Appliance Design articles from May 2009

Appliance Design archives from May 2009

Forecasts.(Statistical table)
May 1, 2009... FORECASTS AUTOMATIC WASHERS--Shipments (Thousands of Units) Qtr: 2008 2009 2010 1 2,112.2 1,917.9 2,038.7 2 2,178.6 2,139.4 2,227.1 3 2,005.0 2,049.1 2,168.0...

Shipments.(Statistical table)
May 1, 2009... SHIPMENTS Product Feb. '09 Feb. '08 %Chg MAJOR APPLIANCES (Thousands of units) TOTAL 4,600.4 5,340.8 -13.9% Cooking-Total 1,274.5 1,360.1 -6.3% Electric...

Housewares panel predicts trends.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... Participants of a panel discussion titled "Top Trends for 2010" outlined six issues for the housewares industry to consider in its planning for next year. The panel's experts presented their views at the 2009 International Home and Housewares...

Clothes washer test.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), Washington, D.C., is developing a voluntary, uniform industry test procedure for manufacturers to determine clothes washer drum volume. The procedure, expected to be finalized by the end...

Smart grid development.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington, D.C., has set forth a proposed policy statement and action plan related to the development of a new power grid for the United States. The FERC statements pertain to the development of...

Portable device meeting.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Arlington, Va., will host two discussion groups addressing the need for standards covering universal wireless charging and the ability to transfer metadata between portable and handheld devices. The...

Portable generators standard.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Northbrook, Ill., has announced the publication of UL 2201, a standard for portable engine-generator assemblies. Prior to this standard, there was no voluntary safety standard for portable generators sold within...

Voting systems testing.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Md., has opened for public comment new methods for testing future electronic voting systems' compliance with voluntary federal standards. The new tests will replace...

Energy star requirements.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced new Energy Star requirements for computer monitors, digital picture frames and other displays. For displays less than 30 in. diagonal, the specification will be effective October 30,...

Low-GWP blowing agent.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... Honeywell Specialty Materials, Morristown, N.J., said it is developing a new low-global-warming-potential blowing agent for energy-efficient polyurethane foam insulation. The announcement was made at the UTECH Europe conference and expo held in...

Cell phone use.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... More than 60 million American consumers are likely to cut back on cell phone plans if the economy continues to worsen, according to a survey by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC), Washington, D.C. The survey reports that as many as 40 million...

Pedal-power washer.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Students and staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Mass., have developed an inexpensive, pedal-powered clothes washer that could improve the quality of life in developing countries. The...

Electrolux closes factory.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... Appliance giant Electrolux has announced plans to close a factory in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2010, citing cost pressures. The factory manufactures washing machines mainly for the Russian market and has approximately 250 employees.

Social accountability.(NEWS WATCH)(Social Accountability International)(Rina)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Miele, Gutersloth, Germany, has been certified to SA8000, a social accountability standard. Certification body Rina, Genoa, Italy, issued the certification. The standard covers voluntary requirements to be met in the workplace, such as worker's...

New AHRI mark.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), Arlington, Va., will begin using a new unified mark to identity heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration products that have achieved third-party...

Wireless smart grid.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... AT&T, Dallas, Texas, and provider of IP-based smart grid solutions SmartSynch, Jackson, Miss., have introduced an alternative for electric utility companies looking to provide smart grid technology to the residential sector. The solution allows...

Business opportunity.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... According to a survey conducted by GlobalSpec, Troy, N.Y., a search engine and business resource, American businesses, despite the recession, still see opportunities in new markets, green initiatives, and sectors such as biotech, energy, and...

Medical bandwidth.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... A dedicated frequency band for medical devices would boost confidence and stimulate uptake of wireless technology within a healthcare environment, according to a report by ERBI Medtech, Cambridge, Mass., and Cambridge Wireless, Cambridge, Mass....

Nanogenerator.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... At the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., held in March 2009, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology described technology that converts mechanical energy from body movements, or even blood...

Pizza vending machine.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... Researchers at the University of Bologna, Italy, with support from Unilever, have developed a vending machine that creates fresh pizza. The machine kneads flour and water into dough, spreads tomato sauce and selected toppings, and then cooks...

Self-repairing coating.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... Polymer scientists Marek W. Urban and Biswajit Ghosh, both of the University of Southern Mississippi, have developed a polyurethane coating that repairs its own scratches when exposed to UV light. The key ingredient in the material is...

One-ton ice machine.(NEWS WATCH)(Manitowoc S-3300 and S-3070 QuiteQube)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Manitowoc Ice, Manitowoc, Wis., introduced a new line of ice machines that can produce more than one ton of ice in a 24-hour period. Manitowoc's S-3300 water-cooled and S-3070 QuiteQube ice machines target large chain restaurants, casinos,...

Batteries charge ahead.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... The U.S. demand for primary and secondary batteries will increase 2.5 percent annually to $16.8 billion in 2012. Growth will be supported by demand for replacement batteries in a number of battery-driven electronic products and a shift in the...

Small solar cells.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... Solarmer Energy, El Monte, Calif., is developing plastic solar cells that generate energy from the sun for portable electronic devices. The technology is based on licensed technology invented at the University of Chicago. The company is working...

Plasma transistor.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Researchers at the University of Illinois have created a plasma transistor that could be used to make lighter, less expensive, and higher resolution flat-panel displays. By integrating a solid-state electron emitter and a micro cavity plasma...

Printer sales down.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... The 2008 combined printer, copier, and multifunctional equipment market in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (EMEA) totaled 48.2 million units, which represents a decline of 8.4 percent compared to 2007, according to a report from Gartner,...

PC sales nosedive.(NEWS WATCH)
May 1, 2009... The PC industry will experience its sharpest unit decline in history, with PC shipments totaling 257 million units in 2009, an 11.9 percent decline from 2008, according to Gartner, Stamford, Conn. Previously, PC units experienced their worst...

Meetings.(NEWS WATCH)(Calendar)
May 1, 2009... MAY Rapid 2009 Conference & Exposition May 12-14, Schaumburg, Ill. Contact: 800/733-4763 Email: service@sme.org Website: www.sme.org/rapid 2009 AHRI Spring Meeting May 14-17, Palm Beach, Fla. Contact:...

Versatility progresses: new materials expand the range of properties.(ELASTOMERS)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to elastomers, both literally and figuratively, given their wide range of uses and ability to be stretched repeatedly and returned to near original shape. A decade or...

Foiling fingerprints: new coating helps keep appliances clean.(COATINGS)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Keeping surfaces on residential and commercial appliances free of contamination from fingerprints and dirt, as well as making them easier to clean, is an active field of research and technology development. Recent...

Interactive insights: designers must balance the flashy and functional.(DISPLAYS & INTERFACES)(Cover story)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the biggest challenges in designing any kind of embedded system is determining the optimal user interface. Simple push buttons and knobs that are reasonably intuitive? Or a scaled-down version of a PC GUI...

Touchscreen mirror: novel combination enhances aesthetics and security.(DISPLAYS & INTERFACES)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Touchscreens have greatly simplified and improved human-machine interfacing (HMI) in a wide range of applications, and as touch sensors have evolved beyond the initial front-face-active display overlays towards...

CIT relay & switch.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The JC Series latching illuminated pushbutton switch product is available with bi-colored LED combination options in blue, green, red, yellow, and white. Single-color LEDs are three-segment, and the bi-colored LEDs...

Molex.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Customized capacitive switch and proximity sensing solutions use CapSense technology based on Cypress Semiconductor's PSoC chip architecture. The capacitive sensing technology is ideal for next-generation appliances,...

Accuride.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Stainless-steel ball-bearing slides provide a full range of slide choices for installations where exposure to moisture of high humidity is a key environmental factor. The corrosion resistance of these products offers...

Alcoa fastening systems.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Recoil Tangless, thread-forming inserts are designed to reduce production costs by eliminating the time required to remove the tang and retrieve it. The inserts also enable additional security by removing the...

BASF.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Enhanced versions of Elastollan thermoplastic polyurethanes include Hastollan LoCoF that combines increased abrasion-resistance with a low coefficient of friction and Elastollan Lo-Tac that features greater low...

Bourns.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Multifuse surface-mount, polymer positive-temperature-coefficient, resettable fuses now include a new technology that increases the performance of the fuse with the ability to handle higher currents and voltages,...

Borealis.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... Borcom BG055AI is a polypropylene developed for the appliance industry that delivers the high-gloss benefits of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and meets manufacturers' demands for increased productivity. The material offers reduced cycle...