Cyclic Testing Rig for Opening Cooler/Freezer Doors

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello everyone!

I'm new here and am starting up a new project as a member of the R&D engineering department for my company.

Anyway, I'd like to design and build a testing rig, able to push on a button shaped door handle with enough force to open the door to at least 45 degrees from it's closed state, over and over again until the door experiences failure.

I have thought about using pneumatic cylinders with an air regulator, control valve, an Arduino UNO Rev3 board to accomplish the task. I've yet to see how much force I need to open the door, but I believe safety standards requires door opening force to be less than 60 lbf.

So I'd like to know the best way in approaching the programming portion of the Arduino so that it can take into account the number of cycles it has run, display it on a counter, and ensure the cylinder applies the same amount of force each cycle it runs without fail.

Thanks in advance!

2

Yopu could try a car wiper motor - they provide a lot of force...

and microswitches to detect the open/close limits

regards

Allann

3

first, you need to find out how much is too much, then be able to deliver that.

pnuematics are very strong for the size and force is directly related to the piston area and input pressure,.

I cannot envision a 'button shaped door handle' that you push to open.

if you watch some consumer reports seat testing vid's you might get some pointers.

4

dave-in-nj:
first, you need to find out how much is too much, then be able to deliver that.

pnuematics are very strong for the size and force is directly related to the piston area and input pressure,.

I cannot envision a 'button shaped door handle' that you push to open.

if you watch some consumer reports seat testing vid's you might get some pointers.

https://app.box.com/s/6s6djzpunolcgtgizq4mpysiue4udkh0

There's a video link to the door I am planning on working on. (Disregard final 10 seconds. That was a door that didn't have a door closer)

I can tell the door closes pretty quickly, so I am hoping that most pneumatics air cylinders are able to retract the piston quick enough.

Need to use some sort of strain gauge I believe to measure the minimum force required to open the door.