Ravi K. Patel

Mechanical design portfolio
Rev A · Sept 2026

Mechanical designer — fabricated equipment, weldments & sheet metal

I model and detail equipment that gets built: welded steel frames, formed sheet-metal bodies, hydraulic and gas-spring mechanisms, and the production drawings a fabricator works from. The sheets below are drawn from my own SolidWorks models — layouts, assemblies, sections and details.

Email ravipatel64688@gmail.com Education M.Sc. Mechanical Eng., UT Arlington · B.E. Mechanical, GTU

CAD: SolidWorks — parts, weldments, sheet metal, large assemblies, motion studies. CSWP certified, 2026. Also PTC Creo.
Documentation: Production drawings to A1 — isometric, orthographic, section and detail views; exploded assemblies, BOMs, GD&T.
Mechanism: Hydraulic cylinders and bellcrank linkages, gas-spring assists, hinge and latch hardware; motion studies for stroke and clearance.
Analysis & scope: Static structural FEA. Concept layout through detail drawings and fabrication support.

Sheet 1 · MECH-01 · Mechanism

Twin-cylinder diverter mechanism

End unit for a multi-stream waste chute. A sloped diverter panel swings on a full-width pivot shaft, driven by twin hydraulic cylinders working through bellcrank arms bolted to the frame rails. Both cylinders sit inside the frame envelope so nothing projects into the cart lane below.

The motion study was built to watch the linkage through its whole stroke — checking that the crank throw matches available cylinder travel, and that the panel clears the side walls and the fixed chute at every angle.

A1 assembly drawing of the hydraulic end unit showing isometric view, section A-A through the diverter panel, and a scale 1:8 detail of the cylinder and bellcrank linkage. — Assembly drawing — section A-A, detail CClick to zoom

Motion study — linkage through full stroke24 s, no audio

Drawing no.: MECH-01
Type: Welded frame + sheet assembly
Actuation: 2 × hydraulic cylinder
bellcrank linkage
Views: Iso, ortho, section A-A, detail C 1:8
Software: SolidWorks + Motion

Design notes

Crank arms pinned to a shared pivot shaft so both cylinders stay in phase and the panel loads evenly across its width.
Cylinder mounts moved inboard of the rails — keeps the rod ends out of the cart path and off the wash-down zone.
Section view carries the panel angle and pivot centres, so the fabricator can jig the shaft without the model.

Sheet 2 · GA-02 · Frame + sheet metal

Charge hopper & stand

A chute-fed charge hopper sitting on a welded structural steel stand. Formed sheet walls funnel material into the chamber below; a hinged front panel opens for access, and the highlighted mounting plate carries two cylinders on one common face so the pair can be shimmed together.

A1 general arrangement drawing of the charge hopper: two isometric views, three orthographic views, section A-A and a 1:4 detail of the twin cylinder mounting plate. — General arrangement — A1, 1:10Click to zoom

Drawing no.: GA-02
Sheet / scale: A1 · 1:10
Construction: Welded structural steel
formed sheet metal
Views: Iso ×2, ortho ×3
section A-A 1:8, detail B 1:4
Software: SolidWorks

Design notes

Hopper walls break from flat blanks — every face is a single bend line, no rolled or welded corner gussets in the throat.
Stand legs run full height to the base plates and the body hangs off them, keeping welds out of the load path at the floor.
Detail B calls out the cylinder mounting plate at 1:4 because the two bores and the clevis pins are what the shop needs at size.

Sheet 3 · ASM-03 · Assembly detail

Gas-assisted loading door

A loading door for a vertical-discharge unit. A framed panel swings on side hinges with a gas spring for lift assist and hold-open; behind it a formed liner guides material down into the chamber. The exploded view documents build order — frame, liner panels, mounting straps, handle latch and the rail-mounted position switch.

Exploded isometric view of the vertical-discharge door assembly: outer housing, front panel, mounting straps, framed door, chute liner panels, gas spring, latch and position switch separated along their assembly axes. — Exploded assembly — build orderClick to zoom

Fabrication drawing of the door part: front, side and top views, an isometric of the frame with the liner folded down, section A-A and a 1:1 detail of the gas spring and latch. — Part drawing — section A-A, detail B 1:1Click to zoom

Drawing no.: ASM-03
Type: Sheet-metal weldment
+ bought-out hardware
Hardware: Gas spring, cam latch
position switch
Documentation: Exploded assembly
part drawing, detail 1:1
Software: SolidWorks

Design notes

Gas spring anchored to the frame rather than the housing, so the door is a self-contained sub-assembly that can be bench-built and dropped in.
Liner panels tack to the frame at the fold line — the weld sits away from the sealing face where it would otherwise distort the flat.
Position switch mounted on a slotted bracket, giving the installer trip-point adjustment without re-drilling.

Sheet 4 · GA-04 · Welded container

Front-load waste container

A wheeled front-load waste bin. Welded steel body with an internal divider, two lids carried on a full-length hinge rod, side tipper lugs for the truck's forks and a four-caster base on a formed skirt. Drawn at 1:20 with a section through the lid line and a 1:5 detail of the end panel.

Drawing no.: GA-04
Sheet / scale: A1 · 1:20
Construction: Welded steel body
formed base skirt
Hardware: 4 × caster, hinge rod
tipper lugs
Views: Iso ×2, ortho ×3
section A-A, detail B 1:5

Design notes

One continuous hinge rod carries both lids — a single machined part instead of four hinge pairs to align on the bench.
Arched end profile sheds water off the lid line and stiffens the panel without a separate top rail.
Casters mount to the skirt, not the body, so kerb impacts load the formed edge rather than the side-wall welds.

Sheet 5 · LAY-05 · Layout study

Chute room equipment layout

Installation layout for a building chute room: the chute stack discharging into a hopper and diverter, with waste, recycling and organics carts staged underneath. The model exists to answer install questions before anyone is on site — can a full cart be rolled out and swapped without moving its neighbours, does the stack clear the ceiling, and where does the wall penetration land.

Isometric render of a chute room: blue diverter and hopper mounted against a block wall with a vertical chute stack above, and green, black and blue wheeled carts staged beneath on a concrete slab. — Room layout — equipment and cart stagingClick to zoom

Model walkthrough — section & clearance34 s, no audio

Reference: LAY-05
Type: Installation layout
clearance study
Scope: Chute stack, hopper
diverter, 3 × cart
Checks: Cart swap path, door swing
ceiling & wall clearance
Software: SolidWorks

Design notes

Carts modelled at true outside width with handles, because the pinch point is the handle, not the body.
Section planes cut at operator eye level and at the discharge line to check sightlines and drop height in one view.
Equipment held off the back wall by a service gap so the hydraulics stay reachable with the carts in place.

Sheet 6 · CAGE-06 · Mesh partition

Tenant storage cage

A welded wire-mesh storage locker for a residential building. Angle frames carry mesh infill panels, anchored to the slab and back wall; the door hangs on strap hinges with a hasp for the tenant's own padlock. Panels repeat on a single module, so a run of cages tiles down a corridor sharing one partition between neighbours.

Isometric render of a welded wire mesh storage cage against a wall, with a framed mesh door standing open on strap hinges and a padlock hasp on the frame. — Cage assembly — door openClick to zoom

Model walkthrough — frame & mesh detail32 s, no audio

Reference: CAGE-06
Type: Welded mesh partition
Module: Repeating bay
shared partitions
Hardware: Strap hinges
padlock hasp
Fixing: Slab and wall anchored

Design notes

Mesh modelled as real weave rather than a texture, so panel edges, frame overlaps and cut lines are true in the drawings.
Shared partitions between bays — one panel serves two cages, cutting material roughly in half over a long run.
Door frame set inboard of the opening so the hasp and padlock sit inside the cage line and don't catch a passing cart.

Sheet 7 · ENC-07 · Electronics packaging

Sensor enclosure fit-up

A packaging study for a condition-monitoring device. Four-way and six-way pluggable terminal blocks and an RJ45 jack are placed against the board outline to fix the wall cutouts and check clearance for the mating plugs before the enclosure was cut. Walls are shown transparent so plug engagement depth and the gap to the board edge read in one view.

Isometric CAD view of an electronics enclosure base with transparent walls, showing two green pluggable terminal blocks along one edge and an RJ45 jack seated in a wall cutout. — Connector placement & cutout studyClick to zoom

Reference: ENC-07
Type: Electronics packaging
Interfaces: 4-way + 6-way terminal block
RJ45
Checks: Cutout position, plug clearance
board standoff
Context: Industrial condition monitoring

Design notes

Terminal blocks grouped on one wall so all field wiring enters from a single side and the lid can come off without disturbing it.
RJ45 window cut to the jack's own flange, not the plug — the latch clearance is taken above the opening instead.
Connector models placed from supplier step files, so the cutouts are dimensioned off real parts rather than datasheet nominals.