Week 3 Workshop - Disassembly

Disassembling a Sony Walkman mobile phone
The first picture is the phone in original state (the sliding part is open, exposing keypad) At this end of this blog there is a video showing the internal mechanism allowing the screen component and keypad component to slide apart.

Back cover, aesthetic decor on sliding part and battery out.

In the process of taking all the pieces apart, by unscrewing screws and detaching segments. This proved very challenging, as this particular phone had been in salt water for over 20 min, and had rusted as a result. Therefore the screw-threads were no longer intact, and the screw-cavities were filled with rust, salt and sand instead.






Here are all the components in the phone layed out on an A4 sheet for scale. I could not take the circuit board apart without breaking it.










Here are all the tactile buttons (keypad, 'selection buttons', volume buttons on the side), the button pads, speakers (top and button) and all the screws. The tactile buttons covered the button-pads, which laidd on top of the circuit board. The circuit board had extending parts that reached the volume buttons on the side of the phone, and had clear 'points' under the tactile ones attached to the cover.






In this image we clearly see the rust caused by the salt water. The 'flap' that is raised in the image was connected to the battery connector on one side and the circuit-board which was on the on the other side of this board (see next image).













In this image we see the two poles the battery will be inserted in between, to connect it to the circuit-board.
















In this image we see the two sliding components in a closed position (without the covers). We can observe two little springs connected to hinges through the little squared 'window' in the center towards the right of the phone.








Here is an image of the same two components, in the open position (slid apart). The two parts naturally slide and stop in this position well slit apart part a certain point. We can see that the hinge is no longer visible in the window.








This is another image of the two components in the original position (closed, seen from top), with the visible hinge. We see that the springs and hinge are at an angle.














This image is from the same view, but in the half-way tensed position. If I don't hold the top part in place and release it either slides back to the closed position or to the open position (if it has moved past a certain point). Here we see that the angle of the hinge has rotated to a more horizontal position.













In this picture the two components are fully slid apart and we see that the hinge is now in a horizontal position all the way in the edge of the window. Here the hinge is stopped by an edge.













Underneath is a video of the two compartments being separated and we can clearly see the hinge moving.

(The last image is of the new rapid prototyper in the workshop).