| March 19, 2013 | Volume 09 Issue 11 |
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 | Design Cube from Protomold
Our 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.
Register today and get yours free. |
 | 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. |
| | Feature articles | Military engineers teach an old water can new tricks
 A system developed by researchers at the Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate in Natick, MA, will help bring water to Soldiers in the field, either cool or heat it, and then keep it that way for days at a time. The system revolves around a high-stress collapsible water bag, a beverage cooling unit, and an insulated bag that holds the standard 5-gal water can or the collapsible water bag.
Read the full article. |
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Caltech engineers build electronic chips that repair themselves
Imagine that the chips in your smartphone or computer could repair and defend themselves on the fly, recovering in microseconds from problems ranging from less-than-ideal battery power to total transistor failure. It might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but a team of engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), for the first time ever, has developed just such self-healing integrated chips.
Read the full article. |
 | Mike Likes:
360-degree previews of Smalley springs and rings
Smalley has added a cool new functionality to its CAD process that allows engineers to preview their standard-part models of wave springs and retaining rings in 360 degrees of rotatable glory. If the design is for a spring, it's even cooler, because engineers can see what changing the height does to the part. This 3D preview is also built into a worksheet or engineering drawing that users can parametrically create of the model to use as a print of the part. Additionally, the new CAD download area allows designers to have the part that is parametrically created in any CAD format drawn directly into an open session of their software.
Click here to search retaining rings.
Click here to search wave springs. |
 | Engineer's Toolbox:
Slip clutches maximize designs
The way they see it over at Polyclutch, there aren't a whole lot of problems you can't solve with a slip clutch. Way beyond using them for overload protection, there are a surprising number of other applications for these versatile and valuable components. From increasing machine speeds and applying constant tension on wire to indexing a conveyor and automatic screw assembly, slip clutches just may provide the design leverage that you've been seeking.
Read the full article. |
 | High-flow vaneaxial fan
A new 20-lb vaneaxial fan designed for high-performance cooling with powerful airflow has been introduced by AMETEK Rotron. The MAXIAX 9.25 fan is driven by a high-speed, aerospace-grade 200-VAC, 3-ph, 400-Hz motor, developing nominal rotational speed of 7,700 rpm. This compact unit (9.25 in. x 8 in.) can develop the necessary pressure to deliver 707-944 liters per second (L/s) [1,500 to 2,000 cubic feet per minute (cfm)] against a system impedance of 0.99-1.5 kilo Pascals (kPa) [4 in. to 6 in. of water gauge (iwg)]. It is well suited for applications including centralized forced air electronics cooling in aircraft, forced air delivery in semiconductor processing equipment, air circulation in environmental control systems, and as a heat exchanger cooling fan. It is designed to meet the reliability requirements of military applications and is easily customizable for precise airflow design.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Motion controller for precision linear positioners and rotation stages
PI (Physik Instrumente) is offering a new motion controller for closed-loop precision positioning systems. The C-884, 4-axis digital servo controller was designed to control motorized linear translation stages and rotary positioners with very high accuracy and repeatability. The high-speed encoder interface allows the use of the latest direct-metrology linear and angular scales with resolutions down to the nanometer and microrad realm and below. This new controller is equipped with a dual-core architecture for fast servo handling and command interpretation. A bunch of software tools are provided for ease of operation. The included PIMikroMove software helps the user to get up to speed quickly, without the need for writing a single line of code.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Silver Metcar material for brushes, contacts in rotating antennas
Silver Metcar from Metallized Carbon Corporation is a silver impregnated, carbon-graphite material useful for electrical applications that require low resistance, low voltage drop, and low electrical noise. The material is ideal for DC motor brushes, non-welding electrical contacts, and rotary slip ring brushes or contacts in air-traffic-control radars, telecommunications systems, and satellite communications systems. The carbon-graphite in Silver Metcar provides self-lubricating properties, and the pure silver provides high and constant electrical conductivity. The material is corrosion resistant, dimensionally stable, and has a heavy overload capacity.
Click here to learn more. |
| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action | All-LEGO paper airplane folding machine
Why make a paper airplane the easy way, when you can engineer a LEGO machine to do it for you? Mindstorms user Hknssn used nearly 7,000 LEGO pieces, an array of NXT sensors, 15 motors, and a whole lot of time and attention to detail to create a fully automated LEGO paper plane folding machine. The machine is about 60 in. long by 16 in. wide. Wow, and we just sat around all weekend ...
View the video. |
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BigDog robot gains a pitching arm
We've seen our favorite BigDog robot from Boston Dynamics carry many a heavy load. Now it can pitch one, too. Engineers at Boston Dynamics say their goal with this phase of the project is to use the strength of the robot's legs and torso to help power motions of an additional arm -- in this case chucking a 35-lb cinder block. This dynamic, whole-body approach to manipulation is used routinely by human athletes and should enhance the performance of advanced robots in the future. Boston Dynamics is developing the control and actuation techniques needed for this type of dynamic manipulation. So far, the robot's best throw is a bit more than 17 ft. The research is funded by the Army Research Laboratory's RCTA program.
View the video. |
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