Case Study: Trailer Coupling

Design Brief

The objective of this case study is to determine the most suitable trailer coupling.

This coupling is required to transfer forces from a family of agricultural tractors to

a set of farming attachments. All the specifications of the concepts fulfil the

design constraints.

Department of Industrial and

Manufacturing Engineering University of

Malta

The selection of module interface required to attach a farmingtractors to a number of different modules

Case Study - Trailer Coupling24 November 2012

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Catalogue

Department of Industrial and

Manufacturing Engineering University of

Malta

Name: Trailer coupling A

Description: Ball coupling

Number of parts: 1 Degrees of Freedom: 3

Horizontal Load (kg): 2722 Vertical Load (kg): 270

Cost per coupling (Euros): 73.95 Material: Stainless Steel

Comments:

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Name: Trailer coupling B

Description: Pintle and Hook

Number of parts: 2 Degrees of Freedom: 2

Horizontal Load (kg): 4536 Vertical Load (kg): 907

Cost per coupling (Euros): 138.9 Material: Cast Iron

Comments:

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Name: Trailer coupling C

Description: Hook and Loop

Number of parts: 1 Degrees of Freedom: 2

Horizontal Load (kg): 342 Vertical Load (kg): 3628

Cost per coupling (Euros): 45 Material: Steel

Comments:

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Name: Trailer coupling D

Description: Quick coupling

Number of parts: 3 Degrees of Freedom: 3

Horizontal Load (kg): 316 Vertical Load (kg): 3500

Cost per coupling (Euros): 274 Material: Galvanized Steel

Comments:

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Name: Trailer coupling E

Description: Pin Coupling

Number of parts: 2 Degrees of Freedom: 2

Horizontal Load (kg): 650 Vertical Load (kg): 6156

Cost per coupling (Euros): 409.2 Material: Steel

Comments:

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Name: Trailer coupling F

Description: Pin coupling (2)

Number of parts: 2 Degrees of Freedom: 2

Horizontal Load (kg): 270 Vertical Load (kg): 2722

Cost per coupling (Euros): 81.94 Material: Steel

Comments:

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Meeting Notes

Department of Industrial and

Manufacturing Engineering University of

Malta

Very complex 3 Dimensional form

Numerous parts

Trailer Coupling A24 November 201208:31

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to be assembled

Numerous components need to be assembled

Trailer Coupling B19 November 201220:09

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Needs welding

Known issues with the thickness of the rectangular tube

Trailer Coupling C19 November 201220:14

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Known issues with shear failure of this pin

Trailer Coupling D19 November 201220:16

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We do not have the capability of manufacturing all the componentsMost of the components MUST be bought.

Some hooks could not fit in this gap size, because it was too small

Challenging to manufacture

Trailer Coupling E19 November 201220:18

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2 Welded joints

Overall concept very easy to manufacture

Trailer Coupling F19 November 201220:21

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Based on past experience the thin section shears easily

People

Department of Industrial and

Manufacturing Engineering University of

Malta

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