PROJECT REPORT

(Project Semester January2020-Feb2021)

PROJECT TITLE:

Mechanisms for Rotating the Steering Knuckle, Axle

Lifting and Time Analysis of the Axle assembly Line

Submitted by

GURPREET SINGH

Student UID 19bme8014

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Chandigarh university NH-95, Ludhiana – chandigarh highway, punjab

Under the Guidance of

Sumantra Mukherjee Anoop Sandhu

DGM, Axle Plant Assistant Manager

 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project work entitled “Mechanisms for steering knuckle rotation, Axle
Lifting and Time analysis of Axle assembly Line” is an authentic record of my own work carried
out at New Holland Fiat India as requirements of Training project semester for the award of
degree of B.E. Mechanical Engineering, Chandigarh university NH-95, Ludhiana –
chandigarh highway, punjab , under the guidance of Mr.Anoop Sandhu.
From: 28 Jan,2020 to 8 feb,2021

(Signature of student)
Name of Student: Gurpreet singh

Certified that the above statement made by the student is correct to the best of our knowledge
and belief.

Signature of Mentor/guide
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is my esteem privilege to express deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to the management
of NEW HOLLAND FIAT (INDIA) Pvt. Ltd. AGRICULTURE, for giving me the opportunity
to complete my project works on ‘Mechanism for steering knuckle rotation, Axle Lifting and
Time analysis of Axle assembly Line’

I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Sumantra Mukherjee and Mr. Anoop Sandhu for their
expertise and inspiring guidance, constructive criticism and constant encouragement during the
course of this practical industrial training.I would be failing in my duties if I do not thank Mr.
Nitesh Sethi , Mr. Vivek Pratap Singh, & all the Associates of NEW HOLLAND who helped
me throughout to complete my project & providing opportunity to getting trained in this
esteemed organization

Thanks are also due to all staff members of NEW HOLLAND and others who took lot of interest
in assisting me & helped me in growth of my practical knowledge during the project and in
making the my training period a success.
 CONTENTS OF REPORT

Topic Page No

1. Summary………………………………………………….. 4

2. Company Profile................................................................... 5

3. Tractor Plant………………………………………………. 8

4. Tools to ensure quality & management…………………… 12

5. Axle Assembly Plant………………………………………. 16

6. Parts involved in axle assembly……………………………. 23

7. Project-1……………………………………………………. 26
8. Project-2……………………………………………………. 38
9. Project-3…………………………………………………….. 42

10.Conclusion…………………………………………………… 49
 1. SUMMARY

My Industrial training at New Holland Fiat, Greater Noida was a very valuable experience. It
gave me a great exposure to the industrial world. I came to know about the difference between
theoretical process and how these processes are carried out actually in the industry. I saw all the
quality management theories like Kaizen ,5S, One Point Lesson etc about which I had only read,
being actually implemented in the industry. All this practical knowledge gave me better
understanding of these theories. As far as my project is concerned, I did three projects in the
Axle Plant of the company. It gave me knowledge of various processes carried on the Assembly
Line and techniques followed to improve production quality and quantity.

I started the project with learning about the Design and Concept of assembly line. I learnt the
basic tools like application of KAIZEN, Most Technique for improvement of cycle Time & the
various processes involved on Assembly Line

I worked in Axle Plant of the company. The first project namely ‘Mechanism for rotating
steering knuckle’ was mainly related to formulating and designing a mechanical mechanism for
rotation of steering knuckle in order to reduce the human effort required in rotating the knuckle.

The earlier method used was analyzed to identify potential KAIZEN points where subsequent
improvements were planned and improvements were done via standard KAIZEN.

My second Project namely ‘Time Analysis of the Axle assembly Line’ involved understanding
the process flow, time study and analysis of operations involved on assembly line. For proper
analysis I used ‘MOST’ technique to identify potential bottlenecks that may be present in the
processes involved and identify value added as well as non value added activities involved in the
process and then subsequently reducing NVA’s involved in the process .
2.COMPANY PROFILE

NEW HOLLAND WORLDWIDE

World Class Manufacturing ( WO )

The history of New Holland dates back to October 1872 with the humble beginning of the New
Holland Machine Works in a one person Farm-Equipment Repair shop. No one paid much
attention when a 26-year-old Machinist named Abraham Zimmerman opened a tiny repair shop
at New Holland, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

The first machine build by Zimmerman was a small portable feed mill. Designated to be the no.1
mill it launched the New Holland Machine Works into the feed grinding business, from which, it
has never departed.

Abraham Zimmerman decided to expand his little company by incorporation and selling stocks
to his friends and customers.

In 1895, the New Holland Machine Works became the New Holland Machine Company, a name
that CNH
would carry the firm to prominence in farm Equipment Company. During the next half
Zedelgem
century, New Holland introduced highly successful machines such as Balers, Rock Crushers,
Limestone Pulverizes, Conveyors, Milling Machines, Engines, Coal, Furnaces and an early
rotary Lawn Mower.
December 2009
In 1947, New Holland Machine Company came under the ownership of Sperry Corporation;
additional plants were acquired in Mountville, Belleville, Pennsylvania and Lancaster. The New
Holland Machine Company was now poised to become the industry leader in grassland farming
in next decade and brought 100 new products into the line, including Fertilizers spreaders, Farm
wagons, crop dryers and crop drying fans.

In 1970 an exciting boldness characterized the company’s performance in the form of

introduction of more than 150 new and improved products of world-class technology and also
engineering breakthroughs.

In 1986, Ford Motor Company purchased Sperry New Holland and formed New Holland. It was
a beginning of new era with Pennsylvania becoming the world headquarters of the new company
and within a yea Versatile Manufacturing Limited of Canada was acquired, adding to the
company a highly respected line of horsepower four-wheel-drive-tractor.

New Holland Products now have a presence across 149 countries with 45 Manufacturing Plants
and the 23rd plant in India.

NEW HOLLAND INDIA PLANT

New Holland Fiat India is a 100% subsidiary of USD 15bn. CNH Global, - the World’s largest
Agricultural Equipments Company, and the Leading manufacturer of Agricultural and
construction equipment manufacturer in the world. a majority owned subsidiary of Fiat Group.
Spread across 60 acres in the Greater Noida District of Uttar Pradesh, the state-of-the-art plant
with an initial investment of over Rs. 250 Crores, is designed on the lines of New Holland’s
international manufacturing facilities. The company has focused its strength in agricultural
World Class Manufacturing ( WO )
mechanization to build a world-class tractor company in India. It’s rationale for investment in
India to be driven primarily by its long involvement and in-depth

CNH Zedelgem
 December 2009

Understanding of the Indian agricultural industry. Last year it produced over 23,000 tractors in
35-75 Hp segment with over a 90 per cent indigenization. Not just India, tractors made by New
Holland India have made their mark in the rest of the world. Today completely built tractors
manufactured in its state-of-the-art Greater Noida plant are being exported to over 51countries in
Asia, Africa and Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and North America. A
true testimony of the New Holland India quality that the world admires.

The Worldwide Products of New Holland

AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT: CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT:

1. Row-Crop Tractors 1. Loader/Backhoes

2. 4WD Tractors 2. Rough Terrain Forklifts

3. Tillage 3. Skid Steers

4. Planting & Seeding 4. Crawler Dozers

5. Hay & Forage 5. Excavators

6. Harvesting 6. Mini-Excavators

7. Chemical/Fertilizer 7. Wheel Loaders

8. Applicators 8. Trenchers

9. Material Handling 9. Horizontal Directional Drills

10. Sugar Cane Systems 10. Telescopic Handlers

3.TRACTOR PLANT

The New Holland plant is the most modern tractor factory in India. Its Research & Development
centre is both the heart of innovation and a solid guarantee for international and domestic
customers. The plant takes advantage of a number of advanced features. New Holland India
today offers an extensive range of products spanning 35-80 horsepower segments. New Holland
product range includes New Holland 3030 NX (35 horsepower), New Holland 3130 NX (40
horsepower Category), New Holland 3230 NX (45 horsepower category), New Holland 3600 (50
horsepower category), New Holland 3630 TX+ (55 horsepower) and New Holland 5500 (55
horsepower) and 7500(75 horsepower) both in 2-wheel and 4-wheel-drive version.

With an expandable capacity to manufacture above 30,000 tractors per annum, the plant is the
latest amongst the several New Holland manufacturing sites built around the world. Today, New
Holland India exports tractors to over 50 countries in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia, North
America and Latin America. New Holland India counts on a strong network of more than 400
dealers spread across the country.

SECTIONS IN THE PLANT:

1. ENGINE ASSEMBLY

2. MACHINE SHOP(CNC MACHINING)

3. PTO ASSEMBLY LINE

4. DRIVE LINE

5. TRACTOR ASSEMBLY LINE BEFORE PAINTING

6. TRACTOR ASSEMBLY LINE AFTER PAINTING

7. TOOL ROOM

8. FRONT AXLE SUB ASSEMBLY LINE

9. STORE AREA

10. FINISHING LINE

11. TESTING

12. MAJOR REWORK

13. OK TO SHIP LINE

14. TYRE SUB ASSEMBLY LINE

15. CED PAINT SHOP

16. TYRE YARD

PRODUCTS
AGRICULTURAL TRACTORS-INDIAN MARKET:
4. Tools Used to ensure the Quality and management

I. 5S
First step towards quality improvement in workplace is utilizing concept of systematic approach
for good housekeeping and first step to continuous improvement is very effective approach to
improve our work environment and total quality cost, it becomes a base of continuous
improvement in the organization.

Every member respects 5S formula also:-

1. Seiri
2. Seiton
3. Seiso
4. Seiketsu
5. Shitsuke
The meaning of 5 “S” in Japanese & English are same, which are:-

JAPANESE
5S's WORD ENGLISH WORD MEANING

sorting out, clearing,

segregation, proper
1S SEIRI SORT selection, removal the waste

systematic arrangement,
keeping things at proper
place. A place for everything
2S SEITON STABLIZE and everything in its place

keep clean all area,

3S SEISO SHINE equipment and workplace

standardizing, environment,
cleanliness, light, noise,
punctuality.(order & save
4S SEIKETSU STANDARDIZE time)

maintain discipline and

standards to maintain above
5S SHITSUKE SUSTAIN 4s, respect of rules

HOW TO ACHIEVE 5”S”:

5”s” can be achieved very easily by every employee by having close look at his workplace’ he is
to ensure that:

 By organizing of work place & surrounding area in better way.

 No rejected / unwanted items are lying at the workplace.
 By keeping all items, equipments at identified place.
 Everybody should co-operate with each other in keeping his and other’s area clean.
 Follow and respect of rules & regulations and maintain required standards.
5s objective:

 Productivity high.
 Quality high.
 Cost down.
 Delivery on time.
 Safe work place.
 Moral

GAINS OF CLEANLINESS (5 “S” RESULTS):

 Work place neat & clean ( good house keeping)

 Clean workplace results in high productivity.
 Clean workplace has high quality
 Keeps the cost down (reduces rejection, rework, reducing down in time)
 Ensure delivery in time
 Keeps moral high of people (encouragement)
 Safe for people to work ( preventing accidents, creating healthier environment, etc)
 Lowers the defect rate & exposes the quality problem promptly.
 Everybody feels free & works proudly.
 Appreciation to the management & the business increase.
 Proper utilization of workplace, workmen & machinery.
 Customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

OBJECTIVES OF 5 “S” LAYOUT:

 To minimizing the handling & transportation of materials with safety.

 To ensure economic utilization of floor space.
 To minimize the cost of production & inventory by eliminating wastes.
 To ensure efficient control over the various processes of production.

FACTORS AFFECTING 5 “S” LAY-OUT (PITFALLS):

 Area, location
 Type of work
 Work environment.
 Repairs & maintenance.
 Changes in part drawing / models.
.
II. KAIZEN

INTRODUCTION:

Kaizen is a system of continuous improvement in quality, technology, processes, company

culture, safety and leadership.

Kaizen was created in Japan following World War II. The word kaizen means “continous
improvement”. It comes from the Japanese words (“KAI”) which means “CHANGE” or “TO
CORRECT” and (“ZEN”) which means “GOOD”. Kaizen is a system that involves every
employee-from upper management to the cleaning crew. Everyone is encouraged to come up
with small improvements or suggestions on a regular basis. This is not a once a month or once a
year activity. In most cases these are not ideas for major changes. Kaizen is based on making
little changes on a regular basis: always improving productivity, safety and effectiveness while
reducing waste.

Suggestions are not limited to specific area such as production or marketing. Kaizen is based on
making changes anywhere that improvements can be made. Western philosophy may be
summarized as, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The Kaizen Philosophy is to “do better, make it
better, improve it if it isn’t broken, because if we don’t, we can’t compete with those who do”.

Kaizen involves setting standards and then continually improving those standards. To support the
higher standards KAIZEN also involves providing tha training, materials and supervision that is
needed for employees to achieve the higher standards and maintain their ability to meet those
standards on an on-going basis.

BENEFITS OF KAIZEN:

Kaizen involves every employee in making change-in mostly small cases, incremental changes.
It focuses on identifying problems at their source, solving them at their source, and changing
standards to ensure that the problem stay solved. It’s not unusual for Kaizen to result in 25 to 30
suggestions per employee, per year and to have over 90% of those implemented.
According to the time calculated by MOST (Maynard Operation Sequence Technique) to
complete an activities like:

For example: Doing time study as

1 BENDING : 2.18 sec.

1 STEP : .5 sec.

1 VISUAL INSPECTION : .9 sec.

1 TOUCH INSPECTION : 1.62 sec.

1 SEARCHING & PICKING : .81 sec.

So, RESULT = BENEFIT – COST

The BENEFIT is sum of man hour cost & energy cost. The man hour cost & energy cost are
calculated on yearly basis. For example, to calculate the man hour cost & energy cost for 1
bending:

2.18 × No. of occurrence × No. of units produced annually

MAN HOUR COST = × Man hour cost of one person

3600

2.18 × No. of occurrence × No. of units produced annually

ENERGY COST = × power factor for Driveline.

3600

But, we conclude Energy Cost only when we have saved approx. 1 min. per cycle.

This leads to Benefit / Cost analysis. The 4:1 is good Kaizen.

These continual small improvements add up to major benefits. They result in improve
productivity, improved quality, better safety, faster delivery, lower costs and greater customer
satisfaction. On top of these benefits to the company, employees working in kaizen-based
companies generally find work to be easier and more enjoyable-resulting in higher employee
moral and job satisfaction.

 Kaizen Reduces Waste in areas such as inventory, waiting times, transportation, worker
motion, employee skill, over-production and excess quality in processes.

 Kaizen Improves space utilization, product quality, use of capital, communications,

production capacity and employee retention.

 Kaizen Provides immediate results. Instead of focusing on large, capital intensive

improvements. Kaizen focuses on creative investments that continually solve large
numbers of small problems. Large, capital projects and major changes will still be
needed, and Kaizen will also improve the capital projects processes. But the real power of
kaizen is in on-going processes of continually making small improvements that improves
processes and reduce waste.

GETTING STARTED WITH KAIZEN:

There is more to implementing Kaizen than we can include on a single web page. However, the
following serves as an overview of introducing Kaizen into an American workplace.

For most American companies Kaizen involves a significant change in the corporate culture.
This is key. The attitude of employees-from top management down to new hires will need to
change. Kaizen need to become something all employees do because they want to, and because
they know it is good for them and the company.

That means that if management isn’t ready to lead by example, Kaizen will not get off the
ground.

Employee training and communication is important. Combined with that, direct involvement by
management is critical. For example, a manager spending a week on the shop floor working with
employees to help and encourage them to develop suggestions will help. That manager should
also ensure employees see their suggestion acted on immediately. Suggestion should not be
implemented next month or next week, but today.

Keep employees informed about what happens with their suggestions. Don’t have suggestions
disappear into a management “black hole”.
To get Kaizen started it can be helpful to bring in outside experts. They can work in your facility
identifying problems that those close to work may not see. This serves as a “seed” allowing
employees to see how kaizen works and to experience the benefit of kaizen.

A significant obstacle to kaizen in many operations is that problems are seen as negative. We
don’t like problems. Someone who is associated with a problem is likely to be negatively
impacted (a lower raise, missed promotion, or even fired). In kaizen, problems are opportunities
to improve. With kaizen we want to find, report, and fix problems. Kaizen encourages and
rewards the identification of problems by all employees.

To encourage the submission of suggestions, a part of each supervisor evaluation should be

based on the number of suggestion submitted by those they supervise. Don’t evaluate employees
on the number of suggestion they submit, evaluate your supervisors and managers and how well
they are doing at getting those who work for them to actively participate in kaizen.

Train employees in using Kaizen tools such as 5S, Kanban, and line Balancing.

Keep in mind that kaizen is action. Take actions to generate suggestions, and taking actions to
implement those suggestions immediately.

KAI + ZEN = KAIZEN

Change Good

“Change for the Better”

Make it easier by studying it, and making the improvement through elimination of waste.

Ten Basic Principles for Improvement:

1. Throw out all fixed ideas

2. Think how the new method will work – not how it won’t

3. Don’t accept excuses

4. Don’t seek perfection

5. Correct mistakes the moment they are found

6. Don’t spend a lot of money on improvements

7. Problems give you a chance to use your brain

 8. Ask “why?” 5 times to get to the root cause

9. 10 people’s ideas are better than one person’s

10. Improvement knows no limits

The 7 Deadly Wastes:

Wait Move Wait Process Inspection

Production System

Transport Processing waste

7 Wastes Inventory Defects

Overproduction (planning)

Operation waste (methods)

Idle time (imbalance)

Benefits of Kaizen:

To CNH

 Reduce the 7 types of waste that can be in the production areas

 Helps increase the value added operations

 Allows major changes to be made quickly & with minimum loss of production time

To Us

 Helps us eliminate wasted motion & delays in your work

 Provides methods for you to think about what we do & contribute ideas that benefit the
whole company
  Provides the opportunity to work with our teammates to improve our working
environment together

Key Roles for a Successful Kaizen Event:

 Coordinator or Consultant – to help the plant become skilled in running the events so that
they can do it on their own after a few experiences

 Upper Management – decides to initiate kaizen in the factory

 Union Role – should be included in the planning stages so that they will understand and
support worker participation in the kaizen event

 Plant Manager – to communicate wholehearted support for the kaizen teams, participant
with the planning and preparation stages (team and problem selection)

 HR Manager - participant with team selection and pre-training

Phase I: Planning & Preparation

 Select an Area – Preparation Checklist

 Select a Problem or Improvement

 Implementing 5S

 Eliminating bottlenecks or improving changeover times

 Implementing cell design, line balancing, or Kanban

 Select & Train the Team Leader and Members

 Prepare the Area

 Materials, Equipment, Support People - Checklist

 Background Information - Checklist

 Schedule the Event – Event Schedule

Phase II: Implementation

The Event Itself
  Orientation

 Introduce team and assign roles

 Go over the event objectives and procedures

 Conduct needed training

 Understand the Current Situation

 Observe the selected area and gather data

 Map the process

 Do time studies of all operations (or set up areas for 5S implementation)

 Make the Improvements

 Develop improvement ideas

 Implement the new plan

 Test improvement ideas

 Develop new standards

Phase III: Presentation, Celebration, and Follow-up

 Present the results of the kaizen event to the company

 Prepare a presentation of all data and event results

 Complete the Event Evaluation Form

 Circulate results to top management

 Display results in a central area for people to read at their leisure

 Follow-up

 Make to-do lists of follow-up tasks

  Review results with executive team

 Get feedback from the operators in the event area

 Document the results and publish them

5.AXLE PLANT

Axle plant is another plant of New Holland under the manufacturing department. It uses to make
the front axle of a four wheel drive Tractor or other construction equipment. The axles made by
this plant is used in its domestic plant or exported to the other worldwide companies.

The Axle production from this plant will be exported to US, Brazil & Italy. The Plant is now
Assembling TT Axles to cater the domestic consumption. The forthcoming milestone is Pre
build, 4P, Job 1 & full Production Ramp up of the TLB Gen III Axle.

This is a fully Integrated Plant with Machining, Assembly & Testing and Painting facilities
for the manufacturing of 4 WD Axles for Construction Equipments (CE) and Agricultural
(Ag) applications. The Plant is equipped with the latest equipment for Machining & Testing,
having all CNC machines for machine Shop & Bimal Test Rig for the Air leakage and the
final testing of the axles.
 WHAT IS AXLE
An axle is a metal beam that is fixed in location and is used to mount rotating wheels or gears.
The wheel or gear can be attached to the axle with a built in bearing or bushing.
On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to its
surroundings, with the wheels rotating around the axle.
In case of Front axle it not only serve to transmit driving torque to the wheels, but also to turn the
wheels from steering via means of steering rod, hydraulic cylinder, tie rod etc.

TYPES OF AXLES

 Tractor Loader Backhoe (TLB)

 Tractor Trailer (TT)
 Utility(UTY)

Tractor Loader Backhoe (TLB)

Fig .(TLB)
 For all variant number, support is same.

 There are six types of variant no. mainly used.

 Dimensions of TLB are large.

 O ring is used here.

 Gears are fitted manually.

Tractor Trailer (TT)

Fig. (TT)
 There are two types of supports are used.

 Here 15 types of variant no. are mainly used.

 Dimensions are comparatively smaller than TLB.

 Lock tight is used here.

 Gear fitting is done through hydraulic press machine.

Utility
 Fig.(Utility)

 Here support is same for all variant no.

 4 types of variant no. are used
 Dimensions are same that of TT.
 Lock tight is also used here.
 Here gears are fitted through hydraulic press machine

6. Parts involved in axle assembly

1.Steering knuckle
A steering knuckle is that part which contains the wheel hub or spindle and attaches tyre to the
axle. The arm of the knuckle that sticks out, to which the steering mechanism attaches to turn
the knuckle and wheel assembly. Therefore, the wheel assembly would rotate as the drive shaft
(or half-shaft) dictates.

It would not turn freely by itself, but only if the shaft was disengaged from
the transaxle or differential. In a 4WD drive axle, the knuckle has no spindle,but rather has a hub
into which is affixed the bearings and shaft of the drive mechanism. The end of the drive
mechanism would then have the necessary mounting studs for the wheel/tire.

2.Hub

A wheel hub is the mounting assembly for the wheel of a vehicle, it houses the wheel bearing as
well as supports the lugs. Most newer vehicles will also have a speed sensor and ABS sensor
attached to the unit through an electrical connector. The function of the wheel hub is to keep the
wheel spinning freely on the bearing while keeping it attached to the vehicle. The wheel hub is
the only part that actually holds the wheels to the vehicle so it is very important that special
attention be paid when these parts are being installed.

The Hub has holes in it which attach it to tyre rim.The hub is attached with knuckle through a
roller bearing on which hub can rotate freely.

3.Planet Carrier(PLC)

Planet carrier is the assembly of spur gears which is used for the power transmission from the
differential to the tyres of the vehicles. It contains 3 planet gears which are located on the
periphery of half shaft. The half shaft is meshed with the differential through its splines.

Three central pins are pressed fit into the PLC housing and the spur gears are mounted over these
pins with the small rollers provided in between them.

4.Ring gear

The planet gears are enclosed inside a big gear known as ring gear having teeth on internal side.
So external surface of planet gears is meshed with internal surface of ring gear. As the half shaft
rotates, it rotates the planet gears and transfer motion to the ring gear. Now, ring gear is is bolted
with the hub. So as Hub rotates, it rotates the wheel attached to it through bolts.

5.Differential

The front axle assembled in the plant is used in 4 Wheel drive tractors. So the front wheels also
receive power from the engine. In order to transmit power to the front wheels, differential is
required. Differential actual photo shown here.

About differential
A differential is a device, usually, but not necessarily, employing gears, which is connected to
the outside world by three shafts, chains, or similar, through which it transmits torque and
rotation. The gears or other components make the three shafts rotate in such a way
that  , where  ,  , and   are the angular velocities of the three shafts, and   and   are
constants. Often, but not always,   and   are equal, so   is proportional to the sum (or average)
of   and  . Except in some special-purpose differentials, there are no other limitations on the
rotational speeds of the shafts, apart from the usual mechanical/engineering limits. Any of the
shafts can be used to input rotation, and the other(s) to output it
In automobiles and other wheeled vehicles, a differential is the usual way to allow the
driving roadwheels to rotate at different speeds. This is necessary when the vehicle turns, making
the wheel that is travelling around the outside of the turning curve roll farther and faster than the
other. The engine is connected to the shaft rotating at angular velocity  . The driving wheels are
connected to the other two shafts, and   and   are equal. If the engine is running at a constant
speed, the rotational speed of each driving wheel can vary, but the sum (or average) of the two
wheels' speeds can not change. An increase in the speed of one wheel must be balanced by an
equal decrease in the speed of the other.

Functional description

Input torque is applied to the ring gear (blue), which turns the entire carrier (blue). The carrier is
connected to both sun gears (red and yellow) only through the planet gear (green). Torque is
transmitted to the sun gears through the planet gear. The planet gear revolves around the axis of
the carrier, driving the sun gears. If the resistance at both wheels is equal, the planet gear
revolves without spinning about its own axis, and both wheels turn at the same rate.

If the left sun gear (red) encounters resistance, the planet gear (green) spins as well as revolving,
allowing the left sun gear to slow down, with an equal speeding up of the right sun gear (yellow).

The crown wheel gear is attached to the differential carrier or cage, which contains the 'sun' and
'planet' wheels or gears, which are a cluster of four opposed bevel gears in perpendicular plane,
so each bevel gear meshes with two neighbours, and rotates counter to the third, that it faces and
does not mesh with. The two sun wheel gears are aligned on the same axis as the crown wheel
gear, and drive the axle half shafts connected to the vehicle's driven wheels.

Thus, for example, if the car is making a turn to the right, the main crown wheel may make 10
full rotations. During that time, the left wheel will make more rotations because it has further to
travel, and the right wheel will make fewer rotations as it has less distance to travel. The sun
gears (which drive the axle half-shafts) will rotate in opposite directions relative to the ring gear
by, say, 2 full turns each (4 full turns relative to each other), resulting in the left wheel making 12
rotations, and the right wheel making 8 rotations.
The rotation of the crown wheel gear is always the average of the rotations of the side sun gears.
This is why, if the driven roadwheels are lifted clear of the ground with the engine off, and the
drive shaft is held (say leaving the transmission 'in gear', preventing the ring gear from turning
inside the differential), manually rotating one driven roadwheel causes the opposite roadwheel to
rotate in the opposite direction by the same amount.
When the vehicle is traveling in a straight line, there will be no differential movement of the
planetary system of gears other than the minute movements necessary to compensate for slight
differences in wheel diameter, undulations in the road (which make for a longer or shorter wheel
path), etc.
Sub Assemblies parallel to the main Line are:

1.Differential Sub-Assembly

2.Knuckle Sub-Assembly

3. PLC Sub-Assembly

7. PROJECT-I

Description about Project-1 Work Area:

In the first project, main area of work is the Knuckle Sub-Assembly.

The work aspect of this sub-assembly involves assembling the components of knuckle sub-
assembly and providing it to the main Assembly Line. This involves six working stations,each
performing its own set of activities and operations.

The different stations and their operations are as :

S.NO. Station Operations

1 Stud Pressing Pressing studs on Hub.

2 Seal Pressing Pressing seal on Hub.

3 Knuckle Press Pressing bush, seal and bearing on knuckle.

4 Ring gear Press Pressing Hub on knuckle& Ring Gear on Hub.

5 Bolt Tightening Tool  Tightening bolts into Knuckle- Hub Assembly.

 6 Half shaft Assembling half shaft into knuckle with chucknut.

The Project Work 1 is related to the third station-knuckle press.

PROJECT -I

Objective:

To design and implement a mechanism for steering knuckle’s rotation to reduce

human effort and make operator’s job easier.

Ram

Knuckle
Knuckle after
rotation
Fixture

Orientation1 for bush& seal pressing Orientation2 for bearing pressing

1. 2.

Description:

Now, the third station involves 3 operations:

3.a) Bush pressing

3.b) Oil Seal Pressing

3.c) Bearing pressing

For the first two operations, knuckle lies over the fixture in orientation1 as shown in photo as the
bush and oil seal are pressed on bottom face of knuckle.

For the third operation of bearing pressing, knuckle has to be rotated 180 degrees so that bearing
can be pressed on its top face. Now the knuckle weighs about 24-25 Kgs.

So when the Machine operator lifts and rotates the knuckle manually, it requires a lot of effort.
About 70-80 knuckles are produced on an average working day. This causes lot of fatigue to the
operator.

Now the project work was to formulate & design a mechanism that can reduce operator’s effort
& can easily rotate steering knuckle. The mechanism should be quick and capable of being
implemented on a mass production basis.

Approach:

 In order to rotate the knuckle, we need to provide a central axis about which it can
be rotated. In the knuckle design, we have central holes available. So if pivoting pins
are provided on both sides of knuckle, it can be rotated about that.Now the knuckle
stands vertically over the fixture and below the Ram of the pressing machine.
 So it has to be rotated in the space between fixture and Ram bottom.
 In other words knuckle has to be lifted first to a certain height, then rotated 180 deg.
and then to be placed over the fixture for the next pressing operation.
 Now to lift the knuckle, we have sufficient space to provide Links parallel to ram,
which can be coupled with pneumatic cylinders to control up and down motion.

So in the design of mechanism, linear motion of the piston of pneumatic cylinder was used to
provide energy for lifting and lowering knuckle because high pressure air was already available
as its used for the nutrunners. This reduces the human effort required for the desired operation of
rotating knuckle.
Constraints:

 The major constraint that affects implementing any mechanism at this station is the space
constraint. The knuckle sub-assembly involves continue movement of fixtures on the
conveyer. So no link of mechanism should cause hindrance to fixtures.
 The second constraint is to maintain cycle time of the knuckle sub-assembly. So
mechanism has to be quick.
 Third constraint is that no link can be directly connected to the pressing machine, no
operation like welding, drilling cannot be performed on it.
Design in CATIA

Pneumatic
cylinder

Ram

Guiding pipe

Pole

Supporting
link
Knuckle

Design Description:

The design formulated by me involves pneumatic cylinders connected vertically that can
provide up and down motion that can be used to lift and lower the knuckle. Now to keep the
cylinders in vertical position some guides are required, So i provided a hollow pipe that can
keep the piston always in vertical position. The cylinder pistons move parallel to the ram,
with the ram performing its operation in between the two cylinders. In order to provide
support to components of mechanism, two vertical poles are mounted to conveyor table. The
supporting links are then welded to these poles. This whole mechanism was designed in 3D
software CATIA.
Working of mechanism :

 In starting of the cycle, pistons are at the initial top position.

 The ram completes first two operations of pressing seal and bush.
 Then as the operator will press the switch of air supply to cylinder, pistons move
downwards till inserting pins are in-line with knuckle axis.
 Then operator will insert pins into knuckle & press air switch so that piston lifts up the
knuckle by about 5 inches.
 Next operator will rotate knuckle with hand & keeping one hand on knuckle again
presses the air switch. This will lower the knuckle on the fixture in the rotated position,
which is required for next operation of bearing pressing at its top.

The step wise operation is explained as in images below:

Bottom position of cylinders(front view)

1. 2.

After rotating knuckle

3. 4.

Mechanism disengaged

5. 6.

As the working of mechanism becomes clear in the above description, following is related to the
trial performed and the related results.

Trial performed and results:

In order to check feasibility of the designed mechanism, trials were performed by hanging one
cylinder from the hoist chain & the knuckle being kept on the fixture over a trolley. A lifting
tackle was connected to cylinder piston by pins.

Following observations were made during the trial:

S No. Observation Reason/Remark

Trial 1 Air pressure not sufficient to move the Pressure reduces due to a valve connected at
piston cylinder opening

Trial 2 Lowering the knuckle with piston Clearance b/w piston pin & the lifting link
produced jerk

Trial 3 Smooth movement of piston and Satisfactory result obtained

knuckle rotation performed easily

Corrective Measures taken:

 In order to increase air pressure, valve connected at cylinder opening was replaced by a
divergent nozzle. In this nozzle velocity decreases and air pressure increases.
 Clearance between piston pin and lifting link was removed by introducing a rubber bush
the two. Thus jerk present observed during knuckle lowering down was eliminated.

Conclusion:
After applying the corrective measures satisfactory results were obtained in the trial of designed
mechanism. It was found capable of performing the desired operation and being valuable to the
company. It reduced human effort and made operator’s job easier at related assembly.

8. Project -II.

Objective: To do the Time Anaysis of the Axle Assembly Line and identify the
areas of improvement.
 Description:
The main Assembly line of axle runs parallel to the sub-assemblies of Differential, Steering
knuckle and P.L.C. Each sub-assembly has its own process layout and cycle time for operations
and activities involved. The Project work is related to do the time study of sub assembly lines,
understanding the process flow, analysis of operations involved on assembly line and identify the
areas of improvement.

The Differential sub assembly involves 4 stations for the assembly of parts of differential. Each
station involves its own set of activities and operations.

Knuckle sub assembly involves total 6 stations and PLC sub assembly has 3 stations.

Approach :
For proper analysis I used ‘MOST’ technique to identify potential bottlenecks that may be
present in the processes involved and identify value added as well as non value added activities
involved in the process and then subsequently reducing NVA’s involved in the process .

All the activities involved at a station are divided as Valuable(VA), Non valuable(NVA) and
SVA. Activities coming under NVA show the possible areas of improvement. In order to have
minimum cycle time for a sub-assembly, cycle time of individual stations should be same so that
there is no waiting time. With help of this technique a graph can plotted showing time at each
station and the relative gap.

Time Analysis at Steering sub-assembly

Station 1-Seal Pressing on Hub

Seal Pressing on Hub.

Start End
Total
Operator No. Activity Description Time Time
Time (Sec)
(Sec) (Sec)
1 Walk and reach near bins carrying seals 0 4 4
1 Pick seal from the bin 4 7 3
1 Walk and place Hub on fixture 7 19 12
1 Pick outer race from table and place on Hub 19 22 3
1 Pick Dolley and place over bearing's race 22 27 5
1 Switch On the machine 27 30 3
1 Apply lubricant over seal while machine presses outer race 30 44 14
1 Remove dolley and put it over table 44 50 6
1 Place seal over the hub 50 55 5
1 Pick dolley and place over seal 55 60 5
1 Switch On the machine 60 62 2
1 Wait till machine presses the seal 62 75 13
1 Remove dolley and put it over table 75 80 5
1 Remove dust from the hub with a cloth 80 91 11
1 Pick Gauge from the table and place over Hub 91 94 3
1 Check fittment of seal by rotating Hub and looking at Gauge 94 105 11
1 Remove gauge and place over table 105 109 4
1 Remove Hub from fixture and place over table 109 115 6
1 Apply lubricant on inner seal surface 115 125 10
Total Time Taken 125 sec.

ACTIVITY TIME (SEC)

Hub Stud Pressing
VA 31 15
SVA 35 %
VA
17
NVA 140 % SVA
NVA
Total 206 68%

Station- 2: Half shaft Assembly

Half shaft Assembly

Start End Total
Operator
Activity Description Time Time Time
No.
(Sec) (Sec) (Sec)
1 Walk and bring the tackle tackle near knuckle hub assly. 0 9 9
1 Put the tackle bolts into Hub 9 34 25
Lift the tackle and place knuckle hub assly. on fixture
1 table 34 54 20
 1 Walk pick the half shaft from the shaft stand 54 59 5
1 Put the half shaft over table 59 64 5
1 Apply lubricant over splined face of shaft 64 70 6
1 Pick marker and mark over half shaft 70 80 10
1 Insert the half shaft into knuckle 80 90 10
1 Pick chuck nut and apply loctite over its threads 90 102 12
1 Put chucknut over the half shaft 102 110 8
1 Tight chucknut with a socket by hand 110 132 22
1 Now tight it with a big torque wrench 132 140 8
1 Put socket over table and wear goggles 140 146 6
1 Lock the chucknut by hammering with a stake 146 155 9
1 Remove goggles and place stake over table 155 157 2
1 Pick marker and mark over chucknut 157 163 6
1 Walk and bring the 2nd trolley near table 163 175 12
1 Pick the assembly with tackle and place over trolley 175 182 7
1 Remove the bolts of tackle from hub 182 195 13
Total Time Taken 195 sec.
3min 15
Total Time Taken
sec.

TIME (SEC)
ACTIVITY Half-Shaft-Assy
16
VA 31 % VA
SVA
SVA 63 52% NVA
32%
NVA 101

Total 195

Time analysis at Knuckle press

Start End Total

Operator
Activity Description Time (Sec) Time (Sec) Time (Sec)
No.
1 Walk and pick the tackle 0 4 4
1 Lift the knuckle from table and place over fixture 4 13 9
1 Remove the tackle 13 17 4
1 Pull the fixture and knuckle under ram 17 21 4
1 Put pin in hole between fixture and base 21 23 2
1 Walk and pick bush, seal and inner race from the bins 23 30 7
1 Place them near the machine 30 34 4
 1 Place the dolley with bush over the knuckle 34 37 3
1 Press the switch of the machine to move ram down 37 39 2
1 Wait till ram presses the bush completely 39 49 10
1 Press the switch of the machine to move ram up 49 51 2
1 Remove dolley from the knuckle and apply circlip 51 65 14
1 Apply lubricant over seal and place near by fixture 65 72 7
1 Pick marker and apply mark over bush 72 80 8
1 Now pick dolley with Seal and place over knuckle 80 85 5
1 Press the switch of the machine 85 87 2
1 Wait till ram presses the seal completely 87 95 8
1 Remove dolley from the knuckle 95 97 2
Pick knuckle,rotate it by 180 degree and place inverted over
1
fixture 97 106 9
1 Insert fixture side pins into knuckle 106 108 2
1 Pick inner race and place over knuckle 108 110 2
1 Press the switch of machine 110 111 1
1 Wait till ram presses the inner race completely 111 130 19
1 Press the switch of machine to move ram Up 130 132 2
1 Pick a pin and Move under the pressed cone bearing 132 142 10
1 Pick marker and apply mark over bearing 142 149 7
1 Apply lubricant over cone bearing 149 153 4
1 Now Push the fixture towards next machine 153 155 2
Total Time Taken 155
2 min 35
Total Time Taken on knuckle press sec.

ACTIVITY TIME (SEC)

Seal & Bush Pressing in
VA 25 Knuckle
1
SVA 61 6
% VA
NVA 69 SVA
45%
NVA
39%
Total 155

Station-4 Rolling Torque station

Rolling Torque Station

Start End
Operator Time Time Total
No. Activity Description (Sec) (Sec) Time (Sec)
1 Pulling the knuckle Hub assembly near M/c 0 5 5
1 Switching On the M/c button 5 8 3
 1 Tightening all the 10 Ring gear bolts one by one 8 85 77
1 Switching off the M/c button 85 88 3
1 Pick the rolling torque tool and spanner from table 88 90 2
1 Apply rolling torque over a pair of studs 90 98 8
1 Remove the rolling torque tool & place over table 98 101 3
1 Push the assembly towards next station 101 105 4
Total Time Taken 105 sec.
Total Time Taken 1min 45sec.

TIME Rolling Torque Station

8.5
ACTIVITY (SEC) 7.62% 7%
VA 88
SVA 8
NVA 9 83.81%

Total 105

Relative cycle Time of all stations of knuckle sub-Assly

Knuckle Assembely Time

S.N Time
Station Operations Time
O. (Sec)
1 Studd Pressing Pressing studds and checking with filler gauge 206 3 min 36
 sec.
Seal Pressing on 2 min
2 Hub Pressing seal on Hub and checking with gauge 125 5sec.
2 min 35
3 Knuckle Press Pressing bush,seal and bearing on knuckle 155 sec.
Pressing Hub on knuckle, Pressing bearing 3min 12
4 Ring gear Press &dowells on Hub 192 sec.
Rolling Torque 1min
5 M/c Tightening the bolts and checking rolling torque 105 45sec.
Assembling half shaft into knuckle with 3min 15
6 Half shaft chucknut 195 sec.

225

200

175

150
Time (Sec)

125

100

75

50

25

0 Stations involved

Conclusions:
  The regions marked as red show the activities coming under NVA.
 Alternative or modified methods can be adopted for meeting the
requirement of these activities.
 For eg. For stud pressing station studs have to be pressed one by one
individually by a single ram machine, so we can adopt multi-ram Machine
which will press all the studs in one stroke thus saving cycle Time and
improving production .

9. Project-III
Objective: To formulate and design a lifting mechanism near the Axle Testing
Machine to eliminate the fatigue caused during loading the axle.

Description: At the Axle Testing machine, operator has to bend to apply and
then remove coupling on the axle beam. This is major issue causing fatigue to
the operator and thus reducing the working efficiency.

So this can be eliminated if we have a automatic mechanism that can lift the
axle to a certain height at which operator can easily apply or remove the
coupling.

DESIGN OF MECHANISM
 (View-1) (View-2)

 Above images show the design made for the lifting mechanism with inputs
from working staff and seniors.

 The axle can be placed on pallet when initially it is at lower height. Then it
can be lifted with the help of hydraulic cylinder.
 Hydraulic cylinder is linked to a pump which is run via an electric motor.
 Electric power is derived from a battery.

Pallet Lifter –Specifications/Features

 Power switch

Description about the process before and after implementing mechanism

Before
 1. Operator has to push lift handle 12- 15 times for lifting pallet

2. Them, push 10/15 times to Leave the pallet at working Station

After
Electric Pallet Lifter

1. Lifting/Lowering operated via button, eliminates operator

fatigue.

2. Can be adjusted to different working heights for

ergonomic operation.

3. Customized safety mechanical stoppers to prevent part

from falling from pallet.

4. Saving of space since lifter becomes the working station,

no additional space required for storing Tagger in
pervious condition.

5. Material handling time & Transfer time reduced.

10.CONCLUSION
After working on the projects assigned, I came to know that for continuous improvement in production
capacity and quality, process improvements through implementation of new ideas and concepts can be
really helpful.

I have also studied in detail about various parts used here, modern processes & new machines that are
being installed and their benefits.

The projects also helped me in improving my skills in cadd designing.

Overall all I have learned how to work in an industry, how to adapt myself in the working environment,
how theoretical concepts , knowledge is actually applied in field work and how to achieve results in
projects through Team Work.