Medical Equipment Designer articles from September 2001

Medical Equipment Designer archives from September 2001

Corrections.
September 1, 2001... On page 24 of the July 2001 issue, the top picture caption should read: Growth-matching flywheel hub. Our apologies to Optimal Energy Systems. On page 39 of the July 2001 issue, the company name for Circle 558 should read Plassein...

Medical Equipment Designer joins a new family. (Up Front).
September 1, 2001... Medical Equipment Designer has joined a new publishing family, Nelson Publishing, Inc., effective with this issue. Our 30+ year old company publishes magazines in the manufacturing, electronics engineering, information technology and...

Transparent rapid prototyping material. (Editor's Choice).
September 1, 2001... Designers wishing to see inside a working prototype have had to make injection-molded, optical-grade PC housings using pre-production molds. However, this method does not facilitate design modifications. Designed to work with stereolithography...

Thread of inspiration: embedded IDE helps overcome obstacles in monitor design for mobile ventilator. (Application Ideas).
September 1, 2001... An embedded integrated development environment based on the ThreadX real-time operating system helped engineers at Pulmonetic Systems Inc, Colton, California, overcome major obstacles in the design of a monitor for their mobile ventilator. The...

Specialty materials in foot orthotics: what's inside the shoe can make a world of difference!
September 1, 2001... At the heart of all good designs in custom footwear are the specialty materials that are hidden inside. Orthoses or orthotic devices are medically-prescribed shoe inserts that are designed to improve foot function and reduce mechanical stress....

Fixture helps MRIs gain image clarity: in sensitive medical equipment, a simple switch to thermoplastic alloy can benefit the end product. (Application Ideas).
September 1, 2001... MedRad Inc, Pittsburgh, PA, a subsidiary of Schering Inc, manufactures Magnetic Resonance Imaging fixtures and receiving coi[s. Until recently, MedRad thermoformed the housings of its coil assemblies from ABS plastic sheet. Although the...

Breathing easy: long-fiber compound aids snap-fit process. (Application Ideas).
September 1, 2001... People who suffer from asthma or other bronchial ailments may require a nebulizer, which converts liquid medication to a breathable aerosol. With increased competition and changes in health care coverage, nebulizer manufacturers face extreme...

Power supply. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Offering low size-to-power output ratio, the PFC300 series medical power supply features 300W continuous output in a 1U size package that measures 1.675- by 5- by 8-in.. Fully floating output voltages are available in 0.1V increments from 12 to...

Hubs. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Adjustable locking hubs are available in stainless steel or plastic. The highstrength hubs are positive-locking in exact increments of 10- or 15-degrees, depending on the model. Useful for folding and adjustment mechanisms for wheelchairs, the...

Coatings. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... This company applies a wide variety of vinyl plastisol coatings and moldings in a variety of thicknesses, durometers and colors. The new facility has the ability to meet high volume demands when necessary. Dip coatings range in thicknesses from...

Tapered rod bumpers. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... The TRB series are designed for highspeed cylinder applications as internal end-stops or external stops for double-rod cylinders. They also work well for linear motion devices. It performs well over a wide range of temperatures and corrosive...

Load cells. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Designed for thru-hole applications such as bolt force measurements and overload monitoring, the TH series force sensors are compression only and available in sizes 1-, 1.5-, 2- and 3-in. OD, all with multiple ID combinations. Capacity ranges...

Polymers. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Medical packaging information is available at this company's website. The online medical brochure outlines the performance properties and benefits of each product family, helping customers select the appropriate material based on...

Urethane. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Flexobond 431 two-part clear urethane adhesive meets USP XXII, Class VI-50[degrees]C/72 hours (ethylene oxide) testing for plastics. It does not contain TDI, mercury, tin or lead. It gels rapidly and cures within 6 hours to a rubbery solid. The...

Autotransfusion components. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... This new line of autotransfusion products is designed for steady flow, optimum air removal and minimized blood trauma. The tine includes standard or customized blood cardioplegia administration sets, arterial blood filters, valves, and other...

Hybrid actuator with encoder. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Accompanying a size 17 hybrid actuator, the compact optical incremental encoder design has TTL level and quadrature outputs. An index pulse is optional. The encoder is offered in resolutions ranging from 50 to 1024 counts. The module...

Cyanoacrylates. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... This full line of multiple-grade cyanoacrylates is ideal for assembling materials such as acetyl, nylon, rubber and opaque plastics, including polyethylenes, acrylics and polycarbonates. The MEDI-CURE 222 series is USP Class VI and ISO 10993...

Miniature balls. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... This company provides class 3 (302SS, 304SS and 316SS) and class 4(440-C SS) stainless steel balls that meet ASTM F899-95 requirements. Medical device applications include sealing balls, valve balls, X-ray markers and ball bearings. The company...

Adhesive. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... X17 one-part adhesive is designed for bonding polyethylene and polypropylene. This adhesive is simple and easy to apply. X17 is durable, water resistant and cures readily at room temperature. This adhesive is USP Class VI certified. Polyolefins...

Chip resistors. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Designed for use in RF and microwave applications, high frequency RF-series chip resistors are available in 14 standard case sizes: 0402 through 3838. They are offered with single surface or wrap-around terminations, and a variety of...

Spring plungers. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... A comprehensive line or spring plungers features both front- or back-end installation. Posi Hex is easily installed and removed from the back by using a hex wrench. All standard plungers are manufactured from stainless steel, carbon steel,...

Miniature incremental encoders. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Designed to perform in space-restricted mechanical rotary motion monitoring applications, BSM (shaft) and BHM (hollow shaft) encoders allow angle step resolutions up to 2,000 steps per revolution. The encoder's electrical output signals (A, B,...

Stopcocks. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... This company offers an extensive line of stopcocks that satisfy many functional requirements. This catalog details the more popular items, whereas many custom designs are available in various quantities. They can handle pressures up to 1000 psi...

Filter media. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Pristyne filter material is an expanded PTFE membrane laminate that filters particulates on the membrane surface. This prevents clogging and caking usually seen with subsurface filtering materials and allows cleaning by shaking or pulsing....

Custom assemblies. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... Precision medical assembly is available in prototype and production quantities. Providing clean air systems, custom-built tools and microscopic deburring and inspection, the company can deliver quality products on time and within budget...

Getting handicapped kids onto the playground. (Layer One).
September 1, 2001... Fr children who wear leg braces or use walkers or wheelchairs, the elevated activity platforms on many playgrounds remain sadly out of reach. To solve this problem, an assignment proposed by the Baltimore-based Volunteers for Medical...

Low friction olefin elastomer. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... This material was selected for use in the ear pieces of a headset used in a guidance system for endoscopic sinus surgery. The headset provides two of the three reference points during surgery, and therefore must rest comfortably in the...

Incremental encoder. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... At just 0.295-in. dia. by 0.394-in. long, the MES6 encoder delivers up to 360 cycles per revolution or 1,440 counts in quadrature. The device features two primary channels, an index channel and a 100 kHz frequency response. Other standard...

Micro pumps. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... The SV700 Series of inert, solenoid-operated micro pumps offer a dispense volume of 50 to 250 [micro]I, from a package 3-in. high by 1.10-in in diameter. Available in either 12 or 24 VDC versions, the solenoid draws just 5.3 watts. A variety of...

Pressure gauges. (Medical Products).
September 1, 2001... A line of ultra-high-purity pressure gauges has been introduced that meet ASME B40.1 standards for accuracy. Offered in 1 1/2- and 2-in, dial sizes, they are capable of sensing compound pressure (vacuum and positive pressure) or positive...

Non-contact torque sensor: getting the facts on rotating shafts. (Five Star: Product of the Month).
September 1, 2001... What's the power of a spinning shaft? A calculation is simple to generate, but what about a real-time, in situ measurement? And let's say that the critical shaft is deep within layers of machinery and casings, so that access is near impossible...

Penn State University. (Technology Spotlight).
September 1, 2001... Polymers do not usually adhere to glass, but combining glass and polymer to create composite materials is possible if an intermediary polymer coupling agent is used as a go-between, according to Penn State scientists. "Aminopropyltrethoxysilane...

Cornell University. (Technology Spotlight).
September 1, 2001... While we're on the topic of college research, researchers in Cornell's Department of Communication, Department of Computer Science, and the Human Computer Interaction Group gave students in two classes laptop computers equipped to connect to a...

Plastic bearings. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... * corrosion resistant * chemical resistant Available in both English and metric sizes, the "H" series ball bearings are made of polyacetal (POM) plastic. Other available materials for the outer and inner rings are polypropylene,...

Washer bearing. (Bearing & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... The threaded Stems hex nut's preassembled, free spinning collar washer passes through a clearance hole in any fragile bearing material to transfer clamp load directly to the more rigid joint member. ITW Shakeproof Assembly Components,...

Pillow blocks. (Bearing & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Using a free-rolling design and larger rolling diameter than conventional ball bushing pillow blocks, these pre-lubricated roller bearing pillow blocks are self-aligning for higher speed operation and acceleration in linear motion applications....

Self-lubricated bearing. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Designed for harsh environments where lead is prone to chemical attack, lead-free, self-lubricated FB2 bearings accept PVs up to 140,000 psi/fpm without any oil or grease. They are available in 5-165mm sizes. Peer Inc, Waukegan, IL. ...

Rollers. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Designed for sliding doors, noiseless Power-Core rollers and trolley systems resist moisture and flat development and do not wear out the rail. The dimensionally-stable tire material carries high loads at temperatures between -40 and...

Heat transfer fluid. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... The company has reformulated its OR heat transfer fluid, significantly enhancing the product's resistance to oxidation-induced sludge formation and coke deposits. It has been independently analyzed to be twice as resistant to this sludge...

Coating for linear guides. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Designed to protect the company's linear guides and ballscrews in wet processing environments, this rust-proofing coats elements with stable cold Cr-fluoride plating without hydrogen brittleness. NSK Precision America, Bloomingdale, IL. ...

Self-lubricating bearings. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Iglide M250 self-lubricating bearings are suited for low- to medium-load applications. Impact resistance and vibration dampening, wear-resistance and the ability to absorb dirt ingression are the main features. igus inc, E Providence, RI....

Large bearing cages. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Large Dimension Ball Bearing Cages provide additional strength while their increased rigidity and lack of deflection allow higher tolerances and increased strokes per minute. Various interior dimensions include 3.5-to 5.625-in, and 89 to 140mm...

Thin-section bearings. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Metric sizes have been added to the RealiSlim bearing line. The compact bearings combine a large bore size with small cross section. Radial-, angular-, and 4-point-contact configurations are available. Kaydon Corp, Muskegon, MI. Free...

Heavy-duty bearings. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Designed for any linear application where high load capacities are required, the Hevi-Rail bearings are available in a fixed or adjustable eccentric style. Single bearing capacity ranges from 5000 to 33,500 lbs. Pacific Bearing Co,...

Bearing seals. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... Ocean seals keep a bearing clean for longer life. Two stationary flexible plastic lips press lightly against stainless steel rings to form a positive rotary seal. Inside pressure between the two lips quickly equalizes outside pressure, sealing...

PEEK polymer bushings. (Bearings & Lubricants).
September 1, 2001... * self-lubricating * reduces downtime When BP discovered that the PTFE-bronze bushings on two of its reactor pumps were wearing out after just six months, they turned to a plastics specialist to solve the problem. Working with the pump...

Digital servo controller. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... Maxon's new MIP-50 is a 4-quadrant PWM digital servo amplifier designed to control position, velocity, or torque. Compatible with brush or brushless motors up to 250 watts, the MIP-50 can supply 5 A continuously, 11 A for 5 sec, and 13 A for...

22 MM reduced cost moving coil motor. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... Maxon's new A-max 22 mm (0.87) diameter motors deliver the performance and lifetime of a moving coil motor, but improved automated manufacturing processes reduce cost. The patented rhombic moving coil design provides for long life, low...

High speed brushless motors. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... Maxon's new "EC" series of brushless motors are electronically commutated enabling extremely long motor life. This also minimizes electrical noise. Hall effect sensors are built in to the motor in order to provide feedback to the control...

A modern conveyance: moving materials in factory takes a new turn.
September 1, 2001... One of the most interesting paths taken in the course of design is when a product is retooled and re-engineered, without changing the overall scheme. It's more common to apply new technology to an extant product, like using ultrasonics at the...

Australian packaging machinery association. (Packaging & Material Handling Equipment).
September 1, 2001... Contains resource listings by type of machine, information on industry standards, and trade show information. Also provides links to other national packaging machinery associations. www.RSLeads.com/109df-416

Japan Packaging Machinery Manufactures Association. (Packaging & Material Handling Equipment).
September 1, 2001... The only packaging oriented association in Japan offers information on their 253 members, technology R&D, 3 quality au its, product liability information, packaging school for engineers and sales engineers, and an international exchange program...

Infobase directory for engineering systems. (Packaging & Material Handling Equipment).
September 1, 2001... Provides a directory of companies active in the field of machine design, including those developing controls, specialized systems, reverse engineering, software, consulting, material handling, and packaging equipment. www.RSLeads.com/109df-418

Packaging machinery and equipment. (Packaging & Material Handling Equipment).
September 1, 2001... Part of the Open Directory initiative, this site lists companies (with hot links) specializing in bagging and boxing, converting machinery, filling and dispensing, material handling, wrapping and shrinking, and other areas. Also has links to...

Metal Belts. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... Belt Technologies, Inc., announces backed metal belts, suitable for use in packaging, processing and conveying applications. Stainless steel belts can be coated with a variety of materials such as natural or synthetic rubber, urethane, or...

Zero backlash linear rail system. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... The unique benefits of stainless steel belts are now available in pre-engineered components and fully functional linear rail systems. The system is intended to simplify the design process and speed availability to engineers requiring precise...

Peek luers. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... Value Plastics, Inc., introduces a new line of medical grade Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) barbed male and female luers. The components accommodate tube ID sizes from 1/16" (1.5mm) to 1/4" (6.25mm), and are manufactured with our patenred 500...

Affordable R&D options for component design. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... Value Plastics offers our full line of solvent bondable components that help make designing a new fitting less frustrating. Solvent bondable components are available in both Polysulfone and White ABS. Combine junction blocks, luers, threaded or...

Point-source LED pixels. (Lights, Lamps, & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... * individually-addressable * standard manufacturing technology A line of point-source RGB surface mount LED pixels appear as full-color point sources to the human eye, and are able to generate any mixture of the three primary colors....

FED. (Lights, Lamps, & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Outputting one candlepower at 3200[degrees]K, this low-voltage. low-current flameemitting diode is for applications where minimum brightness is desirable. Color spectrum is in the yellow band. Options include a wind deflector. Amish...

Flexible light pipe. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... The FLPR1 Series of light pipes feature a rectangular lens cap assembly for through-hole and surface mount configurations. It can provide LEDbased lighting to points up to 328 ft. distant, in a variety of colors. Bivar Inc, Irvine, CA. ...

Coated mirrors & prisms. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... This company offers 90-degree mirrors with aluminum or copper coatings, and enhanced aluminum coating on 90-degree prisms. The latter can serve to split an image from a video lens onto two cameras. Edmund Industrial Optics, Barrington, NJ....

Ring light. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... The Munchkin R-90M 8-point adjustable ring light provides full 360-degree shadow-free illumination. Diameter is 1.75 in. Applications for the 1 lb device include clean room and quality control installations. Chiu Technical Corp, Kings...

Optic bonding. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... OptiLOC products include anaerobic adhesives plus room temperature and heat curable epoxies for a wide variety of applications in telecommunications, data linking and networking. The materials can be used in optical alignment applications where...

Hi-intensity LEDs. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... The Shark Series of high flux LED illuminators are offered in standard blue, green, amber, red and white colors. Typical brightness for the red Shark is 55 lumens, with a static operating current of 300-800mA for the series. Opto...

Photodiodes. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... S7861/S7861-02 Si PIN photodiodes feature wide dynamic ranges and fast data transfer rates, making them excellent for high-speed optical communications systems such as Fiber Channel and Gigabit Ethernet. Hamamatsu Corp, Bridge-water, NJ....

Fiber optic panels. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Providing high-brightness illumination for front and back lighting of machine vision imaging systems, these woven fiber optic panels emit uniform, diffuse and shadow-free light over large surface areas. The panels can be driven by LEDs, or by...

Avalanche photodiode. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Combining a 500-micron diameter, lownoise Si avalanche photodiode with a high-speed transimpedance amplifier, the PSS-AD500-l.3GTO5 responds to light in the 350-l000nm range. Pacific Silicon Sensor Inc, Westlake Village, CA. Free info--Circle...

Low-power color LCD. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Engineered for portable handheld devices such as cellular phones, 2-way pagers, and small test and measurement units, the RA43Z uses the same amount of power as a black-and-white LCD of similar size, resolution and pixel configuration. The...

Miniature surface-mount LED. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... The 104B top-view LED features a 120-degree viewing angle with typical luminous intensity of up to 120 mcd, depending on color. Footprint is 2.2 x 2.8mm in a standard PLCC-2 package. Stanley Electric Co, Irvine, CA. Free info--Circle...

Single-digit LED. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... The Series BS-C27 features a flat pad design with an internal connection to create a surface mount package It's offered in a wide range of colors with intensities ranging from 12 through 20 mcd. American Bright Optoelectronics Corp, Brea,...

Molded backlights. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Tri-Color LED Molded Backlights can operate with a single LED through MicroLens technology. They are ideal for producing different colors for small to midsize displays. Global Lighting Technologies Inc, Brecksville, OH. Free...

Sapphire base plates. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Suitable for mounting, plating, polishing, etching and final dicing of GaN, GaAs, Si and other materials, these plates feature a flatness to 0.5 fringes of HeNe and parallelism from 20 arc-secs to 1 arc-sec. The clear, Moh 9 plates can be...

Electromechanical actuator. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... A linear actuator translates rotary motion to linear motion. These units use high power output rare-earth permanent magnet brush or brushless motors; spur or planetary gearing; embedded or separate modulated smart analog or digital servo...

Fiber Optic Rotary Joint. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... A multi-pass Fiber Optic Rotary Joint (FORJ) allows optical signals to pass from a stationary structure to a rotating mechanism in a fiber optic system. The assembly is available with 2 to 7 optical passes and a combination of single or...

Slip ring. (Advertisement).
September 1, 2001... A slip ring provides solutions for moving data and power from a stationary structure to a rotating device. The through-bore design provides space for routing of hydraulic or pneumatic lines and a compact outside diameter for minimal space...

RJ45 port indicators. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... These LED indicators nest with RJ45 ports on PCBs to provide visual confirmation of data traffic, network connectivity and signal integrity on equipment like Ethernet hubs, bridges, routers and modems. LEDtronics, Torrance, CA. Free...

Elliptical LEDs. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... The LO484 series of 4mm AlGaInP/GaN LEDs have a 110 x 45 degree radiation pattern. This wide viewing angle makes them suited for indoor signs, instrumentation and LCD backlighting. Marktech Optoelectronics, Menands, NY. Free...

Color sensors. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Three integrated optoelectronic sensors, one for each primary color (red, green, blue), provide onboard conditioning plus a deposited color filter. The devices can be used together for color measurement applications, or individually or in...

LED displays. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... A line of numeric and alphanumeric LED displays are offered in a variety of colors (including multicolor), intensities and sizes. They can be surface or through-hole mounted, and special icons can be custom-made. Para Light Corp, Walnut,...

White LED ring and line lights. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Designed and optimized for machine vision and semiconductor manufacturing applications, these modules have a Fresnel lens for bright, uniform lighting. They produce bright, white light with excellent uniformity. StockerYale Inc, Salem, NH....

Visible-1R lamps. (Lights, Lamps & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... These long-life miniature lamps are designed for applications involving gas analysis or detection. They feature uniform, thin-wall glass envelopes (0.15mm to 0.35mm) with closely positioned doublecoiled CC-6 tungsten filaments for enhanced IR...

LCD inverter. (Lights, Lamps, & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... The DMA Series DC-AC inverter is designed to power LCDs backlit by two cold cathode fluorescent lamps, for use in lower temperature environments and require higher starting voltages. Output power is 12W with PWM dimming. Endicott Research...

Built-in connector. (Lights, Lamps, & LEDs).
September 1, 2001... Adding an L41 connector to this line of LEDs speeds production while ensuring correct lead matching. The connector is resistant against dust and water contamination, making it suited for marine and food processing equipment. Wilbrecht...