| September 03, 2013 | Volume 09 Issue 33 |
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 | 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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 | Automation Speeds Pharmaceutical Dispensing
Lines at your local pharmacy will soon be a thing of the past if ScriptPro has its way. The Kansas company's automated prescription dispensing systems can handle everything from tablets and capsules to packages of ointments, offering complete labeling and traceability, along with 99.7 percent counting accuracy. Leveraging high-efficiency, high-torque motors from MICROMO, the ScriptPro family of dispensing robots is fast, robust, compact, and efficient enough to operate off a single wall plug.
Click here to read more about this application. |
| | Feature articles | FEA aids Deepwater Horizon failure forensics
 On the evening of April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon suffered a blowout while drilling in the Macondo Prospect, an area in the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana. The platform caught fire, and two days later, it sank. Eleven crewmen were killed. The spewing oil caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. In this article, engineers use Abaqus Finite Element Analysis to do some of the detective work concerning what went so terribly wrong with the rig's blowout preventer stack.
Read the full article. |
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 | The latest in silicone/thermoplastic parts molding
The practice of bonding Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) to rigid thermoplastic parts has traditionally consisted of molding the individual elements separately and then assembling them into a completed product using adhesives. Today, companies like Rogan Corporation have taken that process one huge step further -- by molding Bondable Liquid Silicone Rubbers (BLSR) and thermoplastics using a two-step molding process. This article includes 6 Critical Design Considerations for BLSR/thermoplastic molding.
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 | Mike Likes:
TI battery 'fuel gauge' boosts run-time up to 50 percent for portable medical and industrial devices
Who doesn't want their portable devices to run longer on a single charge? Texas Instruments has introduced the industry's smallest and most accurate Li-Ion battery fuel gauge integrated circuit, the bq27421, which boosts battery run-time in portable medical devices, such as wearable health monitors, and industrial devices like inventory scanners and portable emergency lights and other consumer electronics. This solution leverages TI's proven Impedance Track advanced battery technology typically used in tablets and smartphones to accurately report remaining battery capacity, state-of-charge, and battery voltage. Designers can use the pre-configured "plug-and-play" bq27421 fuel gauge with TI's new Gauge Studio software tool to simplify battery gauging design.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product Spotlight:
Auto varistors provide faster response
to ESD strikes
The new TransFeed Automotive Series from AVX Corp. combines the best electrical characteristics of the company's TransGuard Transient Voltage Suppressors (TVS) and its Feedthru Capacitors in a single chip to provide state-of-the-art overvoltage circuit protection and EMI reduction over a much broader range of frequencies than comparable devices. The device also responds to transient events faster than any TVS device currently on the market and provides significant EMI attenuation when in the off state. Qualified to AEC-Q200, the series is ideal for automotive applications, including: drive by wire, dimming mirror circuits, filtering/protection on microcontroller I/O lines, filtering/protection on interface I/O lines, power line conditioning, power regulation, and LCD dashboard drivers, among others.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product Spotlight:
Super Smart Ball Bushing linear bearings
Thomson Super Smart Ball Bushing linear bearings, already available in U.S. inch and European metric models, are now available in Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) sizes. This advanced bearing technology provides up to six times the load capacity or 216 times the travel life of conventional linear bearings. As a result, OEMs who specify Super Smart Ball Bushing bearings can minimize machine downtime and reduce machine costs through the use of smaller, more reliable, and less expensive bearings and 60 Case LinearRace shafts.
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 | Product Spotlight:
Brushless DC servo motors with integrated EtherCAT interface
Dunkermotoren, now a unit of AMETEK Precision Motion Control, has extended its range of compact brushless DC servo motors with integrated intelligence and fieldbus connectivity with 10 new models. The extended family now offers EtherCAT interface on all of its BG45, BG65, BG65S, and BG75 base models. Available motors range from 50 W to 500 W of power in 45-mm- to 75-mm-square frame sizes and feature CANopen over EtherCAT (CoE) compatibility. This feature combines the benefits of CANopen's standardized DS402 motion profile with EtherCAT's real-time high-performance fieldbus. The all-in-one motor plus drive design eliminates the need for external drives and numerous cables, improving dependability and overall performance, while dramatically reducing commissioning time and total system cost.
Click here to learn more. |
| | Most popular last issue |
 | Engineer's Toolbox:
Using disc springs in a heavy-duty power drill
When an engineer at quality power-tool maker DEWALT was tasked with limiting the maximum torque output of a high-power right-angle drill, he determined early on that the clutching thrust required in the space available could only be achieved by a disc spring design. Compared to conventional coil springs, disc springs offer a higher load capacity in less space. This article includes comprehensive disc spring design guidelines from SPIROL.
Read the full article. |
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| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action | Bright ideas: Customizable LED displays
for bike wheels
 "What's the world's most advanced bicycle light display?" Well funny you should ask. A little company called MonkeyLectric just outside San Francisco thinks they have created it, and from the looks of their recent Kickstarter campaign (626 backers for $220,293), they're onto something. "Light up the road and share your message with the world!" they say. You can download images and animations to the Monkey Light Pro wheel units and display them while you ride. Make your own graphics, or choose from a collection of custom artwork. There's nothing like turning your cruiser bike wheel into a party sign if you feel like it -- or just 'cause you can. One wheel will set you back $660. Both wheels are $1,190. Whew! Two cheaper models with fewer features and LEDs are available from MonkeyLectric for $39.99 (M210) and $59.99 (M232) per wheel on Amazon. Now that sounds more like it. Either way, I think I know what I'm asking for when the holidays roll around.
View the video. |
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A new spin on pneumatics: The AeroValve solution
AeroValve's innovative technology recycles compressed air through the valve body with each cycle of the valve, reducing compressed air requirements by more than 20 percent. Take a look at how this technology works, and see what it can do for you. AeroValve technology can be applied to approximately 60 percent of existing directional control valves.
View the video. |
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