Author Topic: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION  (Read 50769 times)

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #120 on: November 05, 2013, 10:31:22 PM »
I've been terribly busy with real work, so this machine has taken a back seat lately. The next thing I do is going to be interesting though. I have to have a "chute" filled with "marbles" so that when the pitching arm lowers to horizontal, a marble will load into it, under the influence of gravity. However, since there will be more than one "marble" in the chute, I have to have a spring operated "stop-gate" which prevents the other marbles from running out onto the floor when the pitching arm is up away from horizontal. I have some ideas how I will do this--the stop gate will be opened by the downward movement of the pitching arm, which is powered down as well as up.

Offline tel

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #121 on: November 06, 2013, 09:17:56 AM »
Ah! I've been meaning to ask you about that!
The older I get, the better I was.
Lacerta es reptiles quisnam mos non exsisto accuso nusquam

Offline Alan Haisley

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #122 on: November 06, 2013, 07:22:33 PM »
I've been terribly busy with real work, so this machine has taken a back seat lately. The next thing I do is going to be interesting though. I have to have a "chute" filled with "marbles" so that when the pitching arm lowers to horizontal, a marble will load into it, under the influence of gravity. However, since there will be more than one "marble" in the chute, I have to have a spring operated "stop-gate" which prevents the other marbles from running out onto the floor when the pitching arm is up away from horizontal. I have some ideas how I will do this--the stop gate will be opened by the downward movement of the pitching arm, which is powered down as well as up.
Maybe a see-saw double gate to meter the marbles one at a time?
Alan

Offline steamboatmodel

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #123 on: November 09, 2013, 08:32:18 PM »
Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors--and miss. Lazarus Long

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #124 on: November 09, 2013, 09:13:00 PM »
I have the metering of marbles figured out, and have been making many test runs, getting prepared to make a video of the action. I have to not only get it to run (that's the easy part) but to get it to run consistently. I have been powering things with a drive belt from a pulley in my milling machine spindle, where I can also control the speed.

Offline dsquire

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #125 on: November 09, 2013, 11:08:12 PM »
Sorry to go off topic, It must have been Homehardware I had got them at.
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Plumbing-Electrical/Electrical/Fuses/Household/Plug/FUSE-MINI-BREAKER-15AMP/_/N-ntjyl/R-I3644505
Regards,
Gerald.

Gearald

Many thanks for the reply and information. Good old Home Hardware comes through again.  :cartwheel:


Brian

I'll try and not go off topic again.  :)

Cheers  :cheers:

Don
Good, better, best.
Never let it rest,
'til your good is better,
and your better best

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #126 on: November 11, 2013, 07:16:38 PM »
On Friday, I finished a fairly large design contract, (Large for an old semi-retired poop like me, anyways.). That gave me this past weekend to play with my marble machine. I have reached the conclusion that there is as much work, or possibly even more to a machine like this than there is to a model engine. The trick with these things isn't making them work. That's pretty straightforward. But making them work CONSISTENTLY---That's where the devil is hiding!!! At any rate, I have futzed away at this thing until I am ready to make a short video of the operation. I still have no firm ideas for the return part of the equation, but that will come with time. So---Here is a video of the state we are at currently.

Offline steamer

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #127 on: November 11, 2013, 11:20:32 PM »
That works great Brian!.....as far as a return mechanism...I was thinking about a bi-stable trigger at the top of the riser tube.  The last ball pushes the trigger over center and opens a side mounted trap door allowing the balls to roll back in a track to the starting track.   The reset would need to happen on the ram return stroke maybe with a cam that pulls the trigger back over center and closes the trap door.


Dave
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #128 on: November 12, 2013, 12:24:41 AM »
Just do a search for "marble machine-youtube" and you will see more wild and crazy return mechanisms than one could ever think of. I haven't really delved into it too deeply, but there are a ton of real intriguing ways to get the balls from the tube back to the starting ramp.

Offline Don1966

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #129 on: November 12, 2013, 02:04:20 AM »
Nice work Brian, why not use a curved tube and let the balls roll back down by themselves or do you just want to add more mechanics to it?

Just my 2cents

Don

Offline Alan Haisley

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #130 on: November 12, 2013, 02:16:12 PM »
Brian,
After looking at
http://woodgears.ca/marbles/index.html
I'd say that something to slow the balls down when they near the bottom, preparatory to reloading, is key. On the other hand, given that you are using steel marbles with more mass (and magnetic properties) than his glass ones, you could do something with Hall effect or optical interruption and perhaps make a unique governor for the engine that drives the machine. Of course for real "steam punk" it should have a mechanical linkage for the governor action.
Maybe during the return the balls could fall down a chute and trip a counter cog coupled to a mechanical counter. Think of all the fun of making a bank of Geneva mechanisms for a counter.  :mischief: :atcomputer:
Alan

Offline swilliams

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #131 on: November 13, 2013, 01:34:54 AM »
Great video Brian

Steve

Offline Brian Rupnow

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #132 on: November 21, 2013, 09:00:48 PM »
I haven't done any more since I took the video on the 11-Nov, because I've been sick!!! Not sick enough to lay down and die, but not well enough to feel like doing anything. I am assuming its some kind of flue (at least hoping that's what it is.) I have laid around and read books until my eyeballs are fried, I have wandered in and out of my little machine shop two dozen times, but don't have enough gumption to machine anything. I have done a few of the Solidworks tutorials on sheet-metal, which is a rather confusing part of Solidworks which I really don't use often, and consequently I'm not very good at using it. I THINK I have a new design contract coming up next week, and hope sincerely that by next week I am back to my (usually) good health, because there is some travel involved. My good wife has just quit one job 25 miles away, and immediately got a new job teaching at a local college about 1 mile away, so she is disgustingly happy, while I am moaning about the place, wishing I would either get better soon, or die very quickly, with the emphasis on "Get better soon!!! This is just a post to let you all know that I am still on the planet, with hopes that I will be back on this project before Christmas.---Brian

Offline Don1966

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #133 on: November 22, 2013, 01:43:17 AM »
Bummer Brian, when you feel bad and the flu really kicks the butt. Get well soon man!

Don

Offline b.lindsey

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Re: MARBLE LIFTING AUTOMATION
« Reply #134 on: November 22, 2013, 11:41:44 AM »
Brian, that last video really showed how much effort you have put into this!!  Here's hoping you will feel better soon and be able to get back into the shop.

Bill

 

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