First was a vertical wedge action pair of presses designed by us in 1980.strong and efficient, these machines lacked the flexibity of the lighter and cheaper later models.
Showing posts with label Industrial design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Industrial design. Show all posts
INJECTION PRESSES : 1980, FIRST GENERATION
First was a vertical wedge action pair of presses designed by us in 1980.strong and efficient, these machines lacked the flexibity of the lighter and cheaper later models.
THE 'HEART-LUNG'MODULE
Photo above shows three 'wet modules' being built at Louisiana plant. These bathrooms are fully tested before being loaded in a container. Their corner posts projecting downward allow plumbers and electricians to go under if needed. These 'high heels' are simply cut-off with a chainsaw before loading. Containing the service entrance panel and the back 'wet' wall to the kitchen, those compact modules are the coe of all Archimede houses, removing at leat 50% of all technical tasks at the building site, speeding up assembly immensely. Below, a 120 m2 (1300 ft2) 2-story house that can be built for well below $50,000. A few of these were erected in Venezuela in 1994
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At the right, the 'San Isidro' version of the house above as being completed in Isla Margarita VE. Note that three or more houses could be shipped into 2 40-ft containers and that erection time of these prior to stucco finish is only a matter of a few days, thanks in part to the fact that the more technically complex wet module carries most of the wiring and piping. This is why we at the Institute call this concept by Poirier the 'heart-lung' module of any house we fabricated.
It must be said however that the fact that all of these pressure-injected foam core panels are already prepared at the plant with doors and windows, also with notching for roof beams and other task requiring precision. Making these in a weather controlled plant having positioning fixtures or 'jig' is the way to go!
1974-1980
In the later half on the seventies, Poirier's familiarity with production systems brought him to the booming RV business. Starting with tent trailers, he graduated to camping trailers and then motor homes. Finally, a revolutionnary mobile home building technique was developed by a team led by him as chief designer with Bellevue Industries. These ho,es were made up of only 4 wall panels, one roof panel and one floor panel, forming a box that was both rigid and insulated. The world's largest press was built 25m x 5m x 5m deep, a giant concrete and steel 'toaster' capable of 9 million pounds of pressure, enough to contain these giant panels while they were being injected with polyurethane foam.
This box construction allowed for maritime shipping without deconsolidation of the structure. Export to 3 continents of prefab homes, double and triple wide, was the next step. Algeria, Crete, France, and several other countries have received those house. Poirier's foray into a field that quickly became his own was the first of a large export effort from Canada. 
The Institute ows a lot to those intense five years that in the end gave birth to the Archimede concept. Poirier was rewarded by his peers as the architect who did the most for the housing export trade.
INJECTION MACHINERY- 1990, FIFTH GENERATION
Ron Smith and myself put together this $20,000. press, one that is easily transportable and reassembled anywhere, sometimes under different formats. Capable of batch injecting up to thirty thinner panels or ten extra thick panels, it has it's own loading and unloading setup in the form of an overhead moveable beam and electric hoist. This feature makes it practical to remove the different size press platen between jobs. This press has the greatest potential for third-world reconstruction applications projects.
FLOATING HOUSES
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