Engineers putting very small motors to work controlling the position of a lens or a valve are discovering an innovative route: embedding the motor directly in the printed circuit board. Introduced by Denmark's PCBMotor, the solution centers on the use of motors incorporating piezoelectric materials, which deform when an electric current is applied. Among the advantages of the approach: significant reduction in parts counts; elimination of wires, screws and gears; and simplified assembly. And, because motors are thin enough to mount flush to the circuit board, engineers can utilize them to power dials and positioners in very tight spaces.

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GlobalSpec's Medical Equipment Design — October 27, 2010

Join your peers and leading manufacturers for this free, informative, and interactive ONLINE conference and trade show — right from the convenience of your desktop. Participate in any or all of the educational sessions, network with peers, and meet with manufacturers eager to showcase their latest products, services, and new technology offerings. Learn more about the educational sessions offered to meet your information needs, and register today!

Looking for Linear motion products? Need 3D CAD models? Check out our new Web site at www.tpa-us.com. We have a new look and feel. Configurators are available for linear guides and ball screw drives. Components like couplings and fasteners can now be selected and ordered online.

Whether high or low temperatures, harsh environments, high-load pressure, or mil-spec tolerances, DuPont™ Krytox® synthetic lubricants provide outstanding protection for bearings, valves, O-rings, sealed-for-life components, and more. Today, with new additives for new challenges, Krytox® lubricants are your optimum choice for delivering extreme performance under extreme conditions.

Elmo's SimplIQ Trombone is a compact, high-power density motion control solution that operates directly from a non-isolated 400 VDC or 750 VDC power source with up to 7 kW of continuous qualitative power. It is PCB-mounted and measures just 4.3 in. x 3 in. x 1.2 in.

It can be mounted anywhere and integrated into single- or multi-axis motion systems.

Kleiss Gears is the expert in precision polymer gears. Our engineering team specializes in unique gearing solutions for innovative applications. With our systems-based approach, we design each gear for the specific application resulting in a total system that works — not just a gear.

Register today to receive your complimentary sample!

Per European ATEX standards, only certified equipment can operate in potentially explosive environments — including separately approved electrically-operated components like encoders. Lika has added a programmable absolute encoder to its lines of ATEX certified devices, meeting standards for all hazardous dust and gas zones and category T6 (severe temperature) as well.

Speed and robustness are among the characteristics that make this magnetic encoder attractive for wind power, material handling, and construction machinery applications. Delivering up to 3,600 pulses per revolution at 30,000 rpm, its compact IP67 enclosure and elastomer-coated magnetic wheel provide long service life even in wet, dirty, oily environments.

Tough plastics replace steel with regularity, a switch becoming more common in linear systems, where self-lube sliding elements replace rolling ball bearings. Without moving parts and with more surface contacting rails, acceleration with plastic bearings is faster — limited by load and motor factors, not by skidding, scoring, or other ball bearing drawbacks.

An aircraft fuselage manufacturer sought more accurate motion along a 280 ft service line. Standard rack-and-pinion was not sufficiently accurate, but a unique low-friction roller pinion/rack design was. The pinion's tooth profile ensures that multiple rollers mesh constantly with rack teeth, eliminating backlash, reducing noise, and boosting rotary-to-linear motion conversion efficiency.

For more on this subject, subscribe to GlobalSpec's e-Newsletter, DirectU2 The world of Mechanical Power Transmission.

The MTS Balloon demo video shows the lightning-quick feedback capabilities of MTS magnetostrictive sensors as well as its accuracy. Watch the demonstrator try to pop the balloon with the dart without success, due to the sensor's rapid response.

www.mtssensors.com

Universal lead screw assemblies meet accuracies of 10 microinches/turn and 25 microinches/in. — the best in the industry. Standard lead screws offer accuracies of 50 microinches/turn, 100 microinches/in. Patented nut design maximizes repeatability. Custom lead screw applications using our lead screws welcomed. More details.

DPFlex drives brushless motors using advanced sensorless technology. No Hall sensors needed in the motor.

DPFlex detects motor rotor position even at standstill for reliable, unidirectional, no-delay start-up. The performance of DPFlex exceeds that of conventional Hall-commutation drives. For flexibility, DPFlex can be integrated into the motor or operated stand-alone as a separate, modular drive.

"These modules are based on the ACS800-U1 standard drives that ABB offers," noted Michael Vallier, product line manager — ABB LV Drives, "but these exclude the drive cover, conduit box, keypad, keypad mounting, and documentation. This allows the OEM and system integrator to buy only what they need — and no more."

Blood boiling because your new tech isn't compatible with its product line predecessors? This low-consumption controller solves that issue: it's backwards compatible with code implemented on previous MSP430 MCU's. It's been enhanced with ultra-low-power capability, USB and RF connectivity, and 1 MB memory address reach — 16x better than previous architectures.

If you find this subject interesting, subscribe to the GlobalSpec e-Newsletter, DirectU2 The world of Electronic Components.

Continuing the trend to catapult capability with each new motion control card generation, PMD's latest Prodigy offers much simpler programming and connectivity. Upgrades include user-configurable non-volatile memory, an Interconnect Module that speeds peripheral connections, and a Pulse & Direction jack-screw connector that enables quick "hand-connecting" of devices.

Already a familiar component in nano-positioning, multilayer piezo stack actuators are being explored for their potential in micro-dosing. Piezo actuators attached to dosing tubes can dispense liquids at speeds in the nanoliters-per-second range. Piezo direct-drive characteristics make these actuators ideal for non-contact microdispensing, enhancing reproducible droplet formation and breakaway.

When sourcing components, you'll sometimes encounter a component that a company boasts about. The publicity for these can stack linear actuators claims that the units 'easily outperform' all similar-sized offerings. Optimized stator tooth geometry, high-energy neodymium magnets, and larger ball bearings all help support the claim, and presumably, market-leading performance.

Our company focuses on developing and producing high precision, low backlash, and low-cost planetary gearboxes for industrial automation applications. We commit ourselves to offer top quality products and services to customers. If you have any requirements, please check our Web site or send us an email.

Canon designs and manufactures sub-fractional horse power iron core, coreless, and brushless dc motors that meet the speed and torque requirements of the intended OEM application. Motors can be shipped with encoders, gear heads, lead wires, etc. to reduce handling and material cost.

Investigate our industry-leading new TechnoMod Gantry, a multi-axis motion platform complete with controls, cabling, software, and enclosure (fully assembled) which can be customized for more complex operations.

Techno Liner Motion now offers complimentary LabVIEW Drivers which are compatible with a variety of Techno controllers and machines. View these and all our featured products…

The CSF-XHF Size 11 gearhead from Harmonic Drive LLC delivers 1.5 arc-min positional accuracy in a package size that is just 43 mm² x 38 mm long. The gearhead also has a rated torque of 44 in.-lb and a maximum torque of 221 in.-lb and is available in three versions. Learn more about Electromate.

This Forbes commentary provides a sobering perspective on business and markets, perhaps trying to ensure we apply the right label to policy actions taken in recent years. Broad enthusiasm for free markets is often confused with "pro business" concepts. Worse, it can lead to mistaken views that supporting a specific business interest is universally good.

NASA recently demonstrated a prototype for safer, swifter spacecraft rendezvous. Incorporating eye-safe LIDAR sensors and high-def cameras, the system uses data from up to 3 miles away and gives shuttle crews images with 16x better resolution. Real tests will come during an unprecedented, in-orbit undocking and re-docking maneuver this February.

Teaching Tech: Quality or Quantity?

The U.S. continues to fall behind other nations in science and technology leadership. Is the answer better quality teaching, or more teachers in science, technology, and engineering?