@shortbus questions have no relation with the problem that is Controlled linear motion with 3 position stages, 10% tolerance is acceptable, speed is important, ~20ms would be great, force of ~5N

OK I got it. Like so many that come here you want help but are unwilling to give the group the tools needed to help you. This after all is All About Circuits, not Look Into A Chrystal Ball.

You want and need to stop and think about how a solenoid atually works. Small is harder that you think. In the electric solenoid or actuator world things of the size you want don't exist. You have to accept some things in life and the physics of electromagnetism is one of them.

I asked about some things that are how changes and improvements are made in engineering and it has insulted you, I guess. Well good luck going anywhere and getting help when you can't or won't state the problems up front.

I won't waste any more of your time or mine.

 

OK I got it. Like so many that come here you want help but are unwilling to give the group the tools needed to help you. This after all is All About Circuits, not Look Into A Chrystal Ball.

You want and need to stop and think about how a solenoid atually works. Small is harder that you think. In the electric solenoid or actuator world things of the size you want don't exist. You have to accept some things in life and the physics of electromagnetism is one of them.

I asked about some things that are how changes and improvements are made in engineering and it has insulted you, I guess. Well good luck going anywhere and getting help when you can't or won't state the problems up front.

I won't waste any more of your time or mine.

Sorry @shortbus if you got upset

One of the most critical things is going to be the size constraints and whether the needles move in unison or not. This greatly rules out lots of different kinds of actuators. Does the needle need the full force over the entire travel length? Only at the end? Does the needle always fully retract? Do the needles move in unison? Can they be grouped? Does each one move completely independently and programmably? Are these configured at the start of the run of product or are they changed dynamically? How quickly must the mode of operation change? Is position feedback required? Do you need to control the velocity and acceleration profile? Does it need damping? Is the 20ms one way, or in and out?

answering this questions:

1. Does this idea do away with the cam box on the carriage?
2. Or are you just wanting to have a way to drop out individual needles, for a pattern?
3. Are you going to make needles of your own design or use an existing type of needle?
4. If an existing needle what brand/type?

would clarify anything you wrote in your comment? I don't think so... I would be more than happy to answer your questions above that make sense to solve the problem and I really appreciate all the help I'm getting here

 

You are asking for help. Which implies there are some issues that you don’t know about. As many before you have done, comments and questions you don’t understand seem (to you) to be irrelevant and a waste of time.

But by coming here, you admit that there is something you don’t know. Something that you don’t understand. In that case, insulting someone trying to help you learn or understand doesn’t seem like a productive strategy. Maybe, just maybe, their questions will eventually address your concerns. But you have to be willing to listen.

 

OK I got it. Like so many that come here you want help but are unwilling to give the group the tools needed to help you. This after all is All About Circuits, not Look Into A Chrystal Ball.

You want and need to stop and think about how a solenoid atually works. Small is harder that you think. In the electric solenoid or actuator world things of the size you want don't exist. You have to accept some things in life and the physics of electromagnetism is one of them.

I asked about some things that are how changes and improvements are made in engineering and it has insulted you, I guess. Well good luck going anywhere and getting help when you can't or won't state the problems up front.

I won't waste any more of your time or mine.

@shortbus I'm sorry if you got upset, thanks for the contributions you've made so far I just think it's important in a discussion to have an opinion and speak openly, and that's what I did

 

You are asking for help. Which implies there are some issues that you don’t know about. As many before you have done, comments and questions you don’t understand seem (to you) to be irrelevant and a waste of time.

But by coming here, you admit that there is something you don’t know. Something that you don’t understand. In that case, insulting someone trying to help you learn or understand doesn’t seem like a productive strategy. Maybe, just maybe, their questions will eventually address your concerns. But you have to be willing to listen.

@djsfantasi first and foremost, I did not disrespect, I was definitely listening, I don't think I offended anyone by saying that those questions were not relevant and I think this is the main point of a forum, listening and saying your opinion...
Saying my opinion is not disrespectful, I was more trying to change the conversation because these question do not influence the final solution or will make anyone understand the problem better... during the whole conversation I was trying to go with as much details as possible, but please, look the questions, do you think is important to discuss the brand/type for example?

 

Sorry @shortbus if you got upset


answering this questions:

1. Does this idea do away with the cam box on the carriage?
2. Or are you just wanting to have a way to drop out individual needles, for a pattern?
3. Are you going to make needles of your own design or use an existing type of needle?
4. If an existing needle what brand/type?

would clarify anything you wrote in your comment? I don't think so... I would be more than happy to answer your questions above that make sense to solve the problem and I really appreciate all the help I'm getting here

I want to do "X" and want you to help. But I won't answer any of the questions you ask. Because it doesn't have in my mind any influence on my problem. So far I haven't been able to solve my problem, maybe it's because; 1. I want to make money from it, 2. I have looked at it for so long by myself that I only see what I perceive as the problem, not the solutions some one else could give. Some one else that is seeing it with new eyes and no preconceived thinking.

Just for example take my question #4. If your working with an existing needle design, which there are a couple(you have to see that, don't you?) it may have a different approach to the problem depending on the one your going to use.

Or my question #1. If you are still using the cam box for some of the actual knitting it may mean you only need one distance of movement, not the 3 you think are needed.

I wasn't asking to be nosy or to undermine your idea. But over my years of working in the industry of making both things and machine to make things, the engineers that don't share what they're trying to accomplish or do usually don't get very far.

 

I am trying to be generally helpful as far as how to use a forum. You say...

@djsfantasi first and foremost, I did not disrespect, I was definitely listening, I don't think I offended anyone by saying that those questions were not relevant and I think this is the main point of a forum, listening and saying your opinion...
Saying my opinion is not disrespectful, I was more trying to change the conversation because these question do not influence the final solution or will make anyone understand the problem better...

Or as shortbus paraphrased..

Because it doesn't have in my mind any influence on my problem

I explicitly stated that because in your mind, if a question doesn’t have any influence on the problem, that does not imply that in reality there is a related influence to the problem.

An engineer must be open to all external parameters, else his design may fail. You can decide how to react.

Good luck.

 

I explicitly stated that because in your mind, if a question doesn’t have any influence on the problem, that does not imply that in reality there is a related influence to the problem.

Exactly. When looking into this type of machine I found that each maker uses their own design needles and the don't interchange. Then you get into the different models for each brand and even in most of them they don't inter change.

Should have seen this coming when he wanted to move a *pen* then showed a bunch of latch needles(which I recognized because one of my great grandmas made hooked rugs) and then it took a while before he admitted it was for a V-bed knitter. When you have to pull teeth from a poster you can pretty much wait for a few pages of posts before getting into it.

 

@maurodelazeri Don't know if any of these would be of help to you, but they are some of the smallest actuators out there, didn't look for a price but smaller usually means more expensive.
http://www.nanoactuators.com/nano-actuator.php