Post by Rob Albritton on May 18, 2021 11:05:47 GMT -5
Yes, believe it or not, we actually experiment with new ideas before they enter the product stage.
This place will allow us to let you peek behind the curtain to see what we are up to - how we think about issues, and contribut your own feedback.
From time to time, we may even Beta test some ideas with our customers. What does this mean? Well, we may produce a few parts or items and send them to you to gauge your interest, get feedback on how well it works, or help us decide if something should go into production.
Normally these will be minor changes, improvements, or additions to our existing products, but occasionally it may be an entire product concept.
So let's start with a live example: THE SOLID COUPLER.
We have been working with couplers for so long I can hardly keep them all straight. I think we have 3 or 4 generations of tooling for our AZL coupler, but we have also made drawbars for our F units, unique body mount couplers for our RDC and P42 units, as well as dummy (solid) couplers for the installable pilots on many of our locomotives.
Recently, it came to our attention that we needed more snap in draw bars for our F unit locomotives. Those have been ordered and are currently on their way to Ztrack for distribution. But it did spark some other thoughts.
I have personally used draw bars for my Swiss layout for years. I mainly run unit trains, and it really helps with performance and uncoupling quality escapes because THEY CAN'T UNCOUPLE. With our new Name Train trains (California Zephyr and Super Chief) we moved the AZL AutoLatch(sm) couplers in tighter, so the trains would have a more seamless look. But it also struck me that simply draw baring the train together would be a good idea. I never change the order of the cars, and have sidings to park them on. I also use an inexpensive air rifle case filled with foam to transport them, so I never really have to take it apart.
These draw bars were produced on our in-house FormLabs 3D SLA printers. They are resin based, and have a resolution of 25 microns on all 3 axis (That's 0.025mm or 0.001 inches for you guys keeping track at home) we use a variety of resins with various properties depending on the application, but our favorites are the FormLabs Black resin, and Rigid 4000 resin.
To install the draw bar, simply take the coupler box apart, remove the "guts", replace with the draw bar, and put the top back on.
Now I know some folks don't want their train permanently attached like that. First it is a little freaky moving it from the case to the track (I just pick it up by one end and carefully move it like a string of pearls) so maybe there was another solution. What if I made some solid couplers that would have enough friction to not uncouple, but just enough room that you could take it apart with some tweezers? Now that's an interesting idea! Maybe the best of both worlds?
So what I have to show you is the SOLID COUPLER. It replaces the two parts inside the coupler box with a single, thicker knuckle. That knuckle is thick enough to stay connected unless you use some tools to separate it. It also has the springs at the back, so it will allow some rotation in the coupler box, and has ZERO SLACK, so I could move the cars even closer together without worry of banging and crashing. In addition, they are the same basic shape as our AZL AutoLatch coupler and so they are completely compatible with AZL, MTL and Bowser.
Two pictures are below of the solid coupler. Note the current resin being used is black. The picture of the two Super Chief cars (one with standard included AZL AutoLatch couplers and the lower with the Solid Coupler installed) was made with a Grey Resin that I abandoned because it did not have enough rigidity under repeated strain to hold it's shape.
Speaking of which, I did some strain testing and got the following results:
Terminal failure is at 1 pound.
Cycle strain from zero to 0.6 pounds failed after 35 cycles.
Cycle strain from zero to 0.3 pounds did not deform or fail after 200 cycles.
Your input on this AZL Labs concept is very welcome.
This place will allow us to let you peek behind the curtain to see what we are up to - how we think about issues, and contribut your own feedback.
From time to time, we may even Beta test some ideas with our customers. What does this mean? Well, we may produce a few parts or items and send them to you to gauge your interest, get feedback on how well it works, or help us decide if something should go into production.
Normally these will be minor changes, improvements, or additions to our existing products, but occasionally it may be an entire product concept.
So let's start with a live example: THE SOLID COUPLER.
We have been working with couplers for so long I can hardly keep them all straight. I think we have 3 or 4 generations of tooling for our AZL coupler, but we have also made drawbars for our F units, unique body mount couplers for our RDC and P42 units, as well as dummy (solid) couplers for the installable pilots on many of our locomotives.
Recently, it came to our attention that we needed more snap in draw bars for our F unit locomotives. Those have been ordered and are currently on their way to Ztrack for distribution. But it did spark some other thoughts.
I have personally used draw bars for my Swiss layout for years. I mainly run unit trains, and it really helps with performance and uncoupling quality escapes because THEY CAN'T UNCOUPLE. With our new Name Train trains (California Zephyr and Super Chief) we moved the AZL AutoLatch(sm) couplers in tighter, so the trains would have a more seamless look. But it also struck me that simply draw baring the train together would be a good idea. I never change the order of the cars, and have sidings to park them on. I also use an inexpensive air rifle case filled with foam to transport them, so I never really have to take it apart.
These draw bars were produced on our in-house FormLabs 3D SLA printers. They are resin based, and have a resolution of 25 microns on all 3 axis (That's 0.025mm or 0.001 inches for you guys keeping track at home) we use a variety of resins with various properties depending on the application, but our favorites are the FormLabs Black resin, and Rigid 4000 resin.
To install the draw bar, simply take the coupler box apart, remove the "guts", replace with the draw bar, and put the top back on.
Now I know some folks don't want their train permanently attached like that. First it is a little freaky moving it from the case to the track (I just pick it up by one end and carefully move it like a string of pearls) so maybe there was another solution. What if I made some solid couplers that would have enough friction to not uncouple, but just enough room that you could take it apart with some tweezers? Now that's an interesting idea! Maybe the best of both worlds?
So what I have to show you is the SOLID COUPLER. It replaces the two parts inside the coupler box with a single, thicker knuckle. That knuckle is thick enough to stay connected unless you use some tools to separate it. It also has the springs at the back, so it will allow some rotation in the coupler box, and has ZERO SLACK, so I could move the cars even closer together without worry of banging and crashing. In addition, they are the same basic shape as our AZL AutoLatch coupler and so they are completely compatible with AZL, MTL and Bowser.
Two pictures are below of the solid coupler. Note the current resin being used is black. The picture of the two Super Chief cars (one with standard included AZL AutoLatch couplers and the lower with the Solid Coupler installed) was made with a Grey Resin that I abandoned because it did not have enough rigidity under repeated strain to hold it's shape.
Speaking of which, I did some strain testing and got the following results:
Terminal failure is at 1 pound.
Cycle strain from zero to 0.6 pounds failed after 35 cycles.
Cycle strain from zero to 0.3 pounds did not deform or fail after 200 cycles.
Your input on this AZL Labs concept is very welcome.
, we can't really even 'Switch' 2 cars together as the coupler has to much tension to open. So might as well be solid. But not that fuzzy one in the photo (that's not 15u).
