How would it do that?? (pushing it?) Can u draw somthing up for me to show me cuz i really dont get how a magnet would (or could) do that. David
You know a good picturehost? In the meantime you could have a second look at that game. A really good example. Just change the paperclips to another piece of metal. Ill try to knock up some pictures...
is the micro switch metal?? the button itself is plastic (prob. doesnt matter) and there is still the 2 "pads" on the circuit itself where the button also touches for protection prob, when the case is opened... Just send me the pics and ill post them up : wildmanoncable@comcast.net David
This magnet might interfere with the one already there making the mirror just stand still. Anyway it's worth a try. Just got to make photoshop behave like i want it to.
No one else has posted anything??? Boo! I had a look in an old answering-machine i found a readymade magnet. It has a resistance of 33 ohms. This would make it 4w at 12v. And still it's not that strong, quite big too. I thought about using stuff from relays but that would be even weaker. I would make my own or buy some powerful stuff from X-store that happens to sell them. I don't know how many laps you would need for this and without sitting down winding some spools i couldn't tell you. Sorry but i'm not doing that. BTW 150meters of enameled (not sure about the name but it has a thin coating insulating it) 0.1mm copper wire has a resitance of 250ohms. My guess would be many laps with a thicker wire resulting in a lower resistance than the 33ohms of the one i found. Ill mail you some pics plus some of my über-great works of art soon.
Note: Pictures will be red x-es pending upload... I got a ready made magnet (is it called a solenoid maybe?) from an old answering-macine (pic below if of any interest). It has a resistace of 33ohm, at 12v that would be 4w (pretty hot) and it's still not that powerful... A closeup of the magnet: This is not exactly the design depicted below. Here the metal piece is moblie and springs back when no power is provided. Below this is stationary and affects a second piece of steel or a magnet. BTW the steel casing for the rod is 4cm long. And now for some of my artwork... I miss my paint shop pro, at least i had some experience with that. This would be your basic magnet: With many more turns in the coil IRL! You can get more power out of the magnet by adding a U-shape around it. Like so: The practical application could be something like this: The green circle would reprecent the button, the triangle any hinge, the thick part of the arm a pice of steel with good magnetic properties (maybe even a magnet). Using a magnet might be bad, it could lock everything in the down-position if it touches your steel. Remember that when it is in its un-triggered position the force on the steel will be very weak, increasing drastically as it gets nearer the magnet. So don't put the arm directly in contact with the button, unless you make the gap between the magnet and steel very small too. This might not be the optimal design as it is quite large and bulky. This approach would require alot of room, are you in any way restricted by the pre-modded dimensions of the scanner? Another thought would be to add a really small motor to spin the mirrors. This would be more tricky i think, you would need to get it centered properly. If the laser emitter is also the reader it shouldn't be any problem as everything would just go with the flow however you mounted the actual scanner. Fitting motors would be easy to find in old CD-ROMs. As for the electronics you would probably need to replace the switch with something giving an impulse when scanning is needed, from the IR-board you mentioned earlier maybe? Anyway good luck with this hope it turns out nice. Please feel free to ask questions as this seems quite confusing even to me after reading it a second time. Edit, Fixed the images...
Wow, sorry for the delay. ive been sick and also busy... yes both at the same time. input needed as i have never seen somthing like this in the states... David
I am wondering: 1) Where would i buy somthing like that? 2) How would it go about pushing the lever inside (thats what the button does) and keeping it down for 5-6 secs? (because the mirror will stop spinning after a few secs after being pushed. Im still confused as to how it would do this? David
AHHHH!!! My browser threw a fit. I had written this great pice of litterature, worthy of whatever prize is the biggest and no, i can't submit it. I just can't be bothered to write it up again, ill try agai tomorrow. Gotta sleep! Been up way to long as it is, i cant even see properly.
Wow, I got one of those flic's in a promo pack, got the dock, cable, the whole shbang. I just might have to attempt something like this. Unless someone wants to buy my Flic.... Endscape
endscape, if you do get somthing like this to work, please pass on the info to me on how u did it! Thanks, David
Ok, I drew up a lil sketch of how it works in pushing the button... Maybe it will give you some knowledge of what I’m look for in doing. All is labeled so it should make sence. David
I have no idea where to buy a completed one. You would probably need to make your own. Assuming you will be putting this inside some sort of box you could just put the scanner in place of the green circle. This would be bulky and probably no good. If you have the option to, you could hook something to the lever inside (green on your sketch), drill a hole in the bottom and mount the electro-magnet underneath. This would retain the original function of the button on top, should it be needed... It would also require less force from the magnet, so making it smaller and less power hungry. How about mounting a motor to spin the mirrors? Unless the box surrounding the mirror is either very fraglile or too robust this would probably be your best option. You might try replacing the magnet alrady present within with a small electro-magnet of your own. This would be the most power-saving option. Ill elaborate if needed, i don't have the resolve to re-write my whole essay from last night...
Ok, since it seems that i dont know how to build one of these.. Is there any type of kit that i can buy that when powered on, just pushes a poll down and releases when there is no power? Small enough to fit in a small box but powerful enough to mimic a hand push. (so it wouldnt break the lever off) Any ideas on this? Post away! I am determaned to get this working! David
Pushing as you have described might be harder. I think you would have to use a magnet instead of a steel bar inside the coil. The size of the thing and power needed is dependent of how hard the lever has to be pushed. Did you fully understand the pictures i made? You only need a steel bar and some enameled copper wire to wrap it in. Both very cheap and easy to attain. If you need the extra boost of the u-shape you will just need to bend a thin bit of steel and mount it to the back of the magnet. I would get you some pics of my mecanics set. but it seems my mother threw that out years ago. There was a good exaple of how to make one of theese. Is there some specific reason why you wont drill in the bottom of it and mount the magnet underneath underneath?
Im not sure, like you said, the magnet would interfer with the other componants inside. (if it clamps down to hard) Would a door lock/unlock motor work? It has a good amout of force and could produce the needed "push" to the button. Although im not sure how long it can say "Pushed" when activated by the 2 wire hookup. They are only $1.60 on ebay ebay Actuator link So just giving some ideas since i havent seen anything like your idea before. Doesnt mean that it wouldnt work, i just dont know how to get somthing like that to work with this barcode scanner. David
The magnet would probably only interfere with the spinning of the mirrors since they are driven either by the precence or absence of magnetic forces. No way would that magnet get as strong as the actuator you posted! 3,5 kg (or more) SOOO much more than you would need. This would solve your problem though.
