Engineering Design

Design Specification and Calculations

Sean Cummins
October 2014

Standardisation
Definition Investopedia explains standardisation as a framework of agreements to which all
relevant parties in an industry or organization must adhere to ensure that all processes associated
with the creation of a good or performance of a service are performed within set guidelines.

(Investopedia, 2009)
It is important to understand the term standardization if we are to establish advantages and
disadvantages with respect to design, manufacture and marketing / sales;
Advantages
Improvement in universal technical
communication and mutual understanding
Removal of technical barriers to trade
Ease of repeat manufacture
Uniform terminology is created
Sizes and dimensions are co-ordinated and
adapted
Variety is reduced
Availability
Low Cost

Disadvantages
Loss of custom if companies require bespoke
components
Loss of skilled personnel
Less unique

With respect to standardisation in design the effects of variety reduction are well known and can
mostly be assessed in terms of hard cash, taking due account of the additional cost reduction effects
on associated parts and operations;
Interchangeability as a result of standardization leads to higher productivity and lower
manufacturing costs. These benefits are relayed to the users as a result of increased competition.
Interchangeability is also very important to installation, maintenance, and repairs.
In marketing standardisation the ease of availability implies that an adequate number of varieties
are always in stock. This means shorter lead times and less capital tied up on the user side.
A good example of standardisation, that on one hand, has globally worked well, whilst on the other
hand, has negative aspects is the Worlds largest restaurant chain - McDonalds! The giant red M
sign is recognised in 119 countries boasting 34,480reasturants. (Fox News, 2013)
Rest assured you can walk into any one of those 34,480 restaurants and buy a Big Mac that is the
same in all ways as one you could buy on the other side of the World.
Where this level of standardisation may come as a disadvantage is if the customer may require a
custom hamburger or a hamburger containing ingredients popular to the area. This could lead to
dissatisfaction and lose of custom to local competitors who can customize hamburgers to what is
required. (Small Business - Chron.com, 2014)

Design Specification of an Electric Toaster

Job Title: Electric Toaster
Purpose:

Job Number: ET0010

Toasters in general toasts two slices of bread simultaneously and a self-timing

mechanism turns off the toaster automatically whilst releasing a spring loaded tray at
the same time, therefore the two slices of toast pop up together.
This design specification is to focus on the simultaneous pop up toasting action. The
purpose of this design specification is to design and manufacture a toaster that will
toast bread of various sizes and thicknesses consistently that will give the user a desired
degree of toasting time after time. It should also have a time delay of 20 seconds that
will allow for the second slice of toast to stay warm whilst the first slice is being
prepared (i.e. spread with butter).
The toaster will be aimed at a general household market with an age range between 2040 year olds.

Function:

The toaster should have a pre-defined delay in the timer that will release one slice of
bread 20 seconds after the first slice.
Must be portable.
Should take up minimal worktop space.
Should be easy to use and clean.
Must have a removable crumb tray.
Must be durable.
Must consistently toast bread to the desired rate.
Must be a rustic and attractive in appreance.
Must be safe.
Must be lightweight.
Must be robust.
Must have a spring loaded release tray.
Should be self centering.
Should have two bread slots.
Should be rectangular shaped with chamfered corners.
Should be white in colour.
Should accept items of different sizes and thickness.

Material:

The outer case should be aluminium or stainless steel but white in colour.
The adjustable timing knobs should be formed from a suitable polymer with a metallic
outer layer.
The interior frame should be made form aluminium or stainless steel.
The toasting element must have two mica sheets wrapped in Nichrome wire, and they
would be spaced to form a slot about an inch (2.5 cm) wide. The Nichrome wires would
connect directly to a plug.

Reliability: The toasters components should be capable of at least 2 cycles per day for three/four
years.
This will give a life cycle of approx. 3000 depending on temperature and timing settings.
Longer warmer cycles will reduce cycle life.

Environmental
Conditions: The toaster will be intended for a typical domestic environment, placed away from any
extreme heat sources.
Quantity:

Human
Interface:

Safety:

Initially a prototype. Once ready for production a batch of 100 will be created in a pilot
build to highlight production issues. Once ready for market an initial batch of 5,000 with
be manufactured to conduct market research and track sales.

Must have chamfered corners.

Toasting mechanism should be easy to lower and lock into place.
Crumb tray should be easy to remove and hold the crumbs without spillage.
The paint will remove and sharp edges on any aluminium or stainless steel on the outer
case.
Must conform to the electrical standards outlined below.
Electrical input and input must be earth.

Standards: Needs to comply with the following standards:

BS EN 60335-2-48:2003.
BS EN 60335-1:2002+A14:2010
IEC 60335-2-48:2000.

Quality:

Quality should be of a high standard ensuring realisable performance and customer

satisfaction. Material should be selected with a high factor of safety in mind whilst
agreeing with manufacturing standards.

Maintained: General maintenance includes removal of bread tray and everyday cleaning.
Preferred
Suppliers:

None.

Associated
Drawings: Available upon request.

Insulation System for a Conservatory Roof

Introduction - Conservatories constructed towards the latter half of the 20th century have gained an
unfortunate reputation for extreme temperatures and appalling energy inefficiency. Regarded as
sweltering furnaces in the summer and icy fridges in the winter, the poor thermal retention
properties of older conservatories have put many people off from investing in one, for life. (4

Seasons, 2014)
Purpose The purpose of this design is to overcome the issues associated with the difference
seasons we are subject to and the effects they have upon the living quarters of the conservatories.
Paying particular attention to the winter season when thermal efficiency is considerably poor.
The design will consider and include the following criteria:

Efficiency of Insulation
Ease of Fit and Removal
Aesthetically Pleasing
Cost

The insulation system will be of a solid material that will be attached to the roof internally by means
of a simply clip on and off mechanism. This will allow for the insulation system to be removed and
stored in the warm summer seasons and easily attached for the cold winter seasons.
Efficiency of Insulation
There are a number of products on the market that will aid in improving thermal efficiency in
building but to make reference to we must first understand what thermal efficient is and how to
calculate it if we are the select a material. All materials are given a thermal conductivity denoted by
a k value, measured in units of W/mK. The k-value is directly proportional to the thickness of the
material i.e. if the material is doubled in size then the k-value is doubled. As structures are made up
from many different layer an overall heat transfer coefficient can be calculated, this is know in the
building industry as the U-Vaule. The u-value is described in units of W/m2K and is calculated by
taking the k-values of all the different layers of insulation and multiplying through one square meter
divided by the temperature across the structure. (Wikipedia, 2014)
Calculation for the U-value of one material is shown below. The lower the resultant U-value the
better the insulating properties the structure will have.

Typical values of building structures are outlined in the table below:

Material
Double Glazed Windows
Roof Insulation
Single Glazed Windows
Wall Insulation

U-Value (W/m2K)
2.8
0.15
5.7
0.25

From the table we can begin to see where the poor thermal conductivity comes from in
conservatories. The majority of conservatories are constructed with double glazed widows playing a
majority part. As we can see from the table double glazed windows have a U-value that is much
greater than that of an insulated wall. This gives evidence to our original statement that
conservatories have poor insulation properties.
From the proposed design the insulation material should be from a solid material and should be able
to increase the insulation properties within the conservatory, in winter, to that of a U-value in the
region of wall insulation. We also know from the table above that Roof insulation has a good UValue. Typically roof insulation is made for fibre glass insulation which is available in different
degrees of depth. The table below states the U-value and equivalent thickness of fibreglass
insulation:
Description
0 Fibreglass Insulation
1 Fibreglass Insulation
2 Fibreglass Insulation
3 Fibreglass Insulation
4 Fibreglass Insulation
6 Fibreglass Insulation
8 Fibreglass Insulation
12 Fibreglass Insulation

U-Value
0.90
0.26
0.16
0.11
0.071
0.05
0.039
0.027

(Combustionresearch.com, 2014)
Highlighted is the desired level U-value and at 1inch thick would be a reasonable size to install on a
conservatory roof. This would prove to be a great option to improve insulation in a conservatory,
though it does have a few issues mainly being that is that it is usually supplied in rolls hence, soft and
flimsy to handle completely the opposite of what is required from the insulation. On top of that it
is far from aesthetically pleasing see image 1 below:

Image 1: Fibreglass Insulation.

(On the House, 2014)

Despite all of its faults it still has an incredible U-value and could provide to have potential within the
scope of the design. The design proposes that the insulation should be affixed to internal side if the
conservatory, therefore would require additional fixing methods. The ides is to incorporate the
shell for the fibreglass into the design for fitting and removal of the insulation system to the roof.
Therefore this will be the material we will be using with the fixing and removal design incorporating
the requirements of the material selection into its design.
Fitting and Removal
Before determining how to fit the insulation to the conservatory roof we must determine the shell
that the fibreglass insulation will fit into. The item should be a lightweight, rigid material that is easy
to form and, as now it will be the outer case of the insulation system, should be aesthetically
pleasing. The ideal material for this would be a Polyvinyl chloride (PVC). This will provide the outer
shell with a standard white glossy finish that can be colour bonded to any colour if required. This will
also improve the U-value of the insulation system as PVC has a k value of 1.179.
The shells and fibreglass insulation will be bespoke and made to fit each section of the roof
individually. It will be held into position on the roof by a guide rail and clipping mechanism. The rails
will be separate from the insulation shell and will be permanently fixed between the rafters and
the roof glazing. This will avoid damaging the original structure by attaching the rails by means of
bolts or screw and will also look more appealing. The material used for the guild rails and clipping
mechanism will be of a polymer state as it must be flexible and to open up, once the insulation shell
is inserted and clip back into position to lock the shell in place.
The insulation shell will be inserted
into this section

This section will fit between the

rafter and rubber seal.

Above is a rough image of how the guide rail and clipping mechanism would look.
Image: (Building.dow.com, 2014)

Cost
As all conservatories are different and, as this is a bespoke product design then pricing will be
completely dependant on size and shape of the conservatory. Taking an assumption on cost price of
material in the table below a rough estimate can be calculated.
An average size of conservatory roof panel is about 15m2
An average amount of panels is 10.
Item
Fibreglass
Insulation
PVC Shell
Guide Rail and
Clip Mech

Size
Per Square Meter

Price
2.50

Quantity
15 m2

Total Price
37.50

Per Square Meter

Per meter

3.25
0.72

15 m2
20

48.50
14.40

Accumulative 100.40
Total