And now for something completely different!

[squonk 43,689]

In keeping with the "Old & New Technology" and "Screwdrivers " threads, and since nothing is broke and it's not snowing  I'd thought I'd share what I've been doing during the 2 days a week I actually work. @WHX?? and @elcamino/wheelhorse think I just sit and eat doughnuts all day. . I have started refurbishing the mechanical mechanism's for the Pneumatic tube stations at the hospital I work at. We have 33 of these stations that all have been neglected (A.K.A. the guy who was supposed to be PMing these things was just signing them off and chasing women all night. ) They transport 6" X 1'  plastic tubes that are very heavy for what they are. They move medicine, blood samples and paperwork ( No ladies in the ICU they are not meant for Cosmo, Avon magazines and Spiegel Catalogs)  In the screwdriver thread I mentioned I needed a special driver so I can remove a motor with out gutting the unit.

 

But to do what I'm doing the whole she-bang has to come out. Not really hard. There is wall trim to remove, unwire the front panel and remove six nuts and it pulls right out. Then a few more plugs and loosen the band clamp and the whole unit slides out. The original 1998 vintage stuff is all welded steel and quite heavy for what's there. The newer 2013 vintage motor plates are extruded aluminum with a little bit of steel.

 

This is what the station looks like. This is a 2013 unit. Notice the buttons are worn. They don't support this panel any more.  LCD upgrade is 8 grand! 

 

 

A look inside the unit.

 

 

The lower motor is the one I need this special driver for.

 

 

This motor plate is the extruded kind. I had to replace both gearmotors as they were worn so bad they were leaking grease. The black box is an infrared sensor that tells the system a carrier has passed thru. The lenses got cleaned. New seals and guides and this is ready to install.

 

 

Here is a view of the screw I need the driver for. There is no way to get your hands in there when it's in the station and almost impossible when it's out.

 

 

Here is the welded older style all apart. The white square is a new slide plate already installed.

 

 

A view of the old slide plate and dispatcher seals.

 

 

Going to install upgraded crank arms. The old Beige ones had a tiny T15 screw that wouldn't stay tight and it would loosen causing the station to go into alarm. New arm is beefier with a nice big socket screw.

 

 

Chute infrared board.

 

 

 

View of the 2 infrared lenses. I wanted to repaint everything but there is no place to pain with out paint fumes traveling into somewhere causing a complaint. 

 

 

Crank arm installed. The little finger passes thru another infrared beam to tell the computer what the position of the motor is.

 

 

 

Slide plate gearmotor installed. They are 110V so we have a little test rig wired up so I can run the motor and check operation. 

 

 

 

Next time you go to the drive thru window at the bank, think of all of this. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 3 by squonk

[Beap52 1,381]

Fascinating work you've got going on.  I like getting to take a peek at the behind the scenes work that is required.  I looked over the pictures a couple of times--I don't understand much about electronics but it interesting to look at and how they interact with the mechanical aspects.   The cost of the LCD panel--YIKES!!  Sitting here in the Ozarks apparently I'm out of touch of the cost of  the commercial/industrial applications.  

 

Very interesting thanks for taking time to share