Design and fabrication of a pencil shoulder cutting device for a novel endcap

The pencil shoulder cutting device is a stepper motor driven mechanism to cut a small groove into the end of a pencil, which is needed for a novel seed-capsule endcap for a new pencil called Sprout. The pencil was developed by a team of MIT graduate students, and the shoulder cutting device is one step in an automated assembly process for Sprout. The device autonomously cuts a 0.0075in. deep shoulder into one end of the pencil using a 0.25in. end mill. The device includes a stabilizing sleeve that reduces vibration of the pencil during machining, and creates a vacuum seal so that chips from the pencil are cleanly removed. The cutting time for each pencil is 2s, with an absolute accuracy of 3.1x10-4 in. for the depth of cut after ten tests with the machine. The capsules fit correctly onto the shoulders when done by hand, and the design will be confirmed once the entire machine is running autonomously.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Hohenberger, Matthew Paul

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David R. Wallace.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83719

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/83719