BEAM ENGINE POWERED PUNCHING MACHINE

Beam engines came into existence in 1745. Beam Engine mechanism is popularly used crank and lever mechanism. The purpose of this mechanism is to convert rotary motion into reciprocating motion. This mechanism is used for sawing. The crank is rotated initially by using handle or motor. Here, levers are used to transmit motion. One end of these levers is connected to required tool and the other is to crank. The rotary motion of crank is transmitted to the tool using levers. Beam engine mechanism can be used for other purposes like forging, extrusion of rods and a part of black smithy. There is a small table attachment for supporting the work piece. The work piece is placed on the table and pushed towards the reciprocating tool, which results in the required action. Beam engine mechanism can be used for punching of sheet metals. The punch tool is used for punching, which is connected to other end of lever. Beam engine used for punching operation has no particular instances available in the commercial market. The aim of this project is to show that this type of machine is an option for small scale industry. Further improvements include using gears for varying the speed of punch. By having an adjustable bed, large size of work pieces can be punched by varying the length of the table and the size of the punch.