Technology for OEM Design Engineers February 6, 2007 — Volume 3, Issue 5
Stainless Steel Retaining Rings From Stock Smalley has over 5,000 retaining rings in 302 and 316 stainless steel from stock in 1/4" to 16" diameters. Specials can manufactured from .200" to 90". Smalley's manufacturing process allows for the economical production of stainless steel rings. Free samples are available of stock parts to test in your application.
Visit Smalley Steel Ring Company online.
KAYDON-Enabled Air Cannon Is Punkin' Chunkin' World Champ
KAYDON bearing recently helped a Michigan air cannon team fire a pumpkin nearly 4,000 ft to win its fourth
"punkin' chunkin'" championship in five years. Competing in the 2006 World Punkin' Chunkin' Championship, the team's 14-ton compressed-air cannon — named
"Second Amendment" — scored a 3,870.5-ft winning shot to beat the next-best distance by over 200 ft. The cannon's 100-ft-long barrel is quickly and easily aimed with the help of a KAYDON 50-in. externally geared turntable. Read the full article
Lean and Mean: These Motors Have Punch MicroMo Electronics, Inc. now offers Thin Profile DC Micromotors with power. The 2607/2619-SR deliver up to 3 mNm of continuous torque at recommended speeds of up to 5,500 rpm. The 2607/2619-SR are suitable for medical and laboratory equipment, instrumentation, health and safety applications. Visit MicroMo online.
Extending CAD to keep American jobs and save money
It's often thought to be cheaper to produce goods outside the United States. Not true, according to Scott Basilius, CEO and owner of Basilius, Inc., a Toledo, OH, full-service plastic parts company that handles every facet of the process from part design and tool building to injection molding of plastic parts. "Manufacturers typically forget to calculate time lost due to communication lags and delays in shipping prototypes," among other things, he says. The Basilius shop uses KeyCreator, Kubotek's 3D CAD software, to maintain tight integration between its designers and machinists and to eliminate the confusion and lack of communication that often accompanies the handoff from design to manufacturing. Read the full article
Next-gen handheld includes computing's most extensive use of TPEs
What do you get when you squeeze all the basics of digital life — email, instant messaging, the Web, pictures, music, video, and remote control — into a compact, rugged product? The Pepper Pad, of course. The everything-unit from Pepper Computer, of Lexington, MA, resolved unique production and housing requirements with the most extensive use of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) to date in any computer application, specifically with 21st-century overmold-capable TPEs from GLS Corp. Read the full article
Electric Replacement for Hydraulics! Exlar's electric linear actuators deliver the force of hydraulics and the speed of pneumatics. The patented roller screw technology offers peak forces in excess of 40,000 lbf., speeds to 60 in/sec, and stroke lengths to 96 inches, all with the ease and reliability of servo control. Visit Exlar online for more information.
Pinpoint sound beams hunt buried land mines
Researchers at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory are developing a highly pinpointed sound beam that can detect buried land mines from a safe distance. The new beam will use sound to seek out land mines like a bat uses sonar to hunt its prey. The researchers built a prototype detector and tested it at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Army Corps of Engineers land-mine facility in New Hampshire. They were able to detect both metal and plastic mines but said that the system will have to get a major boost in acoustic power before minefield searchers can use it safely. Read the full article
Digital multimeters: 6-½ digits is quite a handful
Volts, amps, and ohms haven't changed a lot in the last few years, but that hasn't held back advances in the instruments that measure them. Traditional benchtop digital multimeters (DMMs) now have dual and graphical displays, more types of measurements, wider ranges, faster speeds, and a choice of several types of remote interface. Their capabilities and specs, including a valuable benchtop DMM comparison chart listing features and prices, are all presented in this comprehensive new article from our sister publication, Evaluation Engineering. Read the full article
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