Thread: TCT advice/ideas needed

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I built my TCT using various web sites and youtube videos, but ran into a snag, since I deviated from the norm. I'm looking for advice on opening and closing the lid.

I would let the mask do the work via a bungee cord, but those darn ears are in the way. I've been batting my head trying to come up with a simple design to open/close the lid when the mask pops up.








Z

You don't have much room to work with but you could always use a small air cylinder to push the top up.

I let my prop head do the work in my JnB but I was using a cheap mask and your mask looks a lot more expensive.




Is there anyway you can screw a piece of metal to the back of the can and have it running behind your mask and have it to hit the top before the mask does.

Here's another thing you could do: It looks like you have a fairly substantial lid-to-can hinge mechanism. You could add a metal tab to the lid portion of the hinge and attach a double acting air cylinder to pull the tab down, which would raise the lid. Your mechanicals would be outside of the can to do this, unless you really Rube Goldberged it and ran a pulley/cable system to hide the cylinder inside the can.

I'm kinda thinking along the same lines as madmax. Screw an angle bracket to the can lid, then attach a rod/piece of aluminum angle behind the mask and attaach that to the bracket. The lid would raise first, out of the way of the mask/puppet.

Ron

I was thinking of a small cylinder maybe 3" (4" with clevis) centered vertically inside the can. Then attach that to an L bracket on the lid. Is there any way I could plumb that into the existing solenoid so I can avoid programming in another event??

I was thinking splitting A and B off the solenoid and controlling the flow/timing to the smaller cylinder with control valves.

Z

You should be able to put a tee or y fitting in the line from your solenoid to the prop and then run a air line to the port on both air cylinders.

The only problem and it really might not be a problem is on the exhaust and slowing down the reset.

One other thing you would have to worry about, the top shutting before your head fully resets and it hitting the head and doing damage.

You could put a flow control on the exhaust port of the air cylinder lowering the lid and this will slow it down.