Fire extinguisher mount for vehicles : Adapted for mining conditions and emergencies

Sammanfattning: This report revolves around a project for Boliden which is a thesis work for a master in engineering within industrial design engineering. This project had a primary focus of developing a new mount for fire extinguishers that will be suspended on vehicles in Boliden's mines. The foundation of the project was an accident in Boliden's mine Aitik where a fire extinguisher exploded due to damages caused by the vehicle mount in combination with vibrations. The objective of the project is to identify the main problem with the vehicle mounts used today in Boliden's mines and solve it. The process used in this project is a fairly standard process that is separated into four phases; Context immersion, Ideation, Conceptual design and Final design. The last two stages focused on prototyping and testing to finalize the design, whereas the beginning of the process was trying to get a grasp of the problem. This included understanding the unique environment of the mines as well as getting to the bottom of the problem with the vehicle mount. Interviews and observations were conducted during a visit to Boliden's mine, Renström, in Skellefteå to investigate the problem. The conclusions from the Context immersion was that the main problem with the vehicle mounts was that they were not adapted for the mining conditions at all. A large number of vibrations and a lack of vibration damping for the mount was the leading cause for the damages on the fire extinguisher. This caused the vehicle mount to fail and in the process also damage the fire extinguisher. The solution to this problem turned out to be a more robust product using a stronger material with higher damping to suspend the fire extinguisher. This made the vehicle mount cope with the vibrations in a better way. A quick release mechanism was also implemented that assists with the vibration durability as well as make the fire extinguisher easy and fast to release. The fast release, as well as the ease of use, makes the vehicle mount adapted for emergencies as well.  The durability and the use of the new vehicle mount were reassured by a vibration analysis made in NX 12, as well as a short usability test.