Speedometer and Odometer

Dials and guages on the automobiles

dashboards provide crucial information to the
driver. The speedometer displays the speed
at which the vehicle is moving. The odometer
shows the total number of miles the car has
traveled and is useful for tracking wear and
scheduling vehicle maintenance.

Abdul jabbar
5/17/2011

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Speedometer and Odometer
Dials and gauges on the automobile dashboard provide crucial information
to the driver. The speedometer displays the speed at which the vehicle is
moving, measuring either the rotation rate of a drum connected to the car's
transmission or the frequency of electrical pulses that vary according to the
car's speed. The odometer shows the total number of miles the car has
traveled and is useful for tracking wear and scheduling vehicle maintenance.

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Inventor of the speedometer

Babbage's Difference Engine

Considered by many to be a direct forerunner of the modern computer, the
Difference Engine was able to compute mathematical tables. This woodcut
shows a small portion of the ingenious machine, which was designed by
Charles Babbage in the 1820s. Although the device did not have a memory,
Babbage’s later idea for the Analytical Engine would have been a true,
programmable computer if the technology of his time had been able to build
it.

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Speedometer:

Speedometer, device for measuring the speed of a vehicle. This is usually

done either by measuring the number of revolutions over a known time
interval, or by devising an instrument that measures revolutions per minute
(rpm) directly. An example of such a device is the automobile speedometer,
in which a flexible cable attached to the drive rotates a permanent magnet in
the instrument. This induces a magnetic field on a surrounding drum,
tending to drag the drum around with it. The drum is restrained by a spring,
to which a pointer is connected. The higher the speed of the engine, the
higher will be the drag induced, and with it the deflection of the pointer.
Increasingly, modern automobile speedometers are not linked mechanically
to the transmission. Instead, a device located in the transmission produces a
series of electrical pulses whose frequency varies in proportion to the
vehicle's speed; the electrical pulses are sent to a calibrated device that
translates the pulses into the speed of the automobile. This information is
sent to a device that displays the vehicle's speed to the driver, in the form of
either a deflected speedometer needle, or a digital readout. Other
speedometers are operated by centrifugal force, driving a set of revolving
flyball weights outward as speed is increased (see Centrifuge). These
weights are connected through a linkage to a spring, which is compressed as
the speed increases, and to which a pointer is connected. This type of device
first found wide application when the Scottish engineer and inventor James
Watt introduced it as a governor to control steam engines.

An airplane speedometer, or airspeed indicator, depends on the measurement

of dynamic pressure. A so-called pitot tube, named after the French physicist
and engineer Henri Pitot, is a U-shaped tube with two openings; one opening
is oriented into the direction of the airflow of the moving plane, and the
other opening is oriented perpendicular to the direction of the airflow.
Between the openings, in the curved part of the tube, is liquid mercury.
When the plane is stationary, the pressure at each of the openings is the
same, and there is an equal amount of mercury on each side of the U-shaped
tube. When the plane is moving, increased air pressure in the side of the tube
that has the opening oriented into the airflow pushes the mercury towards
the other side of the U-shaped tube; the degree to which the mercury is
displaced is used to indicate the airspeed. The speed of a craft in water is
frequently measured by a towed instrument, consisting of a small propeller,

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the rotational speed of which increases with forward speed, actuating a
calibrated dial aboard the craft.

The term tachometer is usually applied to an instrument used to measure

angular speed, such as that of a shaft, in revolutions per minute. Today many
automobiles have tachometers that measure the rate of revolution of the
automobile's driveshaft.

Tachometer: Tachometer, measuring device that indicates rotational

(angular) speed in revolutions per minute (rpm). In motor vehicles, a
tachometer measures the speed of the engine crankshaft as it rotates and
displays the results on a gauge to inform the driver. The word tachometer is
a combination of the Greek words tachos, meaning speed, and metria,
meaning measure.

There are many different types of tachometers, beyond the familiar

dashboard gauge. These vary in appearance, operation, and application.
Automotive technicians, for example, use handheld tachometers during
some engine service procedures or exhaust emissions testing. In addition,
there are many industrial uses for tachometers on a variety of types of
equipment.

Spring
Spring (mechanics), in mechanics, device made of an elastic material that
undergoes a significant change in shape, or deformation, under an applied
load. Springs are used in spring balances for weighing (see Weight) and for
the storage of mechanical energy, as in watch and clock springs or door-
closing springs. Springs are also used to absorb impact, as in coil or leaf
springs used for automobile suspensions, and to reduce vibration by the use
of rubber blocks. The specific form of a spring depends on its use. A
weighing spring, for example, is normally wound as a helix, and its
elongation is proportional to the applied force, so that the spring can be
calibrated to measure this force. Watch springs are wound as spiral coils,
and sets of flat bars or leaves, superimposed on one another to form
laminations, are used as leaf springs in automobile suspensions

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Centrifuge
Centrifuge, mechanical device using the principle of centrifugal force to
separate substances of different densities. A common centrifuge is a
container that is spun rapidly. The only limit to the centifugal force is the
strength of the metal of which the device is made. Centrifugal forces may be
thousands of times as great as the force of gravity.

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Odometer:

Odometer, instrument that displays the distance traveled by a vehicle. It

measures the distance in either miles or kilometers. An odometer counts
continuously upward, but many cars have a second odometer that can be
reset to zero to measure the distance of individual trips. Automobile
odometers are located in a central instrument display near the speedometer.

A Roman engineer, Vitruvius, described the concept of an odometer in the

1st century BC. Around AD 1500, Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci designed
a device that used stones to indicate distance traveled. Da Vinci devised a
container that had a hole in the bottom just big enough for certain stones to
fall through. The container, loaded with stones, was attached so that rotation
of one of the vehicle’s wheels caused a plate or drum to rotate around the
container of stones. This plate had a single hole about the same size as the
hole in the container. After the wheel rotated a certain number of times, the
two holes lined up and a stone fell through the opening into a box. Distance
traveled could be estimated by the number of stones in the box.

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In modern odometers, the motion of either the vehicle’s wheels or its
transmission gears is relayed, usually by a cable and a series of gears, to
small drums or dials inside the odometer. As each drum rotates, it displays a
series of numbers from zero to nine. The instrument is calibrated so that
either one mile or one kilometer produces a complete rotation of the drum
that indicates single units of distance. Ten rotations of that drum causes the
drum to the left of it to advance one number. In that manner, the display
changes from 19 to 20, for example, with the passage of the 20th mile. This
process is repeated for the remaining dials, so that three, four, or more dials
will turn as the distance traveled by the vehicle mounts. Odometers usually
display a maximum of 999,999 miles or kilometers before coming around
full circle to the beginning number 000,000.

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 Limit Switches
A limit switch is a device that can sense a process or environmental
parameter such as temperature or pressure and close a switch contact or
change an electrical parameter based on a measurement of that parameter
versus the limit switch.
Defination: Limit switches are a type of sensor that detect
presence and absence. Specifically, mechanical limit switches
are switches that are mechanically activated, meaning that
they have some sort of arm, lever, knob, plunger, etc., which
is
physically—or mechanically—activated by making contact
with another object. As the object makes contact with the
actuator of the switch, it eventually moves the actuator to its
“limit” where the contacts change state. Other varieties of
sensors/switches exist, including proximity sensors, light
sensors, electric switches, among others.
In its simplest form, a limit switch is a “switch” that can be
mounted into remote locations so that it is actuated by an
object other than a human operator. Some basic functions of
limit switches are:
• Detecting presence/absence
• Counting
• Detecting range of movement
• Detecting positioning & travel limit
• Breaking a live circuit when unsafe conditions arise
• Detecting speed
• …and hundreds of other applications
Limit switches are a problem-solving product. There is often
“no right answer” as to which switch can be used in any
given situation. Usually product choice is left to the user to
determine how he can best utilize the switch. Because of this
characteristic, limit switches can be fun to sell a “fun”
product—they are the solution to a brainteaser game!
Mechanical limit switches can be found in any industrial or
commercial application where detection or safety is needed.

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Strengths & weaknesses
Limit switches are a practical solution for sensing in most
situations. There are, however, a few disadvantages to using
limit switches. Some of the strengths and weaknesses of the
limit switches are listed below:

Applications:
Limit switches are very commonly used devices. Think about
these simple applications:
• What keeps the microwave from starting without the door
being shut first?
• What turns the light off when the refrigerator door is
closed?
• Why do your car’s dome lights come on when you open the
door?
• What stops the washing machine when a load becomes
unbalanced?
Industrial Application Examples

Case 1: Packaging. Boxes of paper approach the end of the

packaging line, ready to be stacked onto pallets 6 boxes
high. A palletizer with suction-cup grippers picks up a box
and swings around to a waiting pallet. How does the unit
know it has reached the sixth

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layer of boxes? When the pivot arm reaches the top of its
vertical travel, the arm hits a limit switch. The switch signals
the system to send the full pallet down line and sets up an
empty pallet to restart the process.

Case 2: Working where people cannot. Inside a sawmill, a high-

speed saw quickly reduces logs into construction beams. In
the process, chips and dust float in the air. Breathing is
impossible in the area without a mask. Even with goggles, it
would be
impossible to inspect the cutting. The production department
devised a system of limit switches to do the inspecting
automatically. A remote operator can configure the switches
to allow the log to be cut to the desired dimensions.

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Case 3: Food and beverage. At a frozen food processor, an
automatic pallet stacking system is used. This system uses a
wobble stick limit switch to detect when the pallets
have been loaded to their desired level. The switch then
signals the conveyor to send the load through an automatic
vertical rise door into the freezer for quick freezing.

Case 4: Fire safety. In a manufacturing plant, rooms need to be

closed off quickly in case of contamination or fire. To help
facilitate this process, high-speed doors have been
developed. These doors may move as quickly as six feet per
second. At such speeds,
the door would destroy itself quickly, if not for the use of
limit switches. The limit switches are used to slow the door
just before it is fully opened or fully closed.

Some of many industries with limit switch needs:

• Material handling – packaging, moving, warehousing,
distribution
• Food & beverage packaging, distribution

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• Manufacturing – automotive/heavy equipment, machining,
marine/aviation, glass & plastics
• Metals – mining, refining, processing, forming
• Commercial applications
• Control cabinets
• Many, many more!

References:
• http://www05.abb.com/global/scot/scot260.nsf/veritydisplay/8bb7f20
332ba74d5852575d20063da5a/$file/1sxu141184x0201.pdf
• Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft
Corporation, 2008