This EXO sub-project was to build a machine that fit inside Clean Room 1 that could pick up the copper vessel off its transport cart, align it with the inner cryostat vessel and insert it, allowing us to make the bolted joint of the inner cryostat flange.

The machine needed to have multiple translational and rotational degrees of freedom because space is so tight inside the clean room. The weight of the machine plus whatever it is holding hangs from the Royce crane bridge, which also operates as one of the translations. One yaw axis and roll are done by large turret bearings. A secondary yaw is accomplished by extending or retracting the arms that support the cryovessel. A screw jack does vertical translation. A horizontal manual lead screw does sideways translation. Pitch is another screw adjustment in the bottom support arm.

Once the machine has installed the inner vessel, its final job is to install the outer cryostat flange. The Installation machine was used at WIPP on 1/13/10 to install the TPC inner vessel into the EXO cryostat.

Click on any of the thumbnails to get an enlarged view. You are welcome to download any of the images. If they are used for other than private viewing, credit to the EXO collaboration and Bartoszek Engineering would be appreciated.

This rendering from the solid model shows the installation machine picking up the cold flange and inner vessel weldment off the transport cart.

The sequence of pictures shows how the flange and vessel are lifted, rotated and inserted into the cryostat in Clean Room 1. The last picture shows the cold flange bolted up against the inner cryostat and the installation machine disconnected and backed up. Once its last job of warm flange assembly is done it is disassembled and removed from the clean room.

Assembling the Installation Machine for testing at Stanford

This picture shows the frame upside down that has the horizontal travel and the major yaw axis bearing.

The black frame is a fixed stand-in for the Royce crane in Clean room 1. This test will hang from the black frame to do the required load test of the installation machine.

This is the vertical frame with its THK rails for vertical motion and the roll bearing.

The circular plate supports the three arms that hold up the cryovessel.

The top frame is mounted from the arms that will attach it to the Royce.

The vertical frame is now hung from the yaw bearing on the top frame.

A few pictures of the machine fully assembled prior to testing.

The machine was tested by having it support a plate that was heavier than either the cold flange plus the inner cryovessel or the warm cryostat flange.

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