Product Disassembly

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Forging new generations of engineers
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• Product Disassembly

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Product Disassembly

• Disassembly or teardown of a product is a major
  step in the Reverse Engineering process.
• It uncovers the principles behind how a product
  works.
• It is always fun to tear apart a product, but
  nothing will be accomplished if data is not
  collected during the process.
• To gather this data we will use a Product
  Teardown Chart.

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Product disassembly will answer the following
questions

• How do the parts interact?
• What are the good and bad features
• of the products form?
• of the products function?
• What has caused the product to succeed or fail?
• Are the materials appropriate?
• What manufacturing process was used?
• What is the estimated cost of the product?

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Why do we perform disassembly?

• To analyze an existing product and determine its
  components and interrelationships.
• To determine strengths and weaknesses of parts.
• To understand how it works.
• To develop electronic documentation.

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• Product disassembly
• is a major step in the
• Reverse Engineering process.

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Why does Industry Reverse Engineer?

• The original manufacturer of a product no longer
  produces a product or replacement parts for the
  product.
• Some bad features need to be designed out.
• To strengthen the good features of a product.
• To analyze the good and bad features of
  competitors products.

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Reasons for Reverse Engineering (Cont.)

• To create CAD models and documentation that were
  not available, or sufficient to support new
  manufacturing processes, such as Computer
  Numerical Control/CNC.
• To update obsolete materials or antiquated
  manufacturing processes.

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Sample Product Disassembly Display
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It all starts with the Inquiry Process.
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Initial Product Selection

• An item to disassemble is selected.
• It could be as simple as a children's toy,
• or as complex as a fishing reel.

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Gathering Data

• Carefully disassemble the product.
• Measure the parts and record information using
  the Product Teardown Chart shown on the next
  slide.
• Determine material properties.

inquiry
discovery
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Suggested supplies to assist disassembly

• Small drill
• Calipers
• Screwdriver set
• Socket set
• Wrenches
• Wire cutters
• Needle nose regular pliers
• Radius gauge

• Hand saw / miter box back saw
• Scale
• Protractor
• Handout Product Teardown Chart
• Hand tool to compress springs

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Take measurements and record data
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• Use resources such as www.HowStuffWorks.com to
  help explain how the product operates.

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Visualization

• Create thumbnail sketches.
• Develop pictorial sketches which are extremely
  important at this stage to show how the part is
  assembled, and how the mechanism works.

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• Compare your theory/hypothesis of how the product
  functioned to its actual operation.

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Create solid models of each part for your
presentation display.
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Analyze the product

• How do the parts interact?
• What are the good and bad features?
• What has caused the product to succeed or fail?
• Are the materials appropriate?

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Fully document each part
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Fully document each part
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Discuss and Brainstorm

• Discuss your teams findings and brainstorm for
  improvements.
• Determine with your team, if more information is
  needed.

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Prepare to Present

• Prepare with your team to explain to the class
  how your product functions and justify ideas for
  improvement.

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Final Presentation
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Reflect on the disassembly process

• Did the disassembly process help you to
  understand the product and lead you to ideas for
  redesign to enhance its marketability?

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References

• Ashby, Michael, and Johnson, Kara. (2002).
  Materials and Design The Art and Science of
  Material Selection in Product Design.
  Butterworth-Heinemann
• Dominick, Peter G., et al. (2000). Tools and
  Tactics of Design. John Wiley and Sons.
• How Stuff Works. (September 24, 2005). On-line.
  Available http//www.howstuffworks.com
• Ingle, K. A. (1994). Reverse Engineering, NY
  McGraw-Hill.
• New Product Development Solutions. Web site.
  http//www.npd-solutions.com/  
• Otto, Kevin, and Wood, Kristin. (2000). Product
  Design Techniques in Reverse Engineering and New
  Product Development. Upper Saddle River, NJ
  Prentice Hall.
• Samuelson, P., and Scotchmer, S. (2002).The law
  and economics of reverse engineering. Yale Law
  Journal. (September 24, 2005). On-line.
  Availablehttp//www.yale.edu/yalelj/111/111-7ab2.
  html