Scott S. ( B9-0058 )

Ear Posts & Crowns

I decided to put together a scrapbook of pictures and descriptions of the various parts and designs I have created in hopes that this will be of value to someone on how (or how not to) go about making and designing, assembling, and making parts.  I will be adding to this section as time permits.

This is a picture of my first initial ear design. This one was pretty bad and I did not persue it.

This is my second ear design which utilized a flexible drive mechanism. The flexible shaft was inserted into the mold and the ear was cast in one piece around the driveshaft sleeve.  This design became slightly jerky over time as the flexible shaft began to work harden (very slight, but I was not happy with it).  Also this required an external drive motor to be mounted within the radar section which was not preferable.  The shape of the ear was greatly improved over the original design.

Another shot of the completed flexible drive ear.

This design started off with a new ear shape and replaced the flexible shaft drive with a gear drive.  This method cured the jerky motion, but still required an external motor and used up valuable radar section space. This design would have been a kit where you install the gear train and bushings and glue the halves together.  Unfortunately this design was cut short when my briefcase was stolen with my ear inside.

This is my final ear design which is solid resin.  These can be used as-is or motorized using a tiny gearhead motor that fit into the vertical portion of the ear.  This is my preferred method since its simple, self-contained, reliable, and has a smooth rotation.

This is a picture of the gearhead motor I used inside my ear.  Its 7mm in diameter (about a 1Ú4").

This is the aluminum spinner I made after it has been polished to a mirrored finish with a buffing wheel.



This is the tool I made up to bend the flaps of the spinner upwards.  By shipping the spinners flat it allows you to adjust the bend angle so it will fit into the height of your bubble perfectly.  I have about 1/16" of space between the top of the spinner and the bubble.  It's two pieces of steel bolted together with a  piece of formica between them to match the thickness of the spinner.  Also notice the masking tape on the edges to prevent marring the polished surface.

Spinner tool being used to bend flaps.

This is a side view of my neck.  It is made from 1-1/2" PVC electrical conduit and has the PVC neck flange welded onto the pipe.  The flare at the end of the pipe was perfect to house the motor used to rotate the spinner and move the light antennas.

Top view of the neck assembly with holes drilled for mounting the motor. Also notice the counterbore about 5/16" form the edge of the flange - this was to accommodate the curved bottom plate.

Top view of the neck assembly with motor installed.