Where to Look for Inspiration

Forgot to check that.

Tinterweb = Colloquial term for The Internet.

sorry that shouldn't have crept in.

Amazing what you can find in libraries and secondhand bookshops - I used to spend hours as a student digging through the dusty corners, finding gems about watch- & clock-making, mechanisms for rotating & reciprocating machines of all sorts, electrical & magnetic devices etc. (No wonder I only got a '2-2' ).

I agree about the 'loneliness of the solo engineer', BTW - I'm a one-man-band designing electronics & software to control the stuff the mech. guys produce. The time spent digging in the dust has proved worthwhile, as I'm often able to make useful suggestions to them (unfortunately, rarely reciprocated).

With no-one to bounce ideas off or check work, it gets a bit tricky at times.

I'm often able to make useful suggestions to them (unfortunately, rarely reciprocated).

Be gone with the concept of reciprocation.

"The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly." -- Cecil B. DeMille

I saw a coffee table sized book once on 'Simple Mechanisms' that had a fascinating and inspirational overview of mechanical systems based on the various forms of the inclined plane and lever, gears, pulleys, etc. I Googled it and came up (at first glance) with a few sites. Try it.

Hi Worrier -

A few years ago I found PDF's, with detailed, good resolution drawings from original mechanical designers, for existing U.S. patents, available on the Internet, for viewing at no-charge, on what I think was a U.S. federal government web site, that I think was ran or overseen by the U.S. Patent Office. Not sure if they had a change of heart and took these off-line, but you could do some Internet searches and see what's currently available. "Patent Storm" comes to mind as a URL to search on.

Not sure what U.K. policy is on this, but it certainly helps designers like yourself to stay in compliance with the law, and to check to see if someone already came up with an idea you might think is "brand new". It can be humbling, but better to know sooner than later in the design process. Much luck.

- Larry

iilc: the US Patent & Trademarks site has directions & or links for that purpose as well.

edignan -- I love your list. Those Russian books are hard to find. I had one passing experience with a mechanical engineering book from there and was very impressed with how much great info there was. Wish I could have had a couple of hours with it at the photocopy machine.

Worrier - Bounce your ideas of us here in CR-4. Be as specific as you can so we don't fumble around too much trying to fill in the blanks. Diagrams or photos can be very helpful. Also take advantage of opportunities to look at other areas of technology and other industries.

Some years ago I went to an estate sale where I found a few tools to buy. The seller asked me if I had any interest in an old Teletype machine. I mumbled some nicety about not wanting to buy something like that; so she said I could have it for free. Now that was an offer I couldn't resist. What I saw there was a collection of neat parts for my scrap box. What I didn't realize was what a wonderful learning experience and view into what was done with mechanisms before the age of electronics it would give me. Nowadays nothing goes from my house to the dump or recycling intact. Most all the parts will eventually get there but some stay around my shop longer than others. And I get to see all kinds of design work, from triumphs to real disasters.

Ed Weldon

To add to Edignan's list, the book below is available from Lee Valley (Leevalley.com) for about $16 USD.

"1800 Mechanical Movements and Devices by Gardner D. Hiscock"

The book was originally published in 1899 and each "device" is fully illustrated.

Things like Geneva mechanisms and multi link linkages are cool. My Dad has an old book with tons of that stuff in...I always have a shufti when I visit.
Del

If you're looking for mechanisms, try ebay for old (1800's) mechanisms books. For inspiration, I use Google Reader to gather up several engineering RSS feeds, plus things like Instructables and makezine. That combination delivers a constant sourse of new technology, projects and inspirational acts of creation. Mine are all EE feeds, but you can find the same for your discipline.

I'm not sure what kind of design you're doing. I found myself in much the same situation about twenty years back. I'd need some really good idea for a failsafe door latch, for example, and just couldn't think of anything. I found a book that helped a lot.

Pictorial Handbbok of Technical Devices, Otto B. Schwartz and Paul Grafstein.

You should be able to find it from somebody like ABE books for under $10. It's dated, but the equal of a whole file drawer of previous designs.

I think the simple answer is still Google... but... click on the Images button after doing a web search. Thats what I do. (It allows you to see the images you are most interested before actually navigating to the website. Spend some time learning more about google searching in the google help section or advanced searches, or other categories.

Also, there is a fantastic old book "1800 Mechanical Movements, Devices and Appliances"

Chris

" ... a free downloadable book from Google ... "

Looks like an interesting book from the front cover, which is all I could find on your link - apart from a link to Amazon to buy a copy . Did I miss something?

Sorry John,

Here is a new link hope this one works better

http://books.google.com/books?id=TFwOAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Five+Hundred+and+Seven+Mechanical+Movements&ei=yjTxR5PVHY-KzQTSldnHCw

There is a link to download the PDF in the near upper right hand corner.

ChazL

Thanks for trying, but this is all I got:

... no mention of downloads. Maybe it's a regional issue(?).

Try this link:-

http://www.includipedia.com/wiki/1800_Mechanical_Movements%2C_Devices_and_Appliances

I got both books in .DjVu format. I've never heard of incudipedia or déja vue before. After several false starts where I kept downloading file creation apps. I got a windows DjVu reader here.

Got it, at last! Thanks very much.

Thank you - I tried for an hour to find something without success. Had guys like Uniblue telling me that I needed to buy a Registry Booster for 29.95 USD so that I could read DjVu. Works fine after downloading this programme.

Excellent, It's books and sites exactly like that, that I was after. I will be perusing that for a long time.

It's a small spark that could be lighting a big fire (Safely mind!!!)

Sites like How Stuff Works are great, even if you think you know already. There's often a twist or fact you hadn't known before.

A few other thoughts here:

Try to look at your design through the eyes of the other departments in your organization. Especially with respect to costs. A detailed cost analysis usually brings some surprises to the design engineer that can force your thinking into an alternative path.

Another one that doesn't work for everyone but if you are the kind of engineer that likes to build stuff yourself with available tools and materials think about how you would build this thing, whatever it is, if you had to do it in your own workshop.

Most large cities in the USA, especially those in the Northeast, have small special interest groups in the area of industrial archeology. If your interests lie in that direction you'll find a view of the past full of interesting ideas and processes.

Cultivate relationships with intelligent people whose minds work totally differently from the way you, as an engineer, think. (I'm married to one of those, very much a right brain type). This takes some patience; but can be very rewarding.

Sometimes your apparent technical problems are people problems in disguise. It's important to pause and look at any technical impediment through that lens.

Ed Weldon

GA from me

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see Ingenious Mechanisms for Designers & Inventors (see http://www.amazon.com/Ingenious-Mechanisms-Designers-Inventors-Set/dp/0831110848). A library may have it, or you can watch for a used set if the pricetag is out of your range. It is a set of four volumes. New, in hardcover, a set goes for $115 - 120 USD. You may find individual volumes, used, for under $20 each, but odds are that some will be hard to find, and higher-priced.

Here is one of my inventive ideas that I have not been able to find any referential data for... A plan for a large scale reflecting telescope. Instead of casting a humongous mirror, a la Palomar's 200" monster, why not use a knife edge mirror with the requisite parabolic profile, and spin the assembly. Capture the light from the mirror with a high resolution CCD array, and use a computer to compile the image. With this arrangement, it would be possible to create a very large bore telescope. Variables on the image quality are the system RPM and the CCD resolution and scan rate. If the system is spinning at 30+ rpm, and the scan rate can keep up with that, I think you have a reasonable telescope, capable of real time video at least. (as it is a lot like a digital camera)

For design criteria, of course, lots of effort would have to be made to eliminate any vibration, but surely that is easier than casting a 500" mirror. Here is a conceptual image I made. The bulk of the image represents simple light shield, which may be optional. (I hope this all makes sense)

So where would I look for information on the design of such a critter?

PS. (I also didnt' know where to post such a suggestion on CR4 for best readership by telescope and optical types) I hope to include this idea in a sci-fi book I'm trying to write. (if it survives CR4 commentary )

Chris

here is a video of a very smooth running machine (generator) and at the 8:57 mark on the video, the operator places a marble on the machine, and it doesn't move or roll.. I think it is very stable. maybe not vibration free enough for my purposes, but still a bit encouraging.

As for dynamic compensation, I think I would try for a static system first, with a rigid form, and test that first. I would assume that I would not be accurate at first, but keep on experimenting till some success is achieved, or an alternative method is required. You are right about the resolution requirements of the CCD. I just posted that link to show that approach to image correction.

As for collecting photons, I still think that, while exposure times may be longer to gather distant images, the system as a whole would be much cheaper, and yes, perhaps it would permit multiple installations to be arrayed together.

I'm probably not understanding all that are referring to in your text, but I will keep re-reading it.

Chris

Hi Chris,

What advantage would this scheme give over a simple circular dish with the same area as your "rectangular strip". I think I'm missing something here.

Once upon a time, I read a book about the making of the Palomar mirror, and the impossible obstacles overcome to do it. It is one of the greatest engineering feats of all time.. no question.

My idea would take a 1mm slice from a mirror like that, and spin it. Assuming a vibration free performance, one could gather a portion of that light (and distance) for a fraction of the cost of manufacture.

Making mirrors larger than the Palomar mirror is basically seen as impossible/impractical, and therefore, other solutions are required, such as the segmented, computer controlled concept. I am offering one other solution. (I know it isn't perfect) I also 'believe' it would be possible to grind this slim profile to a higher accuracy than a whole mirror.

but I'm no expert on this.. that is why I've put it out here...

thank you,

Chris

Would that book have been: "The Glass Giant of Palomar. David O. Woodbury, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1954."? There is a newer one (1995, Building the Perfect Machine" by Ron Florence), but I haven't read it. I HAVE read the earlier one, and loved it. I see that used copies start at $59.99 . . .

I don't think that was it, but honestly I don't remember the title...

I don't really know a lot about telescopes, but, I don't think that the large ones offer any advantage over small ones except their ability to "capture" more light. The problem with your slice is that it can only be in one place at a time: all the light which falls in the positions "where it's not" is lost, so that your 1mm X 2.5m sliver would only be equivalent to a 2" dish.

large telescopes definitely capture more light, and for distant objects, that is critical, as noted previously.

but with this system, large aperture means higher resolution at lower cost for objects that have sufficient 'continuous' light (like local planets) to enable the unit to work. If the light is continuous, then you can capture an very high resolution image, and correct it for atmospheric disturbance, without the corresponding cost of that huge mirror/lens.

I think it might be worthwhile to explore.. because suns produce continuous light all over the galaxy.

Chris

The extracts below, from Wikipedia, support Chris (_{^{and me}}) regarding the resolution vs. diameter:

"Ignoring blurring of the image by turbulence in the atmosphere (atmospheric seeing) and optical imperfections of the telescope, the angular resolution of an optical telescope is determined by the diameter of the objective, termed its "aperture" (the primary mirror, or lens.) ..."

and

"Essentially; the larger the aperture, the better the angular resolution"

_{(Ahem, trying to get this thread back on topic.)}

If you're searching Google for a particular device, try adding 'exploded view' to the search term. Here's an example I found by typing in 'valve exploded view':

Also, manufacturer's websites can be a good resource for finding manuals, and manuals can be a good source for exploded views.

Don't forget drafting textbooks. They have illustrations that drafting students usually reproduce for their class exercises. Some of those illustrations might give you ideas.

As for human resources, does your area have an engineering club? College with an engineering department? Rocketry club? Amateur radio club?