Practical 3

 Pre-session preparation

Corrugated fibreboard is a very versatile material that has a wide range of uses ranging from material for packing to containers. Corrugated materials are pulps made from softwood trees that have been put through mechanical and chemical pulping to break down the fibres. The corrugator is a continuous system designed to adhere sheets of paper that shapes bulk corrugated boards. It consists of 3  components: corrugated material in the center, outer and inner liners. During manufacture, each side of the corrugated material is glued to the flat paper liner to add rigidity and stability while fixing the flutes in position. Additional fluting section and liner can be added to help add strength and rigidity which can give different wall types (single/double/tri-wall). During recycle, the cardboard is separated from other materials then shredded into smaller pieces to be chemically treated that breaks down to fibres which is made into new papers. 

Actual session: Cardboard Joinery

What we have learnt in P3 is that prototyping is important as it gives us a means to test our product to reduce errors and save cost when we manufacture and sell the product. Cardboard is used as it is cheap, recyclable, readily available and easy to use. We were tasked to make a visual board and present it to the class. In our visual board, it must comprise of at least 8 joints which are the 6 joints given to us: flange, score+ bend, gusset, tabs, tabs+ slots, slots and another 2 additional joints of our own. The 2 additional joints that we have incorporated into our product is the foot joint and finger joint which is used in our ferris wheel. 

First, we planned ideas and decided on which idea we were going to work on for our visual board. We came up with ideas and narrowed it to down to a park theme with a bridge. We added the ferris wheel to make our final visual board more interesting and fun.

Picture 1: Planning Stage 

Next, we were reminded of safety so we wore an anti-cut glove over our nitrile gloves to protect our hands when we are using the penknife and hot glue. We divided our team into two, one to make the bridge and the other, the ferris wheel so that we could complete our visual board more efficiently. Safety precaution was reminded so before using the penknife and hot glue we have to wear our anti-cut gloves over our nitrile gloves at all times.

Picture 2: Measuring and Cutting

Picture 3: Using hot glue

After our measurements, we pasted them all together and decorated our visual board to it more nice. Our favorite joint is the slots as it is sturdy, aesthetically pleasing, can be a base for anything and its versatility. Slots was used to design the shape our ferris wheel and the pathway for the bridge. Afterwards, we did a presentation on our visual board and explained to the class the joints we have used and the design of our visual board. Overall, we had a fun and learning experience as we get to use our creativity to develop something using cardboard joints and we get to learn how the joints are used to make products.

Completed visual board: 

Presentation: 

Post-session: The little assignment - Winged Unicorn

At the end of the lesson, we were tasked to assemble the winged unicorn and to pay attention to the types of folds and joints that are used. 

What we observed:

1. Most of the joints used were slot and tab joints

2. At the lines where we were supposed to fold the cardboard, there are already indents on the cardboard which helps to make the folding easier and more neater.

3. The holes that the tabs are slotted into are mostly along the lines that are to be bent. When the lines are bent accordingly, it actually helps make the hole wider which allows the ease of slotting in the additional pieces of cardboard without denting it or having to use force.

4. The tabs that will be slotted in are slightly wider on on end, this helps to make sure that the added parts to not fall off easily.

Assembling process:

Picture of the broken out pieces:

Picture of the winged unicorn in the process of being assembled:

Picture of the finished winged unicorn:

Xin Ni

Katrina

Ashwati

Jun Lin

Making the wings flap:

Two rubber bands and some tape were used to make the wings flap while returning to the same position.

Initially, the wings were tied together by one rubber band which did allow them to flap, but the actions were limited. Next we tried two rubber bands, one for each wing. The flapping action became more noticeable which was an improvement. However the rubber bands kept slipping off the wings. Hence on the third try, some tape was used to secure the rubber bands on to the respective wings. This try was successful as the wings were flapping without having the rubber bands slipping off.

Picture of the mechanism:

Video of the mechanism in action:

Sketching the mechanism that will be put in to automate the wind flapping:

As the handle is turned, the gear would turn allowing the lever would move up and down . Since the lever is attached to the wings, as the lever moves up and down, the wings are able to "flap".