Product Design & Development articles from December 2007

Product Design & Development archives from December 2007

More accurate industrial sensors.(First Look)
December 1, 2007... New from Honeywell is their line of SNDH quadrature general industrial speed and direction sensors. The company feels that in addition to easing replacement procedures, the new units offer a more accurate alternative to sensor bearing products...

Greater industrial control and ergonomics.(First Look)
December 1, 2007... Banner Engineering introduces the DUO-TOUCH[R] Run Bar with STB buttons for 2-handed machine control. The Run Bar can interface with DUO-TOUCH SG 2-hand control modules, SC22-3 safety controllers or other Type IIIC control systems while...

Expanded pushbutton switch applications.(First Look)
December 1, 2007... Schurter recently extended their line of metal pushbutton switches to include a latching-action on/off version that can be used in primary or secondary switching applications. The new MSM LA: * Is rated to 30 VDC and 250 VAC with a maximum...

1-box control solution for machine building.(First Look)
December 1, 2007... Baldor Electric has upgraded their offerings for servo and stepper motor controls with the NextMove-ESB2 unit. According to the company, features include: * Servo control capabilities that cover 3 to 4 axes. * A tough, ready-to-use...

Durability in a smaller footprint.(First Look)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Novotechnik's new line of RFC and Vert-x E Series non-contact and touchless rotary position sensors offers more options for mobile, harsh environment or limited space applications. Novotechnik's rotary sensors extend...

UV epoxy improves abrasion resistance.(First Look)
December 1, 2007... A new nanosilicafilled, 1-component, UV-curable epoxy called UV22 has been introduced by Master Bond. Developed for coating, sealing and encapsulation applications, the company feels UV22 offers greater abrasion resistance, optical clarity, low...

Simultaneous, multi-material prototyping.(First Look)
December 1, 2007... Objet Geometries has unveiled their PolyJet Matrix [TM] technology, the first prototyping approach that allows for simultaneous jetting of different materia types. It works by jetting 2 FullCure[R] model materials in pre-set combinations. The...

LEDing by example.(At Issue)
December 1, 2007... "If you build it... they will come." That's what Kevin Costner taught us in the movie Field Of Dreams. Similarly, a new lighting initiative offers perspective on the bottom-line benefits of energy-efficient product designs. LED City is...

Off-the-shelf enclosures.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Carlo Gavazzi Computing Solutions recently announced their rugged electronic packaging services for commercial off-the-shelf products. According to the company, these services can offer users a more cost-efficient, more protective enclosure for...

An energy-efficient adjustable frequency drive.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... According to Yaskawa, their V1000 is the smallest adjustable frequency drive. The V1000's frame incorporates a patented hybrid heat sink design, giving it side-by-side mounting capability. This allows for multiple drives to be monitored and...

Resistance to wear and insulation against electricity.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Specialty coatings for SKF[R] rolling bearings can resist wear or insulate against stray electric currents. Most bearing types can be coated to promote longer bearing life and increased mal chinery uptime, according to the company. Coatings...

Proximity sensing solutions.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Freescale Semiconductor introduces the MPR083 and MPR084 capacitive sensor controllers, and a proximity sensing solution that works with many Freescale microcontrollers (MCUs). According to the company, these...

Switching up options.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... CIT RELAY & SWITCH has expanded their CL1200 Series of momentary lighted SPST pushbutton switches with a right-angle LED-illuminated switch. This RoHS-compliant miniature switch offers: * An electrical rating of 50 mA at 48 VDC and a...

A wide range of motion modes.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ACS Motion Control has developed a series of motion control modules that feature a programmable motion controller, a power supply and up to 3 digital drives in a single, stand-alone package. Designated the SPiiPlus...

A versatile cable organizational system.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Hoffman presents their GableTek[TM] management system, a versatile organizational system that supports cable bundles and individual cables in standard 19" data racks, and simplifies moves, adds and changes. According to the company, this system...

A silicon TV tuner.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... The XCS000 from Xceive is a highly integrated silicon TV tuner specifically designed for flat-panel televisions. According to the company, the tuner offers state-of-the-art performance where both analog and digital reception is required. This...

A range of electromechanical relays.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... New from American Electronic Components is a comprehensive range of electromechanical relays. The range includes industry standard relays for both industrial and printed circuit board applications with switching ranges from 8 A to 30 A/230 VAC...

Certified cable and cable carriers.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Igus[R] has achieved cleanroom environment certification for both their Chainflex cables and Energy Chain[R] cable carriers. These products meet ISO cleanroom standard 14644-1. Igus now offers both control and servo cables for near-sterile...

2 generators in 1.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Berkeley Nucleonics recently launched their Model 575 digital delay/pulse generator, which combines a multi-channel pulse generator with a digital delay generator in a single benchtop instrument. According to the...

32-bit controllers supported with software.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Microchip Technology introduces their MPLAB[R] development tool available to support the recent launch of their PIC32 32-bit microcontroller family. According to the company, this broad and compatible suite of tools means that Microchip users...

High-temperature IEPE accelerometer.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Endevco recently announced their introduction of the industry's first miniature, 100 mV/g, high-temperature IEPE accelerometer, the Model 67-100, which is designed for structural and component testing and monitoring...

A sizable difference: The demand for personal electronic products with longer run times and smaller power supplies has heightened the interest in recent micro fuel cell developments.(ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Micro Fuel Cell Developments)
December 1, 2007... Some reports have micro fuel cell implementation becoming mainstream by 2010. By that time, the product category is projected to generate upwards of $100 million in sales, with strong prospects of at least doubling that amount by 2015. That's a...

A smoother motion drive.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Applied Motion Products introduces the ST5-Si stepper drive, which is programmable for stand-alone operation with the easy-to-use Si Programmer[TM] Windows-based software with integrated tuning. A graphical point-and-click format combines...

For a wide variety of coatings.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Specialty Coating Systems recently released the SCS Precision IRT, a new curing system designed to quickly and safely cure a wide variety of coatings using both convection and long-wave infrared heat sources. The...

Up to 90 percent efficient AC/DC power.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Power Sources Unlimited now offers the N2Power XL275 Series of up to 90 percent efficient AC/DC power supplies, which pack 275 W of power into a 12.22 W/cubic inch power density', fitting easily into any application in which space is critical....

The most miniature load button in the line.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology has expanded their Load Button Load Cell line with the new LLB 130 miniature load button. According to the company, this load button offers: * A 5-, 10-, 25- and 50-1b. capacity range. * Ah outside...

Increased airflow media.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Universal Air Filter has launched ah increased airflow media designed to meet the updated Telcordia NEBS GR-63-CORE, Issue 3 requirements for air filters. This media offers: * An alternative disposable medium with lower pressure drop and...

Photoshop pushes its way into design.(Software Suite)
December 1, 2007... Adobe' Systems recently announced the availability of Adobe[R] Photoshop[R] CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended, two new editions of the industry standard for digital imaging. According to the company, Photoshop CS3 software is an upgrade that...

A helpful hookup.(Software Suite)
December 1, 2007... Gibbs and Associates, developer of GibbsCAM[R] software, and Kubotek USA, creator of geometry-based KeyCreator[R] CAD software, recently unveiled their collaboration to integrate KeyCreator software with GibbsCAM. A newly cultivated interface...

Optimized product design requirements management.(Software Suite)
December 1, 2007... Telelogic has launched Focal Point[TM] 6.1 to integrate with Microsoft[R] Project[R], helping design engineers streamline their product design requirements management processes while making value-based decisions. According to the company, Focal...

A picture is worth more than 240 MPH: Wicks reaches 244.9 MPH in Dodge Charger stock car and improves speed-to-market with more efficient design processes.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITED] Autodesk recently announced that Russ Wicks, who holds world speed records of more than 200 MPH, has set a new stock car world speed record of 244.9 MPH, which has been confirmed by Guinness World Records. Wicks...

A discrete crank handle.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... J.W. Winco now offers aluminum crank handles with recessed locking retractable handles. The body of the crank handle is aluminum with a black powder-coated pebble finish and a light gray plastic hub cover, whereas the retractable handle is made...

Energy-efficient switches.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... National Semiconductor has added 2 low-power, low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) 2 x 2 crosspoint switches to their PowerWise[R] energy-efficient product family. According to the company, the DS25CP102 delivers quality jitter performance...

A 3-channel data logger.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... T&D now offers the TR-73U data logger to monitor 3 channels, including temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. According to the company, this compact, lightweight unit also boasts of: * Dimensions of approximately 2" by 3" and...

A fully submersible transmitter.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] STS Sensors presents their ATM/N/T precision pressure and temperature depth and level transmitter, which is fully submersible for monitoring ground or surface water, waste water or tank level measurement. The ATM/N/T...

An encoder for harsh environments.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Admotec introduces their RoHS-compliant KX magnetic encoders for high performance in harsh or difficult environments in which conventional encoders don't work or last. Available in standard and custom configurations, these rotary magnetic...

ZigBeeT technology.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Cirronet has announced the immediate availability of new ZigBeeT technology in their ZMN2405HP OEM modules, which are based on Texas Instruments' CC2430 system-on-chip. According to the company, the ZMN2405HP OEM modules exhibit: * The...

SpecCheck/connection devices.(CONNECTION DEVICES)
December 1, 2007... SpecCheck/CONNECTION DEVICES [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OMRON ELECTRONICS PHOENIX CONTACT COMPONENTS The XS5 Series of The...

Self-clinching flush-head studs.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... For use in thin stainless sheets, PEM[R]-Type FHP[TM] self-clinching flush-head studs from PennEngineering serve as ideal solutions for attachment applications in which demanding requirements for corrosion resistance and thinner, lighter...

An all-in-1 integrated contact sensor.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... According to Keyence, the GT general-purpose all-in-1 integrated contact sensor can simplify the measurement of height and thickness, and is easy to set up and use. Keyence believes the IP67 GT provides: * Error-free measurements without...

Effectively dealing with vertical motion.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... According to Serapid, the LinkLift is a telescopic lifting column designed to solve many of the problems associated with vertical motion. This telescopic lifting column consists of block-shaped chain links with square cross sections, which...

Piloting 1/4-turn actuators.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] OMEGA's SVP-3 solenoid valves feature a NAMUR interface and are ideally suited for piloting 1/4-turn actuators on ball and butterfly valves. The SVP-3 incorporates: * A NAMUR flange interface that mounts directly...

Less power, less space, less cost.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... According to Broadcom, their BCM4312 single-chip WLAN solution enables design engineers to design smaller, more cost-efficient Wi-Fi[R] products requiring less power. Furthermore, this chip features: * A flexible architecture optimized for...

Faster frameless motors.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... New from Applimotion is their ULT Series of direct-drive frameless motors. The latest versions of these low-profile motors contain special magnet configurations for high-speed applications. According to the company, other features include: ...

An intrinsically safe linear position sensor.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Everight Precision Technologies now offers their Positek El11 intrinsically sale linear position sensor for use in potentially explosive dust and gaseous of vaporous atmospheres. According to the company, some characteristics of the sensor...

Customized plastic enclosures.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Tool-Less Plastic Technologies creates customized plastic enclosures, and according to the company, they can deliver a short lead time and the need to make changes quickly on beta units. Recently, Tool-Less design engineers teamed up with a...

Automatic undervoltage and overvoltage shutoff.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... UltraPower, a division of Ultralink/XLO Products, presents their new line of PowerGrid AC power management and conditioning components, which includes 3 models-the PGX-500, the PGX-400 and the PGX-300. The PGX-500 offers Level 4 filtration, and...

More for less: the growing trend toward energy efficiency has motors absorbing less energy, while maximizing output.(Motor Advancements)
December 1, 2007... With the growing emphasis on going green, design engineers are bound to be under pressure to creatively seek out how to improve the energy efficiency in their designs, while simultaneously cutting energy costs for the end-user. According to the...

Fast overload protection.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... New from Weidmuller is their DIN-rail mounted fuse terminal blocks for equipment that requires fast overload protection. Designed for high current and voltage applications, the WSI 25 fuse terminal blocks also incorporate: * Acceptance of...

A voice coil motor driver with [I.sup.2]C serial interface.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Allegro[R] recently announced the first device in a series of voice coil motor drivers with an [I.sup.2]C serial interface designed for camera auto focus and zoom applications. The A3904 further boasts of: * An...

Application for multiple motor types.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Performance Motion Devices introduces the advanced capabilities of their Magellan[TM] programmable motion processor to directly support multiple motor types in single- and multiple-axis applications. According to the company, some of these...

A linear encoder with a stainless steel spar scale.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... According to Renishaw, their RSLM linear encoders come with a special alloy stainless steel spar scale, an ultra-low [+ or -] 30 nm cyclic error, patented filtering optics and a [+ or -] 4 [micro]m accuracy to deliver the performance of a fine...

A mercury-free LCD hour meter.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... According to ENM, mercury is being banned in many European products, including elapsed-time hour meters. Now the company supplies Series T47 mercury-free LCD miniature hour meters to replace those hour meters that use mercury. Specifications...

A bus coupler with extra flexibility.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... The new BK9103 PROFINET bus coupler from Beckhoff Automation permits design engineers using PROFINET to take advantage of more than 200 different Beckhoff I/O terminal types. The coupler exhibits: * Integration of the modular Beckhoff bus...

A 32-GB SATA SSD drive.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Advanced Media, a subsidiary of RITEK, has announced their non-volatile 32-GB Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) Solid State Disk (SSD) drive. According to the company, the 2.5" SSD drive furnishes: * Fast boot and access times...

5 to 10 years of battery life.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... GainSpain recently launched their GS1010 Wi-Fi sensor network solution, which according to the company, provides 5 to 10 years of battery life for sensors and other connected devices. The GS1010 is an ultra low-power system-on-a-chip solution,...

A new line of linear actuators.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] New from Bishop-Wisecarver is their LoPro linear actuator line. The line consists of 4 sizes in belt, lead screw, ball screw and chain-driven configurations, as well as un-driven. According to the company, the line...

More electronics.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Newark, a part of the Premier Farnell Group, recently announced that it is now a full-line distributor of Linear Technology, a supplier of high-performance analog integrated circuits. Linear Technology offers a broad...

Stainless steel sanitary tubing.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... RathGibson now offers 8" (203.2 mm) outer diameter TP304L and TP316L stainless steel sanitary tubing that is suitable for the food and dairy industry. Because the company mechanically polishes the tubing to 20 p-in. Ra (0.5 pro) inner-diameter...

Augmented system compatibility, power and control.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Sauer-Danfoss has added the larger MC088-015-00000 general purpose microcontroller to their PLUS1[TM] product family. This new 88-pin microcontroller features: * The inclusion of 42 inputs, 32 outputs and 2 CAN 2.0B ports. * 4 inputs...

Formulated for improved performance.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Henkel recently unveiled the next generation of Loctite[R] Indigo [TM] visible light-cure adhesives formulated for improved performance in a broad array of bonding, potting and assembly applications. The 3 new...

Extra protection against overheating.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Electronic Concepts introduces the 5MPF Series polypropylene film capacitor with the company's proprietary Fuseac technology built-in to provide certainty against overheating of metallized dry film capacitors. The capacitor is specifically...

Compatible with low-profile and universal bus.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sealevel Systems' new ACB-MP.LPCI low-profile PCI serial interface adapter features: * Configurability for RS232, RS422, RS485, RS530, RS530A of V.35. * A Z85230 enhanced serial communications controller. ...

A lean-managed switch.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... According to Phoenix Contact, their Lean-Managed Switch (LMS) is a compact, powerful and economically managed Ethernet switch. The LMS exhibits: * Support of Simple Network Management Protocol, Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol, Internet Group...

Advanced locking cylinders.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Advanced Machine & Engineering recently unveiled the Series CCA Advanced Locking Cylinders[R] with an integral AMLOK[R] power off rod clamp. The clamp has been developed to control overtravel, drifting, bouncing and reverse traveling. According...

A bearingless angle encoder.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... A new series of bearingless modular angle encoders, the ERP 4080 and the ERP 8080, were recently introduced by HEIDENHAIN. These encoders incorporate a new scanning method that utilizes a very small scanning area illuminated by a spot laser....

A heavy-duty dry materials injection pump.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... The Pneumatic Screw Pump from Wm. W. Meyer & Sons is a heavy-duty dry materials injection pump designed to zed material into a pneumatic conveying line. According to the company, the pump also offers: * The ability to handle highly...

Tensile and compressive measurements.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Loadstar Sensors has announced the immediate availability of their iLoad Pro Series digital load/force sensors. The iLoad Pro digital USB sensors grant: * Availability in capacities ranging from 10 to 25,000 lbs. to measure compressive and...

Saving installation time.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TURCK's new M12 eurofast[R] junction box saves installation time by mounting 1 junction box rather than punching 8 receptacle holes for through-panel signal connections. The junction box incorporates: *...

Cylinders with options.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... The Bosch Rexroth CDTI and CDT4 Series of NFPA tie-rod hydraulic cylinders come with options for sealing systems including fluorocarbon, nitrile butadiene rubber, polytetrafluoroethylene and wear-resistant polyurethane seals. The CDT4 series...

A serial communications expansion card.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Red Lion Controls now produces XCRS serial communications expansion cards for the Data Station Plus and Modular Controller product come standard with 3 serial communication ports, and the XCRS expands this connectivity by adding 2 extra...

A complete package.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ORIENTAL MOTOR USA now produces a complete RBK 2-phase bipolar stepping motor and drive package with DC input and many control functions. According to the company, this RoHS-compliant stepping package additionally...

No damage to connected devices.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... According to Phihong, the company has expanded their line of standard unregulated adapters to include the PLA03A, a lightweight, highly efficient 3-W wall plug ideal for applications like cordless headsets, Bluetooth[R] device chargers, cell...

A protected isolated DC/DC converter.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... FDK Corp. introduces the first eighth brick products in their Sensei Series--the FPER48T isolated DC/DC verters, which provide 30 A of output current. The FPER48T converters also deliver: * A 48-VDC input and 4.00 LFM (2 M/sec.) airflow....

A smaller diameter cutter.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... With the advent of small-diameter MG cables, Seatek Co. decided to create the new RS-101AC Auto-Glamping Roto-Split. Users simply squeeze the auto-clamping lever to automatically clamp any size calbe. According to the company, this cutter...

A miniature stepping motor.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Nidec-Copal presents the LPD6G Series miniature 2-phase stepping motor with a parallel planetary gearhead, as well as: * A geartrain that develops 1.2 oz.-in. (9.0 Nm) at 1,358 pulses-per-second or 30 RPM. * A package size of 0.5" (L)...

A new class of sensors.(New Products)
December 1, 2007... Balluff recently unveiled a new class of sensors that fills the gap between conventional discrete sensors and vision systems. According to the company, their Sharpshooter optical sensor combines the flexibility of a vision system and the...