| June 18, 2013 | Volume 09 Issue 23 |
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 | New Design Tips Volume Available
Protomold's monthly Design Tips are a popular and useful resource for designers and design engineers. We've compiled over 90 tips for designing injection molded parts in nine handy, downloadable volumes. You'll find useful tips and guidelines on everything from selecting materials to designing parts cost-effectively. In our new Volume Nine you will find topics including: designing clips, elimination of unnecessary material, text, crush ribs, bridging tooling, and injection molding gears.
Get your free tips today! |
 | Rogan's Liquid Silicone Rubber Molding Capabilities
In business since 1934, Rogan Corporation is a leader in the injection molding industry, producing thermoplastic and LSR (Liquid Silicone Rubber) components and assemblies. Manufacturing LSR components is a rapidly growing segment of the business. Rogan is one of a few select manufacturers that offer Bondable LSR overmolding. This process involves the injection molding of a bondable-grade silicone directly onto plastic or metal parts, creating a single integrated component. LSR's heat, chemical, shock, and vibration resistance along with its sound-dampening characteristics have made it an ideal fit for integral seals and gaskets, waterproofing complex geometries and electronic interconnects, integral membranes, diaphragms, valves, and switch covers. (Picture has .008" thick fins bonded to a plastic tube.)
Our state-of-the-art Class 100,000 clean room enables Rogan to meet the increasing demand for LSR molding and assembly for the medical device market. |
Wheels:
Dana finds profit 'sweet spot' using Simulation Lifecycle Management
After Dana Holding Corp. initiated a cultural change from a mainly cost/manufacturing-driven company to an engineering-driven one, the powerhouse automotive supplier is realizing up to 25 percent time savings in its CAE projects. The secret? Simulation Lifecycle Management from Dassault Systemes helps manage all types of simulations from the company's 20+ CAE software and support tools, so Dana can more readily identify the "sweet spot" for cost-versus-performance that generates profitability.
Read the full article. |
 | Mike Likes:
One-shot 3D measuring macroscope
Wondering how your products measure up ... literally? Well Keyence Corp. has just the tool for you. Combining the advanced optical design of their digital microscopes with the high-speed, high-accuracy measurement and 3D technology of their displacement gauges, Keyence engineers have developed a macroscope that completes instant, one-click 3D measurements. And yes, it's a powerful microscope, too!
Read the full article. |
 | Product Spotlight:
Next-gen LED machine lighting in six colors
When you want bright, energy-efficient, and long-lasting LED machine lighting, LF1B-N LED light strips from IDEC outshine the competition. Offered in six different lengths, ranging from 5.27 to 42.5 in., these slim, maintenance-free light strips are a perfect fit for applications with limited space. Six different colors (cool white, warm white, yellow, red, blue, and green) give you a custom style and appearance, while providing lighting bright enough to clearly illuminate any application. Lifespan is over four times longer than fluorescent lights.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product Spotlight:
Flexible seals for robotics systems
Roxtec entry seals allow cables and pneumatic plastic pipes to be routed in the same unit. The system is based on a rubber sealing module that consists of two halves, a center core, and removable black and blue layers. This construction ensures adaptability to different sizes of cables and pipes. Just peel off layers to achieve a tight installation. Most cables can be effectively sealed with just six basic sizes of Roxtec sealing modules. Easily installed Roxtec modules are used together with a frame and a compression unit, resulting in an optimum sealing solution suitable for wide-ranging applications.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product Spotlight:
Replace pneumatic cylinders with servo actuators
CASM Series servo actuators from SKF are ideal electromechanical solutions for applications historically performed by conventional pneumatic cylinders. This technology, in comparison, inherently reduces energy consumption, potential contamination, noise, and maintenance, while eliminating the need for constantly running compressors, hoses, and other components associated with pneumatic cylinders. All three modular models (CASM-32, CASM-40, and CASM-63) have been designed to fit standard industry footprints of pneumatic cylinders and can easily facilitate system conversion. Motor adapter kits enable users to connect the motor package of their choice and easily program motor profiles. Load capacities range from 300 to 5,400 N, stroke lengths range from 50 to 800 mm, and speeds from 60 to 1,060 mm/s can be achieved.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product Spotlight:
Self-regulating heating cables
Heat Trace 2700 Series Self-Regulating Heating Cables from Heat Trace Products provide freeze protection and process temperature maintenance for fluid transport and storage systems. They feature a multilayer construction and supply a specified amount of heat at any point along their length in direct response to local temperature variations. Capable of maintaining temps up to 150 deg F, with intermittent exposure to 185 deg F, these cables are offered in output wattages of 3-, 5-, 8-, and 10-W/ft at 50 deg F. They will not overheat or burn out when overlapped, and they can be cut to length and terminated in the field.
Click here to learn more. |
| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action | Multiple-axis robot joints
igus® has applied its plastics expertise to develop multiple-axis robot joints. New robolink® will be welcomed by robot developers who were forced to source complex custom solutions until now. The corrosion-resistant joints are controlled by cable tension just as the human body guides its bones and tendons. Data cables are routed through the jointed arms, which act as the robot's skeleton. These cables convey images, acoustics and forces -- the artificial senses of humanoid robots.
Find out more and see robolink® joints in action. |
 |
Minimizer tests 3D-printed truck fenders
Engineers at Minimizer, a manufacturer of plastic parts for the heavy-truck industry, road test their semi-truck fender parts with functional prototypes 3D printed in black ULTEM 9085, a high-performance thermoplastic. They use a big Fortus FDM (fused deposition modeling) machine from Stratasys to make the working prototypes.
View the video. |
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