Need help designing an Aerosol Can Crimping/Filling Machine.

[Georgemattasks]

Hello Members,

I am preparing to design an Aerosol Can Crimping/Filling Machine. Where can I find CAD Models/Technical Drawings of already existing machines?

I have a college degree in Mathematics, I know nothing about Mechanical Engg. I have read a few books on Elements of Machine design. I now know the fundamental blocks of machines viz. screws, clutches, brakes, gears, belts, spindles, sprockets, lever, keys, shafts etc. I got a CAD software on my PC and a component database but I don't know how to combine all these things in my mind to create a working model.

I couldn't find an internet resource that contains technical drawings of machines, so that a person could learn how components work together. Is there a resource like that online?

[Kelly_Bramble]

Hello Members,

I am preparing to design an Aerosol Can Crimping/Filling Machine. Where can I find CAD Models/Technical Drawings of already existing machines?

I couldn't find an internet resource that contains technical drawings of machines, so that a person could learn how components work together. Is there a resource like that online?

I doubt anybody is going to publish for free the details of a machine that they spent considerable time and effort designing, testing and building. I know I would not...

I would either purchase several of the commercially available aerosol can filing machines available on the market or inspect the ones you have access to. When you have the machines reverse engineer their design..

Make sure you are aware of patent, copyright and trademark laws.

See video Aerosol Can Filling Machine

[jboggs]

Just to add to Kelly's comments above - First, congratulations for taking on the task of such deep learning on your own. I'm sure you enjoyed learning how and why things are done in certain ways in the field of machine design. Second, like most fields, the "book learning" is usually followed by a few years of work on small, rather insignificant and safe projects, often under the supervision of a more experienced engineer. I could honestly say that most of my early learning came from "improving" existing equipment, studying existing drawings and catalogs, and making my own mistakes.

In addition to everything in the books, experience gives you a gut feel for things that work and things that do not. The books help you to understand why things do or do not work, but that gut feel is a critical element that no amount of reading can give you. It also saves you a lot of time in the design process by enabling you to start out closer to the "target".

It seems you are wanting to skip all that and jump right in the deep water with both feet. If you remain insistent on doing that, follow Kelly's advice and get direct hands-on experience with some existing machines first. And good luck to you! Keep us updated.

[Georgemattasks]

I doubt anybody is going to publish for free the details of a machine that they spent considerable time and effort designing, testing and building. I know I would not...

I would either purchase several of the commercially available aerosol can filing machines available on the market or inspect the ones you have access to. When you have the machines reverse engineer their design..

Make sure you are aware of patent, copyright and trademark laws.

See video Aerosol Can Filling Machine

Just to add to Kelly's comments above - First, congratulations for taking on the task of such deep learning on your own. I'm sure you enjoyed learning how and why things are done in certain ways in the field of machine design. Second, like most fields, the "book learning" is usually followed by a few years of work on small, rather insignificant and safe projects, often under the supervision of a more experienced engineer. I could honestly say that most of my early learning came from "improving" existing equipment, studying existing drawings and catalogs, and making my own mistakes.

In addition to everything in the books, experience gives you a gut feel for things that work and things that do not. The books help you to understand why things do or do not work, but that gut feel is a critical element that no amount of reading can give you. It also saves you a lot of time in the design process by enabling you to start out closer to the "target".

It seems you are wanting to skip all that and jump right in the deep water with both feet. If you remain insistent on doing that, follow Kelly's advice and get direct hands-on experience with some existing machines first. And good luck to you! Keep us updated.

Thanks a lot for you comments Kelly & Jboggs. As a newcomer I can only feel how unnerving and intimidating this field is, in comparision to other engineering fields.


(1) Software Constructs were a part of the syllabus of my college degree. With 3 lines of code in Ruby, I can write enterprise level Mail Server that would compete with Microsoft Exchange (Millions spent by microsoft on development) in terms of reliability, security and scalability.
(2) With 10 lines of code in Java, I can write world's best OCR. Even better than what Lexmark could develop with their 100K package software engineers.


All this because of two angels Linus and Richard Stallman who decided to open gates of software engineering by starting open source movement. Even this forum works on phpBB. Now everything is in public domain. I have access to the wealth of source code of world's best software. I can see, inspect and learn how it works. How various software paradigm unite to create a functional software.


Same applies to Electronics. Digital Circuits was also an addidional subject. I can develop a 400 w SMPS in a few hours because there are thousands of websites that have schematics of already existing models. I can also download the circuit diagram of latest generation APC inverters to understand and learn how final products work. It helped me so much to understand how caps, resistors, microprocessors, relays, mosfets works together to create a functional electronic circuit.


But so far it appears to me that gates are closed in the field of mechanical. I think I know about spindles, keys, shafts, pulleys, clutches, brakes, gear, FEA, failure theory but I don't know how to combine all these things to create machines. I couldn't find a book or internet resource with technical drawings. I could only find 1 book on how to create your cnc and another one on IC engine.

Software was also in the same position two decades back before Linus Trovalds came into picture. It would be a dream come true if a mechanical guy with 20-30 years of experience can start an open machines movement. Launch a website with 100s of machine designs ranging from portable sewing machine to industrial robots. They don't have to be complete or accurate, designs meant to be improved upon by community. Call other engineers to improve it. Contact some industrial house to fund it or crowdsource it. I am ready to contribute a thousand dollars to start a campaign on google to attract attention of other machinists. Someone has to start somewhere, this field is too closed and this is the generation for open source, open courseware, open electronics why not open machines? It might also be possible that I am not able to find the right resources on internet but after days of search I think there is no place for me to just go and download technical drawings of machines like Aerosol can crimping/filling.