Mission

To provide emergency lifting equipment to disaster stricken areas, in order to save Lives and the Environment.

Presentation

If anyone would like to have a look at how to assemble the crane please contact James Baddeley for a demonstartion of the model.

Pulley System

Our pulley sytem will be a strap surrounded in Heavy duty plastic balls which will allow the pulley to move along the beam. These will be pulled by a winch attached to one end of the crane, this will allow the weight to be moved easily by tired rescue workers instead of them having to push a heavy load. this will be patented to prevent other people from taking our design.

Conclusion

ECS, why we are better:
- Our designs are simple and cost effective meaning more value for you the consumer
- We are a company concerned with looking after people and the environment by cutting down on our carbon footprint
- With rapid production abilities you will soon be ready for anything

We thank you for your time whilst looking at our tender proposal and hope to hear from you in the near future.

Materials selection

Whilst wood may seem a very primitive material to build a crane out of, it has to be remembered that even in ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek times, wooden cranes were used to lift weights well in excess of a Tonne. Since then however, wood technology have advanced even more, if the importance of a material is measured by volume consumed per year, wood is still the most important polymer available to the engineer.

The wood we plan to use is douglas fir, this has one of the highest Young's Modulus for its density of any wood (density = 0.55 Mg m-3, Young Modulus = 16.4 GPa). We are aware that many competing cranes will be built out of steel, however with its far higher density of 7.75 - 8.05 Mg m-3, a far higher volume of wood can be used and tansported at the same time with the weight still remaining lower. This provides a major advantage in the form of if a failure was to occur it is easy enough to carry a spare beam section or leg with you to replace it quickly and easily.

The steel box section in the centre of the beam and at the leg joints is an integral part of the design as it provides vital reinforcement at the points where very large forces will be acting. All the wooden beams and steel box section we are using are of standard dimensions and will allow the fast and easy production of the kits. Another advantage of using standard parts is that modification of the crane by the end user will be far easier. For example. If someone wished to add feet to the crane, all that would be required would be some spare box section and some personal ingenuity on behalf of the user dependent on the situation.

The best part of the 'slot and lock' design employed in this crane is that no specialist training is required to assemble it. Users do not need to be trained in setting up hydraulics or wiring up electric winches. This crane uses a rack and pinion pulley system and nuts and bolts to fix the sections together. Materials and system that anybody can easily become familiar with in a matter of minutes.

For ECS, one of our highest priorities is looking after the world we working with to save people. For this reason we plan to plant up to ten trees for every tree we use. It is important to us to remain as carbon neutral as possible in our efforts to save people as some research has suggested that global warming has played an integral part in the rise in frequency of natural disasters.

Construction Manual

The strongest selling point the ECS emergency crane is the simplicity of the assembly. Unlike other products, no specific knowledge is required as nothing more is needed than a couple of spanners.

The crane arrives as nine separate pieces, these are:

• Legs x4 (numbered 1 - 4)
• Leg joints x2
• Beam x2 (numbered 5&6)
• beam joint x1
• Standard Bolts (with nuts) x8

It is recommended that you first insert the numbered legs into their corresponding numbered slots in the leg joints and secure them in place using the standard bolts provided. Each leg has multiple bolt holes so the length can be altered dependent on the ground clearance needed and the terrain upon which the crane is placed. Next, insert the beams into their corresponding numbered slots also in the leg assemblies and again fix into place using the standard bolts provided. Finally, ensure the cradle and pulley system has been inserted over one half of the beam and then proceed to fix both sides of the crane into the central beam support, finally securing using the last two standard bolts.

This assembly is very quick and efficient, even the materials used allow it to be assembled by two or three people safely.

Design of components

When designing each component we took into account each of the following:

• Weight - Each component would need to be light enough for a person to carry.
• Ease of use - The whole assembly would need to be assembled and dissassembled without specialist knowledge. The assembly uses a simple idea with very few components.
• Adaptability - The crane would need to adapt to the environment it is in. If the ground is uneven, a series of holes in the beams allow for making the legs longer/shorter.
• Robustness - Each component was designed with the forces that will be acting on it in mind. The materials we have used are robust enough to hold the load.
• Cost - The cost of each component was taken into account as there is very little point in having a disaster relief crane that costs a fortune to produce. Wood is very heavy but is very cheap too, this is why we picked this material over metals.
• Size - Each component was designed to fit in or on a Land Rover. The metal components would easily fit in the back of the vehicle and the beams would be able to go on the roof rack without obstructing the drivers view or causing any hazards
• Repair - We used wood for the beams because they are easily replaced with a material that may be in the disaster area without the need for specialist tools. The beams would be under the most stress so therefore we made these replacable. If a joint was to break then a replacement would be needed and for this reason we have chosen to use steel to decrease the chance of damage.

CAD Design and Rendered Image

We designed our final crane design in Solidworks and produced some engineering drawings which are below:











This is a rendered image of what the crane will look like:

Calculations

Financial Report

Below is the cost breakdown for the crane including profit and labour to create the crane:


The Cost to buy a Crane will be £1200.00

For Just the Joints the cost will be £600

To Rent the crane will cost £100 per week

Prices are excluding VAT because it is for humanitarian use.

Components from:

• http://www.cornwallwood.co.uk/products/16__bulk_sawn_timbers_treated_/index.html
• http://www.metals4u.co.uk/detail.asp?cat_id=50&prd_id=2110
• http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=153418
• http://www.metals4u.co.uk/detail.asp?cat_id=1376&prd_id=6618
• http://www.metals4u.co.uk/detail.asp?cat_id=1376&prd_id=4739
• http://www.screwfix.com/prods/68784/Hand-Tools/Load-Handling/Duplex-Sling-3-Tonne-4m

The Cost is if the crane will be fabricated in the UK, when built abroad the cost will come down and when components are bought in bulk the price will also come down.

Patents will be taken out to protect the pulley system which will be our trade secret stopping people from copying our design.

Tender Proposal Intro

ECS is a company dedicated to helping the people and the environment. We specialise in making affordable, dependable products for you the customer. Our latest product is a crane created to help save many lives by clearing rubble in the event of a disaster such as an earthquake as seen in Haiti.

Our crane will allow the user to pick up and move rubble over a distance meaning that people trapped underneath can be rescued. It will also be easy to disassemble into small pieces which will allow it to be put into the back of a Land Rover for ease of transport into the crisis area.

The crane shall be made of a mixture of wood and metal. We have chosen to make the majority out of wood because of the overall reduced weight and cost of the material. By having a lighter material the crane will be easy to carry short distances without having to disassemble it first; being able to move faster means more people can be saved.

Due to the likely-hood that there will be a lack of power in the area the crane will use hand-powered pulleys and cranks in order to move the rubble. This again helps cut down on the complexity and ultimately the cost of the finished product and means that there is less to go wrong which in such a critical environment is a key factor.

The simple design of the crane means it can be produced both rapidly and at a low cost providing the best possible value for you. Furthermore it is quick to assemble and easy to use ensuring many people can be trained in its use as quickly and as easily as possible.

As an added bonus and to make up for the trees that are cut down we will plant 10 trees for every crane you buy which in turn will reflect well on you.

ECS, rebuilding your world.

2 TONNE CHAIN BLOCK

We have chosen the 2 Tonne Chain Block, because it is small lightweight and portable. We have chosen 2 tonne for the same reasons why we chose 3 tonne on the strap as its better to be on the safe side. The chain block also includes mechanical load breaks, hardened alloy steel chains.

Available from Metals4U at the price of £47.91 per unit

Webpage: http://www.metals4u.co.uk/detail.asp?cat_id=1376&prd_id=6618

Double Thickness Duplex Sling 3 Tonne 4m

We have decided to use the double thickness sling 3 tonne 4m, This was chosen this because the design specification said the crane should be able to lift 1 tonne but just to be in the safe side, it was decided that we would rather be over than under.

The sling also has reinforced Becket eyes at each end which will give greater strength where the pulley is attached.

Available from ScrewFix at the price of £23.45 per unit

Webpage: http://www.screwfix.com/prods/68784/Hand-Tools/Load-Handling/Duplex-Sling-3-Tonne-4m#

Final Concept Idea

For our final idea we have settled on a type of gantry crane. The problem with a tower crane is that the stresses involved would be very large which would lead to increasing costs and difficulties as we did more to ensure that the design would work.

A gantry crane on the other hand cane be made of far more lightweight material which decreases the cost and the stresses can be easily calculated and compensated for.

Idea Evaluation

Whilst evaluating the idea we noticed that the lifting arm wasn't long enough to lift the load without substantially more force. Without a longer arm the current idea would require more force with the crane than without. With a longer arm we can use the principles of leverage to the point where 1 or 2 people can lift the load without the need for weights. This would make the design cheaper and more effective.

Further Ideas

Expanding on ideas already put forward I drew up a sketch detailing both how the crane would work and how the crane would be disassembled in order to fit it into the back of a Land Rover.

This Crane is purely mechanical to prevent any problems should there be a lack of power, which in an earthquake devastated area is rather likely.

initial idea

Crane initial idea:

The design of this crane has been inspired by portable cranes and other application which features a base that fills with water or sand for stability.

The base is meant to be containers that could be filled with water or sand depending on availability.

The tier on each side are also meant to be containers where they can be filled depending on how much wait needed to lift the object.

Workshop Cranes

Workshop Cranes There are several workshop cranes types where each type has a little differences in its characteristics, however they all share the same general principals.

Workshop cranes general advantages:

1. It’s a portable crane

2. Reliable for several industrial applications

3. Small area for storage

4. Easy to move around

5. It operate manually

6. Made of heavy-duty materials

7. One person to operate

Workshop cranes general disadvantages:

1. Cannot be lifted by one person

2. Doesn’t fit easily in a 4*4 vehicle

3. Cannot be disassembled and re-assembled easily

Gantry Cranes

Gantry Cranes

Gantry crane is used in most demanding environments where very heavy equipment and machines have to be lifted.

Gantry cranes general advantages:

1. It’s a portable crane

2. Lift very heavy equipment

3. Easy to move around

4. It operate manually

5. Made of heavy duty materials

Gantry crane general disadvantages:

1. Cannot be lifted by one or two persons

2. Doesn’t fit in a 4*4 vehicle

3. Cannot be disassembled and re-assembled easily

Loader Cranes

Loader Cranes

The Loader Crane is a fixed crane in the back of a truck. Since the carne is fixed, I would eliminate this type of crane considering that we need a portable carne that can be fit into a 4*4 vehicle. However, we could take some ideas of the crane structure itself and use it in our crane design.

Research part 2

Research Part 1

Different crane types:

From this research it can be seen that we need to design a crane that has the manouvrebility and compactness of an A-frame pulley crane and the load moving capabilities of a Gantry Crane.

Brain storm

19/3/10 Minutes

Attendees

Mohammed Altubayieb
Thomas Anderson
James Baddeley
Richard Bay

Tasks Achieved

• Initial Brainstorming complete. Research on different types of crane, counterbalancing methods and movement methods.
• Individual ideas discussed.
• Evaluated different designs.

Tasks to be completed by 22/3/10

• Individual ideas and diagrams to be uploaded on blog by team members.
• Research page to be uploaded.
• Fully design chosen idea

Next meeting at 5PM 22/3/10

Tower Crane ( Base Design )

This is an initial idea for the tower crane base. It consists of several containers that could be filled with any liquid depending on availability. Each container has a volume of 5 gallons, which will give us almost 22.5 kilograms (the weight of each container can various depending on the liquid used).

If we chose the tower crane for our project, we might consider these main parts to redesign.

I have some initial designs ideas of the tower crane BASE that I will upload this week.

First Meeting 8.3.10

Position allocation:

Project Manager: Peter Armstrong armstpwa@aston.ac.uk
Finance Officer: James Baddeley baddeljc@aston.ac.uk
Chief Designer: Thomas Anderson andersot@aston.ac.uk
Materials Specialist: Richard Bay bayrh@aston.ac.uk
Stress Analyst: Mohammed Altubayieb altubaym.ac.uk