One half of this unit is preloaded with a press tool of mass 6200kg. It drives alongside the press table so that its vacant half is in line with the press tool currently in the press and then removes it. The die truck then indexes and pushes the new tool into position on the press table. A die change now takes 3 minutes to complete. Die change truck designed and detailed in Autocad.

The quick hitch connector enables operators of excavators to change buckets in minutes via a secure method of hydraulic latching. Graphican modelled a generic design for the client and fully parameterised the model and then developed a system of custom equations to drive the model from 6 initial parameters (such as bucket pin size, pin centre distance etc.) This enables the model to be rebuilt, along with complete assembly and detail drawings whenever a new quick hitch is requested that has not been previously built.

Modelled in Solidworks98.

This machine is capable of assembling either manual or power, LH or RH variants of automotive mirrors in 22 seperate steps. Even though a large amount of automation was packaged into a very small space accessability and maintainability were paramount considerations.

Designed and detailed in Autocad.

This unit is the tertiary crusher in a concrete recycling operation located at Adelaide's municipal tip. The operation produces aggregate for sale from waste concrete and building rubble dumped at the tip. The unit is skid mounted for easy relocation. It features a Symons 4' cone crusher powered by a 110kW electric motor. Designed for maximum clearance under the tail drum to facilitate removal of spilt product. Crusher was solids modelled in 3D using Solidworks97 and then detailed in Autocad, the clients desired file format.

This unit utilises a fan and bag filters to remove very fine suspended dust from a clinker storage shed. By keeping the shed under negative pressure then no dust can escape when the access doors are opened. Drawings prepared with Autocad.

A finite element analysis was performed on this hose winding bracket to predict stress levels in the part in service. The geometry was then optimised within certain geometric constraints to ensure maximum life from the casting in service.

Modelled in Solidworks98. Analysis performed in CADSI Designworks98.

This example is of a plastic frame for an automotive exterior mirror. Graphican has CAD operators who are highly skilled in a variety of 3D modelling systems such as Computervisions CADDS5, Dassault's Catia, Unigraphics, Caddsman and Solidworks.

In this design Graphican located all the necessary plant items, designed and detailed all the necessary piping, ducting, chutes, stairs, platforms and supporting structure.

This mobile plant is used for crushing limestone in a quarry. It features a Kumbee hammer mill powered by a six cylinder Perkins diesel engine. Photo shows plant being fabricated in clients workshop.

Designed and detailed in 2D in Autocad.

This jig is for manual bending of automotive power steering tubes. It performs three bends all in non-coincident planes. Originally estimated as three separate operations Graphican's tube manipulation experience allowed the client to perform all bends in one tool. This is achieved by having 2 of the bending stations on floating sub-bases. Photo shows jig after 4 years use. The operator says it is an easy jig to use as it is well laid out and the bending effort is low.

Jig designed and modelled in 3D and then detailed in Caddsman Modeller.

This multi-stage press tool performs a coining operation and then blanks out the part.

Press tool designed and detailed in 2D in Caddsman Modeller.

These sails were modelled using NURBS surfaces then rendered to enable the client to viualise how the installed sails would look on the building and also to study the shading effect at different times of the day.

Modelled and rendered in 3D in Rhinoceros.

Reverse engineering is the science of producing replacement parts from samples. Graphican has experience in reverse engineering a huge array of spares in mining, quarrying, minerals processing, heavy engineering and power generation industries. Some examples of reverse engineering performed here by Graphican personnel include: