Spotlight Set to Shine on Manufacturing

Heavy Loads: Rails from Bosch Rexroth will carry heavy loads and smooth the transition from one rail to the next.

Whether they're interested in hardware or software, attendees at the National Manufacturing Week exhibits in Chicago March 7-10 will find a number of new products.

On the design software side, there's an ongoing push by design engineers to create more realistic models, shifting from 2D images to realistic 3D graphics. That's being addressed by UGS Corp. of Huntsville, AL, which is adding a number of enhancements to its SolidEdge line, improving the 2D and 3D hybrid work flow. Version 17 will make it much simpler for moving from 2D to 3D, breaking the transition into four steps.

"We're adding what we call the Apprentice Mode, which helps people make the transition from 2D to 3D, or it can help people familiar with other 3D programs move to SolidEdge," says Bruce Boes, vice president of business strategy and marketing for the UGS Solid Edge line. The new software will also include Zero D, which helps users design product structures before any geometries are committed to paper.

Engineers more concerned with fluid movement will also benefit from advances made in the past year. Fluent Inc. of Lebanon, NH, is upgrading its FloWizard line, unveiled at last year's show. The basic Version 1 lets even novice CAD engineers perform computational fluid dynamics modeling.

Debut: Pittman will exhibit these new products at National Manufacturing Week in Chicago.

The new FloWizard V2 provides many more links to popular design tools, eliminating file translations for many packages. Users who now use tools from SolidWorks, SolidEdge and UGS now have direct CAD geometry access to Pro/ENGINEER and ParaSolid files. V2 users can also read Catia V5 files.

Users can now run CPU intensive calculations on Fluent's Remote Simulation Facility, which can dramatically improve time over V1, which limited users to PCs. Users who only need this capability occasionally can do complex calculations on a usage-based subscription rather than buying the complete software package. Operators can also perform compressible flow modeling using the ideal gas law, allowing for more accurate mass flow rate and pressure drop predictions for many flows.

Much hardware

When show attendees start thinking about converting designs made with these and other programs into reality, they'll find plenty of products for their application, whatever that task may be.

PCB Mounting: PennEngineering Fastening's spacers and nuts can be mounted on printed circuit boards.

Addressing motor applications such as data storage, biotechnology and semiconductor processing where dc motors must be relatively small yet powerful, PennEngineering Motion Technologies of Harleysville, PA, is unveiling its Pittman Series 6000 brush-commutated iron-core dc motors. It provides the power of ironless core or coreless motors without the higher cost of those technologies.

Pittman says they produce more power than similarly sized competitive products, providing maximum peak torques of up to 10.2 oz-inch and speeds of up to 8,550 rpm. The units, with a five-slot armature design and bonded neodymium iron boron magnets, range from 1.256 to 1.901 inches.

Circuit board producers can now mount spacers and nuts on boards using standard automated surface-mount techniques at the same time as other surface-mount components. The PEM ReelFast SMT line of spacers and nuts being unveiled by PennEngineering Fastening Technologies of Danboro, PA, can serve as spacers for stacking boards or as nuts for board mounting or component attachment. They can be attached to boards as thin as 0.060 inch. Various thread types are available in lengths from 0.065 to 0.375 inch. They come on reels carrying up to 1,500 parts.

For those who build production lines, there will also be a number of improvements and upgrades available. The eLINE Ball Rail System, from Bosch Rexroth of Charlotte, NC, handles heavier payloads than other rails designed for simple handling and assembly tasks or light-duty machines, Bosch claims.

Its flexible aluminum alloy handles minor mounting surface deviations, evening out roughness or discrepancies between rails. This can save time and money during system preparation and assembly. The new eLINE family comes in sizes 15, 20, and 25 with single piece rail lengths up to 2,000 mm. Users can also choose accuracy classes between N and E.