appendix 13 – Cost estimation

Machine price

One paperboard price

Actual company savings

Compay savings if using Automatic Machine for Sorting Reusable Paperboard

Appendix 14 – Technical drawings