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  • Replies 22 replies
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  • tbhs
  • design process
  • super glue gun
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  • anti-drip
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Related

Super Glue Gun Progress

makerkaren
makerkaren over 7 years ago

This week we're back to working on the Super Glue Gun. We've reviewed many of the comments and suggestions posted here on the Community and are factoring them into our design.

The first thing we are addressing is the motor location. Ben originally had the motor positioned so that it was sticking out the side of the gun, making the gun unevenly weighted. I suggested that we move the motor into the handle with the gear facing upwards to make the design more compact. While this solved some bulk and balance problems, it created new issues of the motor interfering with the auto stand and the trigger. Our new idea solution is in the photo below.

image

The proposed modifications here would also help another issue brought up by a community member, f5kn. We had the motor set farther back near the handle. However, this would make it so that there would be a significant time where the glue stick that was actively being melted would be past the point where it would be engaged by the motor gear, making the anti-drip function useless. By shortening the feed tube on the hot end and moving the gear as close to the hot end as possible, that drastically reduces the amount that the active glue stick would not be engaged by the gear. Hopefully negligible enough to not be too much of a design flaw.

We also want the end of the nozzle to be long and narrow to reach into tight places. We're hoping that by adding on a nozzle as shown, rather than having the normal small cone at the end of the plastic casing, will be enough to achieve that design feature. The concern with this is, will the smaller hot end be powerful enough to melt the glue within the the nozzle from a cold start.

Other suggestions we received said to make the stand mechanical and spring loaded rather than electrically extended and retracted by a servo. Others say to eliminate the stand all together in favor of a holster or cradle, or simply going cordless, using a heavy battery at the base as a stand like a cordless drill.

 

At this point in the design process, we're looking at, "What makes our glue gun better than what is on the market?"  Can we keep enough features in the gun to warrant making an entirely new product? Moving forward, we turn to our community members for help.

 

What features would need to be in the Super Glue Gun to make you want to buy it?

 

Our key features are the auto extrusion and anti-drip. Are those features alone enough?

Does it need an electrical auto stand? Or is a spring loaded stand, or is no extending stand a better solution?

Should it be battery powered and cordless?

Should it have an LED indicating when the hot end is up to temperature?

Should it have an auto-shutoff timer so it can't be left on accidentally for too long?

Are there other features we haven't considered that if included would convince you to buy such a product?

Should it use 1/4" mini glue sticks or does it need to have a larger capacity?

 

Please share your ideas and opinions below!

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Top Replies

  • shabaz
    shabaz over 7 years ago +5
    I've not used one in a very long time, but my main memory of it was the dripping Maybe some LEDs to illuminate the end would be awesome - usually the end was chunky, so you couldn't sometimes see where…
  • mcb1
    mcb1 over 7 years ago in reply to makerkaren +3
    heating elements require so much more power Proper engineering principles apply here. You need to understand what you're dealing with before creating a solution. What is the power demand? How long does…
  • dougw
    dougw over 7 years ago +3
    I'm not sure what has been suggested for this in the past so excuse any duplication, but how about: an auto-loader that can add in a new glue stick seamlessly as the old one gets depleted. adjustable temperature…
Parents
  • mcb1
    mcb1 over 7 years ago

    This one confused me when I first read it.

    Super Glue Gun Progress

    I read it as a gun that dispensed Super Glue.

    rather than the possibly more correct "Super Hot Glue Gun Progress".

     

    We made a discovery with designing out anti-drip feature in that we can relieve the pressure behind the melted glue

    I presume you are reversing the the glue stick, which effectively sucks back any glue in the nozzle area.

    That's the way I used to tackle using these things ... (I rarely use a Hot Glue gun as I find the warm-up time and the resulting non flexible blob do not suit most of my applications).

    Should it be battery powered and cordless?  No - potentially reduces availability due to battery charge

    You could incorporate wirelss charging into the holder.

    The old cordless toothbrushes used the more crude inductive charging, but the footprint was small enough to be a consideration

     

     

    A properly designed holder might be able to incorporate two connections that allow power for the heating aspect to be controlled while resting, and then the battery takes over when lifted for use.

     

    Mark

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  • makerkaren
    makerkaren over 7 years ago in reply to mcb1

    Yeah, we realized the potential for confusion well after we started calling it the Super Glue Gun. But Super Hot Glue Gun seemed too clumsy a name?

     

    Yes, for the anti-drip, we are reversing the drive gear to retract the glue stick. We're not sure if that creates enough vacuum to withdraw the melted glue.

    Since heating elements require so much more power, do you think inductive charging and a battery would be efficient enough? Electric toothbrushes are just a small motor(or similar mechanism) that doesn't require much. Generating heat takes a lot more. I don't know enough about the limitations and capabilities of inductive charging to know if it would work for this application or not. Interesting idea, though. Would be cool if it did work.

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  • makerkaren
    makerkaren over 7 years ago in reply to mcb1

    Yeah, we realized the potential for confusion well after we started calling it the Super Glue Gun. But Super Hot Glue Gun seemed too clumsy a name?

     

    Yes, for the anti-drip, we are reversing the drive gear to retract the glue stick. We're not sure if that creates enough vacuum to withdraw the melted glue.

    Since heating elements require so much more power, do you think inductive charging and a battery would be efficient enough? Electric toothbrushes are just a small motor(or similar mechanism) that doesn't require much. Generating heat takes a lot more. I don't know enough about the limitations and capabilities of inductive charging to know if it would work for this application or not. Interesting idea, though. Would be cool if it did work.

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  • mcb1
    mcb1 over 7 years ago in reply to makerkaren

    heating elements require so much more power

    Proper engineering principles apply here.

    You need to understand what you're dealing with before creating a solution.

    1. What is the power demand?
    2. How long does it hold the required temperature when power is removed?
    3. What power is required to maintain the temperature after you reach the desired temperature?

    Until you know these answers, the solutions are hit and miss.

     

    The Hot glue gun my wife has in the cupboard has 9w as the rating.

    Your design may be using something different, but watts are watts.

     

    The "beyond the phone" design challenge saw us using a 5w inductive charging from Wurth.

    I believe this may now be 15w Wireless Power Design Kit - Medium Power

    sleuz may be able to assist you in your quest if you want to explore inductive charging.

     

    Mark

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  • sleuz
    sleuz over 7 years ago in reply to mcb1

    Hi

     

    Man, this is an interesting project.

     

    Wireless charging has far more possibilities than the known smart phone charging capabilities.

     

    makerkaren feel free to get in touch with me regarding any inductive solution. We have dedicated people to WPT and I´m certain we can find out, if it´s suitable for you or not.

     

    Thanks Mark mcb1 for pointing this out to me. I´ll take my time to dig a little deeper on this project.

     

     

    Regards

     

    Simon

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  • mcb1
    mcb1 over 7 years ago in reply to sleuz

    Thanks Mark mcb1 for pointing this out to me. I´ll take my time to dig a little deeper on this project.

    sleuz

    I thought you'd like this one.

    Be interesting to see what develops, and it has some interesting possibilites if you can incorporate the charging into a handle.

     

    Mark

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  • makerkaren
    makerkaren over 7 years ago in reply to sleuz

    Thanks for the offer! I'll let you know if Ben decides to go in that direction.

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