Scrapbooking & Accessories

How can I modify our paper trimmer to become electric?

We have a big paper trimmer at work and it cost a lot of money (£600). It works by you feeding the paper in and then pushing a handle over it to cut it. Now, with so many successful inventors and robot-building hobbyists out there, it MUST be possible to invent an electrical drive for the cutting handle. It could be foot operated.

Starting from something like a bigger/better version of the safety paper cutter here?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_cutter

Two simple ways of push/pulling the handle…
First is to use a solenoid. that gets you a direct linear motion. You’d need a REALLY heavy duty solenoid to push/pull the handle, and it’s motion would probably be too fast

Second, and perhaps easier in practise is to use an electric motor (and maybe a gearbox) to rotate a screw thread. If a nut is placed on to the screw thread and the nut is prevented from rotating (by an Adapter than fixes the nut to the handle) the nut and handle will be driven along the axis of the screw thread. It’s direction depends on which way the screw thread is turning/the “handiness” of the threads.

Then you just need a little box that controls the motor. You need a way of sensing when the cutter has traversed across the paper (so that the motor/solenoid doesn’t try to force the cutter too far/knows to make a “return trip”). Just use some kind of proximity sensor (read relay&magnet, or even a micro-switch ) to detect when the cutter is at the limits of it’s travel.
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Still need to explain how to implement the control box, but first I need to understand the kind of motion/control you are wanting.

Presume you want the fool control to start the machine when it’s pressed. Need some more idea about how you would like the control to function// How are you wanting the controls to to work….

Having the pedal work like a deadman’s brake, and to stop the machine when it’s released sound’s like a very good /essensial requirement? Do you want the machine to continue go back and forth, doing “cutting cycles” so long as the pedal remains pressed? Or do you want the machine to start a single cycle when the pedal is pressed, and need the pedal to be released and pressed again (at the end of the cycle) to “order” another cycle.

Also there’s question of what constitutes a cycle. Should the handle/cutter be returned to one side, after it’s cut the paper? Is it fine for the handle/cutter to just travel across to the other side, without needing to return untill more paper is added?

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threaded rod/nuts can be got from most decent hardware shops. So can expoy resin to make an adapter/holder for the driven nut.(lay tin foil/silcone spray to prevent things you don’t want being joined, sticking together, and then pour the expoxy into a mould) Probably be able to get brackets/boxes/screws/sheet metal to make a frame for the machine, and hide the electrics safely away.

For a motor/gearbox try a (decent) model shop, or an electronics parts supplier like Maplin/RS. electronics parts supplier usually have an asortment of switches you could find useful, as well as the other electrical components you are likely to need to complete your project.

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