-
Essay / The design of the Zippo lighter
The Zippo lighter is made up of two separately manufactured components: the outer casing (in brass) and the inner assembly (in steel) which houses the mechanics of the lighter. A specialist mil would make the brass and steel sheets of the correct thickness and cut them to the required width. Brass is used because it has excellent corrosion resistance, is easy to machine, and provides a premium appearance. Say no to plagiarism. Get Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original EssaySteel is used for the inner casing due to its high strength and ductility. The outer casing was also originally made from steel due to wartime shortages of brass (brass being needed for military machinery) and painted black to prevent corrosion. An alternative material for the outer brass casing would be bronze. Bronze also has high resistance to corrosion, especially seawater corrosion. Bronze has a reddish brown color, which would give the zippo a very different appearance. The raw brass and steel coils used for the inner and outer casings respectively are rolled through presses in a process called "deep drawing". A punch pushes the sheet metal into a die cavity, resulting in a profiled part. For the outer casing, presses perforate the edges of each lighter and add some key details (manufacturer's name and date codes) on the bottom. The holes in the lighter chimney are also drilled all the way through the steel of the inner casing. An alternative process that could be used is the formation of rubber stamps. It is a metalworking process in which sheet metal is pressed between a die and a rubber block. This presents greater operating flexibility and lower tooling cost than deep drawing. Once the parts are drawn, they are cut and moved to the manufacturing area where machines bend and bend them into the shape of a box. They are then spot welded together using very precise welding machines. A precision machine fabricates and welds the hinge to the two parts of the outer casing using a powerful welding process called "resistance welding." Soldering is accomplished by conducting a high current through the metal suit to heat and ultimately melt the metals at localized points. Different manufacturing machines construct the components of the flint tube. Often exteriors are finished in other metals such as chrome or nickel. This is done in a process called electroplating. A small electrical charge is applied to boxes suspended on movable hangers which pass through a liquid bath. This bath contains a non-metallic conductive solution with a piece of plating metal inside. The opposite charge is applied to the bath and the atoms of the plating metal are drawn from the metal part into the charged lighters. In this coating process, a thin layer of atoms is electrically bonded to all surfaces of the package. The machined parts (such as cam, flint, flint wheel) are then attached to the top of the inner casing using rivets. This is an automated process. Holes for these rivets would have been drilled into the casing during the first deep drawing. Elements of the inner housing assembly are inserted into the welded shell. Several small balls of cotton-like material are placed inside the fuel chamber which will hold the lighter fluid. A length of wick is inserted and will later be pulled through the chimney. A.