DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A MODERN NAIL GASKET MACHINE
ABSTRACT
The design and fabrication of a reciprocating nail gasket is a new innovation in technology. The one in existence is manually operated. In which a punch that is adjacent to a die is mounted to the handle which is attached to the shaft. A helical spring that is incorporated to the shaft of the punch, helps the handle return to its initial position, which makes the machines tedious and stressful to operate. When the handle is pulled down from its initial position, the punch passes through the die that is placed vertically adjacent to the punch thereby blanking out the felt materials. The number of the gasket produced is proportional to the strength of the operator. But in our design, we incorporated a geared motor which does the cutting in a reciprocating form, while the operator just drags the felt material to the die where it is cut. The efficiency of the machine is well above 75%, it can produce 216 felts per minutes . sprockets and chains are used to transfer power instead of belts in other to effect good phases relationship. The material used for the punch is stainless steel rod. The machine is statically and dynamically balanced to curb noise and vibration. One and half (11/2) inch angle iron was used in fabricating the skeletal frame.
Appropriate materials were subsequently selected and fabricated to required size. The machine was then to perform efficiently thus satisfying the objective for which it was designed.
