Test Unit Halves Time Needed To Detect Pathogens

Midas Pattern has helped Matrix Microscience and Designedge to create a laboratory testing unit that reduces the time needed to detect pathogens by as much as half. One of the first uses of the new Pathatrix Auto product has been for the pre-admission screening of elective hospital patients for the MRSA bacteria, thus preventing the introduction of the disease onto the wards. The new product, which supercedes an earlier, manual process, automatically tests food and other samples for the presence of target pathogens in the laboratory.

It does this by using magnetic antibody-coated beads that capture the target; these are then washed and concentrated to enable rapid detection with a variety of different systems. This patented process takes just 15 minutes and, when coupled to sensitive detection systems, can yield results in as little as between two and six hours from the receipt of the sample. Validation trials have demonstrated that the Pathatrix Auto system is more sensitive than many of the current standard methods, thus providing a more effective solution to the need to rapidly test food and other samples.

The ergonomic design and visual appeal of the unit are said to be vital for its success in a target market that includes both health-service laboratories and a range of food-preparation organisations. Cambridge-based consultancy Designedge created a solution consisting of five sample 'cassettes', each of which holds a plug-in cartridge of test consumables, housed in a streamlined moulding and styled in Matrix Microscience corporate colours. The flexibility of the design concept is based on the ability to insert different testing 'kits' into the cassettes, depending on the test being carried out.

The consumables and inserts used for health screening are different from those used in food testing. Reflecting these differences, the product is labelled and branded to suit each market and the design of the moulding has taken into account the requirement to incorporate alternative product branding in each case. With a wipe-clean surface and touch-screen operation, the new design is intended to make the Pathatrix Auto system suitable for health and food-production laboratories. However, the short manufacturing runs, high surface quality, relatively large moulding size and close tolerances required of the external housing moulding could have posed a manufacturing challenge, which is why Designedge called on Midas Pattern.

Over the course of several meetings between the designers and Midas Pattern, the details of the housing moulding were refined to ensure trouble-free manufacturing and the best fit between the cassettes and the housing, as well as optimising the position and angle of the touch screen, which, owing to its location on the upper curved face, is not in the line of draw of the moulding.

It was decided to manufacture the mouldings using the Midas composite-resin MRIM tooling process, which uses a blend of laminated and cast resins, incorporating areas of CNC-machined aluminium and steel to produce polyurethane mouldings in small batches, with short production lead times and which can accommodate both thick and thin sections, square faces, undercuts and cast features and which are QMS accredited to ISO9001:2000. In this instance, Midas also painted the finished mouldings in Matrix's corporate colours - one of a range of additional services that the company offers, including screen printing and final assembly.

FeatureCAM Cuts Programming Time For 2.5D/3D Parts

Vector Tool and Engineering has reduced the programming time for feature-intensive 2.5D parts by 50-75 per cent since changing to Delcam's FeatureCAM knowledge-based CAM system. Since the changeover, the mould-making company has also reduced the programming time for less feature-intensive 3D parts by 25 per cent. Machining time has been saved by the software's more efficient rest-machining and trochoidal-milling capabilities.

Located in greater Kansas City, Missouri, Vector Tool and Engineering provides the complete engineering and fabrication of injection moulds and tooling for the plastics industry, as well as contract machining for the aerospace sector. The company is a subsidiary of Peterson Manufacturing, a provider of safety lighting products for the automotive and heavy-duty truck markets. While Vector Tool continues to see growth in new mould builds, the company also carries out extensive revision, rebuild and maintenance for its customers both inside and outside the Peterson Group.

This combination of work requires fast reaction times to keep customers up and running. Randy Bennett, lead programmer for Vector Tool, said: 'We felt that we needed a major improvement in efficiency that we were not getting from our previous software. 'The thing that sold us on FeatureCAM was its ability to automatically recognise features such as holes, pockets, bosses and slots in 3D solid and surface models. 'This means that we don't have to deal with each individual surface but can program features instead.

'This is much less time intensive because there are far fewer features and because the inherent commonality of features means that they can often be programmed from libraries,' he added. After the design phase is complete, the company's CNC programmers begin by importing the component. Once the programmer is satisfied with the way that the features have been defined, the next step is to pick tools and speeds and feeds for machining each feature. The natural repetitiveness of features means that it is often possible to pick a tool and machining conditions from a similar example that has been machined previously and saved in the software's library.

Many parts also have multiple copies of some features and, in this case, the relevant program can be copied to each location where it is needed. Bennett continued: 'Our switch to FeatureCAM has helped us improve our programming efficiency greatly. 'The productivity of our programmers has been increased substantially, especially on the feature-rich 2.5D parts, which constitute the vast majority of our programming workload. 'We have only used the new software for a few months so we believe that we should be able to achieve considerable additional productivity gains. 'We have also seen significant reductions in cycle time, especially on 3D parts, and surface finish has also been improved,' he said.

ESAB Introduces Time-Saving Hard-Hat Adaptor

ESAB is now stocking a new type of hat adaptor that will save the wearer the time and bother of changing safety wear for different working situations. The hard-hat adaptor has been developed for sites where welders need to use both a hard hat on health-and-safety grounds and a welding helmet. The equipment is suitable for use in areas such as shipyards and construction sites.

Now, rather than carrying two hats around, the hard-hat adaptor is simply attached to a New-Tech helmet - after the removal of the internal head harness - in a matter of seconds. For extra safety, the user does not even have to remove the hat from his or her head to attach or detach the adaptor and can undertake the operation while wearing heavy work gloves. The hard-hat adaptor can be utilised with any of the New-Tech range of auto-darkening welding helmets, which features the latest technology developed by ESAB.

All four models in the range are lightweight and well balanced to provide maximum comfort. They offer a wide viewing area and provide protection to the ears and neck, as well as just the face. The area in front of the mouth is larger for a good flow of fresh air; this feature also ensures that there is no build-up of carbon monoxide. Hard hats are available in a choice of colours (yellow, white, blue, green and red).

CNC Router Reduces Time To Market

A manufacturer of personal care products has saved money by switching to a low-cost computerised numerical control (CNC) router that can produce point of purchase displays internally. The manufacturer employed contractors to produce displays but there were delays in getting new designs to retailers and the cost of producing them was continually rising. The company made the decision to create its own displays and searched for an inexpensive, yet easy-to-use router that had the capability to produce plastic and wood components to high levels of accuracy.

It opted for the Isel router, which has allowed the company to design and create new display designs in a single day. Isel's router has features readily found in more expensive machines such as ball screws and servo motors. This manufacturer is saving money on its outgoings and can now turn on immediately to meet the ever-changing design demands of the retail market. Ball screws have a few key advantages over racks: they don't have the 'play' or the requirement for adjustments that racks require, do not wear as easily and are far less likely to leave debris in the mechanism, a cause of skipping and errant motion.

Servo motors, unlike stepper motors, do not lose position, cannot skip steps and are also better for 3D applications as they can change speed 'on the fly' without losing position. The company's products are shipped to retailers with displays made of acrylic sheets that contain the product. The displays range from approximately 220mm high by 200mm wide and 200mm deep, to as much as 600mm high by 300mm wide and 200mm deep, with either two or three tiers of shelves. The product is placed loose in the shelves, which are tilted backwards slightly to keep them secure.

The shelves are held to the walls with acrylic solvents. The company frequently develops different styles of displays in order to accommodate a new product or promotion; subcontractors built a substantial portion of these in the past. The disadvantage with this strategy was that a considerable amount of back-and-forth effort was necessary in order to communicate the company's specific concept for the display.

With the rising cost of production, the process of going from prototype to finished product was proving inefficient as well as expensive. The company set out to look for CNC routers; however, the ones that it saw were either too expensive, very complicated machines, or on the other hand, inexpensive routers. The Isel machine possesses a number of features that are said to deliver accuracy to a level that has previously only been attainable at a much higher price.

Ball screws are provided on all three axes, providing smooth motion, a high level of accuracy and repeatability, plus minimal maintenance. A closed-loop servo control system provides constant position feedback, higher power and smooth continuous motion, which eliminates the possibility of losing position in the middle section. The machine includes a heavy steel ground stress-relieved base and an aluminium T-slot table that can be converted to a vacuum table by installing a vacuum table accessory kit.

The machine comes fully assembled and includes a CNC G-code interface. It is available in three sizes with work envelopes of 750mm by 600mm, 1,250 by 1,200mm and 1,250 by 2,400mm. Each of these models provides a repeatability of 0.025mm, a resolution of 0.005mm and a maximum speed of 6,350mm per minute. A wide range of optional equipment is offered including a laser scanning module, CNC lathe attachment, vacuum blower and a fourth-axis rotary table.

The resultant situation is that the company's designer creates a CAD drawing of a new display then graphically nests the individual pieces required to make the display onto a foot acrylic sheet and saves the resulting drawing onto a CD. The CNC operator generates toolpaths, makes adjustments to compensate for the thickness of the sheet and creates a CNC program for producing the parts. The operator loads a new sheet onto the router, secures it with a vacuum clamp to the table, uploads the program into the machine control and, with a click of the mouse, starts the machine.

The machine establishes the zero point for the z-axis and then runs by itself for 30 to 120 minutes, producing enough parts for as many displays as is possible to nest onto an acrylic sheet. When the machining operation is finished, the pieces are removed and they apply a torch to flame the cut edges to produce a glossy finish. These are delivered to the assembly department where operators put them together by applying acrylic solvent with a syringe.

The accuracy of cutting enabled them to develop a tab and slot construction in some of the displays, which overcame some of the difficulties that assemblers were having in alignment of walls and partitions, providing improved positioning for high-precision line bending. The time required to respond to market trends by creating new displays has been cut to a fraction of its original duration. On several occasions, an idea for a new display has been built and assembled by the end of the day. Building displays in-house also makes it much easier for companies to respond to special requests from customers.

Tyco Grounding Connector Cuts Installation Time

Tyco Electronics has introduced a grounding connector that shortens the installation time of a ground wire to a solar panel frame. The threaded connector is inserted through a hole in the frame and uses two hex nuts to help provide a reliable connection.

The connector handles six and 8AWG (13.3 and 8.4mm2) solid uninsulated copper wire. In connecting to the frame, the connector body and the one-piece lock washer nut penetrate the surface of the aluminium frame, helping to create a reliable ground path.

In the six-second short-term current test, the connector handles 1,530A with a 6AWG ground wire. With an 8AWG ground wire, a four-second test concludes that the connector handles 1,180A. In UL 486A/B pull-out testing, the connector provides 100lb (45.3kg) with a 6AWG wire and 90lb (40.8kg) with an 8AWG wire.

Essegi Kitting Systems Cut Change-Over Down-Time

Accelonix will sell Essegi Systems' kitting solutions in the UK, Spain and Portugal after being appointed distributor for the Italian manufacturer. Essegi's kitting systems provide an affordable method of reducing change-over down-time, which can be considerable for low-volume contract manufacturers in industrial and military sectors.

Feeding the system with a bill of materials generates an entire kit; the software can handle all the materials on the board, including mechanical and electronic components. While the system automates reels it can also handle other components, keep track of them and tell the user where to find them, providing accurate inventory control and the location of manually handled components.

Essegi's kitting solutions have an extremely small footprint, enhance production rates by increasing automation and provide complete component traceability. Systems are easily expanded; linking multiple units means that an unlimited number of reels and trays can be stored.

Time To Get Your Glands Checked?

There are now more variations of cable gland available than ever, and with more choice comes the requirement for more knowledge in order to make the right selection. Considerations such as suitability for purpose, sealing, safety and installation time all need to be balanced against cost, which is always an issue.
The need to know is universal, as is the responsibility for the selection; the decision can fall to the electrician, electrical fitter, distributor, specifier or designer, working freelance on behalf of a contractor or an OEM all need to make the right choices, for the right reasons.

It is as easy to overlook a cable gland, as it is to under-specify, or, to over-specify it. With a huge range of fast new push-fit designs, tighter regulations and new materials coming onto the market it is essential to look at what is fit-for-purpose. Essential criteria include the quality of the hole available for the cable entry, the thickness of the cable, the ingress protection required (IP rating), the mechanical cable retention strength required, and the environment it is being exposed to.

Exposure to heat, weathering and any fire requirements such as building regulations, halogen free requirements, Ex rating or ATEX zones have to be considered. One of the original and simplest types of cable gland is the 'stuffing gland', offering basic sealing and protection for cables passing through panels or bulkheads. A locking nut is used to apply pressure via a skid washer onto the sealing rings that spread to form a seal around the cable. This method of cable feed-through achieves three basic functions.

First, it protects the cable from possible damage due to any sharp edges on the bulkhead/wall/cabinet. Secondly, it provides a barrier to moisture and debris entering the equipment housing (IP ratings are generally low as they will not withstand pressurised water or immersion). And, thirdly, it provides a degree of cable retention. The 'stuffing gland' has been around for many years and is used in an enormous number of applications today. Typically, however, a major problem with these particular types of traditional gland is the limited mechanical performance and its environmental protection rating of IP54.

Any application that requires better cable retention - for example superior mechanical strength, a wider clamping range or a higher ingress rating of IP65 or IP68 - may need a dome topped cable gland. These glands are also more aesthetically pleasing, looking more modern and smartening up an installation. A number of variations of this type are available in both nylon and metal but the salient features that ensure superior performance to the traditional stuffing gland are in its construction.

The cable is again fed through a sealing ring but in this case, the sealing ring is placed within an 'iris' that closes onto the sealing ring, clamping the cable and forming a high IP seal as the dome top is screwed down. The German standard thread type is known as PG (DIN46255 to 46259 etc) and has been replaced by metric thread standards (EN50262) introduced back in the late 1980s. The PG standard was given a transition period of 10 years to phase out and EN50262 became fully applicable in March 2001 although PG glands are still around, and judging by current sales volumes will be around for some time yet.

Many different cable gland variations exist in dome top configurations covering a variety of general industrial applications. Specialist applications that require additional protection over and above the common plastic variations include: products designed to meet the requirement of ATEX 100a for hazardous areas such as petrochemical; and glands designed for EMC compatibility and certified by VDE in compliance with VG95373 part 40. Stainless-steel versions should be considered in food and chemical process applications where washdown is essential for hygiene.

Nylon and plated brass glands are best suited for general industrial or marine applications. Most new developments have focused on speeding up the process of cable sealing and retention, offering push-fit glands and grommets in a range of designs.
The main issue with these variations is that they provide limited mechanical grip and will only seal up to IP67. Because the retention material is soft, it is generally less resistant to extreme heat, but can be more resistant to corrosive atmospheres and liquids. They are not currently suitable for any Ex applications.

There are a number of membrane plug/grommet products available that offer good sealing up to IP67 that are very fast to use. As a grommet they are a push fit design both to install and to feed the cable through. Recent grommet designs will allow for a variety of cable/conductor widths. They are resistant to vibration and will provide for easy adjustment. Again not suitable for Ex applications or extreme heat and most don't provide a great deal of cable retention force, unlike a clamped dome topped gland.

There are a range of fast-fit grommet seals that clip into standard drilled and knockout holes that provide positive cable retention. The Klikseal from TST for example is moulded using two materials, a softer compound for the body/seal, and a stiffer inner material that applies positive clamping and cable retention. This design will accommodate a few millimetres of wall thickness, self adjusting up to 5mm, and a range of cable diameters for each size. The added benefit of these designs is that they do not protrude far from the surface, only 5mm, unlike an equivalent clamping cable gland at 35mm, being flush to the surface means they are ideal for applications where space is at a premium.

Many contractors and OEMs are focused on reducing inventory and reducing overall line items, which is where these products really score. No tools are needed to fit them once there is a suitable aperture available, and the manufacturers claim they deliver a 90% time saving, crucial when there are a high number of entries to be completed in an application.

Enclosure manufacturers have also developed junction boxes that are manufactured using dual materials, injection moulding a softer compound into the wall design so that it forms self sealing cable entries. These will generally take a range of cable sizes providing sealing up to IP65 for a cable that is simply pushed through the flexible membrane. More suited to indoor applications or instances where there is secondary protection available such as a control cabinet, these junction boxes can certainly speed-up installation and assembly, particularly when the enclosures arrive onsite prepopulated with terminals and breakers etc.

One of these products is a junction box capable of connecting two or three round-profile cables via an integral connector block that features a similar sealing method to the dome top glands. It is moulded in one piece and hinged so that the threaded sections of the cable entries fold together. The cables are then inserted through a seal and locking cap and the cap screwed into position to complete the assembly. In conclusion, the humble cable gland can be a boon when it is specified correctly, speeding-up production and installation time, and a liability if it is wrongly specified.

The consequences of a water leak into a junction box can be catastrophic, not just for the internal components, but more importantly for the process, building or machinery that relies on that connection. Particularly relevant in industrial ATEX environments where the supplier and the fitter can be held liable when something goes wrong. Suppliers such as Hylec-APL provide free impartial advice and product samples to help ensure the right connection is made every time. Terry Spriggs is Product Marketing Manager for Hylec Components, one of the UK's largest suppliers of cable management equipment.