Mountain Bike Suspensions Surgical Sutures Grain Dryers Frying Pans
Mountain bike suspension forks were developed in the early 1990s. Like shock absorbers on a car, these forks expand and contract, absorbing the impact of rough terrain. They also provide traction, which adds both comfort and control to an offroad ride. There are plenty of jumps and bumps on an offroad trail. A suspension fork ensures a cushioned landing. They start by making the adjustment knob for the compression mechanism. Computerized tools carve an aluminum bar into a round shape with grooves for better gripping. Then, they add a protective black coating. A worker inserts a tension bar into a quick-release lever. The lever allows the rider to detach the wheel from the suspension fork. He presses a fastener into the lever to secure it to the bar. He lubricates the tension bar with grease. Then, he inserts the bar into the wheel axle, joining it to the lever. A steel pin holds them together. An employee places the inner fork upside-down in a hydraulic press. He inserts the steering tube in the center hole and activates the press. Then, he lubricates one of the tubular legs and the upper part of an air spring. He pushes the part through the bottom of the leg. It slides to the top, where he installs an adjustment knob. He inserts the lower part of the air spring into the leg. The air spring allows the suspension to move up and down. He snaps a collar on the end to lock the air spring in place. The damper is next. It's a piston and oil-compression mechanism that absorbs energy. He pushes it into the second leg of the fork. He screws a threaded collar and valve into the top of the damper leg. He adjusts the damper's position. He adds oil to the damper, using a fill sleeve to prevent spills. He pushes a rod through the damper to get rid of any air. Once the damper is full of oil and air-free, he installs the top cap and seals it with a gasket. He screws a base ring onto the gasket. Then, he installs the compression knob we saw machined earlier. The knob allows the rider to adjust the compression of the oil. With the inner fork complete, they now move on to the outer fork. An employee inserts bushings in the tubular legs and activates a two-pronged press. The press pushes bushings securely into the cavities. He secures the inner fork in a jig upside-down and slides the outer fork onto it. He lubricates the spaces between the inner and outer forks. After bolting the suspension forks together, he increases the air pressure in the spring and caps the air-fill valve. Now, for testing. A motor moves the fork up and down, simulating a bumpy ride. A computer monitors the suspension fork's performance. After passing the test, a worker applies brand decals to the fork. Finally, he slides the axle into the lower part of the fork and secures it. This mountain bike suspension fork is complete. Now, a technician fits it to the front of a bike. He attaches the handlebar to the steering tube with a nut and a long screw. Next, he attaches the wheel to the fork with the axle. It takes just two hours to make a mountain bike suspension fork... But they're strong enough to last through many more hours on long, bumpy mountain trails. Humans have been performing surgery for over 7,000 years, but the use of surgical sutures is fairly recent. Ancient greek surgeons were thought to be the first. They used gut strings to mend the wounds of gladiators over 2,000 years ago. Today's medical sutures come in different forms, such as synthetic monofilament threads, natural collagen fibers, or braided synthetic threads. A technician sets a tension meter to check the quality of the raw materials. The machine applies tension on the knot to measure the force needed to break it. A worker tests the material's absorption process in a heated bath. This simulates the temperature and moisture of the human body. A technician enters the product's medical specifications and prints out a batch of labels. Then, a supervisor selects needles and places them on a table. He retrieves spools of thread from a refrigerated room. To preserve the thread, it's been stored in sealed containers. The supervisor gathers all the materials and brings them to the material preparation department. The supplies are passed through an air lock to maintain the department's positive-pressure environment. On the other side, a technician opens the airtight foil and removes the thread spool. She threads the spool in a custom-made winding and cutting machine. The technician sets the mechanical thread counter back to zero and starts the winder. It can wind threads that are up to 100 inches. The counter tracks the number of windings as the machine unspools the thread. The machine stops automatically once the winding is complete. The technician applies medical-grade glue to stiffen the ends of the braided threads before cutting them. She places a guide to hold the threads in place while she cuts them along the glue line. Sutures use needles of various shapes and sizes, the smallest ones being 10 millimeters in length. On the main production floor, dozens of workers attach needles to the threads. They make sure the attachment meets the suture's requirements. The operator inserts the glue-hardened end of the thread into the back of the needle and crimps it tight with a mechanical swaging machine. Then, she hooks the needle into a pull tester to check the strength of each attachment. Finally, workers wind the assembled sutures into folded holding cards, tucking the needles in for protection. A worker inserts the holding card in a labeled foil pouch. Then, he slips it in a second package made of medical paper and polypropylene film and feeds it into a continuous rotary sealer. The sealed packages drop into a production holding basket. The finished product is sent for terminal sterilizing. A worker places the basket into an ethylene oxide, or eo, gas sterilization bag. She attaches a biological indicator vial and a control strip on a sterilization control card and puts the card inside the bag. She adds an eo gas delayed- release canister in the bag and places the sealed bag into the sterilizer. Sutures can be used for a variety of procedures, but each product has a very precise application. Harvested grains must be dried before they can be stored. Otherwise, they'll spoil. Farmers can outsource this work to someone else for a hefty fee, or they can choose to keep everything on the farm by investing in a grain dryer. To use a grain dryer, the farmer simply dumps their harvest into a fold-down loading hopper. Once the bin is full, he or she starts the dryer's power unit. A central auger circulates the grain inside the bin as a fan blows in hot air, drying the grain. Most of the grain dryer's components are made out of steel tubing. Workers cut the tubes to the various required lengths. Once all the pieces are cut, workers position them on an assembly jig. Here, they're assembling the dryer's mainframe. Once all the parts are laid out, workers lock the pieces in place and weld them together. They assemble what's called the spider on a different assembly jig. The spider supports the dryer's plenum chamber, the component at the center of the bin that distributes the hot air. Workers bolt the spider to the mainframe and move the unit to the paint area. They clean and prime the steel, then, coat it with corrosion-resistant paint. It takes 24 to 32 hours for the paint to dry. At that point, workers mount the agitator to the spider. The agitator prevents wet grain from sticking to the bin wall. They mount the agitator's main drive chain to the main gear and gearbox drive. Meanwhile, a plasma torch cuts sheets of perforated galvanized steel for the bin. These pieces will form the circular bottom. A press punches holes along the edges of each sheet. Workers connect the sheets together and bolt them onto a ring called the transition band at the top of the mainframe. Then, they lower the spider and bolt it to the transition band. They bolt the plenum chamber to the spider. The chamber is made of perforated galvanized steel sheets. Hot air blown into the chamber by the power unit exits through the perforations, drying the circulating grain. Next, they assemble the bin's outside wall. They bolt perforated galvanized steel sheets together, as well as to the transition band on the mainframe. The sheets enclose the plenum chamber at the center and vent the dry air through the perforations. Workers mount the power unit to the mainframe. The unit, consisting of a burner and fan, blows hot air into the plenum chamber. In another part of the factory, they build the loading hopper on an assembly jig. After welding the parts together, they clean, prime, and paint the steel; install the auger that moves the grain; then, a cover the farmer can adjust to regulate the flow. He also adds a protective screen, for safety. Then, they attach the finished loading hopper to the dryer's mainframe. It connects via a pivoting hinge on the front of the loading tube. The hinge lets the farmer fold the hopper up and out of the way when it's not in use. Workers install springs to make it easier to lower and raise the 60-pound hopper. They also install a latch, which secures the hopper against the bin during storage or transport. The grain dryer rolls on wheels attached to axles bolted to the mainframe. The last step is installing a ladder on the outside of the bin. This provides access to the top of the grain dryer for monitoring operation and maintenance. Frying pans were first used by the ancient greeks and romans over 2,000 years ago. These wide and shallow pans can be used to sauté, sear, or fry food. Water released from the food during cooking creates that sizzling sound. The shape of the pan allows steam to dissipate, giving food a crispy finish. A good nonstick frying pan is a must in the kitchen. A frying pan can be made of any heat-conductive metal. In this case, aluminum alloy ingots. They melt the ingots. A robotic ladle scoops up molten aluminum to be used for casting. They use this two-part die to transform liquid aluminum into a frying pan. The robotic ladle pours the aluminum into the die through a cylindrical port. This high-pressure casting produces a very precise shape. After about a minute, an operator takes it out. They cut off the excess using a computerized tool. The table moves as the tool cuts the edge of the pan to specifications. A worker sands the edges and rounds the rim of the pan a little more. They cast pans in several sizes and thicknesses. An employee keeps a detailed inventory of the pans. Next, they put the pans in a sand-blasting chamber. The sand blaster cleans off oil and residue. It also roughens up the surface of the pans to prepare them for coating. An employee scrubs off the sand using an abrasive pad. Next, the pans receive their ceramic coating. Each pan spins on a pod as a plasma flame melts three different powders onto it. The coating protects the pan from corrosion. An employee scrubs each pan with an abrasive pad to remove the residue. This time, the frying pan spins slowly as torches heat them to approximately 175°. This preheat preps the pans for the final coatings. They prepare up to five proprietary coating formulations for each frying pan model. Each one contains dozens of chemicals and thousands of tiny diamond particles. The diamonds increase durability and heat conductivity. They also make food less likely to stick to the surface of the pan. The final coating contains a nonstick chemical known as ptfe. They spray the different coatings onto the surface. The spinning ensures even coverage as the coatings adhere to the hot pans. Now, a primer is applied. It allows the final nonstick coating to bond to the frying pan. At the end of the line, an employee inspects the finish and sprays a little more of the nonstick formula onto the handle fitting. Then, the frying pans go through a furnace to bake the coatings onto the pans. An employee checks the finish for bubbles, scratches, or color inconsistencies. Once the pans have cooled, a robot transfers them to a lathe. The lathe spins the pan as a tool shaves off a thin layer of aluminum. This leaves a clean, level surface on the bottom of the pan. A suctioning robot moves the frying pan to the next station, where a worker attaches a handle to the pan. An automatic screwdriver secures it. A technician heats one of the frying pans on a cooktop as a mechanical arm rubs the pan thousands of times with a coarse piece of sandpaper. There are no scratches, so the entire batch of pans is approved. Thousands of nonstick frying pans are ready to leave the factory and cook up a tasty meal.