Lean to the left! Lean to the right... goes an old cheer that could be adapted for Segway's newest innovation to their two-wheeled personal transporter. LeanSteer — it's not only the way to turn the newest Segway, it's also the name of the new steering system. Move the handlebars, which rely on a conical rubber bushing that "deforms in shear as the handle bars pivot." Once the turn is complete, the bushing pops back to its original state, moving the handlebars upright. This engineering feat can be found on the newest Segway, designed to head off the city streets and maneuver cross country. Will it work in your business?

Join the conversation about this month's story in the all new CR4 — The Engineer's Place for News & Discussion.

KAYDON® manufactures standard and custom precision bearings for a broad range of motion control applications. Bore sizes are from less than 1 in. to over 180 in., and more than 370 configurations are available from stock. Download design/application information, software, and 3D CAD drawings at www.kaydonbearings.com. Visit here for detailed bearing information.

World-famous Dynafile® replaces tedious hand filing and sanding. Grind, deburr, blend, polish, finish, and more!
 • Grind from contact wheel or platen pad. Finish and polish using slack of belt.
 • For use on metal, plastic, fiberglass, composites, rubber, glass, and stone.
More products...

Wind farms, which are becoming an acceptable source of electricity, are experiencing a literal growth in the turbines that produce the power. The newest generation can produce 5 MW and SKF has devised a novel nut locking system to secure bearings in the rotors. Read how the rotors keep moving with a CARB® toroidal roller bearing.

Bearings have changed little in the past century — rolling element bearings revolutionized plain bearings, but are now themselves being replaced by air bearings. Don't know what an air bearing is? Then this PDF guide can answer an engineer's design questions.

How do you seal a glass-lined, steel hydrochloric acid tank? The answer "any way you can" may first come to mind, but engineers came up with a GORE-TEX® gasket tape to do the job. Read how the gasket tape saved the day.

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CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Power plant managers hate to replace flange gaskets since replacement is more costly than the gaskets themselves. But if there were a gasket system that has been leak and trouble free for five years, maintenance costs would go down. Check out the leak-proof mechanical gasket system designed with jets in mind.

Airball Products' metal hollow balls are typically used in Aircraft Ball Transfer Units (BTU's), Ship Cargo Decks, Palletizers, Ball Tables, Conveyor Systems, Liquid Float Systems, and Custom Ball Valves. Our precision one in. 440A Stainless Steel Hollow Balls are currently being used in-flight on board jets for air cargo ball transfer purposes and in many other applications. Learn more...

The ServoExpert helps solve servo problems on real-world machines. This Web site provides information for using servos and for correcting problems related to their use. The site has 60+ pages which, together with over 20 articles and application notes, provide information about a wide range of topics in servo systems.

View all Danaher Motion products...

Put together a pair of titanium disks in a shallow dome and place in special rocking rings and you may have the new recipe for a spring for clutches, brakes, and other mechanical components. This article in Eureka magazine from the UK shows how flat discs "spring" up for the job.

A new joint technology between ZF Sachs of Germany and a Chinese supplier has created a new continuous-flow method to shot peen 1.5 million disk springs in a year in a cycle time of 10 s/spring. The required cycle time was met, and the system is operated in two shifts.

It sounds like a great idea — SawStop contains sensors that can stop a buzz saw in 3/1000 of a second. Designed by a patent lawyer/woodworking hobbyist Stephen Gass, the invention has yet to make its way onto any commercially produced saw. Now working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, can he force safety on the manufacturers?

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CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

"More power!" was Tim Allen's grunt in the old television show, "Home Improvement." And that's what users of battery-powered hand tools are demanding, as well as longer charges. Read up on the latest plans for batteries to replace NiCad batteries of today and if the new batteries can take the rough conditions of power tool use.

The HD Series are designed for OEMs, Machine Builders, and End Users requiring a robust positioning solution they can count on. Parker Hannifin's New HD Series Linear Positioners are easy to apply, install, and maintain.

View all of Parker Hannifin / Electromechanical's products here...

Austin Hardware's VMI programs are designed to reduce or eliminate the associated cost of purchasing, expediting, inventorying, and handling the products that we have become known for. Some of the ways in which we do this are: point-of-use bin stocking; consigned inventory; summary billing; engineering services; on-site personnel; customized quality programs; and more...

DiceEngineering.com offers thousands of quality engineering jobs at top technology and engineering companies. Find jobs in your area of expertise. Search now.

Get certified in Engineering Management. Take the EMCI certification exam and earn a globally recognized credential for current and future employment. Self-study, online, or live classroom instruction available. Learn more.

A $3 billion IT services company is assembling a team of stress analysis engineers to work on aerospace assignments. Requirements for three open positions include at least three years experience in stress analysis with both composite and metallic materials as well as FEA and structural testing. The job is located in the Seattle area.

It's not too early to make plans to attend this two-day industry conference, March 14-15 at the Marriott Chicago Northwest (Hoffman Estates, IL). Are you interested in the tools, instruments, and systems necessary for nanoscale manufacturing; this conference may help improve your process. Full details and registration information, as well as exhibit information, is available now.

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CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Perhaps you are a perfectly proficient pacesetter in plastic bearings. Prove it by plowing through this pop quiz such as predicting the lifetime of a bearing and you may be the proud winner of an Apple iPod. Can you procure the proper answers?

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CR4 — GlobalSpec's Engineering Community.

Download this draft book, Introduction to Machine Learning, in which the author brings in notes on the topic since 1996. The book, still in draft format, is a PDF file of 200+ pages and covers topics such as Boolean functions, neural networks, inductive logic programming, and temporal-difference learning among the 12 chapters.

Time-Compression Technologies, the definitive voice for the rapid product development industry, examines issues that affect product development lead times, including R&D, management, engineering, tooling, manufacturing, and more. Get your complimentary subscription here.

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