08x07 - CO2 Cartridges/Pretzels/Scissor Lifts/Skating Rinks

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
today on "how it's made"...

Co2 cartridges...

...pretzels...

...scissor lifts...

...and skating rinks.

Sports like paintball are
a pressure release

In more ways than one.

Paintball g*ns contain
pressurized co2 cartridges,

And when the gas is released,

The force propels the ammunition
towards its target.

The cartridges are used also

For things like inflating
bike tires and life preservers,

As they target new uses for
these pressure-filled devices.

A co2 cartridge packs a lot
of punch into a little package.

This one can propel dozens
of shots.

To make one, they unroll some
steel and straighten it out.

Then, a punch press descends
with 110 tons of force,

Cutting the steel into disks.

Simultaneously,
a machine moves up from below

To shape the disks into cups.

The cups move down
a vibrating lane.

They're delivered to a series
of cylindrical punches,

Each one with a smaller diameter
than the last.

Each successive punch lengthens
and narrows the cups

As nozzles flush them
with lubricant.

The process is called redrawing,

And at the end of it, the cups
look more like test tubes.

In just a few minutes,
that piece of steel

Has undergone
several transformations.

To continue shaping the tubes,

They heat the ends by dropping
them through an induction coil.

Intense magnetic fields excite
the molecules in the metal,

Causing it to heat up sharply.

This machine is called a necker.

As it revolves,

It delivers the tubes
to a series of dies

That pinch their ends.

With each pinch, the ends get
progressively smaller.

This creates necks in the tubes.

As the diameter
of the neck narrows,

The tube takes the shape
of a bottle.

Now each cartridge goes
on a lathe.

A cutting tool plunge-cuts
the neck to shorten it.

Then it carves out a lip,

The same kind of lip
that's on any beverage bottle.

The cartridges now head through
a washing station,

Where soap and water get rid
of the oily lubricant.

A trip under some gas burners
dries them off,

And they head
to the filling station.

Here there's a tankful
of carbon dioxide.

The filling head pumps
liquid co2 into the cartridges

And then caps them.

Inside these cartridges,

The gaseous form of co2 is under
great pressure.

Releasing even just a little
through a g*n

Will be enough to propel things
like bbs, pellets,

And paintballs.

They do spot checks

To make sure the cartridges
are tightly sealed.

Now it's on to the next station,

Where they'll be made
to look shiny and new.

The cartridges are inside
this revolving drum,

Which delivers
an electrical charge,

Attracting zinc from the tank
to plate the cartridges.

The smooth zinc plating doesn't
just look good.

It's a better surface
to print information on.

At this rotary
silk-screening station,

The brand name
and cautionary information

Are printed onto the sides
of the cartridges.

A quick bake under an
ultraviolet light cures the ink.

And the co2 cartridges
are now ready

To demonstrate the power
of compression.

Narrator: how and when
the first pretzel came to be

Depends on whom you ask.

One story tells of a monk
baking rewards

For children who were pious.

Today's bakeries
still fold the dough

To resemble arms crossed
in prayer,

But they do it much faster,

Granting tasty wishes
to a lot more snackers.

Although hard pretzels
are more common,

This company makes the more
traditional soft-baked ones.

To make enough dough
for 4,870 pretzels,

A workers first blends
shortening, sugar, and salt

In a huge mixer.

The machine automatically
adds yeast...

Corn syrup...



And 760 pounds of flour.

The cold water helps
make the dough elastic

So workers can shape it
before it hardens.

A worker then opens the mixer
and slows the blades

To help the dough fall out.

He splits the batch on a table,
then creates chunks

That go into a tank
called a hopper.

It feeds an auger that
challenges the dough chunks

Through little guillotines.

The blades chop the chunks

Into 2 1/2 ounce ba*ls
to make small pretzels

Or 5 ounce ba*ls
for large pretzels.

Two conveyer belts squeeze them

Into 15 1/2 inch long segments
called noodles.

Another machine now grabs
the ends of each noodle

And twists the ends
over each other

To create the pretzel's
three signature holes.

To keep this knot
from unraveling,

The plate then gently flips
the pretzel dough

Onto another plate below.

That plate carefully flips
the doughy creations

Onto a 118-foot long
conveyer belt.

The raw pretzels now travel
on the conveyer for 14 minutes,

The time it takes
for the dough to rise.

Next, they move through showers
of liquid sodium hydroxide,

Heated to 180 degrees
fahrenheit.

That seals in the moisture

So the pretzel will be chewy
when you eat it.

They go into an oven that's
about the length of a city bus.

As they enter, flames sear
and harden the outside.

This prevents the bottoms

From sticking to the mesh
conveyer belt during baking.

After about 3 1/2 minutes
at 560 degrees fahrenheit,

The pretzels are piping hot
and golden brown.

They drop onto a long conveyer,

Where they gradually cool

On their way to the next step --
a trip through a freezer

That's longer than seven
olympic-size swimming pools.

After 30 minutes
at minus-28 degrees celsius,

The pretzels are rock solid
and ready for packaging,

But first, a camera scans them

So that a computer can track
each pretzel

And guide a robotic arm
to pick it up.

This arm is one
of five operating

At separate points on the line.

The robots process one pretzel
per second

And clean up after each other
until the belt is picked clean.

The pretzels then fall through
a sliding gate,

Landing on a conveyer that
whisks them off to the next
step.

There, a machine drops a packet
of coarse salt

Into each bin of six pretzels.

A mechanical arm nudges
the pretzels over

To make room for it.

The salt packet lets you season
your pretzel the traditional way

Before warming it up at home.

The machine blows open plastic
bags with compressed air.

Mechanical arms push the
pretzels and salt packet inside.

A robot arm then places each bag
into a cardboard box.

The printing on this package
displays the company logo,

The nutritional content,
the production date,

And the heating instructions.

So, next time you're looking
for a salty snack,

Don't tie yourself up in knots.

Just have a pretzel instead.

Narrator: a scissor lift is a
mobile work platform that rises.

The elevating mechanism consists
of arms

That connect in the middle
like scissors, hence the name.

Scissor lifts are common sight
on construction sites,

In big warehouses,

And at buildings where workers
need a safe way

To reach heights to carry out
repairs or maintenance.

The number of arms
in the scissor mechanism

Varies according to the height
of each particular model.

The factory constructs the
scissor arms from steel tubes.

The first step is to cut them

To the right length
for the model in production.

A worker uses an air g*n

To blow off tiny shards of metal
the cutting leaves behind.

The arms go into a press

That punches a hole for a hollow
steel cylinder called a boss.

The boss is the housing
for a pin

That will connect one arm
to the other,

Yet still allow them to pivot
like a pair of scissors.

Workers now use a magnetic crane

To move the arm
to the welding area.

They insert the boss
into the hole,

Then tack it in place.

This piece will go on the end
of each scissor arm,

But first, they weld
on another boss.

Now fully assembled, this piece
is called the male scissor end.

They tack it to one end
of the scissor arm

And tack a female scissor end
to the arm's other end.

Robots now weld the two
endpieces simultaneously,

Then the boss in the middle.

Now workers stack
the scissor arms,

Putting a pin
in each middle boss.

They also install
the hydraulic lift cylinder

That will raise
and lower the scissor stack.

This manifold activates
the lift cylinder

By increasing and decreasing
hydraulic pressure.

Workers fasten the connected
scissor ends to each other

By driving a pin
through the boss.

They secure it with a locking
mechanism called a cotter pin.

Meanwhile,
other workers assemble the base

Of the scissor lift.

At this stage, it's upside down.

At the rear, workers bolt in
a hydraulic wheel motor.

Hydraulic pressure
turns the motor,

Enabling the operator to move
the scissor lift forward

Or backward.

They slide a wheel onto the hub
and bolt it securely.

This is the wheel hub onto which
the front wheel bolts.

It attaches with
a pin locked by a cotter pin.

They install the hydraulic
steering cylinder.

This steel tie rod links
the front wheels to each other

So that they turn together.

Now workers hook up
the hydraulic hoses.

They pump a bit of grease in
to lubricate the cylinder.

Next, they assemble
and install the hydraulic tray.

It contains the electrical panel

That controls
all machine functions,

As well as the hydraulic tank
and pump.

The pump forces hydraulic fluid
to the wheel motor,

Steering cylinder,
and lift cylinder.

The hydraulic tray swings closed
under the base for protection.

On the other side,
they install the battery tray.

It houses the four
six-volt batteries

That power the scissor lift,
along with the battery charger.

The scissor stack, meanwhile,

Is in the paint booth getting
a coat of primer,

Then a coat of urethane paint.

This finish prevents the steel
from rusting.

After curing the paint
in an oven,

They install the scissor stack
onto the base.

Now they connect the two hoses

That run between the lift
cylinder and the hydraulic pump.

Through one hose,

Fluid goes to the cylinder
to raise the scissor.

Through the other, fluid
withdraws to lower the scissor.

They run cables
from the electrical panel

Up through the scissor stack.

After installing a platform made
of painted steel,

They connect the cables

To a control box
on the platform rail.

These controls enable a worker
to operate the scissor lift

From the platform.

After a test drive,
it's time to apply the decals,

Up to 75 of them depending
on the model.

Some are decorative, but most
specify safety information,

Such as the scissor lift's
load capacity.

Narrator: for the nhl,

A regulation skating rink is


The rink is basic construction,
but making the ice is an art.

You have to get the thickness
just right.

If the ice is too thick,

It will tax the refrigeration
system and soften on top,

But if the ice is too thin,

Skate blades will cut
right through it.

The rink floor is
a concrete slab.

Covering it with ice begins in
the arena's refrigeration room.

There, a powerful compressor
pumps refrigeration fluid,

Usually methanol or saline,

Through pipes running underneath
the rink's floor.

The concrete chills

To between minus-15.8
and 18 degrees fahrenheit,

The temperature range required
for water to freeze on concrete.

This company made
its own ice-making machine

By retrofitting
an ice resurfacer.

Its onboard water tank feeds


That mist a 13-foot span.

The water freezes
within seconds.

To make a quality ice surface,

You have to build up the ice
in layers,

Each about .07 inch thick.

Driving in the standard
outside-inside oval pattern,

Each layer takes just
eight minutes.

With two layers down,
they paint the ice white.

You'd think it would be simpler

To just paint directly
on the concrete,

But the paint would chip off

When they remove the ice
at the end of the season.

They would have to scrape
and clean the slab

Before repainting it --
a messy, expensive job.

So, instead, the ice maker mixes
water and powdered paint

In the onboard tank and sprays
three layers onto the ice.

This paint doesn't dry.

Just like the water
the machine sprayed before,

It freezes into white ice.

This metal dioxide-based paint

Is specially formulated
for skating rinks,

Designed to cling to a base coat
of ice.

And unlike concrete paint,
it's nontoxic and biodegradable,

So that at the end
of the season,

The arena can melt the ice

And let the water drain without
contaminating the environment.

Now a crew comes in
to paint the hockey markings.

Workers lay down string to mark
the borders of the red line,

The blue lines,
and the goal lines.

They elevate intersecting lines
so that the paintbrush can pass.

To paint the face-off circles,
workers use an anchor,

Cable, and what's called
a paint stick.

It takes just 20 minutes or so
to paint them.

The paint is in a portable tank.

It flows down
the paint-stick tube

To a rectangular pad on the end.

Now the goal crease at each net.

First, they trace a template,

Then fill in with a shade of
blue you see in swimming pools.

They use the same technique

To paint the eight red
face-off spots.

Back to the blue line.

First, they spray water
to freeze the strings in place.

Then, using a brush
on the same type of paint stick

They use for the circles,

They fill in the foot-wide space
between the strings.

Now for the home team's logo
at center ice.

After dabbing a mop
in blue chalk, they run it over

A computer-generated
paper stencil of the logo.

This transfers the design
outline to the ice.

They spray water on the chalk
lines to freeze them in place,

Then paint the logo.

Finally, with a garden hose,

They spray water over all
the markings to seal the paint.

Then they slowly flood the ice
with the larger hose

For about a day and a half.

This adds the final 1.1 inches
of ice.

The now-skateable ice surface is
about 1.6 inches thick,

Containing over 13,000 gallons
of water,

About 300 bathtubs full.

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