Tài liệu Machine design, tập 83, số 18, 2011

October 20, 2011 A Penton Media Publication Tune in to EngineeringTV.com IR cloaking device hides tanks in plain sight page 22 THE LAST RUTAN AIRPLANE DESIGN? page 28 THE RIGHT AC PLUG FOR THE RIGHT PART OF THE WORLD, page 50 RESINS THAT BEHAVE THEMSELVES IN TINY MOLDS, page 58 ANATOMY OF A HIGHPERFORMANCE ACOUSTIC SENSOR, page 64 Where Do I Go for Pressure, Strain and Force Products? omega.com, of Course! Your single source for process measurement and control products! Ideal for Automotive and Aerospace Applications High Accuracy Pressure Transducers and Transmitters All Stainless Steel Wetted Parts for Industrial Applications Visit omega.com/pxm309 © Rainer Plendl/ Dreamstime.com Low-Profile Pancake Style Load Cells Standard and Metric Visit omega.com/lchd LCHD Series Starts at $ 765 FREE! 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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED RS# 101 PELICAN TM TRUST YOUR TECHNOLOGY TO OURS Mission Critical Custom Case Engineering Harnessing our global resources, Pelican-Hardigg Advanced Case Solutions™ develops custom case solutions using a multidisciplinary process under the industry’s most experienced project management team. Driven by your product’s specifications, usage and environmental analysis, these custom case solutions can provide you with the highest level of Mission Critical confidence in the field – guaranteed. RS# 102 www.pelicanoem.com/md PELICAN PRODUCTS , INC. 23215 Early Avenue, Torrance, CA 90505 866.628.9890 (TOLL FREE) ■ 310.326.4700 ■ FAX 310.326.3311 All trademarks are registered and/or unregistered trademarks of Pelican Products, Inc., its subsidiaries and/or affiliates. VOLUME 83 ISSUE 18 OCTOBER 20, 2011 MEDICAL INDUSTRY FOCUS Healing wounds with technology Ultrasound kickstarts healing processes Applicator Control box Foot pedal FEATURES 22 New devices and materials help chronic wounds heal faster and with less risk of infection. Physicians have been taking advantage of technology to help wounds heal for centuries by using bandages, stitches, and more recently, staples and adhesives. And fortunately, most wounds eventually heal themselves, But there are situations in which wounds just wonÕt heal. These chronic wounds Ñ usually defined as those that show no improvement after 30 days Ñ include bed sores in paralyzed or immobilized people, foot and leg sores on diabetics, and large traumatic wounds due to car accidents or combat. Fortunately, biomedical engineers and material scientists have developed several new devices and therapies that work on chronic wounds. IR camouflage lets tanks hide in plain sight When viewed through IR detectors, battle tanks can imitate smaller vehicles and other objects, thanks to a new Adaptiv system. Better dressings One of the simplest new approaches to wound therapy are bioceramic dressings from Cerdak, a South Af44 MACHINE Design.com The dermaPACE device from Sanuwave applies acoustic energy to a wound site, which simulates damage to the cells. The cells respond by initiating a fresh healing response and the body rushes antigens and growth hormones to the site. Senior Editor [email protected] Resources: Cerdak, www.cerdak.com ConvaTec, www.convatec.com Innovative Therapies Inc., www.itinpwt.com rican company. The FDA-approved dressing, called Cerdak, consists of a sachet of loosely packed alumina-oxide spheres ranging in diameter from 0.2 to 1 mm. There are many voids between the nonallergenic spheres and each sphere has many pores. In fact, pores make up about 75% of the spheresÕ volume. The pores average about 2 to 5 µm in diameter, which creates capillary suction forces of about OCTOBER 20, 2011 Kinetic Concepts Inc., www.kci1.com Sanuwave Health Inc., www.sanuwave.com For a look at the low-cost NPWT device in action, go to http://tinyurl.com/3tzup64 56 kPA when in contact with liquids. When placed in or near a wound, the spheres attract and retain fluid. As they remove older fluid, the body reacts by supplying more, which contains fresh antigens and the growth hormones and proteins needed to fight infection, grow new tissue and blood vessels, and heal the wound. And studies show the spheres reduce the amount of bacterial toxins and free radicals, which are both inimical to healing. The standard Cerdak dressing is about the size of a tea bag, but the company makes specialized dressings for OCTOBER 20, 2011 MACHINE Design.com Biomedical engineers and doctors have developed several new methods for healing wounds. Injection molding for small and microscopic parts can mean different requirements than those cited by manufacturers. ELECTRICAL & Instrumentation 64 Test Technology Guide Precise solar measurements; measuring the shake, rattle, and roll during shuttle liftoffs; and conditioning sensor signals. PLUGGING IN Navigating international power-connection standards The simple task of specifying an ac electrical plug takes on numerous intricacies in equipment destined for different parts of the world. Look at an electrical outlet outside the U. S. and you’ll probably see an unfamiliar plug pattern. There are 18 different plug patterns used around the world. In addition, countries around the world use different ac mains voltages and frequencies. North America, part of South America, and a few other countries that run on 60 Hz. Most of the rest of the world runs on 50 Hz. However, some countries, such as Japan, run on both. While the voltages in most industrialized countries are typically 120 or 230 Vac, voltages can run anywhere from 100 to 250 Vac. Again, some countries use multiple voltages. When configuring electrically powered equipment for use outside the U. S., cutting off the “wrong” plug and rewiring the “right” plug or using an adapter does not solve the problem. Once you change the cord, as when rewiring the “right” plug onto it, the cord loses its regulatory approval — which could also affect the approvals on your equipment. Use of country-specific adapters is fine for traveling, but they are not recommended for use on a piece of industrial equipment; the adapters are not approved, so your cord and equipment may lose approvals. All developed countries and many of the developing countries have electrical safety standards. As a result, most have electriWANT MORE? cal testing agenFocus on this code image cies. The U. S. has using your smartphone and several, includfree software from www. neoreader.com, and you will be ing Under writconnected to related content ers Laboratories on machinedesign.com. and CSA Internahttp://tinyurl.com/3wspemb tional; Germany 50 MACHINE Design.com The Argentine plug resembles the Australian plug, though the two differ slightly. has VDE; Sweden has Semko, and so on. Most developed countries require some sort of a third-party test and approval before equipment can be sold internally. Many European countries will accept VDE approval on parts used there. In most European cases, the national standard will simply be a translation into the local language of the applicable International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) or Cenelec document. Any deviations are noted in the front of the publication. UL and CSA have adapted some IEC standards but, for the most part, their standards are independent of IEC and Cenelec. Plugs and sockets can be categorized by their class and polarization. Class I plugs and sockets have the ability to provide grounding. The grounded plug and socket must have at least three pins or contact points. Class II plugs and sockets have only two electrical contact points, line and neutral, and use two-wire cables. A polarized plug-and-socket configuration has two PLUGGING IN: Navigating international power connection standards Here’s how to work through the numerous standards governing electrical plugs and sockets in different parts of the world. OCTOBER 20, 2011 50 Access our Reader Service Web site to quickly find and request information on the products and services found in the pages of MACHINE DESIGN. www.machinedesign.com/rsc 2 MACHINE Design.com OCTOBER 20, 2011 45 Healing wounds with technology 44 fit for 58 Materials micromolding Authored by: Stephen J. Mraz The healing process is actually a host of biological activities that take place in reaction to tissue damage. Inflammation, for example, might cause swelling and pain, but normally it stems from the body rushing blood and antigens to an already injured site. Other healing activities include a localized increase in protein production to build new tissues and skin, and growth factors arriving at the site to promote new blood vessel growth and seal off the wound. But in chronic wounds, this cascade of events seems to stall out, leaving a painful open sore susceptible to infection. Researchers at Sanuwave Health Inc., Alpharetta, Ga., have discovered a way to restart the healing process and get that cascade flowing again using ultrasound stimulation with a device they design and manufacture called dermaPACE. (PACE stands for pulsed acoustic cellular expression). It uses a handheld transmitter to send four impulses/second of ultrasound carrying 0.23 J/mm2. These impulses travel into the tissue or wound where they create shock waves of about 500 bar followed by negative pressure waves of about –90 bar, according to the company. These pressure waves travel about 10 mm into the wound where they generate rapid compression and tension forces at the cellular levels. These forces seem to imitate a wound, which initiates the healing cascade. In fact, a single treatment, which consists of a little over 2 min of impulses, has been shown to increase the healing response for up to 12 weeks. Patients usually receive four treatments spread over four weeks. The transmitter/applicator contains electronics and liquid components that cannot be sterilized, so health-care technicians encase it in a sterile sleeve while gliding it over the wound to prevent cross contaminations between patients. The sleeve material readily transfers acoustic energy. The technicians also apply a sterile gel on the wound to facilitate the sound waves passing from the applicator to the tissue. Although dermaPACE and similar devices have been shown to initiate and accelerate healing burns, traumatic wounds, reconstructive skin grafts, and diabetic wounds, Sanuwave is initially targeting the device for use on foot ulcers of diabetics, one of the most common chronic wounds. One of the symptoms of diabetes is neuropathy, nerve damage that leads to a loss of feeling. So diabetic patients in clinical tests and trials have not complained of pain. And patients who were treated for other types of wounds did not report pain either. But burns studies from Europe report they do use lidocain, a local anesthetic, just prior to dermaPACE treatments. The FDA is currently reviewing clinical trials of the device for use on diabetic sores. It is evaluating time to wound closure, reduction in wound size, rate of patient improvement, patient longterm safety, and skin appearance and pain reduction. If all goes well, the agency could approve the device relatively soon. And the AMA is already looking favorably on the device based on published clinical data and support from several medical societies. Easy DAQ or SCADA with low-cost I/O and practical software Use the technology built into the Productivity3000 programmable controller to make your job easier. If you need data collection - from the factory floor, lab, or field - it’s a system worth looking at. One program instruction in the controller connects and passes data to all the common database formats - Microsoft Access, ODBC, and SQL Server. Low-cost server software (DataWorx P3K, starting at $595) makes the data readily available to your upstream application. The FREE Productivity Suite programming software comes with a trial version of DataWorx P3K, so you can experiment with and test your database application with no risk! For simple data logging, the CPU can write data to a removable mass storage device (USB) on an event or time basis. RS# 103 ON THE COVER A tank prototype, the CV90120 from BAE Systems, with Adaptive camouflaging hexagons. DEPARTMENTS 8 EDITORIAL Why finance majors make more than engineers 10 EDITORIAL STAFF 12 LETTERS 18 SCANNING FOR IDEAS Flexible, thin keypad controls access to enclosures Bolt tensioners securely fasten large-diameter bolts 22 REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK 34 LOOKING BACK 40 ADVANCED MANUFACTURING 21 prototypes later, a nifty design aid for plastic resins 42 BERKE ON SAFETY Test your instructions as thoroughly as your products 69 ORR ON ENGINEERING Keeping up with tech 70 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT Plastics & elastomers For customized article reprints and permissions please contact: Penton Reprints, 1-888-858-8851, e-mail at [email protected] or visit pentonreprints.com. Editorial content is indexed in the Applied Science Technology Index, the Engineering Index, SciSearch and Research Alert. Microfilm copies available from National Archive Publishing Company (NAPC), 300 N. Zeeb Rd., P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998, Ph: 734-302-6500 or 800-420-NAPC (6272), extension 6578. Permission to photocopy is granted for users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Inc. to photocopy any article, with the exception of those for which separate ownership is indicated on the first page of the article, provided that the base fee of $1.25 per copy of the article, plus $.60 per page is paid to CCC, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923 (Code No. 0024-9114/11 $1.25 + .60). Subscription Policy: MACHINE DESIGN is circulated to research, development, and design engineers primarily engaged in the design and manufacture of machinery, electrical/electronic equipment, and mechanical equipment. To obtain a complimentary subscription see our Web page at submag.com/sub/ mn. For change of address fill out a new qualification form at submag.com/sub/mn. Printed in U.S.A., Copyright © 2011. Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved. MACHINE DESIGN (ISSN 0024-9114) is published semimonthly except for a single issue in January and July by Penton Media, Inc., 9800 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS 66212. Paid subscriptions include issues 1-21. Issue No. 22 (OEM Handbook and Supplier Directory) is available at additional cost. Rates: U.S.: one year, $139; two years, $199;. Canada: one year, $159; two years, $239; All other countries: one year, $199; two years, $299. Cost for back issues are U.S. $10.00 per copy plus tax, Canada $15.00 per issue plus tax, and Int’l $20.00 per issue. Product Locator, $50.00 plus tax. Prepaid subscription: Penton Media (MACHINE DESIGN), P.O. Box 2100, Skokie IL 600767800. Periodicals Postage Paid at Shawnee Mission, Kans., and at additional mailing offices. 72 PRODUCTS 82 DATA FILES 84 BUSINESS INDEX 85 AD INDEX 86 BUSINESS STAFF Can GST #R126431964. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement No.40612608. Canada return address: Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, Ont., N6C 6B2. 87 BACKTALK Digital subscription rates: U.S.: one year, $69; two years, $99;. Canada: one year, $79; two years, $119; All other countries: one year, $99; two years, $149. POSTMASTER: Send change of address notice to Customer Service, MACHINE DESIGN, P.O. Box 2100, Skokie, IL 60076-7800. 4 MACHINE Design.com OCTOBER 20, 2011 Here today. Here tomorrow. The RittalXpress stocking program ensures next day shipping for more than 2,200 of our most popular Industrial and IT enclosures, accessories and climate control products. Visit www.rittal-corp.com/rittalxpress for a complete selection of in-stock products. RS# 104 www.rittal-thesystem.com What’s new online machinedesign.com MACHINE ALIGNMENT BASICS One key to producing parts to spec is proper machine alignment. Equipment not properly aligned during installation will produce bad parts from the start. And problems will crop up over time without periodic realignments. Neither scenario is acceptable for a profitable, efficiently run business. But which machines need alignments, and when? In this Webinar, engineers from Faro Technologies review the different types of machines that require alignment, traditional methods used for this process, and the benefits of using portable CMMs to reduce downtime and improve overall product quality. View this on-demand session at http://machinedesign.com/content/machinealignment-basics-reduce-downtime-and-improve-product-quality-0621. Phone hacking and countermeasures At the Intel Developer Forum 2011, Cryptography Research, a semiconductor security R&D division of Rambus, demonstrated how hackers can intercept electromagnetic emissions from smart phones and PDAs to steal unprotected data. Learn about countermeasures such as randomizing computations, inserting timing delays, injecting noise, and restructuring algorithms to mask secrets, at www.engineeringtv.com/video/CryptographyResearch-Demonstra;OnlyEngineering-TV-Videos. Cable Web site EDITOR’S WEB PICKS Lapp Group, a manufacturer of wire, cable, and accessories such as connectors and strain reliefs, has a new North American Web site, www. lappusa.com. It includes productselector tools, e-learning modules, a technical data-resource center, application tips, and educational videos. White paper on rotary encoders A new white paper from Heidenhain discusses factors that influence selecting appropriate rotary encoders for controlled servodrives. While positioning accuracy is paramount, properties such as speed stability, noise, power loss, and bandwidth can influence the application. Download a copy at www.heidenhain.us/enews/ stories_0711/Rotary_Encoder_ whitepaper-au.pdf. Switches and indicators Wilbrecht Ledco, a subsidiary of Microprecision Electronics, launched a new Web site (www. wilbrechtledco.com) covering its microswitches, LED indicators, and metal-foil resistors, including product features, capabilities, and performance specs. The site can be read in English, French, or German. Adhesives forum Fabrico has launched a new forum for engineers and manufacturers involved with flexible materials and adhesives for bonding, joining, and sealing applications. Users can connect with experts and discuss topics such as medical-grade, pressure-sensitive, and highperformance structural adhesives. Find it at www.fabricoforum.com. Expanded engineering content Knovel provides Web-based technical information and analytical search tools, and has added six new partners, including the American Society for Microbiology, American Welding Society, Hobart Institute of Welding Technology, and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Learn more at http:// why.knovel.com. It’s still HOT Engineers are answering increasingly difficult questions in eight different categories, scoring points, winning prizes, and showcasing their smarts! Check out the 5,000+ questions in these eight categories: • All Things Energy • Electrical/Electronic • Hydraulics/ Pneumatics • Motion Control • CAM/Manufacturing & Assembly • Computer-Aided Design & Analysis • Mechanical Engineering • Materials & Editor’s Grab Bag www.smartestdesignengineer.com 6 MACHINE Design.com OCTOBER 20, 2011 RS# 105 EDITORIAL Why finance majors make more than engineers Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, kids coming out of college didn’t lust after jobs in finance. The reason was simple: Finance jobs didn’t pay as well as those in other professions. That may be hard to imagine now, with some first-year financial analysts pulling down six-figure salaries and potentially six-figure bonuses, while newly minted engineers can only expect to earn around $70,000. If you are wondering why things changed, you aren’t alone. Two economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research mused about the same thing. Controlling for education and other related qualities, they found that wages in finance in 2006 were about 40% higher than those in the rest of the private sector. For CEOs, the difference is even greater. Between 1995 and 2005, executive compensation in finance outstripped that of the private sector by 150% on average. The NBER economists decided to figure out why. The two didn’t pursue this idea out of idle curiosity. Finance accounts for 15 to 25% of the overall increase in wage inequality since 1980, they say. To put it another way, lopsided compensation in the financial industry has greatly contributed to the disappearance of the middle class and the polarization of the U. S. into a country containing mainly people with low and high incomes. The two economists, Thomas Philippon and Ariell Reshef, discovered something odd: There was another time in U. S. history when wages in the financial sector outpaced those elsewhere. That period extended from 1909 to 1933 which, in a spooky echo of today, spanned the roaring twenties, the 1929 stock market collapse, and the initiation of the Great Depression. It also casts doubt on the concept that information technology has been the force driving higher salaries — after all, there were no computers in the 1920s. What the economists did find, however, was that the relative rise of salaries in finance corresponded with progressive deregulation of the industry beginning in the 1980s, probably because deregulation can intensify innovation and competition for talent. Similarly, salaries in finance started to fall during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, not because of the punk economy or any nostalgic ideas about the rise of manufacturing industries. The more probable explanation, say Philippon and Reshef, is that that period was one of relatively heavy regulation of financial firms and, coincidentally, much higher tax rates on higher incomes. Well, thank goodness for that. Otherwise, many entrepreneurially minded self-starters of the time such as Bill Hewlett, David Packard, or Bill Lear might have wound up inventing cockamamie debt instruments instead of founding manufacturing industries. The economists beg off from opining about whether society is better or worse off when “financiers are overpaid from a social point of view.” But I contend that the real lesson learned from their results lies elsewhere: If society wants more engineers and scientists, it should forget about beseeching kids to pursue technical subjects and hoping they ignore the fact that such studies lead to lower-paying careers. Instead, just regulate the financial industry so it produces fewer “innovations” such as the credit default swaps that nearly sank economies worldwide two years ago. — Leland Teschler, Editor The November World’s Smartest Design Engineer contest starts soon. Keep your eyes open for the November 3 issue of MACHINE DESIGN with our Fluid-Power Tech Guide and articles on mechanical, electrical/ electronics, advanced manufacturing and linear actuators. Maybe there will be clues to answers to World’s Smartest questions to help you in your quest! RS# 106 OCTOBER 20, 2011 We’ve just made reaching your goals easier than ever. Before. After. Finding the right solution to your company’s materials needs has never been easier because now the companies of Brush Engineered Materials have unified under one name, Materion. It allows us to give you greater access to all of the resources and solutions we offer. So why not find out what the new Materion can do for you? Chances are we can make a big difference to your technologies and your bottom line. Find out more at materion.com. RS# 107 Brush Engineered Materials, Williams Advanced Materials, Brush Wellman, Academy Corporation, Barr Associates, Technical Materials, Inc., Techni-Met, Thin Film Technologies and CERAC are all now MATERION. DYNAMIC SOLUTIONS EDITORIAL STAFF FOR YOUR  MEDICAL APPLICATION A&A Manufacturing Company is your single-source provider of innovative protective cover products for: • Medical equipment MRI tables • Medical tables • Dental chairs • Mammogram machines Leland E. Teschler, Editor, [email protected] • Kenneth J. Korane, Managing Editor, [email protected] SENIOR EDITORS The widest variety of technologies and materials are chosen to meet your aesthetic or environmental requirements. Leslie Gordon, Stephen J. Mraz AUTOMOTIVE & NEWS FEATURES A&A can design and deliver exactly what you need to keep your equipment in motion. Stephen J. Mraz, [email protected] CAD/CAM Leslie Gordon, [email protected] A Division of A&A Manufacturing www.Gortite.com Email: [email protected] Toll Free: 800-298-2066 Fax: 262-786-3280 RS# 108 ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONICS Robert J. Repas, Jr., [email protected] FASTENING, JOINING Jessica Shapiro, [email protected] FLUID POWER Kenneth J. Korane, [email protected] MANUFACTURING Leslie Gordon, [email protected] Kenneth J. Korane, [email protected] MATERIALS Jessica Shapiro, [email protected] MECHANICAL Kenneth J. Korane, [email protected] Jessica Shapiro, [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Victoria Burt, [email protected] EDITORIAL PRODUCTION Denise Greco, Editorial Production Manager Randall L. Rubenking, Art Director 1300 E. 9th St. Cleveland, OH 44114-1503 RS# 109 10 MACHINE Design.com OCTOBER 20, 2011 Your Project Starts Here The new 2012 Allied Catalog helps you get the job done. ew Products • Over 12,000 N ss Suppliers • 300+ World-cla ctors and • Expanded Conne ion Offering Industrial Automat tions easurement Solu M & t es T ve si • Exten Order the Catalog today /2012catalog @ RS# 110 THINK ALLIED SM 1.800.433.5700 © Allied Electronics, Inc 2011. ÔAllied ElectronicsÕ and the Allied Electronics logo are trademarks of Allied Electronics, Inc. An Electrocomponents Company. LETTERS R&D ROI Look at how badly the recent economic stimulus failed (“Research and the Debt-Ceiling Battle,” Aug. 25). It seems there are just too many regulations that get in the way of opening or expanding a manufacturing operation. That’s why so many companies only want to write software or get into financial services. They can hire a bunch of brains to work in a clean office building. No regulations over emissions or waste disposal, and no labor unions. It’s just easier to let other countries do the manufacturing. As a thought experiment, imagine our R&D came up with a new nuclearreactor design that would cost less to build and be even safer and more efficient. What U. S. community would ever let you build it without five years of environmental studies and millions of dollars in legal battles? Hollie Josephs Such a reactor already exists. It’s called a thorium reactor. It was backburnered because the government needed U-238 reactors that could produce plutonium for bombs. — Leland Teschler The entire country seems to be debating whether we need more government-run organizations or more private companies. From my perspective, removing government intervention from the engineering and science communities in the U. S. is a terrible idea. Nowadays, most engineers or technologists work for institutions funded directly or indirectly by the U. S. or a foreign government. And it’s not only defense industries that enjoy the fruits of publicly funded science. It’s hospitals and medical-device companies and drug companies and agriculture and the construction trades. The Internet backbone is the government. Most universities receive heavy public funding. The demonization of government inefficiency in every capacity has become more popular. When you claim it’s smarter to choose private over public research, you have reduced a complex relationship into a political slogan. Your slogan carries the same view as a proconservative, pro-Tea Party, pro-GOP SPEEDLOC™ PRECISION MOUNTING SYSTEM... AND MORE. Fixtureworks is your source for precision mounting systems from Modern Industries. The SpeedLoc™ locating and mounting system offers the ability to make fast and accurate setup changes to improve productivity and reduced operating costs. Also available are ModLoc™ modular tooling columns that utilize SpeedLoc locators to create a highly flexible tooling column that is as rigid and strong as a traditional cast tombstone. Fixtureworks is your source for a wide variety of clamps, fixturing accessories and machine tool components. Making difficult bolting obsolete all over the world. Superbolt® Multi-Jackbolt Tensioners provide a safe, fast & easy bolting alternative. Benefits include: • Only hand/air tools required • Tightens in pure tension 888.794.8687 • www.fixtureworks.net RS# 111 12 MACHINE Design.com • Reduces install/removal times • A better bolted connection (Visit our website to learn why) www.superbolt.com RS# 112 OCTOBER 20, 2011 1-800-345-BOLT (USA) 1-412-279-1149 15 500+ 250 MILLION SERVICE CENTERS STOCKING DISTRIBUTORS OF INVENTORY COAST TO COAST Millions and Millions of Reasons. One Connection. Together, we can deliver more uptime, more product innovations and a greater bottom line value. Connect with Parker for premier customer service and superior product performance. We are your choice for pioneering products like Robust Port Stud™, Compact Spiral™ and Trap Seal®. Parker also helps reduce equipment and machinery downtime by increasing the speed and accuracy of acquiring replacements with our exclusive PTS. For more information on our 250 million + reasons to choose Parker, scan the QR code with your smart phone or visit www.parker.com/oneconnection ENGINEERING YOUR SUCCESS. www.parker.com 1 800 C-Parker RS# 113 LETTERS talking point, i.e., reduce the size of government. Technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate because of government intervention, not in spite of it. Most third-world countries have virtually no government funded research and I hardly consider that a worthy model to embrace. Your article hints that the pie is only so big, and if the government takes a big piece, there’s a smaller piece left for private research. This is untrue. As the government’s role in innovation increases at all levels, from education to application to research, so will private opportunities. More innovation, government or private is a good thing. It’s not one or the other. Duncan MacIntosh Private industry already funds over 70% of all U. S. R&D, according to the National Science Foundation. And about half of the government’s share of funding goes toward defense R&D. So if you are arguing for more government-funded R&D, you are basically arguing for a larger defense budget. As I pointed out in the editorial, this kind of technology R&D does not greatly impact our day to day lives, though it certainly helps keep us free. There is also no correlation I can find between government R&D spending and the public’s well being. For example, right now in the U. S., the Gerd/GDP ratio (Gross expenditure on research and development as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product) funded by government is 0.76 and the unemployment rate is above 9%. In Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, the unemployment rate is about 3.5% and the government funded Gerd/GDP ratios are 0.73, 0.69, and 0.25%, respectively. And please refresh my memory: What government agency did Thomas Edison work for? — Leland Teschler BETTER FASTENER SEALING WITHOUT CHEMISTRY 360° Metal-toMetal Contact Where’s that six-cycle engine? Why does no company build sixcycle engines? The extra two cycles would be used to pull in fresh air (no fuel) and then push any residual unburned fuel out of the cylinder. This would let the next mix of fuel and air burn in a cleaner environment for more-efficient combustion. It would also send more air through the exhaust to aid in pollution control. Such an engine in an in-line four-cylinder configuration would have a power pulse every 270° instead of every 180°. This would give it a two-plane crankshaft instead of the single plane in conventional four-cycle engine, thus it would be easier to balance. I can think of other advantages too lengthy to explain in this letter. The six- cycle engine was proposed in the 1930s, patented in the 1980s, and, to my knowledge, not even a MILLIONS OF OPTIONS WASHERS FREE CATALOG �US ® C UL Recognized Component Pre-assembled embedded O-ring seals in asymmetrical groove – Patent No. 3,175,454 Seal and fasten in one step with a reusable, selfsealing fastener. No liquid adhesive/sealants … no worries about waste disposal or respiratory safety. Seals liquids & gases to 20,000psi internal/external Self-sealing screw, bolt, nut & rivet versions Temperature range from -160°F to +500°F (-106°C to +260°C) Tested to UL Standard 50, Types 1-13 Optional threadlocking Self-sealing washers seal to 100psi. Metric and inch. Made in U.S.A. View Video WHEN JUST FASTENING ISN’T ENOUGH® 800.498.9034 www.apmselfsealingfasteners.com MACHINE Design.com WASHERS, SPAcERS & SHIMS www.bokers.com/mD RS# 114 14 1-888-927-4377 • [email protected] 612-729-9365 • FAX 612-729-8910 OCTOBER 20, 2011 RS# 115 Think all BLIND BOLTS are alike? You don’t know HUCK Š FRONT-SIDE VISUAL INSPECTIONS 360º CIRCLE LOCK Look closely. Unlike the competition, Huck Magna-Lok® blind The proprietary locking mechanism is a function of the fastener, not the tool, helping to eliminate tooling and operator errors that can happen with the competition. Designed to help ensure published values are actually met. Even if it looks like the competition’s fastener is installed correctly, you can’t be sure, due to the lack of visual reference. bolts have powerful advantages. Huck offers more sizes to fit your application. More precision engineering, allowing for critical visual inspection of installations. And more reliability: Huck offers 40 years of proven performance in the field. H UC K M AG NA - LO K BUILT-IN UNDER CUT Huck-engineered to ensure a secure joint, even if hole or sealant imperfections occur. With the competition, hole imperfections could get in the way of a successful installation. LA RG E D IAMET ER H UC K MA GNA-LOK 3/8 – 1/ 2 I NC H RS# 116 LETTERS prototype has been built. Don Norris A greener vacuum cleaner The best part of this vacuum cleaner concept is its reuse of the packaging (“Will This Cardboard Vacuum Cleaner Suck Up the Dirt?” (Aug. 25). Having a vacuum cleaner with a cardboard body certainly catches the attention, but wouldn’t it be a lot more practical to keep the packaging-as-product concept but make the packaging out of something more durable than cardboard, such as corrugated plastic? For the sake of durabilit y, wouldn’t it be better yet to design the appliance for a 20-year life instead of six months? Or maybe the real aim here is to come up with a vacuum cleaner you never have to empty — just throw it away. And the objection given to injection-molded plastics, that they take a “long time to decay in landfills,” could be avoided by making it easy to separate the large (and labeled) plastic parts and then recycle them. Tim Hunsdall Degrees don’t really matter The past few issues have chronicled many engineers talking back and forth about the merits of expensive educations and their real monetary value. As the owner of a manufacturing firm, when I hire someone, do I really care if that individual has taken a bunch of classes that are not germane to what he or she will be doing at my company? If manufacturers paid attention to hiring people for their firm’s specific needs and told local universities and colleges in general what these needs are, the liberal arts half of college requirements could be dropped. This could re- duce the cost of degrees and the time it takes to earn them. I believe a general degree is worthless in today’s environment. Academic institutions all need to figure out how to control costs and develop programs that correspond to the local businesses needs, no matter what they are. If all of us parents quit sending our kids to alleged higher-education institutions for just a couple of years, these institutions would be forced to clean up their act just like any poorly run business, or disappear. And if our government totally stopped funding these universities and instead gave the money directly to the states and got out the alleged educational businesses, then each state could determine what educational criterion to establish. Liberal arts people would gravitate towards Hollywood while engineers would gravitate towards the Midwest. John Berney INDUSTRIAL ENCLOSURE HARDWARE for a cleaner environment RoHS COMPLIANT HOT, COLD, WET OR DRY, GRAPHALLOY BEARINGS WORK WHEN OTHERS FAIL. ® Now handle harsh environments, corrosive liquids and temperature extremes with ease. GRAPHALLOY® bushings, bearings and components: • Survive when others fail • Run hot, cold, wet or dry • Excel at -450°F to 1000°F • Corrosion resistant • Self-lubricating • Non-galling • Low maintenance • Ovens, dryers, pumps, valves, turbines, mixers, conveyors Request your free catalog GRAPHITE METALLIZING CORPORATION Yonkers, NY 10703 U.S.A. ISO 9001:2008 RS# 117 EC06 TEL. 914.968.8400 • FAX. 914-968-8468 • WWW.GRAPHALLOY.COM 16 MACHINE Design.com OCTOBER 20, 2011 All Metric Small Parts T. 516.302.0152 F. 516.302.0153 www.amsp.biz RS# 118 RS# 119 1-8OO-243-2715 SCANNING FOR IDEAS Edited by Stephen J. Mraz Flexible, thin keypad controls access to enclosures Giving various users access to enclosures just got easier, thanks to a flexible, membrane keypad from Southco, Concordville, Pa. (www.southco. com). It holds up to 120 different user codes and can independently control keyless access to two enclosures. The keypad is made of a thin, flexible textured polyester film with switches and LEDs enclosed in it. Customers Control box can specify any size, shape, or color keypad. Pressure-sensitive tape on the back of the membrane lets users stick the keypad to doors, frames, or any other flat surface. The keypad is powered by 12 to 24 Vdc and 10 mA. In standby, it draws only 30 μA. The keypad sends matrix outputs to an external controller RS# 401 Latch 1 Keypad installs vertically or horizontally Latch 2 Flexible keypad Power supply Status keys WANT MORE? Clear key deletes previous keystrokes Focus on this code image using your smartphone and free software from www. neoreader.com and you will be connected to related content on machinedesign.com http://tinyurl.com/4xttpe2 18 MACHINE Design.com Lock key relocks doors OCTOBER 20, 2011 r formation via ou Request free in Web site at Reader Service c design.com/rs ww w.machine