| September 10, 2013 | Volume 09 Issue 34 |
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 | New Full Line Catalog -- Full of New Fasteners
Micro Plastics introduces its new catalog #39. With 290 pages of nylon fastener items, 12 new product lines, and over 500 new items added. Contents include: standard and metric machine screws, cap screws, nuts, washers, spacers, insulators, grommets, bushings, rivets, hole plugs, clamps, printed circuit board accessories, suspended ceiling hooks, and wire routing kits. FREE samples are available upon request.
Click here for more information. |
 | Mike Likes:
MultiLEDs give automobile designers almost every blue color imaginable
Thanks to the very wide blue color range of the new RGB MultiLED from Osram Opto Semiconductors, lighting designers have a virtually unlimited choice of colors for ambient lighting, including customer-specific colors. The main feature of the new MultiLED is a very broad blue color range with a wavelength of 447 to 476 nanometers (nm) and high brightness. Deep saturated blue tones can now be produced thanks to the use of three LED chips in red, green, and blue (RGB). Other properties of the MultiLED, such as its integrated ESD (electrostatic discharge) protective diode (2 kV), its improved corrosion resistance, and its long-time market availability, make these LEDs ideal for use in automobiles. The MultiLED was developed specifically for applications in the automotive sector and meets all the requirements of an automotive certified component. Rev up your designs for speedometers and RPM indicators, infotainment and GPS displays, backlighting for switches, and accent, ambient, and trim lighting.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product Spotlight:
Minimize parts count with self-clinching fasteners
PEM Types PF50 and PF60 self-clinching captive panel screws from PennEngineering keep hardware parts count to a minimum by integrating a captive screw in a spring-loaded assembly to promote easy and efficient handling and installation. Their permanent mounting in thin metal assemblies eliminates any risks associated with loose hardware that could fall out, get lost, or misplaced -- and potentially cause damage to internal components. These low-profile, steel fastener solutions ideally suit panels, covers, drawers, racks, and other access points where secure attachment and subsequent access is necessary. These captive panel screws can be tightened or loosened simply using a Phillips screwdriver (a Torx recess can be specified). Their large heads (knurled or smooth knobs, depending on type) allow for operation by hand without tools.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product Spotlight:
Scan and design in the same program with Geomagic Design Direct
Geomagic Design Direct (formerly Geomagic Spark) is the only 3D software that combines a live 3D scanning interface, built on Geomagic's robust 3D point and mesh editing platform, with a comprehensive direct modeling package, built on the innovative SpaceClaim platform. In addition, Geomagic Design Direct includes powerful assembly modeling and 2D drawing capabilities. The result is an intuitive and powerful product that will allow CAD experts and CAD novices alike to create models for conceptualization, prototyping, manufacturing, or documentation easily and in one complete package. The software's direct modeling CAD environment relies on a gesture-based user interface, a simple push/pull toolset, and a familiar ribbon-based GUI. Now, users can skillfully create accurate, manufacturable solid models and assemblies using scan and CAD data in the same application within minutes, even from partial scan data.
Click here to learn more. |
| | Most popular last issue |
 | 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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| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action | Super silicon sensor aims to detect explosives
Using silicon to fabricate a sensor, scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have developed a technology that may revolutionize the way trace chemical detection is conducted. The small, portable, lightweight, low-power, super powerful sensor could be distributed to warfighters in the field and to security personnel at airports across the globe. It uses a unique 3D architecture to maximize the surface area of the sensor.
View the video. |
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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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