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51236372599_8131164729_k_d.jpg

 

This machine will construct a chain out of Technic pieces and is powered by just one motor. Each chain link consists of:

  • One 1x3 liftarm
  • Two 1x3 thin liftarms
  • Two 2L pins

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The parts are loaded into magazines, from where they are joined together by mechanical means to form a link.
Once a chain link is complete, it is dragged along so that the next one can be assembled (to the previous link) and so on. This is the result:

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Features:

  • Makes one chain link about every 20 seconds (~5.76 meters/hour)
  • Magazine capacity for about 30 chain links (easily expanded)
  • Fully mechanical, with no programming
  • Outputs a functional Lego chain

 

Without further ado, here is the video. Enjoy!

flickr album

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Very clever!  I love seeing manufacturing processes built in Lego - it makes you aware of how much thought has gone into designing real life manufacturing processes that we take for granted.

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This is a very clever design of a machine that solves a practical task. (BTW, just an hour ago I had to change a chain on my bicycle. So I know what the task is about.)

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Very nice! 

Do you think it is possible to do a machine that assembles 3L chain tracks? like you empty a bag full of them in a machine and it goes out assembled 

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Outstanding!  I love it.

Varying the colours of the links could produce some nice effects...

Any chance of more pictures, ideally enough to recreate it...?

Perhaps there could be another machine that disassembles it, and feeds the parts back into the hoppers.  That would be great for a show...

Edited by aeh5040

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Beautiful.

@ord, any chance you could make a new pic with better colors and contrast? I would like to frontpage it, and we can use the first one, but a more eye-catching picture would attract more people to come and see it.

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Absolutely amazing how you got all the movements so well synchronised with just a single motor!

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3 hours ago, Milan said:

Beautiful.

@ord, any chance you could make a new pic with better colors and contrast? I would like to frontpage it, and we can use the first one, but a more eye-catching picture would attract more people to come and see it.

Well deserved... i've watched the video twice already. Fantastic.

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8 hours ago, shimon said:

Very nice! 

Do you think it is possible to do a machine that assembles 3L chain tracks? like you empty a bag full of them in a machine and it goes out assembled 

That would be amazing!

 

Edited by whitepen
Added Punctuation

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Wow, this is an amazing MOC !! It's like taking GBC to the next level. The whole mechanism working off one motor ... what an amazing design !!

One thing I was curious was how you manage to align and push the axle through. I struggle putting the axle through the thin beams with my hands :laugh: So it's amazing to see a complex machine doing it repeatedly and reliably.

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Thanks everyone for the comments. This project took a lot of work and went through many revisions to get to the point where it is. All of the positive feedback makes it all worth while :classic:.

I will answer everyone's questions shortly, maybe with the help of a CAD model to show more details.

@Milan A front page would be great! I see what you mean about the picture, though I'm not sure how best to improve it. Here are some attempts...

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51238662650_e2393830d9_c_d.jpg

 

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Amazing work!!!

20 hours ago, The Shuttlefan said:

How does it ensure that the axles are in the correct orientation for insertion? 

I am wondering the same thing.

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On 6/10/2021 at 12:17 PM, ord said:

@Milan A front page would be great! I see what you mean about the picture, though I'm not sure how best to improve it. Here are some attempts...

Okay, I will take the last one. It seems the best out of those on this page. Scheduled for frontpage :wink:

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Thanks @Milan, appreciate it! I'm sorry it couldn't be better contrasting - was slightly limited in terms of colour for this build.

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When you are so lazy you spend a month designing a machine that will save you an hours work... :pir_tong2:

Really nice work this! I love the design, and you even made it look good! =D

 

_ED_

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On 6/9/2021 at 10:13 PM, Jerry LEGO Creations said:

Do you have any plans for other machines?

I have a long list of ideas, not so much plans :)

22 hours ago, The Shuttlefan said:

How does it ensure that the axles are in the correct orientation for insertion?

10 hours ago, iLego said:

One thing I was curious was how you manage to align and push the axle through.

When the axles drop down, they land in grooves created by six of these joined together. It is a reliable setup - not once have I seen them not end up aligned properly.

These renderings should explain it (the 'groove assembly' is kept at the right height by having it held up against three 6L axles from underneath. The 12L axles that hold it up are under slight tension and so act kind of like a leaf spring)

51238656729_26533717a8_o_d.png
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Of course, the chain has to be at the exact right height as well. It turns out that this can be achieved by having it rest on the underside of a plate attached to an upside-down Technic brick. This is the reason that the entire main frame of the build is upside-down.
This is also part of the reason why the build is studded (along with the need for a strong/stiff frame).

Also in the first render, part of the pusher mechanism can be seen (although it's not aligned in the in-out axis in the render - the 'pushers' would actually be further 'in' in this position). This was the most difficult part of the build - it has to push the pins in just the right distance and with a lot of force. So, the turntables are actually mounted 'off-grid', slightly more 'in' towards the chain, to allow for any bending of the frame and to ensure the pins are pushed all of the way in. 60-tooth turntables are a great way to increase the torque from the drivetrain (60 times), and this was a nice learning experience for me (I started with smaller worm drives and the build just got torn apart).

19 hours ago, aeh5040 said:

Outstanding!  I love it.

Varying the colours of the links could produce some nice effects...

Any chance of more pictures, ideally enough to recreate it...?

Perhaps there could be another machine that disassembles it, and feeds the parts back into the hoppers.  That would be great for a show...

Good idea with the colours, I might have to try that. Did you see my flickr album? That has a few more pictures. It's hard to show the internal mechanisms in photos - a CAD model would be better. I might get around to making one, maybe not though. Also, if you do try to recreate it, I'll warn you that the liftarms do get jammed sometimes - I never made it reliable enough to run for long times, at a show for example.

Haha, that would be great, or for a first step just a big hopper that you could dump all of the parts in, to be fed into their hoppers.

21 hours ago, shimon said:

Do you think it is possible to do a machine that assembles 3L chain tracks? like you empty a bag full of them in a machine and it goes out assembled 

I think that anything is possible, it is just a matter of how much time and patience you have :laugh:.

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1 hour ago, Nazgarot said:

When you are so lazy you spend a month designing a machine that will save you an hours work... :pir_tong2:

Really nice work this! I love the design, and you even made it look good! =D

:rofl:

Thank you, I appreciate it.

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Wow, this is incredible!

Making the machine looping with a chain disassembler would be great, and also adding a part loader which orients and inserts the parts correctly from a pile.

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*huh*

This is MIND BLOWING...I wouldn't even know where to start if I were tasked with making a machine like this.  I'm curious - do you have an engineering background, or?

Amazing creation, thanks for sharing!

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:sweet:

On 6/11/2021 at 1:48 AM, howitzer said:

Making the machine looping with a chain disassembler would be great, and also adding a part loader which orients and inserts the parts correctly from a pile.

I agree, these would be great. 

10 hours ago, lowlead said:

I'm curious - do you have an engineering background, or?

Yes, an engineering degree and have worked as one for a few years.

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