Rock Crushers Fabric Lampshades Cake Sprinkles Steam Irons
Rock crushers are brawny machines designed to smash big boulders to bits. The broken rock is then used to make asphalt pavement, concrete building foundations, ceramic tile, and many other things. Modern society is largely built on the crushing strength of these powerful machines. If there's one invention that's been a smashing success, it's the rock crusher. These machines are designed to pulverize. This crusher slams rocks against anvils to shatter them along natural stress lines. They break into uniform cubicle particles that can be processed into many different things. Production starts with the crusher's lid. A computer-controlled plasma torch cuts through a sheet of steel that's underwater. The water keeps the smoke down as the plasma gas makes a sharp, precise cut. They feed a piece of steel back and forth between rollers to shape it into the crusher body. With each pass, the strip curls a little more. When the two ends meet, the steel is sufficiently cylindrical. The technician tack welds the ends while the steel is still in the rolling machine. This holds the shape so that he can then do a complete weld. After a bit more work, the crusher body is ready for mounting to the base frame. They lower it into place with the crane and weld it to the section that will hold the electric motor and pedestal. After a paint job and some fittings, the focus turns to the inside of the rock crusher. A worker bolts steel castings to the interior wall. The rugged castings will protect the crusher structure from damage as rocks are slammed around inside during crushing. He secures the bolts from the outside of the crusher structure. They're now ready to assemble the crusher bearing and shaft. The worker starts with the bearing. He carefully aims a torch at it, and the exposure to the steady flame causes the bearing to expand. When it's large enough, he lowers the shaft into the bearing. As the bearing cools, it shrinks to the shaft for a tight fit. This takes several hours. Then he heats the opening in a part known as the pedestal housing to enlarge it. He inserts the shaft and bearing assembly into it. The housing cools and shrinks to the bearing. They also equip the other end of the shaft with a bearing and cap, and then it's time for a test run. They run each pedestal unit for two hours so a computer can thoroughly assess its performance. The pedestal shaft assembly has passed a gamut of tests. It's ready to go into the crusher. The installer bolts it to the frame in six places. He attaches it to the protruding shaft bearing by heat shrinking it in place. He reinforces the installation with two locknuts. Meanwhile, a robot welds brackets onto a machined steel plate that will serve as the impeller. The impeller is a kind of turntable that revolves to toss the rock into anvils to shatter it. They attach parts called shoes to the brackets. They transfer the impeller to the crusher and bolt it to the hub. A worker installs chrome and white iron castings. The castings are the anvils. Arranged in a ring, they serve as the striking surface for the rocks. He installs them on an angle and locks them in position. The crane transfers the ring to the crusher, and the anvils now surround the impeller. With all of the components in place, it's time to put the lid on the rock crusher. A worker presses a decal with brand information onto the outside. They install the electric motor, and this crusher is now ready to reduce rocks to rubble. A lampshade is primarily practical. It diffuses the light that bulbs emit. It also serves a decorative purpose. What the shade is made of, its shape, and size all influence the style of the lamp, so much so that you can give an old lamp a whole new look just by changing the shade. Whether the look is modern or classic, putting the perfect shade on your lamp base is always a bright idea. Manufacturing a lampshade begins with the frame. It's made of steel wire 3 or 4 millimeters thick, depending on the shade size. A computer-guided forming machine pulls the wire off the spindle and straightens it with rollers. Then the machine bends and cuts the wire into the shape of each frame component. For each frame, the machine makes two rings in the shape of the shade, typically round, square, or rectangular. Then it makes three "l"-shaped pieces. To assemble the top of the frame, they place one "l"-shaped piece at a time in a positioning jig alongside a steel loop with three tabs. They weld an "l" piece to each of those tabs. Next, they take each ring and weld it closed. They weld the free end of the "l"-shaped pieces to one of the rings. This completes the top of the frame. The remaining ring forms the bottom of the frame. Workers spray both of them with paint powder. Then the frame parts enter an oven, which bakes the powder into a durable coating. At the core of the fabric portion of the shade is a sheet of pvc plastic that has an adhesive on both sides. Working one side at a time, they peel off the paper covering the adhesive, then apply the fabric gradually, carefully smoothing it out as they go to prevent creases. This lampshade has cream-colored linen on one side and patterned cotton on the other. Once they've applied fabric to both sides of the pvc sheet, a computer-guided cutter cuts out the shape of the shade. It also cuts through the inside of the fabric and the pvc all along the perimeter half an inch from the edge. This leaves a small border of only outside fabric. They apply double-sided tape to this border on the top and bottom of the shade. They run a bead of glue down one side edge, then fold the outside fabric border over the inner fabric. This gives the lampshade a neat seam. Now they assemble fabric and frame, starting with the bottom ring. They position it just above the double-sided tape along the border, then they remove the paper to expose the tape's adhesive surface and fold the tape border tightly over the frame. They stand up the shade on its bottom ring and position the top ring with clips. Then they peel, fold, and stick the fabric border over the ring just as they did on the bottom. They press all around to smooth out the fabric and ensure it adheres well. Then, using a bent spoon, they push the edge of the fabric in behind the curved wire frame. This creates a neat, rounded rim. They seal the shade's vertical seam, applying glue to both the inside and outside edges. They weigh it down for about half an hour until the glue fully cures. The shade is now ready to add its personality to an awaiting base. With all the lampshade's styles, shapes, colors, and fabrics available today, any lamp can have multiple personalities. Believe it or not, cake sprinkles have been around since the late 18th century when french confectioners used them as decorations. Chocolate sprinkles are believed to have been invented in 1936 by a dutchman responding to a little boy's request for a chocolate bread topping. Cake sprinkles come in a variety of colors and can be found decorating and adding texture to many treats such as cupcakes, doughnuts, ice cream, and cookies. They can quickly turn a tasty treat into a visual one, as well. A variety of liquid and powder food colorants are among the ingredients used to make these colorful dessert decorations. Shortening is one of the other ingredients. A worker adds an exact quantity of shortening to a mixing tank. Water in the tank is heated as the mixture is agitated. Within minutes, the ingredients are absorbed. A worker adds powdered sugar to a dry mixer. By the time all the needed sugar has been added, the machine is full. He adds a pre-measured amount of liquid food colorant. Different food colorants and different amounts of colorants produce different-colored sprinkles and different shades of colors. The mixture of water and shortening are added to the dry mixer containing the powdered sugar and colorant. He closes the lid and begins the dough-mixing process. About 15 minutes later, a worker opens the lid to reveal the freshly mixed and colorful dough. A worker pushes the dough along a conveyor into a chute. It leads to a wide collection area and another conveyor machine which moves the dough toward an extruder. As the dough falls into the extruder, it's forced through many small holes. It emerges as these long, narrow strands which fall onto another conveyor. The holes through which the dough is forced are in a big plate. To make sure the quality of the product doesn't vary, room temperature in the production area is kept constant, and the relative humidity is kept at 50%. That same ambient air dries the dough as it moves along the conveyor through a tunnel. About 10 seconds after it enters the tunnel, it falls into a holding vat with a pail. A worker sifts through the dough to make sure it's properly dried. She lifts the dough-filled pail and places it on a trolley for the trip to a tumbler. The tumbler breaks the strands into smaller sizes. The dough usually spends about 10 minutes here. Any longer and the strand bits will be too small. A nozzle sprays a mixture of confectioner's glaze and carnauba wax. The mixer keeps the cake sprinkles from leaking color once they're placed in finished products. Now dried and trimmed for size, a worker removes the sprinkles from the tumbler and pours them onto a shaker table. Properly-sized pieces of dough fall through a screen along with smaller pieces as larger clumps are sorted out. Before dropping to another conveyor, a second filter below removes under-sized granules. The sprinkles fall into a plastic-lined packaging tub. Cake sprinkles come in a variety of colors. A tumbler mixes all the colors together in order to package a multi-colored product. The various colors are mixed together for about five minutes before a worker samples the mixture to make sure the variety of colors is consistent. Once the sprinkles have been thoroughly mixed, they fall into a line of bottles. A jet of air directed at the top of the bottles keeps sprinkles away from the cap area. The capping machine not only positions the cap, it also spins the bottle to screw the cap into place. The capped bottles head to the labeling area. An adhesive label is applied to the bottle. These colorful sprinkles are sure to make any dessert dazzle. The steam iron is a 20th-century invention that makes ironing less of a chore. Less physical effort is required because the steam opens the weave of the fabric so that creases can be smoothed out more easily by the heated sole of the iron. In the past, people used heavy wedges of iron heated over a fire to press clothing, and so they became known as irons. But today's electric irons aren't made from iron at all. They're made with lighter stuff like plastic and aluminum. Production starts with this injection-molding machine. Once the mold closes, nozzles inject three streams of plastic into the cavities, each one a different color. The plastic hardens into a tri-colored part that is the upper shell of the iron and its handle. The plastic shell will also serve as the iron's water tank. The robot transfers the molded parts to automated scissors. The scissors snip off unwanted bits that were formed as plastic flowed into the mold. The next robot transfers a plastic ring to a printing station. This ring will be the temperature indicator for the control knob. Another robot stamps the measurements and other information onto it. Nozzles inject a ceramic liquid into the iron's aluminum base-- the sole plate which contains the heating element. The ceramic will aid in the production of steam by breaking the surface tension of the water from the tank. A worker places a cover on top of the sole plate, and a machine rivets them together. There's a cover for the bottom of the sole plate, as well, fittingly known as the shoe. An injector coats all the rivets in the sole plate with silicone. The silicone serves as a kind of glue, keeping the rivets tight. A robot transfers the sole plate assembly to a heating unit to cure the silicone. Another robot pumps compressed air into the sole plate to check for leaks. The sole plate cools down from the silicone cure on the ride to the next station. While just ahead, robots nimbly bend and twist wires to a precise geometry. These robots are faster than humans and incredibly accurate. Afterwards, another robot welds the wires to a post on the iron's temperature-control unit. A carriage shuttles the unit forward, and the next robot retrieves it and transfers it to the iron sole plate assembly. Another robot adjusts the unit's knob until it's in the correct position. They install an aluminum silicate disk to protect the knob from heat. A robot applies hot glue into the grooves of the iron's heat shield, which will also serve as the bottom of the water tank. With the glue still liquid, another robot transfers the iron upper to it, and the glue cures. Up until now, the robots have done most of the work, but it's time for a helping hand or two. A worker transfers the iron upper assembly to the bottom one. After the two parts have been secured and a leak test performed, another worker connects the power cord to it. She encloses the back with another molded plastic part. Another worker installs the steam and spray subassembly. This part has an intake channel for fill ups and a mechanism to control the steam. It's time for a thorough electrical test. They plug it in, and a robot turns the knob while a computer monitors its performance. A worker then examines the steam iron from all angles. With her final approval, it's ready for packaging. With robots and humans working in tandem, it takes just 10 minutes to assemble a steam iron. Piles of rumpled laundry await, so it's full steam ahead.