| November 11, 2014 | Volume 10 Issue 42 |
|
 | Completely Updated New Full Line Catalog:
Full of New Fasteners
Micro Plastics introduces its new 300-page catalog #40 containing thousands of fastening solutions for engineers and product designers. Find hundreds of new problem-solving products, including Spacers, Washers, Clips, Clamps, Ties, Bushings, Screws, Nuts, Rivets, and Plugs. Micro Plastics specializes in Nylon threaded fasteners, but the company also offers extensive product lines for wire management and circuit board hardware. FREE samples are available upon request.
Click here for more information. |
| | Feature articles |
 | Smaller access components make a big impact in aircraft seating design
Design engineers can enhance the passenger experience and maximize functionality of seating applications by incorporating lightweight seating functionality into the areas of the seat that the passenger interacts with, such as headrests, food trays, and inflight entertainment systems. Focusing on these smaller "touch points" can create a bigger impact by improving inflight usability and perception of airline quality.
Read the full article. |
|
 | Fascinating Basics:
Researchers untangling how cables coil
The world's fiber-optic network spans more than 550,000 miles of undersea cable that transmits e-mail, websites, and other packets of data between continents, all at the speed of light. A rip or tangle in any part of this network can significantly slow telecommunications around the world. Now engineers at MIT, along with computer scientists at Columbia University, have developed a method that predicts the pattern of coils and tangles that a cable may form when deployed onto a rigid surface.
Read the full article. |
 | Mike Likes:
New innovative way to take up tolerances
Smalley Linear Springs are a continuous wave-formed (marcelled) wire length produced from spring-tempered materials. They act as a load-bearing device, having approximately the same load/deflection characteristics as a wave spring. Linear Springs are now available as a standard part in carbon and stainless steel, with over 200 sizes.
Click here to learn more. |
 | All about the latest, ultra-precise hexapods
In the past several years, with the integration of advances in technologies like piezo actuators, virtual programmable pivot points, and system simulation, hexapod performance has taken a significant leap forward, to the extent that electromechanical and piezoelectric hexapods are now viewed as more efficient and accurate systems compared to serial linkage and hydraulic kinematic positioning systems, including those commonly used on robotic arms. Learn all about hexapods and their capabilities in this extensive article.
Read the full article. |
 | Product: Osram introduces first surface-mountable LED with oval light-radiating characteristics
The new surface-mountable Displix Oval from Osram Opto Semiconductors is the first LED with oval light-radiating characteristics for large-screen video walls, gas station price signs, digital road signs, and more. Thanks to a compact housing measuring just 2.1 x 2.7 x 1.5 mm (including lens), almost twice as many LEDs can now be mounted on a board than with ordinary radial diodes, doubling both the pixel density and the resolution of displays. As a result, the images displayed are extremely vivid with a high color homogeneity.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product: 3D anti-glare scan spray
Reflectivity is detrimental to 3D data acquisition, so it is often necessary to apply an anti-glare coating to objects before 3D scanning. Helling 3D Scan Spray, offered by Laser Design, Inc. (LDI), is a great option for this due to its thin and uniform adherence to surfaces, which eliminates pooling and clumping that negatively impact scan data accuracy. The spray also washes off easily with water.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product: Positioning accuracy that rivals a glass scale
The newly enhanced IMS-I integrated measuring system from Rexroth achieves maximum linear motion positioning accuracy even in challenging work environments with contaminants and interference fields. This compact solution for ball and roller rail systems has an inductive design that offers repeatable accuracy rated to 0.25 µm at distances up to 4.5 m -- equivalent to more expensive glass scale systems. This solution is suitable for a wide range of industrial applications, including positioning laser cutters, synchronizing ram or plunger units in presses, extracting PET bottles at high speeds, and 3D printer processes that produce abrasive dust.
Click here to learn more. |
 | Product: Antistatic power transmission belt
The Poly Chain Carbon Volt belt from Gates is a new antistatic polyurethane solution that meets the ISO 9563 spec and retains its static conductivity longer than comparable belts. In accelerated lab testing of industrial belts from major manufacturers that meet ISO 9563, Gates experts found that their capacities to dissipate static severely diminished long before the typical end of functional life. The Gates Poly Chain Carbon Volt belt, however, maintains static conductivity to ISO 9563 levels several times longer than its competitors.
Click here to learn more. |
| | Most popular last issue |
 | Adaptive zoom riflescope prototype features push-button magnification
Sandia National Laboratories optical engineer Brett Bagwell (an Army Special Forces officer-turned-engineer) led the development of the Rapid Adaptive Zoom for Assault Rifles (RAZAR) prototype. At the push of a button, RAZAR can toggle between high and low magnifications, enabling Soldiers to zoom in without having to remove their eyes from their targets or their hands from their rifles. The flexible, polymer-based optics are based on the human eye.
Read the full article. |
 | New solar power material converts 90 percent of captured light into heat
A multidisciplinary engineering team at the University of California, San Diego, has developed a new nanoparticle-based material for concentrating solar power plants designed to absorb and convert to heat more than 90 percent of the sunlight it captures. The new material can also withstand temperatures greater than 700 C and survive many years outdoors in spite of exposure to air and humidity.
Read the full article. |
|
| | Videos+: Technologies and inspiration in action | Fundamentals of SOLIDWORKS Plastics
Validating your plastic part designs with SOLIDWORKS Plastics will ensure proper fill, determine best gate location, and eliminate potential defects and improve part quality. Take a look at this intro to the software.
View the video. |
 |
A little fun and inspiration:
Paper airplane machine gun
A Designfax reader tipped us off to a YouTube user called Papierfliegerei, who says that he has created a paper airplane folding machine that shoots out the little flyers machine-gun style. He says he had most of the parts 3D printed and uses a cordless screwdriver as the main motor component. Pretty inventive if you've got the time and motivation.
View the video. |
 |
|
|
