Construction of a Micro Compressor for Maintenance Filling of Balancing Gas Springs - from Idea to Prototype

Abstract: At the gas spring manufacturing company Strömsholmen AB there is the needfor a way to make the load alleviating gas springs more robust, endurable andmaintenance free. A small high pressure compressor with a control systemshould solve these problems. The system would have to raise the pressure in the gas spring if it were to drop under a level and let some pressure out if it were to increase over a certain level. The construction of this Micro Compressor system is presented in this master's thesis. At first, a deeper understanding of the task at hand was gathered resulting in a design specification, followed by a concept study generated by the systematic design method. The evaluation of the concept study resulted in a chosen concept for prototype production. This prototype system consists of a control system with a pressure switch, a pressure reducing valve and a Micro Compressor that raises the pressure when needed. An electric system was also designed to work with the pressure switch, actuating the compressor when needed. Thoughts of converting the Micro Compressor system to pneumatic drive were also considered to increase the scope of use. The prototype system was tested to see that the requirements in the design specification were met and then the project was handed back to Strömsholmen AB for future development together with a list of suggestions of things that need improvement.