Appliance Design articles from April 2008

Appliance Design archives from April 2008

Green thinking and clear thinking.(Editorial)
April 1, 2008... Ice cream freezers chilled by propane and soft-drink vending machines cooled by carbon dioxide represent two concepts designed to be more environmentally friendly. (See Rethinking Refrigerants, page 29.) Those approaches may or may not become...

Shipments.(Statistical table)
April 1, 2008... SHIPMENTS Product Jan. '08 Jan. '07 % Chg. 1 Mos. '08 MAJOR APPLIANCES TOTAL 3,582,700 4,023,100 -10.9% 3,582,700 CLEANUP-TOTAL 808,300 938,500 -13.9%...

Forecasts.(Statistical table)
April 1, 2008... FORECASTS DVD PLAYERS/RECORDERS--Shipments (Thousands of Units) Qtr: 2007 2008 2009 1 2,463.1 2,647.2 2,710.0 2 4,344.6 4,613.3 4,950.3 3 5,679.1 5,912.7 6,672.2 4 ...

Domotechnica format finds favor.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Visitors and exhibitors alike expressed approval for the new Domotechnica, according to show managers. The International Trade Fair for Household Appliances was held Feb. 18-21 in Cologne, Germany. The show featured...

Blu-ray wins, adds Internet.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Sony Corp. plans to add an Ethernet port to its Blu-ray disc player that will allow it to download materials from the Internet. The BDP-S350 player, which will be Sony's first introduction since the format beat out its HD-DVD rival, will...

Write-on refrigerator.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Amana, a Whirlpool brand, has introduced the Jot refrigerator that features a dry-erase finish on the door panel. It is the first such refrigerator in the U.S., the company says. Amana is partnering with Crayola to provide blue and black...

NEC, Intel team.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... NEC Electronics Corp. and its U.S. subsidiary NEC Electronics America have teamed with Intel Corp. to develop a power management IC (PMIC) solution optimized for mobile Internet devices (MIDs). The integrated PMIC solution will combine power...

Fast Heat moves to RFID.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Fast Heat of Elmhurst, Ill., plans to move aggressively to develop products using RFID technology, and has sold off its heating elements business to help pay for the endeavor. The company has sold its line of heating elements and sensors to...

Morphing mobiles.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) and the University of Cambridge (UK), was launched alongside the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition, on view until May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art...

Testers tie knot.(NEWS WATCH)(Rheinland Holding AG)(SUD AG)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... TUV Rheinland Holding AG and TUV SUD AG plan to merge to create an international technical services group with the core competencies of testing, inspection, certification and training. The new company would employ about 25,000 people worldwide...

Fedders sells Addison.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Fedders Corporation, Liberty Corner, N.J., a global manufacturer of air treatment products, has sold its Fedders Addison Co. subsidiary to RobertsGordon LLC. The sale was completed Feb. 15, following approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court...

Meetings.(Calendar)
April 1, 2008... APRIL 2008 AHAM Annual Member Meeting April 27-28, Ft. Myers, Fla. Contact: 202/872-5955 Email: info@aham.org Website: www.aham.org MAY ANTEC 2008 May 4-8, Milwaukee, Wis. Contact: 203/740-5452 ...

Toys drop nickel cadmium.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Toys "R" Us Inc. and Mattel Inc. plan to phase-out the use of nickel-cadmium batteries in their toys. The nickel cadmium batteries, commonly found in remote-control toys, pose no health risks to children who play with the toys. But, the...

FDA ok shields devices.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... An 8-1 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court limits state lawsuits against medical device manufacturers. The court ruled that state law cannot be used to sue a medical device maker over a device that had received approval by FDA regulators. The case...

Compressor venture.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Chinas Midea Electric Appliances Co. will form a refrigeration compressor-manufacturing venture with a unit of Toshiba Corp. The joint venture, based in the central Chinese province of Anhui, will be 95 percent owned by Midea and have annual...

New TV star.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... The Environmental Protection Agency has revised the Energy Star specification for televisions. Effective Nov. 1, 2008, TVs that carry the Energy Star label will be up to 30 percent more efficient than conventional models and will save energy...

Atmel acquires Quantum.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Atmel Corp., San Jose, Calif., has acquired Quantum Research Group Ltd., U.K., a developer of capacitive touch-screen technology. The acquisition of Quantum provides Atmel with an immediate presence in touch sensing. Capacitive sensing products...

Chinese appliances more costly.(NEWS WATCH)(Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Company Ltd.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Higher raw material costs are forcing Chinese appliance manufacturers to raise prices. Haier has raised its prices on goods, mainly clothes washing machines and refrigerators, by 5 percent to 10 percent. The price rise was due to increased...

Sony and Sharp team on LCD.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Sony and Sharp are working together to develop LCDs for fiat-panel TVs. Sony plans to invest in a Sharp plant for making liquid crystal displays. Sony Corp. had fallen behind in developing flat panel TVs, and does not make its own liquid...

Haier exports surge.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... The 2007 air conditioner exports of Chinese home appliance giant Haier Group surged 31 percent over 2006. Haier's global revenue in air conditioner sales grew 22 percent year-to-year with profits up 26 percent.

Bitzer builds U.S. scroll plant.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... German compressor manufacturer Bitzer plans to build a $30 million scroll compressor factory in Syracuse, N.Y. The new facility will create nearly 300 jobs at a former General Motors facility in Salina, just outside Syracuse.

Molded medical alliance.(NEWS WATCH)(Phillips Plastics Corp.)(Pro Tek Medical)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Phillips Plastics Corp., Prescott, Wis., and Pro Tek Medical have formed a strategic alliance to offer joint medical manufacturing capabilities in Ireland, Great Britain, Europe and the U.S. The two company's began working together in 2006 and...

LG and GE sign deal.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... LG Electronics of Korea has entered into a cross-licensing agreement with GE Consumer & Industrial, Louisville, Ky. The agreement will allow LG and GE to use each other's patents for refrigerators and cooking appliances without paying licensing...

Powerful communications.(NEWS WATCH)(HomePlug Alliance)(Panasonic Co.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The HomePlug Powerline Alliance announced that its proposal, submitted together with Panasonic, continues to move towards the creation of an international standard for In-Home and Access Powerline communication technologies. Following a...

Converting e-waste.(NEWS WATCH)
April 1, 2008... Panasonic, together with Kusatsu Electric Co., Ltd., developed a recycling technology that enables the recovery of metals from plastic-coated wires and plastics used in electric and electronic equipment without causing hazardous side-effects....

Get grilling.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... According to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association 2007 shipments of grills exceeded 17.4 million, setting a new record. Gas grills continue to top the charts as the most popular type of grill, followed by charcoal and then electric. Total...

Sound idea: acoustic-stirling refrigeration hits the field.(COOLING TECHNOLOGIES)
April 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Coolingwith the power of sound might very well represent the next wave in refrigeration. The science behind the idea is called thermoacoustics, and was originally developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The...

Stirling strikes: old idea finds new life.(COOLING TECHNOLOGIES)
April 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Of the practical thermodynamic cycles such as Otto, Diesel, Brayton, and Rankine, the Stirling Cycle and its variants are the only fully reversible cycles that have the theoretical potential to match the ideal efficiency...

Enhanced exchangers: innovations boost heat transfer efficiency.(COOLING TECHNOLOGIES)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Improving the efficiency of vapor-compression systems has justifiably focused on the electro-mechanical devices that actually consume energy, such as compressors and fans, but more attention is now being paid to heat...

Rethinking refrigerants: global warming concerns creating divergent paths.(COOLING TECHNOLOGIES)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The first major phase change for refrigerants has not even been completed yet and already many are urging yet another. The long, hard, costly journey away from ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbous (CFCs), which began...

Inducing interest: new concept draws attention to induction cooktops.(DECORATION)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Designers are always looking for new ways to make their products stand out from the competition, and those working on induction cooktop designs have recently been provided with a new option for achieving a...

Classy glass: reflective coatings for glass create new design options.(DECORATION)
April 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1A OMITTED] [FIGURE 1B OMITTED] [FIGURE 1C OMITTED] For many years, glass coatings have served to brighten and beautify the world. Myriad soft drink and beer bottles have been coated, allowing customers to immediately...

Drive decisions: appliance designers must choose among several motor drive options.(MOTORS)
April 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] The AC induction motor has dominated appliance applications as the prime-mover for many decades. Most of these applications used relays for on-off control of split-capacitor AC induction motors....

Big gains from tiny valve: MEMS valve saves energy in appliances.(FLUID HANDLING)
April 1, 2008... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) have been around for more than two decades. The highest volumes of MEMS devices are sold as inkjet print cartridges and pressure sensors. Recently, high-resolution gyros and angular...

Innovations abound: record-setting show displayed vast array of new HVAC/R equipment and components.(AHR EXPO HIGHLIGHTS)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 2008 AHR Expo, held in New York, Jan. 22-24, hit record attendance levels as HVAC and refrigeration professionals from 132 countries viewed the thousands of products designed for the OEM and contractor markets....

The reality of the digital future.(ASSOCIATION REPORT: CEA)
April 1, 2008... With less than 12 months until the historic transition to digital television, some say society is on the verge of another Y2K. They are absolutely right. Just like on Jan. 1, 2000, when everything worked as well as it had the day before, on...