Design and Production of a Pneumatic Bench Vice for Laboratory/workshop Use

This project focuses on the design and production of a pneumatic bench vice intended for laboratory and workshop use. Traditional manual bench vices in the laboratory/workshop often present challenges, which include; time-consuming operations, friction issues, operator fatigue etc. To address these limitations, a pneumatic system was integrated into the bench vice design, resulting in a different shape altogether compared to the traditional manual bench vice, providing faster operation, secured clamping or workpieces, cutback on operational downtime, and a significant reduction in operational fatigue. With the volume of air needed per second gotten to be 0.04899cm3/cycle, delivered by a compressed air supply of volume: 47689.11cm3 a clamping force of up to 451.72 N was attained, which can securely clamp non-delicate work pieces commonly found in the laboratory/workshop. The device can operate for 8-10 number of cycles before the air in the air cylinder is completely depleted, and occupies an area of 575mm×280mm and the overall cost of producing the pneumatic bench vice amounted to NGN 368,500 Naira.This system ensures consistent performance, improving productivity and safety. The project involved key stages such as; CAD modeling for the conceptual design, material selection, integration of pneumatic components, and performance testing. Despite challenges like material unavailability and financial constraints, the project successfully demonstrated the feasibility and advantages of pneumatic systems in practical applications. Further work could be done to regulate the speed of clamping, so the pneumatic bench vice can securely clamp delicate materials without damaging it. These include; use of flow control valves to adjust airflow, air cushions to slow down the piston movement, etc. The resulting pneumatic bench vice is an effective solution for enhancing clamping efficiency and operator comfort in workshop and laboratory environments.