04/03/2000 Design News

Product News

Latest and greatest offerings in the engineering marketplace

Plug-in-computer

The CPC-2245, a fully functional plug-in computer the size of an audio cassette (2 1/2 2 4 inches), utilizes a 486 level processor, 8-kilobyte cache and 32 Mbytes of RAM, a 10/100BASE-T Ethernet controller, and a PCI slot. It also features VGA interface with a 64-bit accelerator, two serial ports, a parallel or floppy disk port, and support for up to two hard drives. A CompactFlash socket is provided for a solid-state disk, and Windows CE can be pre-installed.

Advantech Technologies Inc., 15375 Barranca Pkwy., Suite A-106, Irvine, CA 92618; FAX (949) 789-7179; www.advantech.com.

Powermonitor 3000

The Allen-Bradley Powermonitor? 3000 digital power meter allows facility engineers to monitor and collect energy usage information and help achieve proactive demand management. Designed for applications with high electrical demands, the compact Powermonitor 3000 provides vital information for documenting and tracking energy consumption, enabling electrical usage load profiling and supplying delivery data needed for activity-based accounting.

Rockwell Automation, Dept. 1091, 10701 Hampshire Ave. S, Bloomington, MN 55438; FAX (800) 500-0329; www.rockwellautomation.com.

Conductive adhesive

Loctite 3880 is a single-component, silver-filled, electrically conductive epoxy adhesive for use on temperature-sensitive components and non-solderable substrates. Designed for syringe dispensing or stencil/screen printing, 3880 offers an extended work life and cures in minutes with heat exposure. A strong, durable bonds is developed with many materials including: metals, ceramics, rubber, and plastics. The adhesive does not require deep freezing for storage.

Loctite, 1001 Trout Brook Crossing, Rocky Hill, CT 06067; FAX (860) 571-5465; www.locite.com.

Polymer manifolds

Brass and engineered polymer manifolds provide a convenient junction for the hook-up of multi-branch distribution lines for air, water, and hydraulic fluid on a range of equipment including: injection molding coolant lines, packaging equipment, air logic systems, and specialized industrial machinery. Manifolds are available with a range of inlet and outlet port options from 1/8 to 3/8 inch. They have a working temperature from -65 to 250F at 1,000 psi maximum.

Parker Hannifin, 8940 Tyler Blvd., Mentor, OH 44060-2186; www.parker.com.

Planetary gearhead

The UltraTRUE? Size 220 inline Planetary Gearhead delivers a torque capacity of more than 48,000 inch-lbs, the highest torque capacity in its size range. Its strength and rigidity are the result of machining both the output housing and the helical internal gear from a single piece of high strength steel. They feature a backlash of 4 arc-minutes maximum, ratios from 4:1 through 100:1, and a 75-mm output shaft for maximum torsional stiffness.

Thomson Industries, 2 Channel Dr., Port Washington, NY 11050; FAX (516) 944-1892; www.thomson.com.

Voltage regulators

Claimed to be the world's smallest voltage regulators for ceramic capacitors, these regulators come in two series, the S-814 series of low dropout and high-precision, and the S-817 series. Both regulators are capable of operating tantalum or electrolytic capacitors as well. They have features of low Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR), low current consumption, high output current, and high-precision output voltage. The S-814 also has a low dropout voltage.

Seiko Instruments USA, 2990 W. Lomita Blvd., Torrance, CA 90505; FAX (909) 975-5699; www.seiko-usa-ecd.com.

Motor/drive

GOLDLINE XT 150 family of brushless servomotors offers various torque ratings, frame sizes, and speeds in a rugged package. Models in this family are matched with the SERVOSTAR CD digital amplifier for 115 and 230V ac operation at current ratings of 3 to 10A. Plug-type connectors, interface options, and automatic tuning simplify installation and setup. Typical applications include converting, packaging, semiconductor processing, and factory automation.

Kollmorgen, 201 Rock Rd., Radford, VA 24141; FAX (540) 731-0847; www.kollmorgen.com.

PVD coating

Black Platinum, a new color applied using the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) process, provides a stark contrast to traditional PVD colors and now gives manufacturers of appliance, plumbing, and hardware products greater design flexibility while still providing the tough, corrosion-resistant finishes associated with PVD coatings. The PVD layer is extremely thin and doesn't materially change part dimensions.

MPC Plating, 1859 E. 63 St., Cleveland, OH 44103; FAX 216-881-7324; www.mpcplating.com.

Imaging software

GLOBAL LAB Image/2 (GLI/2), a customizable, extensible, object-oriented software application package for the scientific imaging marketplace, can be used for applications that require measuring, classification, counting, size distribution analysis, and other measurements. GLI/2 can be used as an out-of-the-box, stand-alone package that users can program using the point and click scripting tool; as a base for the addition of user-written custom tools that include a custom graphical user interface; or as an object-oriented application programming interface for custom imaging applications.

Data Translation, 100 Locke Dr., Marlboro, MA 01752; FAX (508) 481-8621.

Front lubrication units

The Star Ball Railr systems front lubrication unit has increased length between lubrication intervals for Star runner blocks by 250 times, allowing them to travel up to 5 million meters maintenance-free. Also, lubrication consumption is decreased by 95%.

Rexroth Star, 14001 South Lakes Dr., Charlotte, NC 28273; FAX (704) 583-0523.

Particle velocity software

VisiSize Solo is a standalone software package designed to provide accurate sizing and velocity measurement of high-speed droplet, particle, or bubble processes. It works in conjunction with a range of laser-based or other imaging systems, and with customers' existing software, correcting for out-of-focus particles, and for spherical/non-spherical objects.

Oxford Lasers Inc., 33 Nagog Park, Box 2620, Acton, MA 01720-6620; FAX (978) 263-2868.

Mechanical feedback valves

The G-631 mechanical feedback valve has a two-stage design and covers a range of flows from 1 to 20 gpm at 1,000-psi valve drop. The G761 covers a rated range from 1 to 16.5 gpm. Both valves feature optional fifth ports and field-replaceable filters. Mechanical feedback of spool positions is provided by cantilevered springs.

Moog Inc., Seneca and Jamison Rds., Plant 11, East Aurora, NY 14052-0018; FAX (716) 655-1803.

Analytical computation system

Maple 6 for Windows, UNIX, Macintosh, and Linux is a new math engine that delivers an integrated suite of symbolic and numerical solvers. The interactive computer system provides a mathematical environment for the manipulation of symbolic algebraic expressions, arbitrary-precision numerics, both 2D and 3D graphics, and programs. The company says that the system could be applied in industries such as mechanical engineering, automation and control, telecommunications, aerospace, data analysis, and physics, as well as academics.

Waterloo Maple Inc., 57 Erb St. West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L6C2; FAX (519) 747-5284; www.maplesoft.com.

CAD software

GS-Design, a high-end solids modeling 3D CAD system, manages complex design programs such as the F-22 Stealth Fighter. Originally developed at Lockheed Martin, the software is an aerospace-grade CAD program capable of modeling large assemblies. With its web-based, three-tier architecture, GS-Design provides for collaborative design between design teams located thousands of miles apart or just around the corner from each other. The program manages revisions and configurations, and provides secure central storage of design data.

CollabWare Corp., 477 Shoup Ave., Suite 105, Idaho Falls, ID 83402; FAX (208) 552-4703; www.collabware.com.

Karen Auguston Field on Power Transmission & Motion Control

For comments on power transmission & motion control, contact Karen at [email protected]

Pick of the Issue

Servo motors

TorqueMasterr BNL 2300 Series brushless servo motors have torque ratings up to 140 oz-inch, speeds and torque stability up to 10,000 rpm, and accommodate dc bus voltages up to 325V. They can be used as replacements for stepper motor systems, in applications including factory automation, packaging, robotics, semiconductor, and medical instrumentation.

Cleveland Motion Controls, 829A Middlesex Tpke., Billerica, MA 01821; FAX (888) 295-5550; www.torquesystems.com.

Gearmotors

These cycloidal gearmotors integrate a NEMA 17, 23, or 34 five-phase stepping motor with an in-line cycloidal ball reducer that increases both output torque and output precision. Standard reduction ratios of 10:1 and 20:1 offer 20,000 and 40,000 steps of true resolution per one revolution of the reducer's output shaft at up to 2,777 oz-inch of torque. They are designed for applications in medical equipment, semiconductor manufacturing, assembly, and packaging equipment.

Nyden, 2610-B North First St., San Jose, CA 95134; www.nyden.com.

Gear drive

The ANGLgearr line of right-angle gear drives provides either manual or power transmission of rotary motion, with carburized case-hardened Coniflex? bevel gears and completely enclosed and sealed ball bearings. They are lubricated for life with Exxon Beacon 325 grease, and will work in operating temperatures from -54 to 93C.

Andantex USA, 1705 Valley Rd., Wanamassa, NJ 07712; FAX 732 493-2949; www.andantex.com.

Brushless motors

This line of two-wire