Development of a Multi-Drilling Device

Abstract: Täby Brandskyddsteknik AB is a company that provides a service of fire-proofing tunnels by mounting fire-protection boards to the walls and the ceiling of the tunnel. The installation is done by drilling holes through the board and into the concrete and then hammering bolts into these holes. To reach the ceiling the installers use a scissor-lift. The drilling phase of the installation process is very strenuous work and entails vibrations from the hammer drill and a work posture with the hands raised above the shoulders. To lessen the strain on the installers and to reduce the installation time a multi-drilling device was developed. The device contains six attached hammer drills which are raised to the ceiling by six individual pneumatic cylinders that also provide the required drilling force. It is manoeuvred on an “X”-shaped base with four lockable wheels and contains a winch solution for height adjustment relative to the tunnel ceiling. An economical gain is also made by the company since the multi-drilling device replaces one of the three installers in terms of work. The device is adjustable for only the slimmer boards used by Täby Brandskyddsteknik AB since the larger boards are too heavy for only two persons to lift. The total weight of the device is approximately that of an average male and the device is solely designed after male height measurements since Täby Brandskyddsteknik AB currently does not have any female installers employed. The drilling depth is set with a simple manual adjustment and the upper part with the drill units can be angled to suit the slope of the ceiling with another manual adjustment. The multi-drilling device will only be used by the company’s installers and will therefore only be produced in a very low scale. Simplicity of the construction solutions and the use of standard components were favoured to provide easy manufacture and repair in-house. The process of the project consisted of an extensive background research including literature studies and observations of the installation work, idea generation with brainstorming, concept evaluation and development of the final concept. The project was concluded with the manufacture of a prototype of the final concept. Due to the time limitation of this project only parts of the prototype could be tested which means that there are very little basis for an evaluation of the functions and benefits of the multi-drilling device. This report also includes suggestions for further development of the device.