The dual-hinge operating mechanism in Motorola's PEBL mobile phone is made with injection molded 17.4 PH stainless steel to a density of 7.6 g/cm³. The innovative design positions the clamshell cover so that it slides down and flips open in one movement. The flip slider and hinge barrel are made by Advanced Materials Technologies Pty Ltd. of Singapore. According to the molder, the MIM process allows a very complex thin wall, overhanging structures and three-dimensional design. Both parts are coined, machined, polished and plated. It's estimated that it would have cost five times more to machine these parts. They won the grand prize in the electrical/electronic components category of the 2006 Powder Metallurgy Design Awards competition sponsored by the Metal Powder Industries Federation. For more information on the design awards, go to http://rbi.ims.ca/4933-517.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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