Top Hatch Help Request

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Re: Top Hatch Help Request

Postby Aguyfromohio » Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:11 am

WolfeDen wrote:The hatch is 25x40 inches, with the long side front to rear. The roof is comprised of 3/8 ply, 1.5 inch foam and 1/8 ply. The hole in the roof is lined with 1x4 that extends up from the roof. After PMF, water will have to travel up and through weather stripping on the top of the 1x4 to penetrate. The hatch has a 1x2 perimeter that over laps the 1x4. I was hoping the struts would attach to the 1x4 and then the hatch. When closed th struts would be near horizontal and near vertical when opened. Attached is a (admittedly crappy) pic showing the 1x4 a d the hatch lifted from one end.

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Aren't mechanisms fascinating? I have found in my design work that most any simple mechanism has been completely explored over the last two hundred years, and it's best to find what has already been proven to work. I've spent endless frustrating hours trying to create an altogether new and clever mechanisms, only to finally accept there was just two or three workable solutions, already well known.

If I understand your goal correctly, you would like the middle region of the roof to raise straight up, all four corners moving up together, hatch always horizontal. A quick google for "table lift mechanism" finds just two well known solutions -scissors jacks and panto-graphs. Here are commercial table lifts, one of each type.

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The pantograph style (bottom photo)moves the table both horizontally and vertically. Notice it only has pin connections that rotate. Probably won't work for you, those hinge pins cause the arms to travel a circular arc causing the hatch to end up offset from the opening.

So there's two known solutions and one won't work. Looks like a scissors mechanism may be best for you.

A scissors mechanism like the top photo can have a sliding connection at any corner or all corners. In the top photo the bottom ends of the scissor bars nearest to the cart handle slide along tracks. The other three ends are pinned. Pretty common mechanism for folding chairs or table lifts or scissors lifts. You could do something similar. One end of the scissors could slide along a track and your gas spring could be truly horizontal. Or just forget the gas spring, put a cross bar between the two sliding ends, and hold it in your hand and slide it over. Of course by the time you work out all the details you will have a dozen or more piece parts and a few puzzles to solve for all the dimensions to fit. Should be fun, best of luck, love to see what you come up with.
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