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We have designed three different lever systems with the current -final lever design presented here.
There are a number of constraints in the design of this lever arm. First, we need to facilitate a way to attach the floats and counter-weight. Secondly, we must have a way to adjust the distance the orifice travels down the arm. It was also requested that the operators be given a means to manually "shut off" the flow. This can be accomplished by moving the orifice directly in line with the pivot. We have also attempted to accommodate a second slide to facilitate attaching a second dosing pH control system. It is preferred to that both slides operate on the same side of the lever to allow the operator easier access.
As shown in our current design, most of these constraints can be met. We are using a slide mechanism that has a manual "brake" which allows the slide to be clamped in any position.
We have not found a way to get both slides on the same side of the lever arm as their "open channel dosing tubes" would interfere with each other. Currently, the slides are on opposite sides and could be awkward for the operator to manipulate. However. One solution would be to mount the lever-arm across the diagonal of the tank. The operator would then have easier access to both sides of the lever-arm. We are considering this option. Currently, each slide can be moved independently and can be moved to the center line to allow the operator to secure flow if needed. The floats and weights will be attached via the brackets at the endpoints. . These will most likely become eye-bolts as they are easy to obtain and will attach on the center-line instead of the sides.
A material list is being created which lists each of these components, part number, quantity, catalog page number, price and associated fasteners. This material list needs to be updated to reflect our most recent design once this design has been approved by all members of the team. Also, in creating this list we found that some of our selected components were disproportionately expensive and modifications are being done to the frame to accommodate less expensive brackets. These are small modifications and the design is near ready to be sent out for pricing and the components will be ordered. Upon arrival of the parts, we will be able to build our full scale model, attach the hydraulic components and begin testing.
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