Appliance Design articles from July 2006

Appliance Design archives from July 2006

His, hers, and other.(marketing of a shaver)(Editorial)
July 1, 2006... Philips Norelco is marketing its BodyGroomer shaver by suggesting that men should shave everywhere, and a special Web site for the product clears up any fuzziness you might have on the term "everywhere." Writing this shortly before Father's...

Shipments.(shipments in appliance industry compared for the year)(Statistical table)
July 1, 2006... Product April '06 April '05 % Chg. MAJORS--TOTAL 5,040,200 4,934,600 2.1% CLEANUP--TOTAL 1,074,400 1,035,200 3.8% Compactors ...

Forecasts.(shipments in appliance industry forecasted)(Statistical table)
July 1, 2006... FORECASTS DVD PLAYERS/RECORDERS --Shipments (Thousands of Units) Qtr: 2005 2006 2007 1 1,930.5 2,115.3 2,233.4 2 3,764.8 3,716.3 3,404.6 3 3,597.4 3,489.4 3,216.8 4 6,854.3...

Fabulous foodservice.(appliances from Electrolux AB, Fri-Jado B.V. and Perfect Fry Corp. wins awards)
July 1, 2006... An abundance of innovative foodservice appliances were on display at the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, held May 20-23, at McCormick Place in Chicago. The show featured close to 2,000 exhibitors and drew nearly...

Viking breaks ground.(Viking Range Corp. opens new facilities with increased recruiment and product enhancement)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Viking Range recently broke ground on a new dishwasher manufacturing facility in Leflore County, adjacent to its distribution center in Greenwood, Miss. The new facility is projected to increase the number of Viking employees by as many as 200...

Seeing & hearing.(NEWS WATCH)
July 1, 2006... Researchers at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, said they have designed eyeglasses that double as a hearing aid. Varibel has developed these glasses into a consumer product in partnership with Philips, Frame Holland, as...

Home server sales to rise.(NEWS WATCH)
July 1, 2006... Annual sales of home media servers will reach nearly 50 million units in the U.S. by the end of 2010, according to Parks Associates' new report "Media Servers: Analysis and Forecasts." The report, which defines a media server as a hard...

Kelon sells.(Guangdong Kelon Electrical Holdings Co. to acquire Hisense Company Ltd.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Guangdong Kelon Electrical Holdings (000921.SZ) said a unit of home appliance maker Hisense Group will pay CNY680 million ($ 84.9 million) for a 26.43 percent stake in the Chinese refrigerator maker. The stake price was adjusted from an initial...

Meetings.(Calendar)
July 1, 2006... Compressor Engineering Conference, July 17-July 20, West Lafayette, Ind. Contact: 765/494-6078 Email: herlconf@ecn.purdue.edu Website: www.ecn.purdue.edu/Herrick/Events Appliance Design European Roadshow, September, Europe ...

DVR industry growing.(NEWS WATCH)
July 1, 2006... The long anticipated growth of the high-definition digital video recorder industry is now being seen and some trends are beginning to emerge. IMS Research has observed a shift from standard-definition DVRs to high-definition DVRs, particularly...

HVAC demand to increase.(heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment supply forecasted)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... World demand for HVAC equipment is projected to rise over 5 percent per year through 2010, exceeding $65 billion, according to "World HVAC Equipment," a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry market research firm. Demand...

Best buy in China.(NEWS WATCH)
July 1, 2006... Best Buy is purchasing a majority stake in Jiangsu Five Star Appliance, China's fourth-largest appliance and electronics retailer, for $180 million. Best Buy, the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S., said the deal would give it a...

Forgetting film.(Canon Inc. to stop developing movie cameras)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Japan's top camera maker, Canon, will stop developing new single-lens reflex film cameras as more people abandon film for digital, company officials recently said. The Tokyo-based company's move followed a similar move by its closest Japanese...

Digital divide shrinks.(wireless internet access to grow in future)(Survey)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The technical savvy of people in some regions of emerging markets is growing fast, according to a survey conducted by IBM and British magazine The Economist. The study noted that regions such as Shanghai, China, and Bangalore, India, have...

Hub for home.(Solar Home Server)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Blue Peach has begun marketing a server appliance for the home that will function as a hub for data files, media content, and family information. Called the Solar Home Server, the device will allow any user in the home to instantly gain access...

Auto glass.(University of Arizona develops glass eyewear lenses)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Optical scientists at the University of Arizona have developed switchable, flat, liquid-crystal diffractive lenses that can adaptively change their focusing power, paving the way for next-generation "smart eyeglasses" with built-in automatic...

Running on air.(biological fuel cell that takes oxygen and hydrogen from the air to create electricity)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Researchers at the University of Oxford, in the U.K., have developed a prototype, enzyme-based, biological fuel cell that takes oxygen and hydrogen from the air to create electricity. The enzymes are taken from naturally occurring bacteria that...

Ice Bear helps out.(Ice Energy Ltd. introduces pump motors for air conditioners)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... California's efforts to shave the state's peak demand may get some help from an innovative, ice-based energy storage unit being tested by Southern California Public Power Authority. The Ice Bear, made by Ice Energy, can be used to expand an air...

Cool copper.(Siemens Energy and Automation Inc. introduces copper rotors)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Siemens Energy & Automation introduced to the North American market three, efficient motor lines using die-cast copper rotors, a technology that has resulted from years of research and development by the Copper Development Association and the...

Familiar face.(multi-character password)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Everybody has too many passwords to remember, but complex passwords may soon be replaced by familiar faces with the help of a company called Passfaces, Annapolis, Md. With the Passface authentication technology, a user gains access by looking...

Timely light.(IBeam Technologies Inc. introduces light emitting diode flashlights)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A wristwatch with a built-in LED flashlight has been developed by iBeam Technologies, Carmel, Calif. The 3-mm, white LED in the watch is supplied by LEDtronics, Torrance, Calif. A side button activates the LED, which shuts off after 30 sec. The...

Supremes speak on patents.(NEWS WATCH)
July 1, 2006... In May, the U.S. Supreme Court handed eBay a temporary victory in its software patent dispute with MercExchange, a small, Virginia-based company, that claims eBay's "Buy it Now" button infringes on a MercExchange patent. At issue was whether...

Beans & machines.(NEWS WATCH)
July 1, 2006... Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Waterbury, Conn., has purchased the remaining outstanding shares of Keurig, Wakefield, Mass., a maker of machines that brew single cups of coffee and other hot beverages. Green Mountain had previously owned 35...

Whirlpool reveals Maytag plans.(Benton Harbor Engineering Inc.)(Maytag Corp.)(Whirlpool Corp.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... In several separate announcements in May, Whirlpool Corp., Benton Harbor, Mich., revealed some of its plans for integrating Maytag Corp. The acquisition was quickly finalized in March after approval from the U.S. Department of Justice....

Shooting at satellites.(Recording Industry Association of America files a case against XM Satellite Radio Inc. for illegal download services)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Representing the music industry, the Recording Industry Association of America has filed a suit in federal court against XM Satellite Radio claiming that the recording capability of XM's Inno receiver functions as an illegal music downloading...

Pay to play.(FlexGo computer access using pre-paid cards)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., has developed a technology called FlexGo, whereby computer users pay by the hour for computer access using pre-paid cards, similar to those used for pre-paid cell phones. Designed to increase computer usage in...

Alliance acquires.(Alliance Laundry Systems acquires Laundry Systems Group)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Alliance Laundry Systems, Ripon, Wis., has agreed to purchase the commercial laundry division of the Laundry Systems Group, based in Wevelgem, Belgium. The European company globally markets commercial washer-extractors, tumbler dryers, and...

Touch points: using touch sensors for keypad applications adds simplicity and ruggedness.(CONTROLS & SENSORS)
July 1, 2006... Sophisticated industrial controls, chip and PIN commerce, access control systems and high-end consumer goods are among the emerging applications that demand enhanced performance from electronic keypads. Demands include sealing to ingress...

Versatile vision: multifunctional sensor provides system solution.(CONTROLS & SENSORS)(Case study)
July 1, 2006... Our universe is largely comprised of electrically charged particles. The ubiquitous nature of this phenomenon is the foundation for applications using capacitive sensing technology. While today there is not a standard name for this category of...

Clearly hot: glass radiator combines heating technology and elegant design.(product infromation of HVAC equipment)
July 1, 2006... Glass is becoming an increasingly popular material in the design community, as its sleek transparency imparts a modern, upscale design element to a product. And when glass is infused with a heat generating capability, the combination further...

A coating that cooks: thick-film heater technology will lead to low-energy ovens.(heating elements)
July 1, 2006... Thick-film, heaters embedded on an ovens enamel coating have been of interest to the appliance industry as a means of reducing energy consumption, creating a compact look, and facilitating easier cleaning of spillage. However, designers'...

Go with the flow: flow-through heater-assembly derivers heat quickly.(heating elements)
July 1, 2006... The increasing popularity of hot water dispensing fixtures in homes and hotels, along with rapidly growing sales of single-serving coffeemakers, has fuelled interest in technologies that can heat fluids quickly. One such technology can be...

Cost-effective quiet: off-set, four-pole lamination design improves motor performance.(brushless direct-current motors)
July 1, 2006... In most air-moving 'applications that employ a fan, such as vacuum cleaners, the only resistance experienced by the motor at start-up is the static friction of the bearings and the brush gear. The fan creates a load only when it is running, and...

Pool patrol: mode-sensing controller protects pool pump motor.(MOTORS)
July 1, 2006... Pools may be for pleasure, but keeping them in top working order is a lot of work The eMod electronic, mode-sensing module, from A.O. Smith Electrical Products Company, Tipp City, Ohio, alleviates some of the headaches that come from pool and...

Sensorless simplicity: sinusoidal, sensorless control simplifies system design and reduces cost.(MOTORS)
July 1, 2006... Recent worldwide trends are toward a more widespread use of permanent-magnet synchronous motors in appliance applications. Global raw-material-price increases in aluminum, copper, and steel have driven this trend and have shifted the cost...

A finer flame: burner medium gives new meaning to "playing with fire.".(ceramat,a heat resistant material is introduced)
July 1, 2006... Whether one wants to design a fireplace whose flames flick with a little more flair, or simply a boiler that operates more efficiently, a highly permeable alternative burner medium can be used to design innovative burner systems that deliver...

Features wit flair: high style meets high technology.(Kitchen/Bath Industry Show and Conference)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... More than 60,000 industry professionals registered and more than 900 exhibitors were on hand for this year's Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference, which took place April 20-23, at McCormick Place in Chicago. Interactive experiences...

LG electronics.(K/BIS HIGHLIGHTS)
July 1, 2006... LG's SteamWasher incorporates steam technology to clean clothes better and help reduce wrinkles. The washer's steam generator enables improved performance, higher energy efficiency and water conservation when compared to traditional machines....

Sharp.(K/BIS HIGHLIGHTS)
July 1, 2006... Sharp continues to bolster its Insight Pro Microwave Drawer line with its new 24-in. built-in unit, model KB-6014L. The 1-cu-ft. Microwave Drawer provides an alternative to a countertop unit and is currently available in Insight and Insight Pro...

TurboChef.(TurboChef Inc. introduces ovens for commercial purposes)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Crafted from stainless steel, the TurboChef Speedcook oven uses TurboChef's patented air impingement technology, previously exclusive to commercial kitchens, to cook asparagus in 45 seconds, a rack of lamb in 3 1/2 minutes or a 12-lb. turkey in...

Jenn-Air.(Jenn-Air Co.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Inspired by the growing interest in metallic finishes for kitchen walls, fixtures and countertops, Oiled Bronze is the latest alternative to stainless steel from Jenn-Air. According to the Color Marketing Group, trends this year will include...

Electrolux.(Electrolux AB introduces single and double wall ovens)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The Single and Double Wall Ovens from the Electrolux ICON designer series incorporate curved handles and the Wave Touch control panel with blue light emitting diode read-outs. The Wave Touch control panel technology activates with a simple...

Viking range.(Viking Range Corp. introduces microwave ovens)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Viking microwaves, convection microwaves and convection microwave hoods are available in Professional or Designer models. Professional Series color choices include stainless steel, black, white, almond, biscuit, stone gray, graphite gray,...

GE appliance.(GE appliances introduces freezer refridgerator)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Available in 36-in. and 72-in. models, the GE Monogram Professional Bottom-Freezer Refrigerator is crafted of stainless steel providing for both an elegant and rugged design. In the fresh-food compartment, split shelves and adjustable door bins...

Sub-Zero.(Sub Zero Freezer Co.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The new Sub-Zero 36-in. Model 736 refrigerator/freezer integrated design features refrigerator storage capacity of 13.5 cu. ft. (379 L) in upper cabinet and freezer storage capacity of 6.9 cu. ft. (195 L) in two bottom drawers, a dual...

Fagor.(K/BIS HIGHLIGHTS)
July 1, 2006... The IFA-90 AL induction cooktop from Fagor has five cooking zones, a power range of 50 W to 2,800 W and a seven-point safety system that includes overflow safety, anti-overheating, a child safety lock, residual heat indicator, auto-stop, a...

Samsung electronics.(K/BIS HIGHLIGHTS)(Samsung Electronics America Inc.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... The new Samsung front-loading SilverCare washer uses silver ions in its wash and rinse cycles to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and sanitize laundry, all in cold water without the use of bleach. Silver is widely known for its anti-microbial...

Liebherr.(K/BIS HIGHLIGHTS)
July 1, 2006... The BioFresh compartment available in select Liebherr refrigerators offers a separate refrigeration compartment where temperatures are kept just above freezing--keeping fruits, vegetables and meats fresher up to three times longer. Within the...

No reason for exemption.(ASSOCIATION REPORT: AHAM)
July 1, 2006... There are numerous provisions contained in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that address the increasing concern of the cost of energy. Obviously, the concern has not abated as the Congress is busy trying to pass another energy bill before they...