MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN, ART AND

TECHNOLOGY
Department Of Mechanical Engineering.
DATE: 26th.September. 2016.
TO: Dr. Okure Mackay,
FROM: Wokorach Gabriel 14/U/15958/PSA, Ssozi Anthony 14/U/1192 and Egwell
Gabriel Oligo 14/U/6191/PS
SUBJECT: MEC 3105 Project #1.
Dr. Okure Mackay,
The purpose of this memo is to present to you the basic results of the project assignment one.
You assigned us in groups of two or three (no more no less) to identify, isolate, and describe an
engineering system i.e. mechanical system with inertia, spring and damping characteristics of
which we chose a retractable umbrella system as our system of interest whereby we were
required to build a functional model of it and apply the principles of modeling to derive a
mathematical representation of it..
The solution includes sketches of the dynamic system and the free body diagram, calculation of
the degree of freedom, card board model of the system and the mathematical model of the
system.
The mathematical model development, the description and the demonstration identifies the major
input and output variables as well as the role of the spring and the damping elements
If you any questions on our work, please contact us.
Yours sincerely.
Your students.
gabrielwokorach@cedat.mak.ac.ug
gegwell@cedat.mak.ac.ug
ssoziantonio.km@gmail.com

PROJECT #1
REPORT ON THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF MODELING TO A
RETRACTABLE UMBRELLA SYSTEM.

OBJECTIVES;

 To be able to identify, isolate, describe, build and model a retractable umbrella system.
 To apply the principles of modeling to derive a mathematical model representing the
system.

APPARARUS USED IN THE MODELLING OF THE DYNAMIC SYSTEM.

 Pieces of wood.
 Nails for joining the pieces of wood.
 Card boards.
 Small cut piece of box
 Plastics for links

OPERATION OF A RETRACTABLE UMBRELLA SYSTEM

When a retractable umbrella opens, two things happen mechanically;
1. It extends vertically away from the handle and
2. The eight arms expand outward to stretch the polyester cloth and protect the user from
weather elements.
The exact opposite happens when closing the umbrella.
OPENING THE UMBRELLA
The rider moves upward, causing angle α to decrease, which in turn causes the four- bar linkage
ABCD (fig.3) to collapse. The decrease in angle α coupled with the collapse in the four- bar
linkage simultaneously straightens and extends the arm outwards.
The combined effort of all the arms extending radially outward from the telescoping rod causes
the umbrella to open.
It is important to note that depending on the manufacturer, different umbrellas have slight
variations in the design of the arm mechanism.

PROJECT #1
CLOSING THE UMBRELLA
When closing up, the user needs to push in the flat side- up rider latch to free the rider from
being secured. Then the user pulls the rider towards the handle. This will require force since the
user is going against the compressive force of the spring. As the umbrella moves down the three/
two rods of the telescoping mechanism, it engages with the curved side of the flat side- down
rider latches. This pushes the flat side down rider latches inwards and frees the rods of the
telescoping mechanism. This allows the umbrella to be retracted. When the rider moves down
into the handle, it locks with protrusion A and remains there in that closed state. On the other
hand, the umbrella arm mechanism does the same thing as it does when opening the umbrella
except in this case it’s in the reverse

DIAGRAM OF THE RETRACTABLE UMBRELLA SYSTEM.

Figure 1. 3D VIEW OD THE SYSTEM

PROJECT #1
 Figure 2 2D VIEW SHOWING INNER DETAILS Figure 3 SHOWING THE CARD BOARD MODEL.

KINEMATIC DIAGRAM.

x1 x2
k
fa
m1 m2
b1 b2

FREE BODY DIAGRAMS.

m1 ẍ 1 x1 x2 m2 ẍ 2

m1 m2
fa
k (x2 −x1 ) k (x2 −x1 )

b 1 ẋ 1 b 2 ẋ 2

Inputs: fa
Outputs:x1and x2
Applying the D’Alembert’s law

PROJECT #1
∑ F=0
all

For Mass m1 ;
−f a−k ( x 1−x 2 ) +m1 ẍ1 +b 1 ẋ 1=0

m1 ẍ 1 +b1 ẋ 1−k ( x 2−x 1 )=f a (i)

For Mass m2 ;
m2 ẍ 2 +b 2 ẋ 2+ k ( x 2−x 1) =0 (ii)

From Equation (ii),

m2 b2
x 1= ẍ 2 + ẋ 2 + x 2 (iii)
k k
m2 b2
ẋ 1= x⃛2 + ẍ 2 + ẋ 2
k k
m2 b2
ẍ 1= x⃛2 + ⃛x 2 + ẍ 2
k k

Substituting (iii) into (i)

m1 ( m2
k ) (
b2
x⃛2 + ⃛x 2 + ẍ 2 +b 1
k ) (
m2
k
b2
k
m2
k ) b2
x⃛ 2 + ẍ 2+ ẋ2 −k x 2− ẍ 2− ẋ2− x2 =f a
k

⃛x + ( ) ⃛x +( m +m +
k )
m m
1 2m b m b 1 2 bb
2 2 1 2
+
2 ẍ + ( b + b ) ẋ + k x =f
2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 a
k k k

PROJECT #1