Current pulse

Metal Storm 2014 open house

Methods Machine Tools Inc. is hosting Metal Storm 2014 from June 11-12, 2014, at the company’s recently expanded and renovated headquarters at 71 Union Ave., Sudbury, Mass. More than 50 machines will be under power during the open house, with several pre-engineered automation and metrology solutions also on demonstration. Manufacturing professionals are invited to attend the event to experience the broad range of machining and automation solutions. Door prizes will be awarded throughout the event, and lunch will be served each day. Registration ends June 10. 

Heat-treating, brazing capacity rises with new furnace install

Solar Atmospheres of Western PA has installed a new high-temperature, high-purity, production-scale, 2bar vacuum furnace for heat treating and brazing of small to mid-size loads.

This new furnace – designed and built by sister company, Solar Manufacturing – will allow Solar to service customers with small- to mid-size furnace loads more efficiently, economically, and precisely.

Designed for processing medical, tool & die, and other industrial heat-treated or brazed parts, the Mentor furnace is enclosed in an environmentally controlled room, preventing humidity that can discolor some metal parts.

“This new furnace will give us the ability to process a variety of loads we were not competitively able to quote using our larger furnaces,” says Michael Johnson, sales manager at the Hermitage, Pa., plant.

With an effective workload area of 12" x 12" x 18", the furnace is capable of holding a load of up to 250 lb and is rated at a normal operating temperature of 2,500°F (1,370°C). The hot zone allows for rapid heat-up and cool-down cycles. To achieve desired metallurgical properties for some metals, the furnace is equipped with a 2bar quenching capability. www.solaratm.com

Eriez Orange University Mobile Training & Education Center schedule of stops

he Eriez Orange University Mobile Training and Education Center team is travelling throughout the United States and Canada to deliver education and solutions to customers, right in their own parking lots. The 38ft Winnebago carries equipment and resources to facilitate hands-on learning and includes an array of state-of-the-art magnetic separators, vibratory conveyors and screeners, and metal detectors, and uses a high-tech multimedia system with mobile broadband, multiple monitors, and a 42" touch screen SmartBoard.

“We personalize each Orange University educational experience to fit participants’ unique needs and requirements,” explains Jayne Corey, Orange University team leader. “Our team brings all of the equipment and knowledge it takes to uncover the most economical solutions to even the toughest product purity and material handling processing challenges.”

The Orange University Mobile Training and Education Center schedule is based on customer demand and all visits are free. Visit http://orangeuniversity.eriez.com/ to view the schedule.

Search-based application solutions

A new search-based application (SBA) has been added to product development software from Dassault Systèmes Solidworks, say officials from Fisher/UNITECH. SBA is a disruptive technology changing how designers and engineers manage and access product data in environments with multiple repositories and formats of legacy information.

The SBA will allow EXALEAD OnePart users to rapidly locate and access existing parts, product designs, and other related information anywhere inside the organization, even beyond PDM and PLM repositories. The technology saves time and costs by eliminating the need to reproduce new parts and reduces the time spent searching for already created parts.

FISHER/UNITECH will provide software, training, and implementation services for EXALEAD One Part for existing and new clients throughout all locations. Visit https://funtechinnovation.com/ for additional details on the search-based application.

Tulane startup eardrum patch startup wins $69k

Tympanogen LLC, a New Orleans startup company with a nonsurgical patch for treating holes in the eardrum, has won $44,000 in a major graduate-level student startup competition.

More than 500 startups from around the world applied for the Rice University Business Plan Competition, with 42 startups from eight countries selected to compete in Houston.

Tympanogen won the top prize with its plan for Perf-Fix, a gel patch it developed for repair of chronic perforations in the tympanic membrane of the ear. Currently the only treatment for tympanic membrane tears is surgery, which can cost up to $18,000 and offers a 40% success rate. Tympanogen’s gel patch, on the other hand, will cost approximately $1,800 and has a success rate of up to 95%.

The startup company pitched four times over the course of the weekend-long competition and earned $4,000 as the fifth-place finisher.

It also received a $20,000 award from the nCourage Entrepreneurs Investment Group for the top women-led startups at the competition, as well as the $20,000 NASA Earth/Space Human Health & Performance Innovation Cash Prize.

“The cash awards will support our next phase of testing, and the connections we made to investors, surgeons and experienced biotech entrepreneurs are invaluable,” Tympanogen co-founder Elaine Horn-Ranney says of the Rice competition.

“The feedback from the judges of the competition was extremely positive,” Horn-Ranney states. “Many had children who had undergone the surgery our product will replace, and they could easily relate to the issue Perf-Fix resolves,” she states. “This gave us further validation that Tympanogen is on the correct path to commercializing this much-needed gel patch and getting it to patients and their families quickly.”

The startup also won a $25,000 first prize on April 11, 2014, in the Tulane University Business Model Competition. https://tulane.edu

Discover bearings with dry-tech box

Igus’ dry-tech sample box, similar to its online configurator, is designed to help engineers find the right material bearing for their application. It contains a set of card overlays that filter the bearing choices by criteria. The dry-tech sample box includes a complete array of iglide bearings, ranging from iglide H, for corrosive environments, to iglide A350, which can withstand temperatures up to 356°F. The box also contains a user-friendly guide that highlights the key properties of each bearing, making the search for the perfect one simple and precise.

All igus bearings have dry-running properties, making them lubrication-free, maintenance-free, cost-effective, and long lasting. Iglide bearings are all lab tested in durability, friction, and stability, and are at the core of igus’ plastics development. Learn more at www.igus.com/iglide.

Guides ship in 24 hrs

Rollon Corp.’s FAST Delivery Program – https://www.rollon.com/usa/en/ – enables engineers and plant managers to configure and order Mono Rail Plus linear guides online. Many standard products are available for shipping the next day. The website offers a comparison chart to see which Mono Rail Plus product is the most suitable drop-in replacement to linear guides with long lead times. Rollon’s Mono Rail Plus products are profiled rails for high precision under high loads, with four rows of balls running in the self-lubricated slider. https://www.rollon.com/usa/en/