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April 01, 2014Volume 10 Issue 13


Image - Seal It, Protect It!
Seal It, Protect It!
A Smalley Laminar Seal is a metallic labyrinth seal consisting of multiple rings in a groove. Sealing an assembly from contamination while withstanding high temperatures and corrosive environments, Laminar rings are produced from metal. The arrangement and orientation of the rings are dictated by the application/severity of the environment.

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In this issue of Designfax

  • NASA tests robotic refueling
  • Printing Electronics: Multi-functional timer
  • Radiation detection gets visual
  • Wheels: Ford F-150 tough LED headlamps
  • Mike Likes: Fastest vacuum ejector
  • Engineer's Toolbox: Programmable encoders
  • Tougher automotive varistor
  • Linear guides ship in 24 hr
  • Decentralized, integrated servo drive
  • Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
    • Amazing. Universal Robots on the job
    • The night I invented 3D printing
  • Most Popular Last Issue
    • Wheels: maxon motors power mini Caterpillar
    • World's largest mining dump truck
    • Nonflammable lithium-ion battery
  • New Products
    • Electrical, Mechanical, Motion
    Cover Image: All-new 2015 Ford F-150 is first to offer tough LED headlamps

News

German company Heliatek sets new efficiency record for transparent organic solar cells

Alcoa rolls out world's lightest heavy-duty truck wheel

DARPA's vertical takeoff/landing X-Plane program takes flight

Office basketball pool picks didn't go so great? Here is why, says CU-Boulder math professor



Image - Motors for model train meet demanding requirements
Motors for model train meet demanding requirements
Building an N-gauge (1:160) model train system involves working with very small units. The 1930s-inspired BR 70 locomotive from Fleischmann is only 2.25 in. long when measured buffer to buffer. As on large locomotives, traction (and on the model, power transmission) between the wheel and the track is a crucial factor. To give the unit appropriately scaled big-train power with low vibration and noise, the folks at Fleischmann turned to customized DC motors from the FAULHABER Group.

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Feature articles
NASA tests robotic refueling
NASA has successfully concluded a remotely controlled test of new technologies that would empower future space robots to transfer hazardous oxidizer -- a type of propellant -- into the tanks of satellites in space today.

Concurrently on the ground, NASA is incorporating results from this test and the Robotic Refueling Mission on the International Space Station to prepare for an upcoming ground-based test of a full-size robotic servicer system that will perform tasks on a mock satellite client.
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Click above to get your Protomold Demo Mold.
This is a cool learning tool to have.


Image - Printing Electronics: <br>World's first flexible multi-functional timer
Printing Electronics:
World's first flexible multi-functional timer

A consortium of partners is launching the world's first flexible timer based on printed electronics at the IDTechEx Printed Electronics Europe event in Berlin this week (April 1-2). The device consists of an electronic logic circuit implemented with thin film metal oxide transistors, powered by a printed battery, and integrated onto a paper substrate.
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Image - Radiation detection gets visual with revolutionary new unit
Radiation detection gets visual with revolutionary new unit
A handheld radiation camera developed by University of Michigan engineering researchers offers nuclear plant operators a faster way to find potentially dangerous hot spots and leaky fuel rods.
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Image - Wheels: <br>New Ford F-150 is first truck to offer tougher, brighter, more efficient LED headlamps
Wheels:
New Ford F-150 is first truck to offer tougher, brighter, more efficient LED headlamps

When the assignment is to reinvent the Ford F-150 while maintaining its heritage of being Built Ford Tough, even the headlamps matter. For the all-new 2015 Ford F-150, Ford wanted durable headlamps that would last as long, or longer, than the truck.
Read the full article.

Image - Mike Likes: <br> World's fastest vacuum ejector
Mike Likes:
World's fastest vacuum ejector

The piCOMPACT manifold-mounted vacuum ejector system from Piab provides three times more vacuum flow than similar products. This reduces energy consumption by 30 to 50 percent compared with traditional ejectors, resulting in substantial sustainability benefits as well as energy and cost savings. The system's COAX ejectors offer an increased vacuum flow to strengthen product grip and increase pick-up speed, minimize product damage, and reduce waste. This technology also allows faster release of products from the suction cups onto the production line for efficiency gains. The intelligent Energy-Saving (ES) function effectively turns off the compressed air usage when set vacuum level is achieved. Products in the piCOMPACT range are ideal for pick-and-place operations where efficient handling of small, heavy parts is crucial: electronics, semiconductor, plastics, metal, small packaging, pick and place, robotic integration, and the wood industry.
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Image - Engineer's Toolbox: <br>5 proven advantages of programmable encoders
Engineer's Toolbox:
5 proven advantages of programmable encoders

Encoders are used in a variety of manufacturing plants, primarily to determine a motion control axis position or to obtain speed feedback. Historically, code discs contained a fixed line count, which increased manufacturing and production constraints if a different or higher resolution was required. A programmable encoder, which can be programmed to any line count in either the field or during production, provides benefits to both the end-user and the manufacturer. Vikram Phadke from SICK USA lays out the advantages.
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Image - Varistor provides 50 percent higher surge energy rating for automotive electronics
Varistor provides 50 percent higher surge energy rating for automotive electronics
The AUMOV Series of low-voltage, high-surge-current, radial-leaded varistors from Littelfuse provides motor or inductive load transient suppression for automotive safety systems, body electronics, powertrain systems, thermal management/HVAC systems, and infotainment systems. They offer 50 percent greater surge withstanding than existing technologies on the market for low-DC- voltage applications. The maximum peak surge current is rated up to 5 KA to protect sensitive automotive systems from transients induced by load dump, jump starts, and other transient events. Its compliance with the AEC-Q200 automotive electronics industry standard makes it ideal for use in both the vehicle's passenger compartment and under-the-hood applications.
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Image - High-quality linear guides ship in 24 hr
High-quality linear guides ship in 24 hr
Rollon Corporation's new FAST Delivery Program now enables engineers and plant managers to configure and order Mono Rail Plus linear guides online, with many standard products available for shipping the very next day. The new website also offers a comparison chart to see which Mono Rail Plus product is the most suitable drop-in replacement to linear guides with long lead times. Rollon's Mono Rail Plus products are profiled rails for high precision under high loads, with four rows of balls running in the self-lubricated slider.
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Image - Decentralized, integrated servo drive
Decentralized, integrated servo drive
Expanding on its popular Sinamics S120 multi-axis drive system, Siemens introduces the new Sinamics S120M, a compact, ready-to-connect motor with integrated drive that offers users the option of moving the motor inverter outside the control cabinet and directly onto the motor, thereby reducing both cabinet space and required cooling. The addition of the Sinamics S120M distributed format into the S120 offering adds a high degree of flexibility for new and existing machines, as well as introducing innovative production line setups that can now be achieved. Typical applications include packaging, printing, glass, textile, and other processes where machinery and production lines require multiple servo axes in a space-restricted environment.
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Most popular last issue

Image - Wheels: <br>Motors from maxon power mini Caterpillar model
Wheels:
Motors from maxon power mini Caterpillar model

Many model locomotives run their rounds powered by maxon motors, but even crazier things can be found in the world of model making, like the bright 1:8-scale yellow Cat track loader built by Marcel Sigrist, a hobby model maker from Central Switzerland.
Read the full article.

Image - World's largest mining dump truck debuts with Siemens electric traction drive system on board
World's largest mining dump truck debuts with Siemens electric traction drive system on board
BelAZ-75710, the world's largest mining two-axle, all-wheel-drive dump truck, rolled out of the BelAZ plant (Zhodzina, Belarus) in late 2013 and is now being field tested as the biggest machine of its class. It features a record-breaking capacity of 450 metric tons -- 25 percent more than its nearest competitor.
Read the full article.

Image - Researchers build nonflammable lithium-ion battery
Researchers build nonflammable lithium-ion battery
In studying a material that prevents marine life from sticking to the bottom of ships, researchers led by chemist Joseph DeSimone at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified a surprising replacement for the only inherently flammable component of today's lithium-ion batteries: the electrolyte.
Read the full article.

Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action
Amazing. Universal Robots on the job
Lettuce wrapping, CNC machine tending, palletizing, spray painting, and vision-guided tire inspection. These are just a few of more than 20 innovative, cage-free applications in this fascinating video mosaic, depicting the light-weight, flexible Universal Robots in action. Did we mention how easy they are to program? Use the touch screen tablet or simply grab the robot arm and show it the desired path of movement. ROI: 3-8 months.
View the video.

Video Image
The night I invented 3D printing
CNN interviews Chuck Hull, executive vice president and chief technology officer of 3D Systems, who invented stereolithography (3D printing) back in 1983 and patented the technology in 1986. Hull also invented the STL file format.
View the video and story.

Video Image

New products

Electrical/Electronics
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