Design and fabrication of mechanical

sweeper

V.Athisiva 14BME0617 | Hardware project | 25/10/16

Table of Content
 Abstract
 Mechanical sweeper vs vacuum cleaner
 Design Concept
 Material selection
 Linear dimensioning of the prototype
 Cost Analysis and Bill of materials.
 Fabrication and Machining of the working model submitted.
 Drawings Of components and Assembly( in pdf file)
 Conclusion

 The objective of this project is to device a mechanism which serves the

purpose of sweeping.
 Usually Vacuum Cleaners are employed for cleaning purposes as they
reduce time.
 But the effort needed to do the work is more because of the need for
developing partial vacuum and storing the waste.
 We will see how a Mechanical Sweeper overcomes these difficulties.

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 :
 A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses an air pump (a centrifugal fan in all but some of the very oldest
models), to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from floors, and from other surfaces
such as upholstery and draperies. The dirt is collected by either a dust bag or a cyclone for later disposal.
PRINCIPLE OF VACUUM CLEANER:
 A vacuum's suction is caused by a difference in air pressure. A fan driven by an electric motor (often
a universal motor) reduces the pressure inside the machine. Atmospheric pressure then pushes the air
through the carpet and into the nozzle, and so the dust is literally pushed into the bag.

DISADVANTAGES OF VACUUM CLEANER:

• Use of electricity: Depending on the vacuum cleaner model uses hundreds to

thousands watts of electricity.

• Cable length : we are also limited by the cable length. Using a cable that is too
long is also less effective to move the equipment and use of batteries to avoid long
cable increase the weight of the machine which means more effort for moving it
around and increasing the cost further.

• Size : Vacuum cleaners are bulky, cumbersome machine that often hard to move
around the home.Also big space is required for storing it.

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MECHANICAL SWEEPER (Using Q-R mechanism):

Design Concept
 The idea is based on the usual muscular motion that is provided by us while
sweeping our homes (to and fro motion of the broom).

 The machine was designed with the concept that less effort is required to push or
pull an object rather than sucking and carrying it.

 The only force against which the work is done is the friction force and inertia of
the dust and waste particles which is considerably negligible ,thus reducing the

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 effort done by the machine in order to do the required common work which is
cleaning the surface.

 The to and fro motion of the broom to sweep the floor is to be replicated
mechanically, the action of the broom is in such a way that all the work is done in
the forward stroke and the return stroke is just for repositioning the broom to our
convenience and is done quickly ,also during the return stroke the broom is lifted
to avoid sweeping back the leftover waste and the particles that are stuck to the
broom.

 The Reciprocating motion with most of the work done in the forward stroke and
quick return during the return stroke can be achieved by the Whitworth Quick
Return mechanism, but the lift for the brush during the return stroke can’t be
provided by the Q-R mechanism which calls for the redesigning of the existing Q-
R mechanism which is the novelty and innovation of this project.

 The lift of the brush during the return stroke is done by cam and follower
mechanism, the follower is attached to the guide of the slider(which is the brush).

 The follower rises the guide and thus the slider during the return stroke with the
help of a cam designed for this purpose having a predefined lift and profile.

 The crank and the cam are rotated by a common shaft and the cam position
relative to the crank is calculated and fixed accordingly

Material Selection:

 Our objective is just to demonstrate the working of the idea with the help of a
prototype and it should be made as cheap as possible so the Cost is given the
highest weightage in material selection.

 The availability and machinability of the material should also be easy.

 The material should have strength to withstand the various stresses so strength is
also given some weightage.

 Thus the material which is best suited for the above conditions is Teak Wood.

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Bill of materials

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 Manufacturing Method:
 Blank dimensions: Length X 1.5in X 0.5 in
 The thickness and width of all the blanks before machining are taken to be
constant as mentioned.
 The length of the Blank alone varies depending on the component and is always
taken 2 inch greater than the required dimension.
 The blank is made into a cuboid of reduced size by using Jigsaw.
 The hole centres are measured and marked with the help of a scale or measuring
tape and a marker.
 The holes are drilled by using a standard Hand drill and drill bit of 18mm
diameter.
 For generating smooth flat surfaces the planner machine is used.
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 For Generating curved edges the centre are first measured and marked then the
appropriate curve is drawn with the help of a compass. The edges are cut out by
using Jigsaw.
 For cutting the slot in slotted link the centres of the semicircle are marked first
then a hole having the same radius as that of curve is drilled out using hand drills
and tangent lines are marked along the length of the slot and the slot is cut out by
a jig saw.
 For generating cylindrical surfaces the blank is turned in a Bench lathe(for turning
wood).
 The joints are secured using Cotter pins.

 The cam profile should provide some lift which is assumed as 5mm.
 The base circle radius is taken as 15 mm,along with the lift the max radius is 20
mm.The total length is 67mm.
 A mild steel shaft of 25 mm radius and 70mm length is taken initially and faced to
67 mm.
 A portion(46 mm) of the shaft is turned to 18mm diameter then the rest is turned
to 40mm dia by step turning.
 The cam profile is drawn on the 40mm diameter part and is to be cut for 8 mm
thickness which can be done by End milling or 4 tangents are cut using hack saw
after which the irregularities are filed to smoothen the profile.

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 The mechanical sweeper machine serves as an excellent machine to clean large
open areas like ground and roads with very less effort in comparison with the
existing vacuum cleaners.
 It is cost efficient and affordable
 Size of the machine is also small making it portable.
 The ability of this machine to adapt itself to various types of working surfaces like
wet and dry surfaces without much modification makes it more attractive and
efficient.


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