Assembly articles from February 2003

Assembly archives from February 2003

Promise or peril? (Editorial).
February 1, 2003... Globalization, like it or not, is inevitable, as we noted on this page in January. But there are wide-ranging ramifications--both economic and strategic--from moving manufacturing offshore. Companies from GM to IBM have set up factories in...

Cups handle variety of parts. (X-Y-Z).
February 1, 2003... Vacuum cups are the simplest and least expensive method of gripping parts. There are cups for parts weighing a few ounces and for parts weighing several hundred pounds. There are cups for gripping parts with odd surfaces, such as golf balls,...

Robots make a big leap. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... ANN ARBOR, MI -- North American robot orders rose 11 percent during the first 9 months of 2092, compared to the same period in 2001, according to statistics from Robotic Industries Association (RIA). Through September 2002, 7,511 robots were...

MIT issues grants to spur innovation. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced the launch of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation and the issuance of more than $1 million in Ignition and Innovation Program grants. The Deshpande Center...

Manufacturing is bright for U.S. firms. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... SAVANNAH, GA -- The U.S. economy may still be slumping, but two analysts are predicting better times for manufacturing companies in the United States. Jeff Thredgold, president of Thredgold Economic Associates in Salt Lake City, told 175...

Robot cleans for humans. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... SOMERVILLE, MA -- Welcome to the 21st century. Just press the button, and iRobot's Roomba vacuums any room by itself. It needs no help from a human. And after it is done cleaning, it shuts itself off. Roomba uses intelligent navigation...

ATS buys electrical controls company. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... CAMBRIDGE, ON, CANADA -- Automation Tooling Systems Inc. has acquired Magnet GmbH, an electrical controls company in Munich, Germany. Magnet GmbH provides a range of control technology services, including design, programming, wiring and...

Motorola sells equipment service and manufacturing to Telco. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... SCHAUMBURG, IL -- Motorola Inc. has agreed to sell the equipment repair and manufacturing assets of Phoenix-based Motorola Manufacturing Solutions test equipment business to Telco Inc. (Franklin, TN). Telco manufactures industrial, telecom and...

Heat pipe cools laptops. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... ALBUQUERQUE, NM -- Laptop computers make laps hot, as users soon learn. And things could get hotter as laptops get faster. Upcoming computer chips may produce 100 watts per square centimeter, which is equivalent to the heat generated by a...

OSU and PNNL join forces. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... CORVALLIS, OR--Oregon State University (OSU) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have formed a research and educational center. The institute, called the Micro-products Breakthrough Institute, will combine OSU's expertise...

U.S. Navy selects delmia tools. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... TROY, MI -- The Manufacturing Process Model Project Team, funded by the Office of Naval Research, has selected Delmia's suite of software tools to help research ways to streamline the shipbuilding process for the U.S. Navy's DD(X) program. ...

Industrial distributors form Triad Technologies. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... DAYTON, OH -- Triad Fluid Power Inc., Air Draulic Inc. (Toledo, OH) and the Parker fluid connectors and Miller cylinder brands from Midwest Fluid Power Co. (Toledo) have merged to form Triad Technologies LLC. Triad will distribute Parker...

San Diego to host microelectronics show. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... SAN DIEGO Increasing demand for microelectronics and packaging materials has pushed the electronics industry to extend technology limits. SoCal 2003 to be held May 15 at the Red Lion Hanalei Hotel in San Diego will enable professors...

ZT automation uses Adept's SmartServo. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... FREEMONT, CA -- ZT Automation has selected Adept Technology Inc.'s (San Jose, CA) sModule linear modules and SmartController products. Adept's Fire Wire-based products will be used in ZT Automation's advanced servowriting workcell. This...

RMI helps maximize productivity. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- New machine technologies and precision maintenance techniques offer high productivity and tong machine life. But results can fall short of expectations if the skills of operators and maintenance professionals do not advance at...

Dorner news movie showcases new products. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... HARTLAND, WI--Dorner Manufacturing Corp. now has an interactive, 2-minute monthly news movie that gives an overview of Dorner's new conveyor offerings and showcases unique material handling applications. Called "News That Moves," the news...

Hardware enhances long-distance collaborations. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... ALBUQUERQUE, NM--A surgeon in New York who quickly wants the opinion of a specialist in Los Angeles would probably send magnetic resonance imaging files as e-mail attachments or make them accessible in Internet drop zones. Unfortunately,...

EKRA and Fuji enter OEM agreement. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... CHIRYU, JAPAN -- Fuji Machine Manufacturing has agreed to integrate EKRA GmbH's stencil and screen printers into its surface mount placement equipment. Fuji will adjust the hardware and software interfaces of its equipment to accommodate...

Consumers say luxury is in. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... BOSTON -- The old notion that companies win the mass market via price is no longer a given. Apparently, consumers are no longer satisfied with average products and quality levels. According to the Boston Consulting Group, Americans are now...

Adhesive research adds new sales agents and distributors. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... GLEN ROCK, PA -- Adhesive Research Inc. has signed an agreement with Techno Alpha Co. Ltd. to allow it to serve as a sales agent and distributor of Adhesive Research's electronics and industrial technologies in Japan. In addition to...

Steel manufacturers have high hopes for 2003. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... CLEVELAND -- U.S. steel parts manufacturers have a hopeful economic outlook for this year, according to Precision Metalforming Association's (PMA) December 2002 Business Conditions Report. This report marks the first time in 6 months that...

Leister Technologies moves. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... ITASCA, IL -- Leister Technologies LLC has relocated. The company is located at 1253 Hamilton Parkway, Itasca, IL 60143. The company now has a larger lab area and office, which is well-suited for the increasing number of projects that are...

GM and Fedex announce fuel cell partnership. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... TOKYO -- Federal Express Corp. and General Motors Corp. will conduct the first commercial test of a fuel cell vehicle in Japan. FedEx Express will participate in General Motor's HydroGen3 fuel cell testing program for 1 year by operating...

Tower Fasteners distributes Tinnerman Palnut products. (Assembly Lines).
February 1, 2003... HOLTSVILLE, NY -- Tower Fasteners Co. Inc. (Holtsville, NY), an East Coast distributor of fasteners and electronic hardware, is now a distributor for Tinnerman Palnut Engineered Products (Brunswick, OH). Tinnerman Palnut manufactures metal and...

Flexible conveyors increase throughput. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... "Ooni luut gaat nuut is the sound of success at Phonak AG (Stafa, Switzerland), a hearing aid manufacturer. The company's products require challenging manual assembly processes. The company looks for flexibility, ergonomics and...

Modular conveyor system enhances production line. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... "In this business, you've got to be fast on your feet," says Bruce Wakefield, manufacturing engineer for Mann Automotive (South Bend, IN). The company produces injection-molded plastic manifolds for the automobile industry--using lost core and...

Live manufacturing information enhances ERP. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... JDS Uniphase Corp. (San Jose, CA), a supplier of fiber optic components and equipment, needed a way to transfer up-to-the-minute data about plant floor operations to and from its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. With 16 plants in...

Simulation program boosts workcell throughput. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... Winning a large contract to supply internal antennas for the mobile phone market proved to be more difficult than component manufacturer N&R Engineering's (Lancashire, England) management team had hoped. When production began, it became...

Dispensers improve PCB quality. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., a supplier of electronic components for the personal telecommunications market, recently purchased two Asymtek (Carlsbad, CA) Millennium M-620 dispensing systems to equip its printed circuit board (PCB) facility in...

Robots help assemble fiber optic pigtails. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... Manually assembling fiber optic pigtails requires operators to work with tiny parts that have submicron tolerances. Incorrect component assembly causes misalignment of the fiber cables, which greatly reduces the output capacity of the...

Valve provides an option for pest control. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... With reports of the West Nile virus, there is increased attention on the problem of mosquito control. American Biophysics Corp. (East Greenwich, RI) specializes in insect mitigation and disease control. The company has developed a unique...

Simulation software helps build electric motors. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... Computer simulation was recently used to design and validate a less expensive method of building permanent magnet electric motors. Until now, the magnets used in nearly all such motors have been secured in place with adhesives or spring clips....

Polymers make automatic toilet stylish and compact. (Assembly in Action).
February 1, 2003... Swiss manufacturer Closomat AG (Embrach, Switzerland) manufactures Avantgarde--a compact, automatic shower-toilet. The wall-integrated unit has a neat, stylish and functional design. This design is possible due to the use of materials from...

The pros and cons of outsourcing: the concept behind contract assembly sounds great, but it's not always the best solution. (Electronics Assembly).
February 1, 2003... Today, outsourcing is a fact of life for manufacturing engineers. Most printed circuit boards and other electronic devices are assembled by third-party companies. But, there are many hidden costs and pitfalls often overlooked in the quest to...

Thermally removable adhesive bonds: epoxy adhesives rely an reversible chemistry. (Adhesive Bonding).
February 1, 2003... A wide variety of adhesives are used to manufacture complicated electrical and electromechanical devices. These adhesives are normally customized for the specific materials to be joined and are chosen to hold parts together indefinitely....

Practical tips for implementing the pin-in-paste process. (Electronics Assembly).
February 1, 2003... The pin-in-paste process can often replace wave soldering. The typical pin-in-paste process is incorporated into the surface mount process. Mixed technology printed circuit boards (PCBs) can be complex. They are often assembled using a...

The rotary club: new technologies breathe life into old assembly platform. (Automated Assembly).
February 1, 2003... Rotary indexing dials have been a mainstay of automation systems for decades. They are simple, inexpensive, precise, reliable and durable. What's more, they can assemble a lot of product in a relatively small footprint and with a minimal number...

Brazing for high-power electronics: brazing is the primary method at joining parts in high-power electronic devices. (Brazing).
February 1, 2003... Brazing is not immediately associated with electronics applications, but it is, in fact, the major means of joining parts in high-power, free-electron devices, such as traveling wave tubes, magnetrons and klystrons. The range of special...

The man behind the moving assembly line: Henry Ford took the praise, but Charles Sorensen did the work. (Assembly Then & Now).
February 1, 2003... This year marks the 100th anniversary of Ford Motor Co. and the 90th anniversary of the moving assembly line. Whenever textbooks or TV documentaries discuss mass production, they invariably mention Henry Ford. In reality, much of the...

SCARA is fast, compact. (Products).
February 1, 2003... The IX SCARA robot is available with a horizontal reach of 250, 350, 500 or 600 millimeters, and a vertical stroke of 150, 200 or 300 millimeters. The vertical axis rotates 360 degrees, and is hollow for routing cables and pneumatic lines. The...

Fastener secures harnesses. (Products).
February 1, 2003... When used with a cable tie, the weld stud mount secures wire harnesses and hoses to a metal frame. The mount is made from heat-stabilized, impact-modified nylon 6/6. The mount will not rust or abrade wire and hoses. It is installed with stud...

Software aids product development. (Products).
February 1, 2003... IX Speed digital design software enables engineers to develop a product in parallel. All constituents involved in the project can concurrently modify and evaluate designs, and communicate with each other. When one user alters a design, the...

High-speed, high-res camera. (Products).
February 1, 2003... The Ranger M50 camera can read 10,000 3D profiles per second, which makes it ideal for measuring the volume of solder paste deposits on printed circuit boards. The camera's image sensor has 1,536 by 512 pixels, enabling it to detect a deposit...

Dispenser for thick materials. (Products).
February 1, 2003... The Pro-Meter VDK dispenses high-viscosity materials. This closed-loop, positive-displacement gear pump is controlled by a servo drive with encoder feedback. Because gear metering reduces pressure differentials, material deposits are accurate...

Lightweight diaphragm valve. (Products).
February 1, 2003... Model DV509 diaphragm valve can dispense medium- to low-viscosity fluids at 200 cycles per minute, while keeping the wetted parts separate from the operating air supply. Microshot sizes are possible using a screw adjuster. The 3-ounce valve is...

Three-finger gripper. (Products).
February 1, 2003... The MPZ three-finger concentric grippers offer repeatability of less than 0.0004 inch and actuation speeds as fast as 20 milliseconds. The grippers are available in three body sizes ranging from 30 to 45 millimeters. Strokes are between 6 and...

PC-based controller. (Products).
February 1, 2003... The RC420 controller combines a PC and an industrial drive unit into a single 19-inch rack-mountable chassis. As with the RC520 PC-based controller, the RC420 controller uses the RC+ software. The compact RC420 controller does everything that...

Compact conveyor. (Products).
February 1, 2003... This compact conveyor is 2.875 inches high and only 1.5 inches wider than the transport tray. Its footprint is 50 percent smaller than conventional systems. Sensor, logic and motor controls are built into the conveyor rail. The control system...

Bar code placard. (Bar Coding & Auto ID).
February 1, 2003... These sequential bar code placards are suitable for identifying returnable and reusable containers, racks and pallets. A permanent placard is affixed with adhesive to the reusable container to act as a label holder. Then, a label identifying...

Self-inking stamp. (Bar Coding & Auto ID).
February 1, 2003... The Insta Mark stamp is a fast-drying, self-inking stamp for marking on nonporous surfaces. With a marking head only 0.37 inch in diameter, the user can mark between components on a printed circuit board. Various colors are available. VRS...

Portable bar code printer. (Bar Coding & Auto ID).
February 1, 2003... This resin thermal transfer bar code and label printer is suitable for use in manufacturing applications. Called the LabelShop 2001XLB, it contains six bar code formats and prints industrial-grade labels on polyester adhesive-backed tape. It...

Laser coder. (Bar Coding & Auto ID).
February 1, 2003... The Domino S200 has a miniature laser tube in a cylindrical enclosure. Precision optics provide a microlaser beam, resulting in concise imaging on any substrate. It is IP55 compliant and uses little space. It can produce simple codes or...

Automated AGV. (Conveyors).
February 1, 2003... The PowerBot is an automated guided vehicle that can navigate among moving obstacles to any destination. It can autonomously calculate a best path and replan paths if it encounters obstacles. It can carry up to 200 pounds at a maximum speed of...

Clean room conveyor. (Conveyors).
February 1, 2003... These stainless steel conveyors are suitable for small parts handling applications in clean room environments. They are available in many configurations, belt widths, lengths and pulley diameters. ASG www.asg-jergens.com ...

Lift table saves backs. (Conveyors).
February 1, 2003... The Backsaver hydraulic lift table can lift a load up to 56 inches. Models are available to support loads of 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 4,000 or 6,000 pounds. Platform sizes range from 24 by 36 inches to 72 by 96 inches. The tabletop does not...

Angle viewer with microscope adapter. (Inspection).
February 1, 2003... This magnetically mounted, 360-degree 3D oblique angle viewer has a universal adapter, which can be used with most stereo microscope systems. It will fit accessory guides from 38 to 64 millimeters using three locking thumbscrews. Vision...

UV lamp Illuminates defects. (Inspection).
February 1, 2003... The UV-400 SuperFlood ultraviolet lamp can be used for fluorescent penetrant and magnetic particle inspections, parts degreasing inspections and wash station inspections. Once the contamination is revealed, it is easy to clean the part's...

X-ray Inspection. (Inspection).
February 1, 2003... A low-dose mode option can be added to existing X-ray inspection systems to inspect high-reliability components and boards. The option allows the X-ray inspection system to block unnecessary radiation exposure during movement and manipulation...

Off-line inspection machine. (Inspection).
February 1, 2003... This turnkey off-Line inspection machine can be used for precision measuring and gauging of parts. The unit includes an EZVision machine vision system with camera optics and lighting, along with other customer-specified components. ...

Inspection station makes magnification easy. (Inspection).
February 1, 2003... With the Observatory inspection station, micro images are viewed on a high-resolution monitor. The station magnifies images up to 130 X. The unit features a domed, 2- by 2-inch CCD camera with two onboard spotlights, and a foot pedal-controlled...

Linear motor. (Motion Control).
February 1, 2003... The Thrust Rod linear motor develops drive force from the interaction between fixed and electrically generated traveling magnetic fields. The fixed field is created by permanent magnets enclosed within a long cylindrical "thrust rod." The...

Custom leadscrews. (Motion Control).
February 1, 2003... No-maintenance stainless steel leadscrews can be custom-made for various applications. Available in lengths up to 12 feet, leadscrews can be rolled with a right- or left-hand thread in a variety of leads, including back-driving leads. Each...

Amp and motor package. (Motion Control).
February 1, 2003... The Servo Kit is a self-contained, pre-engineered amplifier and motor package configured to work with Adept Smart Controllers, which are based on IEEE-1394 FireWire technology. It consists of a smart amplifier with a matched AC servomotor and...

Two- and three-jaw grippers. (Motion Control).
February 1, 2003... The P-3000 series of two- and three-jaw parallel grippers have a high grip-force-to-moment ratio. The body is made of lightweight aluminum. The wear surfaces are made of hardened tool steel. The gripper centers parts to +/-0.001 inch. Two...

Linear stepper motors. (Motion Control).
February 1, 2003... These two- and four-phase linear stepper motors can move loads at a speed of 80 ips and accelerate at a rate of 1g. The maximum stroke is 144 inches. The motors can produce 50 pounds of continuous force and 65 pounds of peak force. A full step...

Linear positioning stage. (Motion Control).
February 1, 2003... The TLC precision linear positioning stage locates loads with submicron resolution and repeatability of [+ or -]1 micron. With travel ranges of 100 millimeters to 2 meters, the stage can move at up to 6 meters per second and accelerate at up to...

Digital drive reduces wiring. (Motion Control).
February 1, 2003... The Allen-Bradley Kinetix 6000 servo drive has a digital, fiber-optic link between the drive and the controller. One digital fiber-optic link eliminates up to 18 discrete wires per axis in analog systems and prevents phasing and electrical...

Telescopic rails. (Motion Control).
February 1, 2003... Telescopic rails offer the convenience and ease of "drawer" slides and the strength and rigidity of linear bearings. Made of hardened, cold-drawn steel, each pair of rails can carry a maximum load of 2,500 pounds with a maximum stroke of 2...

Mobile fastening unit. (Power & Hand Tools).
February 1, 2003... The MFS II is a portable fastening, torque and angle auditing unit for such applications as joint analysis and troubleshooting, prototype component building and testing, and production line repair. Each of the three versions of MFS II includes...

Wrenches have anti-slip design. (Power & Hand Tools).
February 1, 2003... These open-end and combination wrenches (in sizes up to 1 1/4 inches) have an anti-slip design that ensures the wrench fits snuggly on the fastener. This prevents the jaws from spreading and keeps the wrench from slipping. Grooves on the inside...

Pneumatic scissors. (Power & Hand Tools).
February 1, 2003... Airshirz pneumatic scissors require 90 percent less muscle activity to operate than manual scissors. They are available in two grip designs--two-finger grip or loop-style grip. Both feature an automatic spring-return action. All units use 80 to...

Removal tool. (Power & Hand Tools).
February 1, 2003... This removal tool can disengage vibration-proof, self-locking nuts from bolts to enable product inspection or repair. Made of high tensile steel and incorporating a circular head with a notched extension, the device fits into the structure of...

Cordless impact wrench. (Power & Hand Tools).
February 1, 2003... These 14.4-volt, cordless impact wrenches deliver up to 117 ft-lb of torque. They have a heavy-duty, die-cast, aluminum gear housing and are compact. At 7.5 inches in length, they are maneuverable in tight spaces and are suitable for driving...

Photoelectric sensor. (Sensors & Vision).
February 1, 2003... The Elf series of photoelectric sensors is available in three versions: reflex retroreflective, background suppression and energetic diffuse. The background suppression and energetic diffuse models have detection ranges of 50 to 100...

Thru-beam fork sensor. (Sensors & Vision).
February 1, 2003... The BGL thru-beam fork sensors have prealigned optics integrated into a metal, forks le hod that allows for installation without special brackets or beam alignment procedures. They feature resolution to 0.3 millimeter, repeatability to 0.02...

Reflective sensor. (Sensors & Vision).
February 1, 2003... This reflective sensor can detect a target at a distance of 1,000 millimeters or more. It measures a cubic volume of under 10cc] and is suitable for use in environments where the sensor must be positioned at a greater than normal distance from...

Miniature barrel sensor. (Sensors & Vision).
February 1, 2003... This AC barrel sensor is made of stainless steel and is 8 millimeters in diameter, with a sensing range of 2 millimeters on mild steel. It contains noise immunity circuitry that makes it resistant to variable frequency drives, servos,...

Workcell System. (Workstations).
February 1, 2003... The Cart Lift System for the FlexiMate Transport Line eliminates handling carts in high-volume assembly cells. The lift elevator automatically keeps carts moving, and it easily integrates into existing cells. Activated by a proximity switch, a...

Laminates dissipate static. (Workstations).
February 1, 2003... Nevamar static-dissipative laminates provide durable work surfaces for electronically sensitive applications in a range of humidity conditions and environments, A uniform resistance to ground ranging from ito 1,000 megohms, measured at 100...

Tough workbench. (Workstations).
February 1, 2003... Heavy-duty workbench is 72 inches wide, 30 inches deep and 78 inches in overall height. The top is made of 7-gauge steel. The bottom shelf is made of 12-gauge steel. The workbench's two drawers hold 250 pounds each. The upper storage area comes...

The "best practices" hoax. (Uncommon Sense).
February 1, 2003... It' s human nature to compare your own performance with that of others, so using the performance of other firms as a benchmark for rating your firm's performance would seem to make sense. Once you know the benchmark performance, you certainly...