Traffic Signal Poles Coffee Filters Chainsaw Mining Machines
Traffic-signal poles must be strong enough to bear the weight of road signs, street lights, and, of course, traffic signals. The poles are also built to withstand extreme weather conditions, such as high winds and heavy snow accumulation. Traffic signal poles are made of high-strength steel. Years of weather exposure can cause corrosion, so the poles are galvanized on both sides for protection. Each pole has a welded plate to connect it to a perpendicular pole. The poles are made out of these steel sheets. The steel arrives at the factory in one large roll. They use a decoiler to unwind the sheet and flatten it out. Then a shear cuts it to the correct length. A computer-guided plasma cutter marks short lines on both ends of the sheet. These lines indicate where to bend the flat sheet to form a round pole. The machine cuts the sheet into a rectangular shape, or a trapezoid shape if the pole will taper at the top. Workers number the machine lines with chalk, giving lines directly opposite of each other the same number. Then they transfer the sheet to a bending machine called a press brake. The press brake bends the sheet along the marked line to a preprogrammed angle. Workers use a digital measuring device to make sure the first bend is accurate. If it is, they continue bending along the remainder of the lines, transforming the flat sheet into a multisided round pole. Now the pole moves to a welding station, where hydraulic rollers apply pressure from both sides. This forces the edges of the sheet together so that a welding head can fuse the seam with molten steel. At the same time, the head deposits a granular powder called flux, which prevents air from penetrating the weld and weakening it. Workers place the pole in a hydraulic press so it doesn't warp as the seam weld cools and shrinks. Next, a computer-guided plasma machine cuts a connection plate out of thick steel. The machine also drills holes for the high-strength bolts needed to attach the plate to the traffic-signal pole. Workers center the connection plate on support plates they've already welded to the pole. Then they weld everything in place. Next, workers weld a baseplate to the bottom of the pole. It has holes for the anchor bolts, which are used for securing the traffic signal to the street. Workers inspect the welds with a testing device. It uses an electric current to magnetically draw colored powder into any defective area. The factory ships the finished poles to a galvanizing plant, where they're dipped in a series of wash tanks. The plant's tanks are deep enough to fully submerge the poles so they can treat both the inner and outer surface at the same time. Now the poles go into a vat of sulfuric acid. This bath dissolves the more stubborn contaminants that washing can't remove. The next tank contains a chemical that weakens the surface of the poles. This allows the galvanizing metal to penetrate the steel, rather than sit on the surface. The final tank contains molten zinc. As the poles bathe in the 842-degree zinc, workers in fire-protection suits skim the surface to remove iron oxide and ash that floats to the top. This keeps the freshly galvanized surface clean as the poles are hoisted out of the tank and set aside to cool. Because they're galvanized rather than painted, these poles are able to support traffic lights, signs, and street lamps for 40 years or more. In 1908, a german housewife came up with a solution to get rid of bitter-tasting sediment in her coffee. She punched nail holes in a pot and covered them with blotting paper. Then she placed ground coffee on the paper and filled the pot with hot water. It worked so well that she started selling her coffee filters worldwide. These coffee filters are made of 100% cellulose fiber harvested from slow-growing pine and spruce trees in the forests of southern scandinavia. The raw material produces paper that lets about 3 ounces of water pass through it in approximately 40 seconds. That's the optimal saturation rate for producing good coffee. 30% of the paper's cellulose content is left over from earlier production. The other 70% is raw cellulose fiber. The materials go into a machine called a pulper, which works like a giant food processor. It blends the raw materials with hot water, making a fiber soup called pulp. A paper-making machine spreads a one-inch layer of pulp across a wire-mesh belt. Water jets cut a straight edge on both sides. As moisture drains down through the belt, the pulp forms a soggy sheet of paper. It has a water content of 80%. All this happens at an astounding pace. The machine lays down 1,300 feet of pulp a minute. At the next station, heavy compression rollers squeeze almost half the water out of the paper. A tool applies a crepe texture. This increases the surface area of the paper and improves filtration speed. Next, they use 38 steam-heated rollers to dry the paper completely. The rollers' surface temperatures are around 250 degrees. As the finished paper exits the machine, a camera registers the location of holes, dirt, or other defects that have to be cut out. It takes the machine 45 minutes to produce an 11-mile-long sheet of coffee-filter paper. The roll is transferred to a cutting machine. The paper is sliced into two-foot rolls so it can fit in the filter-making machine. Sensors in the filter-making machine make sure the paper is aligned correctly. At the machine's first station, tiny needles pierce holes in the paper to enhance the quality of filtration. At the next station, a stamp imprints the company logo in the paper. A knife slices the paper in half, creating two side-by-side production lines from this point forward. Each line enters a folding station, where guides fold the flat sheet in half. A roller embosses a seam connecting the two layers of paper along the bottom and side. Then a second roller cuts the conical shape of the filter. The machine produces 4,000 filters per minute. The next station cuts the filters apart and collects the leftover paper, which will be recycled into pulp. The filters are sent to an automatic counting machine that divides them into stacks of 80. The machine feeds the stacks to the packaging line. An automated packaging machine aligns each stack with a flattened box. Then it opens the box with a vacuum and inserts the filters. If the machine's sensor detects a problem, like filters in the wrong position or missing filters, it ejects that box from the line. This factory produces a few different types of filters. How the cellulose is processed in the pulper determines how the filter will perform. For example, the factory processes cellulose finely to make filters designed to brew strong coffee. Fine cellulose produces paper that drains slowly, keeping the water and coffee beans together longer, resulting in a stronger flavor. Chainsaw mining machines are among the largest and heaviest chainsaws in the world. They're used in rock quarries to cut and extract some of the toughest materials on earth. The machine's massive blade can make both vertical and horizontal cuts, slicing through hard stone as if it were butter. Hundreds of feet underground, this monster chainsaw is carving through geological deposits of marble. The chainsaw arm can rotate to make both horizontal and vertical cuts as needed. It cuts uniform blocks of marble. Then a loader extracts the blocks from the rock face. They're the exact size the customer requested, thanks to the precision and power of the chainsaw mining machine. It takes several steel tubes of various dimensions to make a chainsaw mining machine. They use an automated saw to cut the tubes to the correct length. This one will be used for the chassis. They assemble the tubes in the correct configuration. Then a worker joins them with welds. They lower the completed chassis onto the chainsaw machine tracks. The chassis is bolted to the fifth-wheel coupling. This allows the machine to rotate 360 degrees. They bring in the framework that will house the motors, oil tank, and electrical components. They bolt the framework to the chassis. The next part is a rail system for raising and lowering the chainsaw blade. A worker attaches the rail system to the chassis using a thick pin. This pin acts as a hinge, allowing the vertical structure to be folded down when needed. After verifying that the machine's basic framework fits together well, they take it apart for painting. They also paint the gear motors. This one will power the carriage that moves the blade back and forth. Once all the parts have been painted, they reassemble the framework. Next, they mount the carriage to the front of the machine. It rotates within the vertical rail to position the blade for cutting. Workers then install the gear motor that powers the horizontal movement of the chainsaw blade. They secure it with several bolts. Two more gear motors will drive the cutting chain and rotate the blade. The team mounts them to the front of the carriage, to the right of the other gear motor. At the back of the carriage, a worker assembles a gear known as a pinion. The pinion engages with a track called the rack. This rack-and-pinion system allows the carriage to slide back and forth. A worker folds hydraulic hoses in a long metal cage and bolts the cage to the front of the machine. Then he connects the cutting-chain hoses to the motor, protecting the connections with metal half-flanges. They make all the electrical connections... Then screw fireproof and waterproof covers onto the electronics boxes. They program the chainsaw machine's operator screen. Stay tuned, because the big chainsaw blade is next. Few things are as fierce as the blade of a stonecutting chainsaw machine. It's 10 feet long, weighs over 1,300 pounds, and has big teeth that make cutting through solid rock look easy. It's no surprise that making one of these giant blades is a huge job. A computer-driven plasma flame cuts a large blade from a sheet of high-carbon steel. Using a crane with a powerful magnet, they transfer the chainsaw blade to a milling station. Here, computerized tools smooth out the steel. They also bring the blade to the correct width and carve channels for lubrication tubes. They drill holes for metal plates that will align the cutting chain. The team paints the saw and adds an attachment bar, then mounts it to the front of the chainsaw machine. They slide the bar into the blade support on the front. It's a critical connection because it bears the weight of the heavy blade as it saws through stone. They secure it to the blade support with a thick pin and a nut. Next, they make the cutting-chain sprocket. A computer-guided tool carves toothlike projections around the rim of a steel disk. These teeth are designed to grab the links of the cutting chain. The sprocket is ready to be mounted to the chainsaw machine. An employee slides the sprocket onto a shaft protruding from the cutting-chain gear motor. He bolts the disk to the surrounding hub. Next, they assemble the cutting chain. A two-part fastener system holds the links together. It starts with this hollow pin. A worker drives the hollow pin into a hole in the links using a hydraulic press. He inserts an l-shaped pin into the hollow pin. The tongue of the l-shaped pin fits into a groove adjacent to the hollow pin. The press forces the l-shaped pin into the groove. He alternates outer links and inner ones to build a 30-foot chain that will fit to the saw body. Then another worker loops it around the saw blade and sprocket. The chain fits perfectly to the saw. He joins the ends of the chain with a hollow pin and an l-shaped pin to complete the loop. He flattens them with a hammer instead of a press because it's easier to use a hammer at this angle. The chain is in place, but it doesn't have the teeth it needs to cut stone yet. These parts, a carrier and a tungsten carbide cutting bit, give the blade its cutting edge. He places a set on each of the chain's outer links... Then screws them in. Studded with tough, sharp teeth, this mega chainsaw is now ready for rock-cutting action. It cuts through stone cleanly and efficiently. Its size and power make it a force to be reckoned with underground. Despite its bulky frame, this chainsaw mining machine has a wide range of motion. Here, the front carriage rotates the blade to demonstrate how it can be repositioned between cuts. No matter how you slice it... That's pretty impressive.