Appliance Design articles from April 2005

Appliance Design archives from April 2005

Chilling choices.(innovations in refrigeration)(Editorial)
April 1, 2005... It is almost hard to fathom today, that for a brief period in the early 1800s, you could make a lot of money chopping ice out of frozen ponds and lakes in the wintry North, then shipping tons of the cool cargo all over, even to places such as...

Shipments.(consumer electronics and appliance industry shipments data)
April 1, 2005... SHIPMENTS Product Jan. '05 Jan. '04 % Chg. MAJORS--TOTAL 4,470,700 4,864,400 -8.1% CLEANUP--TOTAL 1,049,100 1,035,300 1.3% Compactors ...

Forecasts.(Illustration)
April 1, 2005... FORECASTS DVD PLAYERS--Shipments (Thousands of Units) Qtr: 2004 2005 2006 1 3,513.3 3,188.6 2,755.5 2 4,552.8 4,194.0 3,732.9 3 5,233.9 4,515.3 4,296.4 4 ...

Smarter iron debuts.(Laurastar launches ironing products )
April 1, 2005... Laurastar, a Swiss-based company specializing in the making and marketing of quality ironing solutions, has launched a range of intuitive ironing products using technology developed by Cambridge Consultants, a technology development and...

More state standards?(energy standards for appliance makers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The state of Massachusetts has proposed state appliance energy,- efficiency, standards. Gas furnaces, commercial clothes washers, commercial refrigerators, packaged terminal air conditioning units are just some of the appliances that would be...

Sears recognized.(Sears, Roebuck and Co. awarded Excellence in Appliance Retailing award )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) have recognized Sears, Roebuck and Co. with the Excellence in Appliance Retailing 2005 award for its outstanding contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions...

Ontario plans new rules.(new energy standards for appliance and HVAC industry)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Air conditioners and other devices that consume a large amount of energy may be subject to new efficiency standards under draft regulations from Ontario's energy ministry, based in Toronto. Gas furnaces, clothes washers, water heaters, and...

Europe going digital.(digital television)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Digital television has gained a new lease of life ill Europe during the past year, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, which says that 25.7 percent of Europe's TV households had acquired digital television by the end of...

Inviting inverters.(appliances to use more inverters in coming years, forecast)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The number of major home appliances using inverter-based, variable-speed control solutions is forecast to multiply four-fold between 2003 and 2008, according to a recent report from IMS Research. The report reveals that the electronic content...

Fedders buying.(Fedders Corp. acquires Islandaire, Inc. )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Fedders Corp., a maker of HVAC products, announced that it has purchased 80 percent of the stock of Islandaire, Inc. from its thunder and sole shareholder, Robert E. Hansen, Ir., for a combination of cash and preferred stock. Islandaire, based...

Sight and sound.(NTT DoCoMo, Inc. sells SoundVu enabled handsets)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Japan, has started selling the world's first SoundVu enabled handset to Japanese consumers. The NS06iS handset incorporates SoundVu technology developed by NXT, plc, in the U.K. SoundVu technology allows a flat panel display...

Sabers over steel.(appliance and automakers urges to end tariffs on imported steel )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Reeling over high steel prices, appliance manufacturers have joined with auto makers in urging an end to U.S. tariffs on imported steel. Some U.S. and state lawmakers, steel companies, and unions want tariffs to remain on some foreign imports...

Shapely tubs.(Jacuzzi Brands launches new bathtubs)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Jacuzzi, as part of a new initiative called Morphosis, has unveiled a new series of whirlpool baths--Alpha, Gamma and Sigma--that were designed in conjunction with Pininfarina Group, the design firm known for its Ferrari car designs. The new...

Another star.(Whirlpool Corp. awarded as an Energy Star Partner of the Year )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) have named Whirlpool Corp. as an Energy Star Partner of the Year for its outstanding contribution to making and promoting energy-efficient products, resulting in...

Ultra-thin encoder.(Zettlex, Ltd. develops world's thinnest position encoder)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Zettlex, Ltd., Cambridge, U.K., claims to have developed the world's thinnest position encoder. At 50 microns, two of the encoders could fit within the thickness of a typical piece of paper. The encoders are based on an electromagnetic...

Outage outrage.(portable electric devices and its batteries, survey)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... In a not-so-surprising discovery, Medis Technologies, Ltd., New York, conducted a survey to discover that 87 percent of people whose portable electric device went dead after running out of power experienced feelings of frustration. The groups...

Burner buddies.(appliance maker AGA signs contract with Sabaf)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... AGA, the British maker of high-end cooking appliances, has chosen Sabaf, Italy, to supply gas burners for new gas cooking units. AGA has already installed Sabaf's Series II gas burners and the new Triple-Crown Dual burner in new units. The...

Broadband booms.(subscribers expected to increase)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The number of broadband subscribers has just passed 150 million worldwide, according to IMS Research. The company's latest broadband database update says this represents an increase of 51 million since the beginning of 2004. This tremendous...

Meetings.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2005... NAMA Spring Expo Trade Show, April 7-9, Las Vegas. Contact: National Automatic Merchandising Association, 312/346-0370. Web site: www.vending.org China Refrigeration 2005, April 12-14, Beijing, China. Contact: 86 10 84115051 64227788-625...

Charging ahead: new ideas emerge for recharging batteries.(SplashPad, a new battery charging mat from Splashpower, Ltd., charges any electronic portable device )
April 1, 2005... Panacea is not a word to be used lightly, but a universal recharging station for a plethora of portable electronic devices might just come close to earning the designation. Today, a typical fan of techno-gadgets likely owns many portable...

Quiet power: novel PM motor design provides higher power density and efficiency with less noise.(elemination of noise in permanent magnet electric motors through Segmented ElectroMagnetic Array technology)
April 1, 2005... Appliance designers have different priori ties when specifying motors. Characteristics such as efficiency, torque, and noise may figure more or less prominently, depending on the application. A motor that scored well in all three categories...

Harnessing harmony: herding harmonics improves peak torque in AC inverter-based induction motor.(induction motors from Chorus Motors)
April 1, 2005... Motor technology has seen refinements recently in both permanent magnet DC motors and variable frequency drives based on pulse width modulation control. But a radically different approach, the Chorus drive system, offers advantages over both in...

Turning the right way: synchronous motor provides predictable rotation direction.(Johnson Electric Holdings Ltd. developed a higher efficiency synchronous motor)
April 1, 2005... Single-phase, single-winding, two-pole synchronous motors have been in use for many decades. Applications includes a wide variety of devices ranging from washing-machine timers to fluid pumps. The motors have a drawback, however, in that they...

Running on air: low-temperature refrigeration system is both CFC- and ammonia-free.(Earthship USA Inc. uses an air cycle system to design and develop a refrigeration equipment)
April 1, 2005... At the beginning of the 1900s, cold air machines were used on ships and by food stores. But, compressor technology was neither reliable nor efficient, and the idea of using air as a refrigerant faded away. Now, a century later, Earthship USA,...

Atmospheric alternative: carbon dioxide takes on traditional refrigerants.(Coca-Cola Co. to roll out CO2 refrigeration equipment)
April 1, 2005... Carbon dioxide found popularity as a refrigerant for comfort cooling in the 1920s, before being replaced by more convenient CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) in the 1930s and then HFCs (hydroflurocarbons) in the 1990s. But with the Kyoto Protocol, an...

Converting disbelievers: thermodynamic cycle proves the impossible is here and ready to use.(Idalex Technologies developed Maisotsenko Cycle technology for thermodynamically cooling)
April 1, 2005... Physics and thermodynamic students are taught that it is theoretically impossible to cool below the wet bulb temperature of air by evaporating water. It's no surprise, then, that thousands find it hard to believe that a company in Arvada, Colo....

Sound power: thermoacoustic refrigeration uses a loudspeaker to keep things cool.(thermoacoustics in refrigeration)
April 1, 2005... Thermoacoustics could be the sound of things to come in alternative refrigerants. Steven Garrett, United Technologies Corp. professor of acoustics at Penn State University and a team of researchers built a prototype thermoacoustic chiller for...

Any shape, any look: advanced decorating process expands design flexibility.(usage of dye sublimation processes in the design of appliances)
April 1, 2005... Applying unique decoration to a product is one of the surest and most obvious means of differentiating it from its competition. Recent technological advances in a process known as dye sublimation now make it possible to put practically any...

Classy glass: new appliances use glass to provide distinctive design.(DECORATIVE TRIM)
April 1, 2005... For a number of years now, glass has been used to impart an upscale look to cooktops and to touch controls for high-end appliances. Maytag has recently taken that idea one step further by designing an entire suite of Jenn-Air brand appliances...

Valves.(FLUID HANDLING PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2005... Danfoss A patented family of flangeless weld-in control valves constitutes a new platform of valves for industrial refrigeration applications. These are the industry's first weld-in mild steel valves, and their greatly reduced leak...

Pumps.(FLUID HANDLING PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2005... Watson-Marlow Bredel The 313D pumphead features secure clamps that allow more clearance during loading and prevents tampering. To maintain the purity of the pumping product, the pumphead has no valves, is self-priming and can run dry...

Tubing/hose.(FLUID HANDLING PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2005... NewAge[R] Industries, Inc. Custom Molded Tubing Parts manufactured from PVC-based plastisol have dip-molded parts that address a number of problems that can occur with typical tubing and fitting connections, such as leaks, labor costs,...

Leak testing.(FLUID HANDLING PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2005... InterTech Development Company Two production-line leak detectors feature a new electronic technology for self-calibration and system validation (patent pending). Introduced as the first leak testers to offer such capabilities, M-1075...

Canada including appliances in WEEE program.(Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment)
April 1, 2005... Our neighbors in Ontario, Canada, are in the process of designing and implementing a "Waste Diversion" program for electronic and electrical products such as computers, televisions, printers, cell phones and appliances. The program was...