Pressure transducer for use on Extruder

Edited 8mo agoStarted over 2 years ago. Last edit 9 months ago

Machines

Completed

Goal: Enhance user safety and recycling machinery (Extruder) longevity by developing a pressure transducer for precise monitoring of mould fullness. Challenges: Inexperienced and experienced users often damage equipment due to excessive pressure from overfilled or cold moulds. Current lack of clear visual cues exacerbates this issue. Solution: Design and prototype a universal pressure transducer that easily attaches to an Extruder barrel. This will provide real-time, user-friendly digital pressure readings for optimal mould filling. Impact: Our innovation goes beyond a technical advancement. It aims to make micro-recycling safer and more user-friendly for a wider audience by facilitating better machine operation and fostering a more inclusive learning environment. This translates to error minimisation, reduced downtime, and a more robust global Precious Plastic community.

researchother machineextrusion

More Information

1824

1 V1 technical drawings

preciousplasticmelbourne

Published 2y agoPublished over 2 years ago

Initial round of Pressure Transducer technical drawings

2 Update 1

preciousplasticmelbourne

Published 2y agoPublished over 2 years ago

We've been progressively upgrading our hand-cranked Zephyr Bros. Benchtop Extruder to accept a detachable motor for new + existing customers. A key concern was providing operators a way to monitor for full moulds or blockages in order to safely produce parts with their machine. The solution: To install a melt pressure sensor/transducer, however we needed to make changes to our existing nozzle. Since the nozzles needed to fit machines with differing internal thread starting points (machines of new and existing clients), we designed them with 2 mounting positions. This ensures the pressure sensor can always be installed correctly, regardless of thread location. The success of this pressure monitoring system on the Benchtop Extruder has led us to develop a similar solution for larger Precious Plastic extruders. Facing the same challenge of diverse thread starting points, we're creating a slightly larger nozzle, maintaining the same versatile mounting style as the Benchtop version.

3 Transducer testing

preciousplasticmelbourne

Published 2y agoPublished about 2 years ago

Testing the transducer on a large (beam) mould, and small (carabiner) mould

4 Final update

preciousplasticmelbourne

Published 2y agoPublished about 2 years ago

Universal Nozzle R&D Resource

5 File supply

preciousplasticmelbourne

Edited 8mo agoPublished about 2 years ago. Last edit 9 months ago

In the folder you will find: 1. Data Sheet - MELT PRESSURE TRANSDUCERS 2. Interactive BOM 3. Schematics 4. Transducer Nozzle files; - NOZZLE, TRANSDUCER_.step - TRANSDUCER NOZZLE.pdf - PLUG TRANSDUCER NOZZLE_.step - PLUG, TRANSDUCER NOZZLE.pdf)

Download files

10 downloads

6 How to monitor extrusion pressure

preciousplasticmelbourne

Edited 8mo agoPublished 9 months ago. Last edit 9 months ago

This guide covers the steps required to install a hot melt pressure transducer onto your Precious Plastic Extruder, to enhance it's safety and performance. The guide is based off our research project, and is broken down into easy-to-follow steps. See it here: https://community.preciousplastic.com/library/how-to-monitor-extrusion-pressure