Abalone Collagen Digital
Abalone is an edible mollusk. Its shell has a multicolored iridescent lining that's been used since ancient times to decorate jewelry and other prized objects. More recently, abalone has been tapped as a source of collagen, a protein that supports the structure of bones, connective tissues, and skin. Abalone collagen is a popular treatment in asia. This farm and factory raises the abalones, then extracts their collagen to add to drinks, cosmetics, and medicine. The abalones spend their first six months in the farm's hatchery and nursery pond. Nocturnal, they hide from daylight under cement tiles that simulate their natural habitat of rocks and coral. Their single shell has pores that regulate various bodily functions such as breathing and reproduction. The main ingredient in their specially formulated food is seaweed. Feeding time is once every evening. At six months of age, the abalones graduate to the cultivation pond. There are two types of growing methods. In this one, before filling the pond with seawater, workers lay cement tiles at the bottom, along with underwater pipes that supply oxygen, which abalones need to survive. The other method houses the abalones in stacks of polyethylene crates, referred to as condominiums. With 50 to 100 abalones in each condo, the yield per square foot is significantly greater. Every second day, workers remove the condos from the cultivation pond to rinse out the crates, check the abalones, and feed them. Rather than wastefully using new seawater, the pond water is regularly drained, cleaned, and recirculated. The cleaning system filters out feces and neutralizes ammonia. After six months to a year in the cultivation pond, the abalones are mature and ready for harvesting. Workers remove them from the shell and remove organs to be used for other products. Then, the workers prepare to extract collagen from the meat. First, they mash the meat in an industrial-sized blender. The trick is to use an extraction method that doesn't destroy the collagen or diminish its effectiveness. Abalone collagen must have full potency when consumed in order to stimulate the human body to produce more of its own collagen. Since prolonged heating turns collagen into gelatin, worker use a process called cold extraction, stirring the meat in refrigerated tanks for up to seven days until the collagen separates and rises to the top. Workers skim off the collagen, then, to make this particular product, blend it with mixed fruit juices. Then they heat the drink in pasteurization tanks for three minutes to kill off any bacteria. The drink contains 20% collagen and 80% juice. When it's time to package the product, the conveyor belt moves glass bottles to the cleaning station, which washes them out with pressurized boiling water. After washing, the bottles move to the next machine which fills them with the drink. The next machine seals the bottles with an aluminum twist cap. Controlled by a sensor, an inkjet printer applies the lot number on the cap along with the product's expiration date, a year away. A worker visually inspects the bottles as they make their way to the labeling machine. The factory's on-site laboratory conducts a series of quality control tests on random samples. In this test, the technician uses a ph meter to ensure the product's acidity is within a specific target range. In another test, she places a few drops on a device called a refractometer. It measures to what extent light passing through the liquid is bent, which gives a reading of the sweetness. While this drink is a skin enhancement product, other abalone collagen formulations are designed for weight loss, boosting immunity, increasing bone density, and strengthening cartilage. An essential component of an audio system is the digital-to-analog converter. It receives data from a digital device such as a computer, tv, or disc player and converts that signal to analog, an electrical audio signal that the sound system can amplify and play through speakers. This digital-to-analog converter, part of a product line of high-end audio components, has four inputs for different digital devices. It also has a built-in cd drive. Many of the converter's structural parts are made by computer-guided machines. This computer-guided lathe, for example, rotates an aluminum bar, which a cutting tool forms into one of four legs that support the cd drive. This milling machine cuts and shapes most of the aluminum parts that makeup the converter's chassis, the box that contains all the electronic components. The parts come off the mill with sharp burrs along their edges, so the next step is to trim them with a de-burring tool. Workers spray the trimmed chassis parts with black powder paint, then bake the paint in an oven to make it more durable. Then they print labeling on the chassis's front and back panels by squeegeeing white epoxy paint through a silkscreen stencil. Then workers put the panels in the oven to bake the paint. Workers install them in between the cd drive support base and each of the feet to create a floating suspension system that protects the drive from vibration. Next, workers install the cd drive onto the support base. They install the drive's protective cover. It prevents dust from getting into the cd optical reader. Meanwhile, a technician tests each of the converter's five circuit boards to make sure they function perfectly. This board runs the l.e.d. display which shows the selected input and other playback information. Once all the circuit boards pass inspection, workers solder the l.e.d. board to the front panel circuit board which runs the converter's user controls. The worker inserts brushed aluminum push buttons into the front panel's labeled holes. Then they attach the front panel circuit board. This aligns the push buttons with the corresponding contacts on the board. The worker assembles the chassis bottom, side, and back panels. They attach the front panel with its push button controls, and in the center, an opening for the cd drive. The technician visually inspects the converter's main circuit board, which converts the digital signal to analog. If the main circuit board passes inspection, they install it in the back of the converter next to the power supply board. Next, a worker installs the cd drive. This requires connecting three cables into the main board-- one for the optical reader, and two for the motors that open and close the loading tray and spin the compact disc. Before completing the converter by closing up the top, a worker tests the cd drive as well as the four other digital inputs, which are designed for connecting devices such as audio components, dvd or blu-ray players, tvs, and computers. The testing machine takes all kinds of measurements to ensure the converter performs to a list of technical specifications. If the unit passes inspection, they complete the assembly by attaching the top cover. This digital-to-analog converter is now ready to play its critical role in this high-end audio system, reproducing sound for the discerning ear. Embossed wood trim can make factory furniture look handcrafted. The technique was developed over a century ago to mimic carvings on fancier furnishings that were only available to the wealthy. Today, this trim is still giving furniture and cabinetry the look of hand carving. The purpose of embossed wood trim is purely aesthetic. It can transform a piece of furniture and make it a beautiful thing. Making embossed moulding starts with a rough piece of maple. Using a rip saw, a woodworker slices the board into strips. The first cut straightens the edge of the wood to correct warps, and the second one trims the strips to the correct dimension. He then carves through the center of each strip to get two pieces of trim from one board. Each strip is about 1/2 inch thick. The strips are ready to be fed to the moulder, a machine that shapes the flat surface to a specific profile. The moulder has five cutter heads. To prepare them, he inserts a spacer and a blade into the steel head. He uses a magnet to pull them into alignment. The worker locks the blade and spacer to the cutter head with bolts. He slides the cutter head onto a spindle in the moulder. The worker secures it with a nut, using a special tool for the job. Once all the cutter heads are in place, he turns the switch on the machine. As the cutters spin, the operator feeds the long strips of wood to them. Rubber and steel wheels move the board from one cutter to the next. The cutter progressively profiles the area that's to be embossed and creates decorative raised borders. Here's a side view of the contouring. This trim is now ready for embossing. Some of the embossing wheels at this shop date back to 1908. The oldest wheels are made of bronze, and the newer ones are made of steel. There are hundreds of patterns to choose from. The worker selects the wheel with the desired pattern. He mounts it to an embossing machine that was built in 1908. The worker locks the embossing wheel onto the shaft. He ignites torches that heat the embossing wheel. As the hot wheel revolves, it presses the pattern into the moulded strip of wood. The heat releases moisture from the wood, preventing splintering during embossing. A drive wheel below works in concert with the embossing wheel to move the wood forward. Next up are rosettes that are used to accentuate the corners of furniture, windows, and doors. Using a sliding apparatus known as a sled, the woodworker delivers a board to the teeth of a saw. He makes straight cuts and squares to the desired dimensions. The worker draws lines from one corner of the wood square to another, and from the opposite sides. The lines intersect at the exact center of the square. The worker clamps the square in a milling machine with the cutting tool aimed directly at the center. He activates the tool to make the first circular cut. He removes the wood square to check out the cut. The worker measures it to confirm that it is in fact, dead center. He returns the square to the platform under the milling tool. This time the cutter spins into the wood to make a wider and deeper circular cut. This further expands the pattern in a radial fashion. And it completes the rosette pattern. The worker examines the quality of the cut and measures the distance to the edge of the wood to verify that it's to spec. From a simple wood square to an elegant rosette, this job is done. The trim can now be used to make furniture looked hand carved without all the effort. A stapler can instantly transform a pile of papers into a document. Its story begins with the rapid increase in the use of paper in the middle of the 19th century. The stapler was developed because people needed something better than string or pins to hold the pages together. Plier staplers open and close like pliers to tackle fastening jobs with quick precision. Making these staplers starts with the cover plate. A press wields up to 176 tons of force to shape steel blanks to a slopped profile. A robot inserts tracks into nickel steel casings. These are the vertical staple tracks for the front of the stapler. Tools bend tabs on the ends of the casings to fasten the two parts. Another robot serves up covers for the stapler's magazines to an automated welder. The welder fuses an assembly attachment to each cover. A worker immerses some of the stapler's interior parts in a solution of water and zinc phosphate. This solution forms an anti-corrosion coating on the surface of the steel. These particular parts are pusher guides. The top part has the protective coating. The parts then take a ride with ceramic stones and polishing solution. This smoothes rough bits and makes them shine. Next up is the die plate. This is the part that shapes and closes the staple during stapling. An automated system screws an iron "u"-bolt attachment to the die plate. A robot then inserts the spring block, the part that allows the stapler to spring back to its original position after use. Meanwhile at the next station, a robot places a piece of precision-cut steel on a mold. A press drives it into the mold to shape it into the stapler body that holds all the working components. More robots then work in perfect sequence, to install thick metal pins across the stapler body. These pins brace the stapler's structure, but that's not all. Some of the stapler's working parts will hook onto these pins. Other robots now fasten the die plate to one end of the stapler body using rivet hinge. In the process, they also fasten the spring block securely to the die plate. After cleaning and degreasing, the stapler bodies head into a paint booth. Spray guns apply primer, and a curtain of water behind the parts prevents emissions from escaping from the booth. The next sprayers coat the parts with green paint. With the paint dry on the stapler body, workers are ready to assemble all the working parts. The assembler slides the front staple track into place and inserts the staple pusher guide into the body. She positions a metal plate over the guide and screws everything in place through holes in the body of the stapler. The assembler clips a retaining ring around each screw. Next up is the driver. This part detaches staples one at a time during stapling. After installing it, the assembler inserts the spring loaded pusher and hooks the end on the staple guide. Another worker assembles the handle that allows the stapler to be wielded with plier-like accuracy. He secures the handle with a rolling fastener. This rolling fastener indirectly bears down on the staples to apply pressure during stapling. Another team member then inspects the stapler. Satisfied with its fabrication, she reaches for the cover plate and hammers the wings to bend them for a better fit. She slides the cover plate into the grooves of the stapler and loads the staples to give it a trial run. She staples paper repeatedly to confirm that it's fully operational. These plier staplers are now ready for the workplace, where with a few quick crunches, they'll help keep the paperwork in order.