Design Engineering articles from December 2001

Design Engineering archives from December 2001

Lear is king with steely seat design. (Inside Design).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Delighted Italian company Lear Corporation has won this year's Swedish Steel Prize for its new back seat design for the Alfa Romeo 147. The Prize, an annual event aimed at stimulating innovative approaches to design which include high...

Skill shortage threatens health of medical devices. (Inside Design).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... According to the organiser of the Medical Device Technology Show a shortage of science and engineering talent is threatening the UK's competitive future in the medical device market. This sector is extremely fragmented, but a highly lucrative...

Is IT the right answer? (Inside Design).
December 1, 2001... 84% of respondents to a recent AVEVA consulting survey believe that the engineering industry is falling behind other sectors in its recruitment of skilled workers and that it needs to sharpen up its act. AVEVA claims that the survey,...

Modelling man movement. (Inside Design).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... A software tool which enables engineers to simulate human evacuation has just scooped the top award at the British Computer Society IT awards. Developed by the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) from the school of Computing and...

Tis the season to be jolly - honest. (Editor's Comment).(Brief Article)(Editorial)
December 1, 2001... It's that time again. Force a smile, go on. Things could be worse. For a start you could live above a latitude of 60[degrees]N and be in perpetual darkness. So crack open that bottle of Finlandia and drink to the health of those in...

A Sweet solution. (Brain Teaser).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Q Two friends were great treasure hunters, having recently bought a metal detector each for Christmas. While discussing some recent finds of coins and interesting Elizabethan nails, one of the men noticed his friends' collection of jars...

Shoots of collaboration. (Inside Design).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Nearly three out of ten mechanical engineering CAD/CAM user sites use an intranet site for internal collaboration on design work, and just one in twenty use it to collaborate on design work in real time, according to research conducted by the...

http://www.xrefer.com/. (This Month's Pick of the Web).(web site offers reference books)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Every now again we come across a site that seems too good to be true, a site that makes you cry 'this is the reason the internet exists!', a site that can settle family disputes and reunite warring friends. Oxford-based xrefer is such a site....

www.shu.ac.uk/eng/industry. (This Month's Pick of The Web).(web site offers information regarding Sheffield Hallam University's school of engineering)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... This new site showcases the services and expertise that Sheffield Hallam University's school of engineering offers engineering organisations. The site is designed to help individuals and organisations find high-quality research,...

http://www.globalspec.com/. (This Month's Pick of the Web).(web site offers mechanical, optical and electrical components data)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Forget the time-consuming process of browsing through endless piles of catalogues, this site provides instant access to over 590,000 electrical, mechanical and optical components. The site uses a parametric search engine based on...

www.scienceonline.org. (This Month's Pick of the Web).(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science. Online is the online home of global weekly research magazine Science. The site provides access to the full text of Science's print version and to additional...

Ergonomic keyboard unit. (Patent Watch).(includes design features)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Repetitive strain injury has become an increasingly common complaint. An ergonomic keyboard (US20010021332), shaped in the form of an outstretched hand, with four keys provided for each finger along its length separated in the middle by a...

Ingestible medical imaging capsule. (Patent Watch).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Internal examinations of the stomach can be an uncomfortable experience using a traditional endoscope, with the length of a cable sometimes proving limiting. Hopefully more comfortable is an imaging capsule (WO200165995) which is swallowed by...

GPS ski pole. (Patent Watch).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Anyone who's ever skied and been a bit over ambitious with an off-piste run or got caught in bad weather will know how deceptive snowscapes can be. In hazardous situations, sometimes waiting for help just isn't an option. This ski pole...

Shape memory motor. (Design News).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Almost every modern gadget has a small electric motor. Your computer, your windscreen wipers and your mobile phone all grind, swing and vibrate thanks to these pervasive critters and their attendant entourage of magnets, coils and position...

Mini motors crush kidney stones. (Design News).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Engineers at Penn State University have developed an ultrasonic, piezoelectric motor the size of a grain of rice. It's claimed that the motor could be used in specialised urinary catheters that break up kidney stones. Currently around 3mm...

World's Smallest Transistor.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... In a world first, scientists from Lucent Bell Labs have developed molecular-scale transistors that can be individually controlled. The tiny transistors are so small -- only a billionth of a metre each -- that approximately ten million of them...

Flying like the geese.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Researchers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centre are using the flight patterns of geese to try to devise more efficient aircraft flight patterns. The V-shaped formation that geese fly in means that each 'follower' goose derives energy...

Plastic magnet. (News in Brief).(University of Nebraska develops magnetic organic polymer)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... You won't be able to rush home and stick them on your fridge door, but a team of chemists at the University of Nebraska have finally created the world's first plastic magnets. Whilst there are already some known organic magnets, this is the...

Absorbent softwall. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... A New York-based engineering company claims to have developed the most energy absorbent material ever.' Officials claim that Safari Associate's Molecuthane Soft Wall can be placed on racetrack walls and used to reduce the G-force of an impact...

Parking an aircraft. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Most of us know how infuriating it is to endure a long flight and then endure what seems like an even longer wait whilst the groundcrew and pilot steer the vehicle to its parking position. Well, engineers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute...

Superconducters.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Earlier this year American utility company, Detroit Edison, laid three high temperature superconducting cables capable of outperforming copper cable and solving certain logistical headaches. JASON FORD investigates Laying new electricity...

And then there was darkness. (Automation).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... In creased automation is leading us towards 'lights out' facilities where no human tread. JON EXCEL talks to a number of leading automation experts about the possibility of the dark factory. The factory of the future will have only two...

No parts please, we're sensors. (Sensors).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... It's been dubbed the world's first MEMS inertial sensor with no moving parts. JON EXCELL talks to MEMSIC about its award winning technology. A number of process technologies are currently exploited in accelerometers. Capacitive, liquid,...

Braking up is hard to do. (Brakes & Clutches).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Why invest in servos for tensioning applications when hysteresis clutches and brakes can keep it simple, asks ZF Industrial. Comments by Simon Smith of Aerotech. When asked to provide tension control of winding-unwinding operations the...

Fitting three into one. (Design Works).(Renold Gears)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Bruce Dagley, engineering director of Renold Gears, is the first to acknowledge that the world of gearing isn't exactly dynamic. What he can boast, however, is the development of the e.PM range of right-angle gear drives, which share a...

A spin on propshaft design. (Design Works).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... It's safer, lighter, quieter, and it could spell the end of the road for a twenty-year-old design. DE examines Visteon's new Slip-in-tube propshaft design. A propshaft design that has been in use for over twenty years may be ready for...

Linear gamut. (Linear Motion).(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Heason Technologies Group has a new range of brushless linear motors in both iron core and ironless formats. According to Heason the new range brings advantageous backup, short order timer and compatible drives. Performance characteristics...

Drive on. (Linear Motion).(Ondrives' Ballscrew Express)
December 1, 2001... Ondrives has expanded its Ballscrew Express range to include a complete range of ballscrew support bearing units and a wider range of ballscrew sizes lead and nut design combinations. Ballscrews can be machined to customers drawings and...

Easing the shock. (Linear Motion).(Hepco's SH Industrial Hydraulic Shock Absorbers)
December 1, 2001... The operational lifespan of Hepco's multiple-choice GV3 linear motion system can be extended with SH Industrial Hydraulic Shock Absorbers, which are available as system accessories. Hepco has provided the option for SH Shock Absorbers to...

Linear venture. (Linear Motion).(Rockwell Automation, Thomson)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Rockwell Automation and Thomson are to collaborate to provide comprehensive motion control solutions and services. This new venture provides many benefits for Design Engineers having to consider multi -faceted machine design. Typically this...

Fluid power alternate. (Linear Motion).(Unimatic)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... A range of intelligent electric linear drives that are IP65 rated for tough operating conditions has been launched by Unimatic. Manufactured by Parker Hannifin, the rotary to linear conversion is achieved with a C7 class ballscrew. The...

Not like a caged animal. (Linear Motion).(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... THK has added to its Caged Ball technology products with a range of miniature SRS LM Guides and the SBN ballscrew with Caged Ball technology. The miniature linear motion guides are particularly suitable for semiconductor, electronics...

Raceway wipers seal the track. (Linear Motion).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... INA is launching a new type of track roller linear guidance system. The LFLB system comprises a guideway, saddleplate, track rollers and optional plastic cap wipers. The cap wipers seal the track rollers and raceways against contamination....

No cog nano. (Linear Motion).(Aerotech's ANT-25LA)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... A direct drive linear actuator from Aerotech overcomes the shortcomings of screw based actuators says the company. The ANT-25LA non-contact drive with linear encoder feedback has high resolution no backlash or windup--qualities essential for...

Ready-to-wear range of rails. (Linear Motion).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... SKF is offering ready-to-mount precision rail guides. They are characterised by simple design, as well as simplicity of mounting and maintenance. Designed for economic linear bearing arrangements, with high precision, high load carrying...

Maintaining discipline. (Belts & Chains).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... NSK has developed a new auto-tensioner with viscous damper, which can reduce both high frequency tensional variations and belt noise. The centre of the tensioner bearing is offset from the centre of displacement, which acts to adjust the...

Chains stay tighter. (Belts & Chains).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
December 1, 2001... RA Rodriguez's Zetassasi range of conveyor products now includes the new Orient Chain Tightener, which can be swivelled in any direction, both before and after assembly, allowing the belt or chain to be re-tensioned to compensate for...

Shot peened. (Belts & Chains).(FPT introduces Fenner Roller Chain)
December 1, 2001... FPT has launched a range of Fenner Roller Chain with improved fatigue resistance. The increased resistance is achieved by design features such as shot peened rollers and link plates high interference fits between pins and link plates and ball...

Less friction. (Belts & Chains).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
December 1, 2001... Tsubaki's new Bearing Roller Conveyor Chain (BRCC) integrates cylindrical roller bearings inside its chain rollers, reducing the frictional coefficient of the chain to 0.03, about one third that of conventionally-constructed conveyor chain....

These boots are made for walking. (Exclusives).(Interview)
December 1, 2001... Ten years ago Nokia was best known for its rubber boots, car tyres and toilet paper. Since gaining a third of the global market for mobile phones, perceptions of Nokia must have changed. The secret of its success could lie in R&D. 9% of net...