Appliance Design articles from November 2008

Appliance Design archives from November 2008

Vote for usability.(usage of electronic voting machines)(Editorial)
November 1, 2008... Depending on when you're reading this, you may or may not have had the opportunity to see the Nov. 2 episode of The Simpsons in which a touch-screen voting machine switches Homer's vote, then tries to kill him when he realizes the thing is...

Forecasts.
November 1, 2008... FORECASTS AUTOMATIC WASHERS--Shipments (Thousands of Units) Qtr: 2007 2008 2009 1 2,233.0 2,112.2 2,053.1 2 2,266.2 2,178.6 2,169.9 3 2,203.8 2,116.8 2,135.8 4 ...

Shipments.(Statistical table)
November 1, 2008... SHIPMENTS Product Aug. '08 Aug. '07 % Chg MAJOR APPLIANCES (Thousands of units) TOTAL 4,802.4 5,122.0 -6.2% Cooking--Total 1,543.0 1,592.6 ...

Tarnishing nanosilver.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Will the growing use of nanoscale silver ultimately cause more harm than good? That is the question posed by many these days, accompanying concerns over the effect of nanosilver on the environment. Nanoscale silver is already embedded into more...

CHP underused.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Combined heat and power is an underused technology that could improve energy efficiency if better utilized, according to a report from the International Energy Agency. The IEA is a France-based agency that consults with 28 countries including...

ECR motor order.(NEWS WATCH)(Vendo de Mexico placing an order for 400,000 electronically commutated refrigeration motors)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Vendo de Mexico, a manufacturer of bottle coolers and refrigerated vending machines, has placed an order for 400,000 electronically commutated refrigeration (ECR) motors from Wellington Drive Technologies, a New Zealand-based company with U.S....

Risk from indoor air.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Poor indoor air quality puts nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population at risk for developing serious health problems, according to a new white paper from Air Quality Sciences, an Atlanta-based manufacturer of air quality products. Those...

Engine rules tightened.(NEWS WATCH)(Environmental Protection Agency setting strict new standards for gas-powered lawn equipment and marine engines)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... The Environmental Protection Agency has set strict new standards for gas-powered lawn equipment and marine engines. The rule kicks into gear in 2011 for lawn and garden equipment of 25 HP or less. To meet the new standards, manufacturers can...

Networking controls grow.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Consumer demand for intelligent control applications will push U.S. revenues for wireless and powerline controls from $740 million in 2008, to more than $3 billion in 2012, according to the report, Opportunities for Wireless & Powerline...

Panasonic targets.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Panasonic, formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial, is looking to improve its share of the Japanese appliance market to 30 percent, up from 28 percent. The company will launch new products in this effort as it continues to consolidate its...

Happy mowing.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... When it comes to walk-behind lawn mowers, John Deere ranks highest in satisfying customers, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates. The inaugural study measures customer satisfaction with walk-behind lawn mowers by examining...

China's green cause.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Carrier of Farmington, Conn., has signed a memorandum of friendly cooperation with China's Energy Conservation Information Dissemination Center (ECIDC) to continue promoting the progress of energy saving and emission reduction in China. Carrier...

New layoffs.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Whirlpool of Benton Harbor, Mich., is laying off 700 workers at its Fort Smith, Ark., manufacturing facility. There is currently no timetable for when employees might be called back. The announcement comes on the heels of the voluntary layoff...

A.O. Smith in India.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... A. O. Smith of Milwaukee is locating the headquarters of its A.O. Smith India Water Heating venture in Bangalore, India. The company will build a residential water heater manufacturing plant. The 76,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to be...

DOE proposes rules.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... The U.S. Department of Energy recently published a notice of published rulemaking establishing new energy conservation standards for a variety of commercial refrigeration equipment. The products impacted would include commercial ice cream...

CO2 alarm law.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute supports the passage of a California law (SB 1386) that requires carbon monoxide alarms to be installed in all occupied homes, apartments, and hotels. California joins with Wisconsin...

Plastic electronics.(NEWS WATCH)(Plastic Logic opening a commercial-scale plastic electronics manufacturing facility)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Plastic Logic of Mountain View, Calif., has opened a commercial-scale plastic electronics manufacturing facility. The factory, located in Dresden, Germany, will begin volume production of displays based on Plastic...

Meetings.(NEWS WATCH)(Calendar)
November 1, 2008... JANUARY 2009 International CES Jan. 8-11, Las Vegas, Nev. Contact: 703/907-7600. Email: cea@ce.org Website: www.ce.org IMA: International Trade Fair for Amusement and Vending Machines 2009 Jan. 13-16,...

Spanish thermostat.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Emerson Climate Technologies, St. Louis, has developed a Spanish-only programmable thermostat line. The Emerson Blue Selecto thermostat features a Spanish language display and Spanish programming. The thermostats have 4-in. blue displays and...

Vending machine labels.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... The European Vending Association (EVA) has adopted an energy consumption label for vending machines. The association says that the program is voluntary. The label will rank the vending machines against competitors as "more" or "less"...

Growth in India.(NEWS WATCH)(Whirlpool India planning to invest $20 million in new home appliance product lines )(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Whirlpool of India, a subsidiary of Whirlpool, plans to invest $20 million in new home appliance product lines in the next 12 to 18 months. The funds will be invested in three facilities in India. Growth is expected in a number of product...

Promoting Powerline.(NEWS WATCH)(Universal Powerline Association)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... The Universal Powerline Association, a consortium formed for the design and development of interoperable and open specifications for Powerline communications, has issued two marked requirements documents for Powerline communication-based Smart...

Solar assisted HVAC.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Dallas-based Lennox Industries unveiled SunSource, an integrated solar-assisted residential heating and cooling system that will be available to the public in 2009. The system integrates solar power by using a single 190 W solar panel that...

Euro tech center.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Deere & Co., Moline, Ill., plans to establish a European Technology & Innovation Center in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The facility is scheduled to open in the spring of 2010. It will accommodate up to 200 engineers who will focus on developing...

Phone starts car.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... A mobile phone now has the capability to start a car. The carmaker Nissan Motor, mobile network operator NTT DOCOMO, and electronics giant Sharp, have developed a phone that functions as a key for automobiles. The device incorporates Nissan's...

Smart appliances.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... GE Consumer & Industrial will collaborate with Louisville Gas and Electric Company to help consumers manage their utility bills by enabling them to avoid peak hour energy usage. In the first quarter of 2009, GE will introduce a suite of Energy...

Kitchen brands rated.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Bosch, Kenmore Elite, LG, Samsung, and Whirlpool Gold rank highest in satisfying customers with major kitchen appliances, according to J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Kitchen Appliances Study. For the third consecutive year, Bosch ranks highest...

Quiet grinding.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Grind More, Hear Less, is the theme for the InSinkErator Evolution Series waste disposers, which were designed to be 60 percent quieter than in the past. Part of the noise reduction comes from the use of an...

Shooting at the star.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... The October 2008 issue of Consumer Reports magazine contains a report that blasts the federal government's Energy Star program, saying that the program's standards are lax and out of date. The report said that the percent of products that...

Catching the wave.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Black & Decker has joined the Z-Wave Alliance and will soon offer new Z-Wave enabled residential access control solutions marketed under brands such as Baldwin, Kwikset, and Weiser Lock. The alliance is an open consortium of companies dedicated...

Sin list released.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... An international coalition of non-governmental organizations have released a list of 300 "high concern" chemicals on the market in an effort to speed up the implementation of the European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use EC...

Runtime is pivotal.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Runtime and battery capacity are the most important factors in selecting batteries for portable products, according to a survey by Nexergy, a Columbus, Ohio, manufacturer of battery packs and chargers. These factors were the most important...

Solar cell record.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have set a world record in solar cell efficiency with a photovoltaic device that converts 40.8 percent of the light that hits it into electricity. This is...

Med devices disrupted.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
November 1, 2008... A study of medical equipment by Dutch researchers found that wireless systems used by many hospitals to track medical equipment can cause breakdowns in devices such as breathing and dialysis machines. Electromagnetic emissions from the wireless...

Sculpting nanorods.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered how to direct the growth of nanorods made up of two single crystals using a biomolecular surfactant. The researchers were able to create "branched" structures by carefully...

Recycling refrigerators.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Whirlpool's Gladiator GarageWorks, Benton Harbor, Mich., maker of the Chillerator garage refrigerator, has joined with the Department of Energy's Recycle My Old Fridge Campaign. The company joined the program to encourage recycling of old or...

Microbe killers.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Researchers at Auburn University have produced new antimicrobial coatings that use some of the same ingredients that are found in mouthwash. The researchers mixed solutions of lysozyme, a natural product with antimicrobial properties, with...

Chip cancels noise.(NEWS WATCH)(Wolfson Microelectronics Ltd. testing an active noise cancellation chip designed for mobile phone applications)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Wolfson Microelectronics of Edinburgh, U.K., has tested an active noise cancellation chip designed for mobile phone applications. Wolfson's ambient noise cancellation technology focuses on the receive path and uses active anti-noise to cancel...

Tru2way accord.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... LG Electronics of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., has signed a memorandum of understanding with six U.S. cable operators to support the "tru2way" technology platform for delivering two-way interactive digital cable services without a set-top box....

Caring robot.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart, Germany, have developed a prototype for a new generation of service robots designed to help humans in the...

Telescopic pixels.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Scientests at at Microsoft Research have developed a pixel that uses a pair of mirrors to block or transmit light could lead to displays that are faster, brighter, and more power efficient than LCDs. The new telescopic pixels switch completely...

Oled joint research.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... The Japanese government plans to support Sony, Sharp, and other Japanese companies involved in the joint development of super-thin TVs based on organic light-emitting diodes. The group wants to develop a 40-in. OLED display sometime after 2015,...

3D standard.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) established a task force to define the parameters of a stereoscopic 3D mastering standard for content viewed in the home. Called 3D Home Display Formats Task Force, the group will...

Wireless HD.(NEWS WATCH)
November 1, 2008... Sony, Samsung, and other consumer-electronics companies are uniting to support a technology that could send high-definition video signals wirelessly from a single set-top box to screens around the home. The consortium will work to develop an...

The merits of molding: new alternatives for making 3D metal parts.(METALS & METAL PARTS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Injection molding metal is not the most common way to produce a three-dimensional metal part. The traditional methods--machining, forging, and, the most popular, casting--still hold sway most of the time. But,...

Good looking, good cooking: upscale appliances fuel design of better burners.(GAS TECHNOLOGY)
November 1, 2008... Burners on gas cooktops and rangetops have come a long way over the years. They can simmer so low as to melt chocolate and hold it in that melted state for hours. Yet that same burner can boil up to 4 quarts of water in a little more than 10...

Compelling color: chip speeds development of upscale GUIs.(DISPLAYS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In a mature consumer electronics market, good engineering alone won't guarantee a product's success. To rise above the crowd and win over consumers, a product needs to offer something more: an engaging and appealing...

Chemical content: regulation requires detailed knowledge of product composition.(QUALITY & STANDARDS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Just as the manufacturers of the world thought they were getting a stranglehold on the compliance requirements in the European Union (EU), the EU throws in another regulation to comply with. On June 1, 2007, the...

Dymax.(NEW PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Light Weld GA-140 is a UV/Visible light-curable form-in-place (FIP) and cure-in-place (CIP) gasket. It is a soft gasket material with high adhesion to plastics that provides a barrier to prevent absorption or...

Rosenberg.(NEW PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The backward curved centrifugal fans are available with or without housing in five sizes, from 16 in. to 25 in. The fans deliver up to six inches of static pressure and have a maximum capacity of 16,450 cfm. With...

Emerson climate technologies.(NEW PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The C-Series Thermal Expansion Valve (TXV) has been designed and optimized for use in R-410A systems. The C-Series TXV provides precise superheat control for enhanced compressor protection. According to the company,...

Littelfuse.(NEW PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The EV Series of thyristors feature a minimum rated blocking voltage of up to 800 V, a maximum turn-on time as low as 25 ps, and a minimum rated static dv/dt of up to 75 V/ps. The series includes four families: the...

Micro plastics.(NEW PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Plastic eye bolts have been designed for light duty use. They are injection molded in Nylon 6/6 and are resistant to aromatic, chlorinated, and ketone solvents, as well as gasoline, oils, greases, and animal and...

Tyco electronics.(NEW PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The PolySwitch circuit protection devices are functionally equivalent to the company's existing RXEF overcurrent protection devices, but are available in a form factor that is 30 percent smaller. Key device...

Heyco Products, Inc.(DESIGN MART)
November 1, 2008... FREE Molded Wire Protection Products Catalog. NEW 204 page Full Line Catalog 108 provides an overview of Heyco's in-house production capabilities, quality policy, and warranty information along with extensive technical and specifications...

Want to see your product here?(DESIGN MART)
November 1, 2008... Appliance DESIGN's Design Engineering readers are interested, active and always looking for information to help them design and specify products and services to use in the creation of their appliances. * Contact Jennifer Nagel at...

Product safety law needs careful attention.(ASSOCIATION REPORT: AHAM)
November 1, 2008... On Aug. 14, President Bush signed into law the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. This law will significantly change the regulatory framework for manufacturers attempting to comply with U.S. product safety requirements and is a...