Checkweigher

Design Concept
All-Fill Inc.
Dan MacGuigan, Matt
Griffith,
Phil Mitchell, Richard Maurer

Introduction of Project

Weighs
Products

Rejects out-of-spec
Products

Quality

Up to 200

Improvement Objectives
(Wants)

Decrease Cost

Material
Manufacturing/Machin
ing Time
Assembly Time

Fewer Parts
Fewer Required Tools

Increase
Marketability

Easier Maintenance

Tool-less Belt Changes

Drive Belt
Conveyor Belt

Faster Order
Turnaround

Design Constraints

Safety
Protection From Moving Parts
Design Against Catastrophic Failure

Weight

Footprint

Cannot Increase Overall Weight

Cannot Change Current Footprint

Life

Service Life Cannot Decrease

Improvement Metrics
Metric
Material Cost

Current
Target Achieved
$290/$74 $230/$59 $220/$18
0
0
4

Manufacturing Time 18.5 hrs

Assembly Time
17 min
Number of Parts
86/208
# of Rollers
1
# of Tools Required
for Belt Change

14 hrs
14 min
75/100
2

10 hrs
14 min
80/99
2

How to Meet Wants

Divide

Checkweigher into
Subsystems
Each Subsystem Offers Benefits
Some Subsystems Interrelated
Compounded Improvements

Identification of
Motor Mount Subsystems
Roller Attachment
Knife-Edge
Sidebars & Tie
Bars
Current
Design

Motor Mount

Wants
Lower Cost (Benefits Sponsor)

Fewer Small Parts (Nuts, Washers,

etc.)
Less Costly Manufacturing
Faster Assembly

Increase Marketability (Benefits

Customer)

Easy Tensioning of Timing Belt

Tool-less / Fast Belt Change

Metric
Time to Change Belt
Time to Properly
Tension belt
# of Tools to Change

Curre Targ Achieve

nt
et
d
7.3
min

5
min

3.3 min

2 min

1
min

0.5 min

Motor Mount - Current

Motor Mount - New

Thumb
Screw

Roller Integration

Wants

Lower Cost (Benefits

Sponsor)

Lower Manufacturing Cost

Increased Marketability
(Benefits Customer)

Tool-less Belt Change

More Versatile
Metric

Curre Targ Achiev

nt
et
ed

Time to Assemble

17
min

13
min

14 min

# of Rollers Types

# of Tools to
Change Belt

Roller Integration
Current
Roller

Current
AttachmentAttachment
Points
Points of Rollers

Roller Integration New

End Caps
Drive End Cap
Knife-Edge End
Cap

Conventional Idler
End Cap

End Cap Integration

Snap Ring and
Pliers

Concept Roller
Attachment
Cotter Pin
Points

Knife-Edge

Wants

Lower Cost (Benefits

Sponsor)

Lower Cost
Simpler

Increased Marketability
(Benefits Customer)

Less Vibration
Less Belt Wear
Shorter Transition Distance

Metric

Curre Targ Achiev

nt
et
ed

Time to
Manufacture

7 hr

5 hr

3.7 hr

Material Cost

$740

$590

$184

208

100

99

# of Parts

Knife-Edge - Current
Nylon Spacer

Bearing

Problems
Many Small Parts
Expensive
Difficult to Assemble

Knife-Edge - New

Material PTFE (Teflon)

Low Coefficient of Friction

High Melting Temperature
Inexpensive

Few Parts

Sidebars & Tie Bars

Wants

Lower Cost (Benefits

Sponsor)

Lower Material Cost

Shorter Manufacturing Time

End Cap Integration

Increased Marketability
(Benefits Customer)

FDA Approved
Lighter

Metric

Current

Target

Achieve
d

Material Cost
(per pair)

$20

$10

$6

Mass/Length

0.05
lbm/in

0.03
lbm/in

0.03
lbm/in

Sidebars - New

Polycarbonate

Lighter
Less Expensive
Easily Machined
Sufficient Mechanical
Properties
FDA Approved
Available

End Cap Integration

Tie Bars - New

Redesigned for
Compatibility with
Polycarbonate Sidebars

Single Attachment to
Sidebar

Material Change
From Aluminum to
Polycarbonate
Less Costly
Lighter

Assembled Prototype

Testing

Weight
Assembly Time
Maintenance Time
Drive Belt Change
Conveyor Belt Change

Accuracy & Precision

Product Weight
Measurements

Weight

Current Weight

New Weight

7lbs 4 ounces
6lbs 3ounces

Current

17.4% Weight
Reduction

Prototype

Assembly Time

Current

Current Assembly

Prototype

17 Minutes
4 Tools Needed

New Assembly

14 minutes
2 Tools Needed

18% Reduction In Assembly Time

Maintenance Time

Conveyor Belt Change Time

Increased

Due to Sidebar Material Change

Introduce Helicoils in Next Prototype

Drive Belt Change Time

Decreased

Old Time: 7:30

New Time: 3:30
47% Decrease in Time Required
Tool-less
Less Hardware Required

Accuracy and Precision

Testing

Sample Products Run on Actual Machine

Three Different Products

Representative of a Range of Weights

Three Conveyor Units Tested

Old Design
Conventional Prototype
Knife-Edge Prototype

Accuracy Results
49
Average Online Mass - Tube in Box
49

Offline Mass

374

48

48
47.5

47.5

47

Old Design

372
Mass (g)

48.5
Mass (g)

Average Online Mass - Canister

48.5
370

Prototype

368

Knife Edge

366
364

46.5
100

200
Conveyor Speed (fpm)

47

362
100

200
Conveyor Speed (fpm)

46.5
Average Online Mass - Weight in Box

Offline Mass Compared to Data

From:

2250

Old Design
Prototype of New Design
Prototype of New Design with
Knife-edge

Mass (g)

2240
2230
2220
2210
2200
100

Conveyor Speed (fpm)

Precision Results

At Least 1 New Design

Outperformed Current
Checkweigher in Every Test

Overall Benefits

Tool-less Belt Change

Motor Mount
Cotter Pin

Versatile

Lighter

Sidebars
Tie Bars

Fewer Parts

Knife-Edge
Motor Mount

End Caps
Knife-Edge
Sidebars

Less Expensive
Component

Money
Saved

Motor Mount

$11

Knife-Edge

$480

Sidebar (2)

$14

Tie Bar (3)

$21

Manufacturing $510
SAVED: Time
$1036

TOTAL
(60% of Current Checkweigher Cost)

(~33% of

Conclusion

Design

Prototyping

Lighter
More Versatile
Easier Maintenance
Less Expensive

Fully Functional Prototype

100% Scale

Testing

18% Assembly Time

Reduction
Tool-Less Belt Changes
More Accurate
More Precise

Implementation Plan

Provide to All-Fill:
Bill of Materials
Complete Electronic Drawing Package
Checkweigher Prototypes

Manufacture Three Complete

Improved Checkweigher Designs
Run Mock Production Line

Questions

Acknowledgements
Nate

Cloud
Ha Dinh
Ed

White
Dave Kendell
Steve Beard

BoM - Conventional
Conventional Roller

Quantity

Hardware

1/4-20x1/2" Hex Socket Bolt

N/A

5-40x1/4" Flat Head Screw

Motor Plate

MM1

1/4-20x1" Hex Socket Bolt

Spacer

MM2

1/4-20 Washer

Motor Mount

MM3

1/4-20 Lock Washer

Tie Bar

S1

1/4-20 Thumb Wheel

Sidebar

S2

10-32x1" Hex Bolt

Drive End Cap

EC1

10-32 Washer

Idler End Cap

EC2

Idler Roller with Bearings

N/A

10-32 Lock Washer

10-32x1" Wing Bolt

Drive Roller with Bearings

and Sprocket

N/A

10-32 Thumb Wheel

Roller Shaft

S3

10-32x1/2" Hex Socket Bolt

Table Top

S4

Brass Washer (ID 3/8", OD .75")

Drive Belt

N/A
4

Hairpin Cotter Pin (Wire

Diameter = 0.1")

1/8"x1" Steel Dowel

Quantity

Part

Drawing Number

Motor with Sprocket

Conveyor Belt

N/A

Sidebar

Right End Cap (KnifeEdge)

Left End Cap (KnifeEdge)

Lateral Support

Knife-Edge Support

End Cap Drive

End Cap - Idler

Motor Mount

Motor Plate

Spacers

Tie Bars

Table Top

Roller Shaft

Sidebar
Deflection
Analysis

Assumptions:
Height = 1.15
Length (support to support) = 4.5
Width (plastics) = .5
Width (Aluminum) = .5
Package weight = 12 Lb.
Elastic Moduli =
Aluminum - 57,000 ksi
UHMW PE - 100 ksi
Nylon 66 200 ksi
Polycarbonate 392 ksi

Schematic

Sidebar side view

Package
weight

Support from
below
checkweigher

Support from
below
checkweigher

Sidebar Deflection
Analysis

Iplastic = .063 in4

IAluminum = .048 in4

Max deflection at center of sidebar:

Aluminum .0000084
UHMW PE .0036
Nylon 66 .0018
Polycarbonate - .00092

Worst Case Scenario

Sidebar Deflection Analysis

Standard loading

Assume 2 equally loaded sidebars

Deflections:
UHMW PE
.0018
Nylon 66 .0009
Polycarbonate .00046
Aluminum .0000042

Machining precision is .0005, greater

than potential deflection of
Polycarbonate.

Raw Data Tube (Slow

Speed)

Raw Data Tube (Fast

Speed)

Raw Data Box (Slow

Speed)

Raw Data Canister (Slow

Speed)

Raw Data Canister

(Fast Speed)

Suggested Improvements

Introduce helicoils for easier

threading
Hole in Motor Mount to allow access
to screw covered by Motor Mount
Screws through Knife-edge end caps
into knife-edge lateral support
Consider replacing more aluminum
parts with polymer

Material Cost
Material

Vendor

Height (in.)

Width (in.)

FDA-Approved?

Cost per ft.

Aluminum (anodized)

McMaster-Carr

1.5

0.375

no

$9.07

Aluminum (non-anodized)

McMaster-Carr

1.25

0.375

no

$4.35

Aluminum (non-anodized)

Metals Depot (MetalsDepot.com)

1.25

0.375

no

$2.75

Polycarbonate

McMaster-Carr

1.5

0.5

no

$3.23

Polycarbonate

San Diego Plastics (www.sdplastics.com)

1.5

0.5

yes

$3.00

UHMW Polyethylene

McMaster-Carr

1.5

0.5

yes

$3.16

UHMW Polyethylene

Modern Plastics (www.modernplastics.com)

1.5

0.5

yes

$2.50

Nylon 66

McMaster-Carr

1.5

0.5

yes

$6.30