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Material Transfer Device using

Geneva Mechanism

Hardware Project
MEE 218
First review Status report

Submitted to
School of Mechanical and Building Sciences
VIT University, Vellore 632014
By
Tushar Kumar Rakshit 11BME0023
Gurursharan Kumar 11BME0034
Vikas Porwal 11BME0138
Project Guide

Reviewer
Prof. Dr. Arun Tom Mathew
( SMBS, VIT University)


Prof. Raja Annamalai A.
(SMBS, VIT University)
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Contents
1. Abstract (Objective).
2. Introduction.
3. Work done so far
1) First Week
a) Work done in first week.
b) Geneva mechanism calculations.
c) Shaft calculations.
d) Problem faced and their solutions.
2) Second week
a) Work done.
b) Problem and solution.
3) Third week
a) Work done
b) Problem faced and their solution.
4) Fourth week
a) Work done
b) Problem faced and their solution.
5 Result and discussion.
6 Conclusions.
7 Reference
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ABSTRACT:
The project is on material handling device/system. Our main focus is on billet transferring device
used in steel and iron industry. The billet is a heavy rectangular block of steel produced in
extreme environments making it difficult to handle it manually. Therefore considering the need
of such a system we are designing a billet transferring and segregating device. In this report we
have discussed the work done so far, problems faced and the suitable solutions that we could
apply.
INTRODUCTION:
Chain conveyors were first devised to assist with early materials production. Workers required a
system that assisted with material movement, one that made it simple to move items from A to
B. The chain conveyor helped revolutionise mass production and is machine that is still used to
this day. Like its' belt conveyor counterpart, the chain conveyor has been used since the 19th
century, developed to assist in moving large, small and irregular objects from one place
toanother.
Early chain conveyors were simple in function and design, and though technology has improved
over the years, these conveyors are manufactured using the same, traditional framework. This
type of conveyor was originally designed for the automotive industry, but is now used in a
number of industries including white goods, food, iron industries,clothing and furniture.
The chain conveyor is now used in virtually any plant that assembles products, requires the
movement of parts or transportation of heavy objects. The simplistic function and versatility of
the machine has ensured it is the foundation of every automated assembly system.
In this project we tried to build a billet transfer and segregating mechanism to meet the industrial
needs. In this we considered the problem of loading blocks of billet together on a conveyor and
segregating them. In this we are implementing a chain conveyor because of its capability of
supporting huge loads and no slip condition. The conveyer consists of three axles -one live which
will transmit power to drive the chain and the other two are dead axles which will support the
sprockets and allow free rotation.
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The concept used for segregation is to move conveyer up to the width of the billet at any instant
such that it will move up to a particular distance and then stop for some time and then move
again. Thus to provide intermittent drive Geneva mechanism is used. We have used a four slot
Geneva which will rotate 90deg in complete rotation of the drive. This through appropriate gears
is connected to live axle of the conveyer. The use of gears decreases the angle turned from 90deg
and also decreases the speed of the conveyer (thus reducing sudden jerk). The various
components used are described further in our report.
WORK DONE:
we have seen so many material handling mechanisms so far and we found that there is no
efficient billet transfer mechanism which can perform the task of both separation and
segregation together . so we decided to make a billet transferring mechanism using concepts of
general mechanics and kinematics of machinery . so finally we are ended up with a conveyer
system concept to perform the desire task.0Building upon the design decided, weplanned the
principle components to be done and divided the work in the given time period. The efforts were
concentrated on building the segregating conveyer. The main components of it are- a Geneva
mechanism to provide intermittent motion and a conveyer driven by Geneva wheel. The week
wise analysis of our work is presented below.
Week one:
In first week our emphasis was laid on designing and dimensioning of structure. We made work
strategy as depicted in the work flow chart and accordingly did market survey to check
availability of desired parts.
Dimensioning of Geneva mechanism
2
:
Figure 1 Geneva driven wheel parameters. Figure 2 Geneva drive wheel parameters.
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We choose driven wheel calculations and results are as follows:
Assumptions:
b= 7 cm n = 4 p = 1cm t = 0.2 cm
Calculations:
c = 14/cos(180/4)= 9.89 cm
a = (9.89 2 + 72) = 7 cm
To determine drive crank radius a
b = geneva wheel radius c = center distance = b/cos(180/n)
n = driven slot quantity a =drive crank length = (C
2
-b
2
)
p = drive pin diameter s = slot center length = (a + b) - c
t = allowed clearance w = slot width = p + t
z = stop disc radius = y-t v = clearance arc = bz/a
y = stop arc radius = a-(p1.5)

w = p+ t = 1 .2 cm y= a-p1.5 =5.5 cm
z = y-t = 5.35 cm v = bz/a = 5.35 cm
Calculation for gear selection
Since we have to segregate the billets, we have designed the mechanism in such a way so that it
transfers one billet at a time.
To accomplish that, a pair of gears is used in conjunction with Geneva wheel.
Since its a four slot Geneva it will rotate 90deg in every complete rotation of drive wheel.
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Billet size we have assumed to be of 3cm width.
Therefore, =
Where:
= angle turned by Geneva/drive gear.
r = Radius of Drive gear.
L= Circumferential length of drive gear (width of billet)
/2 =3
r= 1.909cm
Calculation of shaft diameter
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Considering twisting moment only (neglecting bending moment since it is very small.)

T= twisting moment.
T= P*60/(2*3.14*N)
POWER = f* v= mgu*d/t =9.81*0.25*0.3*15*0.65*3.14/(60*4)= 0.08 J/s
T=0.0509 N-m.
Therefore using above relation d is found as
d = minimum diameter of shaft=9.049 x 10^-4 m.

Tau(t)= allowable shear stress= 350 Mpa.
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Problems faced in 1ST Week:
Geneva has a complex design and also it was difficult to get in metallic form according to our
dimension.
Due to small size of drive gear if we use it directly, the instantaneous speed which is transferred
to conveyor will be high and will result in a jerk and other billets may fall with it and also may
get damaged.
The Geneva mechanism has to be placed at a certain height in some stand which should not
arrest its motion.
Solution:
To rectify our first problem we decided to use wood instead of metal. It is easy to make complex
designs on wood and cut them.
To rectify speed and jerk problem we decided to use a large gear in mesh with the smaller gear
so that circumferential length rotated in one revolution is same but speed will get reduced.
To solve the problem of height and arrested motion we had decided for a stand with bearing so
that we can get height and free rotation of shaft also.
Second week
We did a market survey to insure the availability of required things but we didn't get things as we
needed and some of them we found very costly so we made changes according to it. Initially we
went for search of gears to transfer power to conveyer shaft through Geneva be we couldn't get
the gears and bearing of the same diameter so we decided to go for stepped shaft. It is very
difficult to get a iron stepped shaft of desired diameter so we thought to go for wooden shaft.
Therefore we contacted a carpenter for wooden shaft and gears and bearings were assimilated.
Problem faced and solution sought:
We were thinking of using wooden wheel with a belt drive but there was a high chance of
slipping i.e. Traction problem with belt drive. To overcome the problem of wooden wheels we
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used sprockets with chain as conveyer so as to avoid traction problem and to get free rotation of
wheel on the shaft without using bearings .
We were thinking of using wooden shaft for sprockets but with that it is very difficult to make
shaft that completely lock with sprocket and is also cost ineffective Therefore try to avoid it
where ever we could. We used only one wooden shaft as the driving shaft for remaining two
shafts we used back wheel hub this reduced our cost.
Third week:
According to the calculations done we made Geneva design on wooden plank and .Then we
moved on to make a supporting structure for the mechanism. We decided to take a vertical board
on which holes for the shafts can be made. To ensure free rotation of shaft on the board we used
bearing inside the hole. Also since we had to attach a gear to driven wheel shaft we had opted for
a stepped shaft.
Problem faced and solution sought:
Initially we made the design of Geneva mechanism on a wooden board and tried to cut it by
ourselves. Therefore we sought help from assistants at the workshop to get the required design.
For making wooden shafts turning operation was done but constant depth of cut was not
maintained, therefore it resulted in one of the shaft being eccentric. We are still working on
solution.
Fourth week
This week our work was focused on assembling the shafts and preparing supporting structure for
them.
For the back two shafts we tried to avoid use of wooden shafts and therefore we utilized back
wheel hub to form shafts. our added advantage was that it already had bearings to make it motion
independent from shaft.
For making supporting structure we used rebar. For providing rigid connections to shaft welding
was performed.
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Problems faced and solution sought
Welding the two wheel hubs in straight was difficult and therefore to overcome the problem we
utilized the threads over the shaft of hub and used a nut to hold the hub in straight line and then
welding was performed.
Until the whole structure is finalized rods will have to removed or adjusted along the shaft to
solve this we welded the rebar rod with nuts on the shaft for which we took the help of workshop
assistants. For welding bearings assistants suggested to get it done from outside since he feared
balls of bearing may get damaged.
The problem that is still left is to make necessary arrangements for middle sprockets so that it
perfectly meshes with chain.











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Results and Discussions:
Design and construction of Geneva mechanism is completed according to our calculations. Its
working according to our requirements and is providing intermittent motion by rotating one-
fourth in every complete revolution of drive. The axles for conveyer are also constructed
according to the required dimensions of various wheels rotating on it. Work has been started on
construction of stand to support the conveyer. Appropriate welding operations are performed to
reach to this stage.
Conclusions:
Most of the work for conveyer has been completed and before continuing forward, we need to
address some of the problems associated with supporting structure of conveyer, such as to enable
the middle sprocket to mesh properly with chain and to lock the structure properly with no
sloppy movements.
Reference:
1) Jalaludin Data book for shaft design.
2) Walsh, Ronald A Handbook of machining and metal working.
3) Waineright engineering services for basic concepts of chain drive .