Ball or roller bearing? Consider something different. Trimming the sides of a ball bearing and removing areas not under load, yielded a new roller element and big weight and space savings. It permits more rolling elements in an assembly for greater load capacity, or use of less radial space with the same shaft diameter.

For some bearings, performance improvement takes more than reducing friction and wear. This magnetic sensor bearing helps reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in cars. It processes shaft speed and positioning data, allowing engine cut-off when the car stops or slows and restarting it when the brake is released.

If seeing inside an engine, boiler tube, pipes, or other hard-to-reach machine places will help you diagnose mechanical problems, this portable videoscope set might prove handy. Snake the oil- or water-immersible tube in and the four-way-articulated videoscope will project storable digital images on a 7 in. LCD screen.

Is your grip slipping; are parts failing quality inspections? Check your toolholder's jaws. Precision parallel grippers use roller bearings to provide low friction and high repeatability for holding delicate parts. The design permits longer gripper finger lengths and accommodates up to four magneto-resistive sensors for multi-position sensing.

Aging baby-boomers and earlier-age joint replacements are boosting orthopedic surgeries and the demand for artificial stand-ins. Surgeons want implants that last longer and function naturally. Trends shaping implant selection favor materials like porous titanium foam — for biocompatibility and open-cell structure that emulates human bone.

Welding or fasteners are leading methods for joining sheet metal panels to structural supports. This Machine Design article suggests two-part methacrylate adhesives instead. They help avoid welding mess and distortion, or drilling and filling around fasteners. They can offer a cleaner, smoother finish for jobs like highly visible signs.

Fastener failure might seem a low probability risk. But its damage can be costly to your company's bottom line and engineering credibility. Prudent design adds seals (liquid, dry o-rings, or flat washers) where gas or liquid are under pressure, or when the environment is hostile (dust, lubricants, cleaning solvents, or high heat).

Damper springs represent old technology. Many types have been tried for absorbing impacts in jack hammers, railcar couplers, and military cannons. While not in wide domestic use, friction springs should rank among the options. The paired inner and outer tapered steel rings absorb more energy than conventional leaf, coil, or disk springs.

Is your manufacturing client skeptical about 'novel' engineering? Do financial backers seek reliability assurance? Would you consider independent corroboration only when you saw pigs fly? Third-party test often can be a pre-requisite to doing business. But in a competitive economy, what does third-party testing and validation do to the product cost? This PD&D article presents sellers, buyers, testing, and consulting service providers sharing thoughts on why third-party evaluation is rising.

Among the most exciting prospects for wireless are opportunities for improving human health. Some wireless implantable medical devices are based on radio frequency communication. Such units can monitor and report blood pressure and metabolite levels, provide nerve stimulation, and deliver drugs. This Design World article says that progress also is posted in RF antenna designs that work better among the muscle, skin, and fat.

For more on this subject, subscribe to GlobalSpec's DirectU2 The world of Medical Equipment Design.

Going Batty in Major League Baseball?

Ash. Maple. Yellow birch. Babe Ruth's favorite, hickory? Can a more serious engineering analysis help solve Major League Baseball's problem of dangerous breaking baseball bats?