Lesson video

Hi, everyone, and welcome to your design and technology lesson.

My name is Mr. Booth, and today we are looking at exploded diagrams. This is part of your communication unit, and as you know, we have got technical, and exploded diagrams are part of those technical communication techniques that we use in design and technology to be able to communicate our wonderful ideas and designs that we come up with.

Now, exploded diagrams are all about presenting a product in different pieces in its different parts to show how they fit together, used in manufacture and also assembly when we're making our parts and put 'em together.

Your outcome for today.

By the end of today's lesson, you should be able to produce an exploded diagram to show the different parts and also be able to label those parts so you can use these in your design and technology lessons to help you communicate those brilliant ideas that you are gonna be coming up with.

We've got two key words today.

Those key words are exploded diagram, and that's of course what the main lesson is about, and these are diagrams that show all the parts of an object separated in the correct places along an axes or a plane.

We also have centre line, and you probably have come across that keyword already, that phrase already.

Now, this is a dash line that marks the middle of a hole or a symmetrical part of an object, and they are very important, centre lines, when we make an exploded diagram.

we have two learning cycles today.

First of all, we are going to understand an exploded diagram, why we use them and how to make them.

And then you are gonna produce your own.

So let's get going.

So an exploded diagram is a drawing that shows all the parts of an object separated but still positioned in a way that shows how they fit together.

And this lovely example of a handbag, you can see that actually from looking at it, you can still tell it is a handbag, but all the parts have been pulled away either along an axes or a plane to show how they all fit together.

These diagrams help engineers, designers, and builders understand how things work and how they should be assembled.

They are key in the manufacture of our products.

The term exploded helps visualise how parts move away from the centre, a bit like a controlled explosion.

And this makes it much easier to see the structure and how to understand how to assemble or repair an object.

And as you can see in this example here, we have a fidget spinner where you can see the main body of it, you can see the bearing, which obviously allows it to spin round, and then the two end caps which go above and below.

And if you look really closely, you might even be able to see that centre line running down the middle of all those parts to show how they've been pulled away from each other.

So back to our drawing of this fidget spinner.

You can see that in image A is an exploded diagram of the fidget spinner, while image B is of course an isometric drawing, and I'm sure you understood that.

They both serve a purpose when we're doing technical drawings.

But as you can see in image B, there's no way I can tell how all those parts fit together.

But with image A, the exploded diagram, I can absolutely see how they fit together, and that would actually help me repair it or even assemble it if I was making one of these myself.

So quick check.

Why are exploded diagrams used? Is it A to show how the parts of an object fit together in an organised way? Is it B, to make the objects look more interesting by spreading them apart? Is it C, to confuse people by making objects harder to understand? Pause the video, have a go, come back to me when you've got an answer.

So if you answered A, of course exploded diagrams are to show how parts of an object fit together in an organised way, then well done.

Exploded diagrams have to include some of the following information, just like any other technical drawing that we use in design technology.

We have to have the part names.

We need to clearly identify each component.

That's really important if you're assembling or repairing something, We have numbers or reference codes.

Assigning numbers or reference codes to parts means we've got easy reference.

We don't have to do it on the actual drawing.

So we can assign a number or a letter, and then have some kind of table where we talk about each of those parts separately to keep the drawing nice and easy to understand.

We have that centre line, which we've talked about lots in our design and technology lessons.

And that is a dashed or solid line indicating the alignment of the parts.

What's also important is that we have an exploded distance to show equal spacing between the parts.

And again, this is for clarity.

It looks nice, but it also means we can fit all our parts on the same drawing without them getting too spread apart.

So here we have an exploded diagram.

So let's see if we can label it.

Could you label all parts I've just talked about? That's correct, we have our centre line.

A clearly defined centre line make sure that we know the parts are aligned as we pull them apart.

And in this instance you can see really clearly that all these parts are pulled along that centre line.

We have the numbers or letter references.

In this case, it's letters, and this is made up of four parts, parts A to D.

Really clear and I can understand that.

We also have a relatively equal spacing of each of the products.

Now, if you looked at this from the side, you might say the end cap is slightly below the others, but that's because we're almost looking at this from a little bit above, aren't we? This is actually a isometric metric view that we're looking at in these exploded views, but we're looking at slightly from above.

So that bottom end cap is probably pulled slightly further away.

But when you look at it from this view, they all look equally spaced.

That looks really nice, but it also means we get everything on the page.

So if I wanted to assemble that fidget spinner myself, I absolutely could 'cause I can see how all those parts go together.

Quick check, true or false.

A centre line shows the line of symmetry along a drawing.

Think about this one carefully.

Pause the video, come back to me when you've got an answer.

Of course the answer is false.

And the reason for that, do you know why? Pause the video.

Have a little conversation about why and come back to me when you've got an answer.

It is of course a centre line is a dash line that marks the middle of a hole or a symmetrical part of an object.

So it's not just a symmetry along a drawing.

It's the object we are interested in.

Well done if you've got that right.

Onto your first task.

What I would like you to do is annotate the key features of the exploded diagram below.

So here we have an exploded diagram of a torch with all its different components, and there are quite a few components in this torch.

We've got a checklist that I want you to work to.

I would like you to include a centre line.

I would like you to include a part name or number or letter.

And then what I would ask you to do is highlight where you can see the exploded distance has been done correctly.

Have a go at that, come back to me when you think you've done it, and we'll see how you got on.

So hopefully you have something that look like this.

Now, it's really important that we do this nice and neatly because of course we want our drawings to look great.

So what I've done is I've labelled all my parts, and as you can see, there are a lot of parts on there.

I've used letters, you might have used numbers.

That's absolutely fine.

I've highlighted exploding distance, sorry, the exploded distance on those first kinda two parts to show that they are equal.

And what I've also done is included my centre line to show where everything is down the middle.

We're now onto our next learning cycle, which is of course produce an exploded diagram.

You're now gonna have a go at doing your own.

So exploded diagrams can show a vertical or a horizontal explosion.

Now, we've already looked at two of these, but I just didn't highlight them until now.

So the choice to spend depends on the structure or the assembly of the product you are looking at.

So a vertical explosion is best for objects that have stacked components.

So components that seem to stack on top of one another.

For example, in an exploded diagram of our fidget spinner, you can see the caps, the bearing, and the body will be separated up and down to show each part clearly.

Now, can you think of any other products that will be suitable for a vertical exploded diagram? Pause the video, have a little think.

Have a chat with the person next to you and see if you can think of any products, you might wanna look around the room, any products that you can think that might be suitable for a vertical exploded diagram.

Pause the video, come back to me when you've got an idea.

So did you think of anything? I did, but I thought of a slightly strange one.

What I thought of is actually thinking about a burger.

Yes, a burger.

Now, there's probably very few situations where you would want to do an exploded diagram of the burger.

But if I did, you could think you could take it apart, so I could have the top and the bottom bun.

I could then have any fillings I've got.

So for example like lettuce or chilies if you like that.

I then got my cheese 'cause I like cheeseburgers.

And then of course I've got my patty and maybe even some sauce on that.

And what you could do is you could separate those out vertically, and that would give you a vertical exploded diagram.

I'm sure you've got a much better example than mine, and I'm sure you shared it with the people next to you.

Well done.

So for horizontal exploded diagrams, these are for products that are suitable where we've got components that are side by side.

Now of course we could spin it round and do it vertical, but actually you tend to use a torch, for example, in this example, on its side.

So, actually, it would be more sensible to do an exploded diagram in a horizontal plane.

And as you can see from this example, we have the torch, the caps, the lens, the electronics, and the internal components would obviously move outward to illustrate how they would attach to the case that's in the middle.

So once again, I want you to try and think of another product that would be suitable for an exploded diagram in the horizontal axis.

So again, pause the video, have a little think, chat to the person next to you.

Come back to me when you got a really good idea.

So what did you think of? I thought of a good one, and I thought of a pen or a technical pencil.

You know the pens that you have lots of pieces in and you have the lead that goes down the inside of them or the graphite that goes down the inside, I thought actually I could take that apart and show how all the parts of a pen goes together, and that would be really good to do in a horizontal axis.

I'm sure you thought of a really good example as well.

Well done.

So now let's look at how we actually draw these two types of exploded diagrams. So first let's start again with the vertical explode diagrams. And here we're using some construction bricks as an example.

We've got four construction bricks and we're gonna explode them, and we're gonna show how to do them.

So the first thing we need to do is we need to indicate the arrow or the direction of the exploded using those arrows.

So as you can see, I'm gonna go up and I'm gonna go down away from those kinda central ones.

What we then need to do is draw a centre line on.

Our dash dot line to each part is the same distance along that centre line.

And you can see here I've done 30 millimetres to separate them all out evenly, which looks great.

And then finally, what I need to do is of course label those parts.

And again, I'm using letters in this case from A to D 'cause there are four components.

And of course that makes our exploded diagram in the vertical axis complete.

Complete quick check.

What is the first step when drawing out an exploded diagram? Is it A, draw a centre line, B, draw each part an equal distance apart, or is it C, decide on a horizontal or a vertical exploded direction? Pause the video, have a go.

Come back to me when you've got an answer.

If you answered C, it is of course decide whether you are going to use a horizontal or a vertical exploded direction.

Well done.

Now let's look at a horizontal exploded diagram.

So here we've got slightly different bricks, but we're using the same ones.

So again, we're gonna indicate the direction of the explosion, and this time we're doing it horizontally.

What we then want to do is draw our centre line on to make sure all those components stay on that centre line so they don't wander off.

We don't want that to happen.

And then of course we draw our parts an equal distance apart.

Again, I'm using 30 millimetres for mine because that seemed to look nice and neat and meant I could fit everything on my page.

And then finally, labelling the parts.

And again, I've done it vertically and you can see you can do that however you want, however you think it seems best, but I've labelled those parts clearly, and now my exploded diagram is complete.

Onto your final task.

So for task B1, what I want you to do is draw an exploded diagram of the objects below.

The images show the same object from different angles.

It's just a series of shapes, and you have a checklist to work to.

So first of all, let's remember you need to decide on the orientation.

Are you gonna do it horizontally or vertically? I would like you to draw a centre line.

I want you to space each part equally and I want you to label the parts with numbers or letters nice and neatly.

Remember to use a ruler.

See how you get on.

Come back to me when you've had a go at it.

Okay, so here's your checklist.

So did you decide on the orientation? Of course you did.

And for this one of course we did a vertical one that was the most sensible.

We've drawn that centre line going down the centre to make sure all our parts remain on that centre line and they don't go wandering off.

We spaced each out equally so we can see we've got that spacing that's very clear on this, and then I've labelled again mine using letters.

You might have used numbers.

However you got on, I'm sure you did absolutely fantastic.

Well done.

The second part of task B, I would now like you to select an object of your choice that has at least three parts.

Now I don't need too many because that's gonna take you too long, but you might wanna go a little bit more complex and maybe have five or six parts.

And I would like you to draw an exploded diagram of the object.

So you're gonna have to be able to get to the internal workings of this.

Now, I'm not suggesting you use a burger 'cause that's gonna get a bit messy.

But you might want to use, for example, something like a pen that you might be able to take apart.

Remember to use the checklist when you're doing this.

Decide on the orientation, a vertical or or horizontal exploded view, exploded direction.

Draw the centre line on to make sure those parts all remain on that centre line.

Space each part out equally, and then label the parts with numbers and letters.

Take your time with this, make sure you are using your ruler, and come back to me when you have drawn and done your fantastic work.

I'm sure you did an absolutely fantastic job of that, and you now have a brilliant exploded diagram on your page.

Let's just have a look at that checklist so get your drawings in front of you.

Did you decide on your orientation, vertical or horizontal? Tick for that? Did you draw on your centre line to make sure that all those parts, as you pulled them apart, would remain on that line so they didn't go wandering off? I'm sure you did.

Did you space each part out equally? So you've got an equal distance between them to make sure everything fits on the page, but also to make it look nice for the communication.

And then finally, did you label the parts with numbers or letters to make sure we can clearly identify all those parts.

If you've got a tick for all four of those, well done.

That's absolutely brilliant.

So we're now at the end of our lesson, and what we need to do now is go through our summary of what we've learned today.

So remember, exploded diagrams visually separate the parts of an object while maintaining their relative positions, often along an axes or sometimes a plane.

They help engineers, designers, and builders understand how components fit together for assembly, repair, or even manufacture.

Effective exploded diagrams include a centre line for alignment, equal spacing between the parts, clear labelling with numbers or letters to identify those components.

And remember that exploded diagrams can either be shown vertically or even horizontally.

Fantastic work today.

Well done.

I really hope you can use some of those skills in your design and technology practise when you are communicating your ideas for manufacture.

See you later.

Bye-bye.