Designfax – Technology for OEM Design Engineers was launched as an exclusive eMagazine in October 2005 following 25 successful years in print. Subscribers to the weekly publication (48 issues a year) are high-level OEM product design engineers and engineering managers who operate in a broad range of manufacturing industries, including automotive, aerospace, appliances, medical equipment, transportation, computer process controls, industrial equipment, and more. Primary content focuses on the latest exciting applications and products for Electrical/Electronic, Mechanical, Motion Control, Fluid Power, and Materials engineering, including articles on powerful software programs that serve as a primary engineering tool. Take a look at what Designfax offers and then subscribe.
| September 27, 2016 | Volume 12 Issue 36 |
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 | The aliens have landed. Lock 'em up.
It looks “alien,” but it’s the ultimate in box-security fasteners. In fact, the Alien Lock from Micro Plastics is the first and only dedicated box fastener. It is a much less expensive solution than banding or taping your boxes, and it keeps them more secure, too. It’s easy and fast to insert, and it’s incredibly strong. It cannot be pulled out without it being obvious that the box was tampered with -- it must be cut off. This is a 1-step fastener: Push Alien Lock through the lock port, and the locking process is finished.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Are You Spending Too Much On Metal Bellows?
Making an error when choosing the right material for your application’s performance requirements could be one reason a project is over or under budget. Finding the right material at the right price doesn’t have to be difficult. BellowsTech edge welded bellows are available in a wide variety of materials with a range of media compatibilities. Our newly developed one-page "Material Selection Guide" quickly and easily helps you compare leak rates, temperature ranges, tensile strengths, and more of various typical applications.
View infographic. |
 | New surface prep treatment can help bond all types of metals
Metals such as aluminum, titanium, or zinc can permanently be joined using adhesives with nearly all other metals thanks to a new process developed by a research team at Kiel University in Germany. Using an electrochemical etching process (like the tightly controlled one used to make semiconductors) to roughen the surface of a metal does the trick. The process also facilitates joining metal to plastic using heat only, and can also make surfaces water repellent.
Read the full article. |
 | Water-propelled satellite shoots for the moon
A team of Cornell University students guided by a former senior official at NASA is attempting to boldly go where no CubeSat team has gone before: around the moon. And not only is the group attempting to make a first-ever moon orbit with a satellite no bigger than a cereal box, it's doing so with propellant that you can obtain simply by turning on a faucet.
Read the full article. |
 | 15,000 Stock Metric Gears
KHK USA Inc offers the largest selection of stock metric gears in North America. With over 175 types, in more than 15,000 configurations, KHK USA offers the broadest selection of spur gears, helical gears, internal ring gears, gear racks, bevel gears, worms and wormwheels, and other gear types.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Cool Tools: Proto Labs Design Cube
The Proto Labs Design Cube illustrates important considerations when designing plastic injection molded parts. It showcases a range of available surface finishes and examples of bosses, gussets, and ribs. It also demonstrates the impact on part quality of overly thick or thin sections, as well as ways to incorporate holes and their potential effect on resin flow.
Get a free Design Cube today! |
 | Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Pressure Monitoring
Pressure monitoring is a critical feature in the design, testing, and operation of Hybrid Rocket Engines. With gaseous or liquid components, rapid pressure spikes in the system can cause catastrophic failure. With monitoring systems in place, complex actions can be taken before failure or activation of pressure relief systems, preserving the system and the mission. Typical pressure sensors on the market are limited to a 1 kHz natural frequency, whereas the FUTEK PFT510 features natural frequencies between 6 kHz and 100 kHz.
Check out this application! |
 | MakerBot launches Replicator+ and Mini+ 3D printers
The MakerBot Replicator+ ($1,999 special) is 30 percent faster, has a 25 percent larger build volume (11.6 x 7.6 x 6.5 in.), and is 27 percent quieter than its 5th-gen predecessor. The MakerBot Replicator Mini+ ($999 special) is 10 percent faster, has a 28 percent larger build volume (4 x 5 x 5 in.), and is 58 percent quieter. Both machines feature improved print precision, surface appearance, and reduced warping and curling. Both come with the swappable MakerBot Smart Extruder+. MakerBot is also launching a new Slate Gray Tough PLA Filament Bundle designed to create durable, high-impact-strength prototypes and fixtures that save time and money in testing. Special pricing until Oct. 31.
Click here to learn more. |
 | New interactive slewing ring bearing selector
Kaydon Bearings has added an interactive slewing ring bearing selector to its website. The selector makes it easy for engineers and designers to search the Kaydon slewing ring bearings catalog 390 by part number, bearing type, internal and external dimensions, application, gear type, axis of rotation, static load, speed, and tangential force per drive requirements. Search results include load charts and 3D-drawing downloads that make the user’s bearing selection process easier. The selector includes four-point contact, eight-point contact, cross roller, and three-row roller slewing ring bearings.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Palm-size XY/XYZ motorized stage is fast and precise
PI (Physik Instrumente), a top provider of precision motion control and positioning solutions for more than four decades, has released the low-profile M-122 motorized positioning stage. This stage has a very small footprint of 60 mm x 86 mm and a travel range of 25 mm, best suiting it for research and industrial applications, including fiber alignment, metrology, quality assurance testing, photonics packaging, test equipment, and micromachining.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Bio-based plastics made from castor beans
Royal DSM has extended its range of high-temp-resistant bio-based polymers with the introduction of new high-performance polyamide 4T materials, partially produced from renewable resources, called ForTii Eco. These materials fit with the growing need of faster, thinner, and more sustainable devices in the electronics, lighting, automotive, white goods, industrial, and aerospace industries. The polymer in the new grades is 30 percent to 60 percent derived from renewable resources. Castor beans provide the basis for the material's C10 chemistry, with a bio-content ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent. ForTii Eco E11, ForTii Eco E61, and ForTii Eco LDS62 provide halogen-free solutions for parts with thinner walls and demonstrate very good flow together with excellent mechanical and dielectrical properties.
Click here to learn more. |
| | Most popular last issue |
 | Good vibrations: No heat needed for new ultrasonic dryers
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee aim to change the way Americans do laundry -- using vibrations instead of heat to dry their clothes. This new technology, called the ultrasonic clothes dryer, is expected to dry clothes in half the time and use 70 percent less energy than today’s products, saving American consumers money on their energy bills.
Read the full article. |
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| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action |
Meet YuMi, the two-armed collaborative robot
YuMi (short for "you and me") is what its maker, ABB Robotics, calls a truly collaborative, two-armed, small-parts-assembly robot. Unexpectedly endearing for a piece of industrial machinery, YuMi's mission is nothing less than to make manufacturers worldwide more fond of robotics and help them tackle low productivity. Not ready for full-on automation at your facility? No problem. YuMi is there to provide a helping hand -- or two -- when needed.
View the video. |
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