Product category:
Ballscrews, Linear Guides, Jacks, Dampers
News Release from: HepcoMotion | Subject: GV3 linear guidance system
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 30 March 2001
Slide used on rig investigating football
impacts
A special football shooting machine at UMIST has significant medical and commercial potential and one of its key elements is Hepco's GV3 linear guidance system
Impact engineering is a field of research in which UMIST - The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology - already has an established international reputation So it is entirely appropriate that a new undergraduate project to create a football shooting machine should be staged here
Far from being a frivolity, this rig has significant medical and commercial potential and one of its key elements is Hepco's GV3 linear guidance system.
The rig, which resembles a large crossbow, was conceived as a means of identifying the forces to which a footballer is exposed when he heads the ball.
The focus of this work at UMIST will be to compare the forces resulting from the impact of old-fashioned, wet, leather footballs with those of modern synthetic balls.
Although the severity of single blows to the head can be assessed using both the Gadd Severity Index and the Head Injury Criterion, there is no equivalent for multiple impact.
However, thanks to recent work by UMIST, this situation is set to change.
The main elements of the football shooting machine are a striker, the Hepco guidance system, a stopper, a winch and bungee ropes.
The striker is a mass which is launched at the football to mimic a foot kicking the ball.
It is connected to both a bungee rope and a winch via a quick-release mechanism.
To prime the machine for action, the striker is mounted onto the carriage plate which is pulled along the Hepco slide by the winch so that the bungee is extended.
The release mechanism to the winch is then disconnected, allowing the bungee to pull the striker back down the track to strike the ball.
After 'kicking' the ball, the striker continues to travel until it is arrested by the stopper.
Two laser beams are used to record the velocity of the ball and a piezoelectric load cell to measure the impact forces.
The principal requirement of chosen linear guidance system was to ensure the striker moved freely in a linear direction without any impediment.
"Low friction, low wear, a high degree of slide parallelism and minimum bearing clearance were the characteristics which drew us to Hepco's GV3 system," explains Mechanical Engineering Lecturer, Dr.John Harrigan.
"Hepco's 'V' bearings maintain the smooth sliding motion on the track which is so important in this application.
Simplicity of installation was also a benefit." So far, the research findings from this project have been purely academic, but work is set to continue during the next year to refine the machine.
The potential to measure the physical effect on the player of repeatedly heading the ball will certainly benefit amateur and professional footballers alike.
Allegedly, more than thirty amateur footballers have lost their lives through the repeated heading of sodden footballs.
It is also thought to be responsible for even more cases of brain damage leading to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
In the absence of any quantitative data however this is a theory that currently can neither be confirmed or rejected.
There is also a clear commercial potential for this football shooting machine as a design tool for football manufacturers in their quest to create a product that enhances the spectacle of the game whilst minimising player risk. Request a free brochure from HepcoMotion ...
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