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New and Notable Product Design

By Design News Staff -- Design News, April 5, 2004

MINISUB INSPECTOR

VideoRay 2002 Remotely Operated Vehicle. Three Pittman® LO-COG® brush dc motors power this 8-lb camera-toting minisub geared for commercial operations and recreational use. Two of the direct-drive motors are in side-mounted tubes for horizontal thrust. The other motor in the hull center thrusts vertically. According to Marcus Kolb, director of R&D, direct drive reduced system complexity, improved reliability and lifetime, and lowered costs. He notes a challenge was the motors' polished shafts where the propellers are attached. The shafts must be smooth and hard, so VideoRay machines them using a proprietary process. These are supplied to PennEngineering for its Pittman motors and the OEM integrates the motors and seals into the shaft housings. Sales Manager: Erick Estrada, info@videoray.comhttp://rbi.ims.ca/3847-541

PROJECTING WELL

3M Bravo Projector. Seeing that its customers wanted to look good in all aspects during presentations, 3M's developers coordinated a rapid 10-month design effort from Austin to Italy (as well as Japan, China, and Germany) resulting in a stylish as well as technically advanced projector. Pininfarina, noted for its Ferrari designs, brought style to the team. An ease-of-use interface accesses features via file menus and allows users to optimize projection for the format involved—from PowerPoint to cinema (with its demands for true colors and contrast). A clip-in base has swivel, up/down, and side-to-side degrees of freedom for quick image position and shape adjustment on the screen. Mid-year will see a home-market model with 16 x 9 aspect ratio imaging for television. Wall Display Unit Manager: John Griffiths, meetings@mmm.comhttp://rbi.ims.ca/3847-542

BE SEATED

Dahti Technologies Herman Miller Mirra™ Chair. Use of DSM Engineering Plastics' Arnitel® EM400 thermoplastic copolyester-based elastomer (TPE-E) to encapsulate the elastomeric-mesh seat carrier was critical to this chair's design. Molded into a bead with holes around the edge of the carrier, the Arnitel's stiffness and elongation contributed to the manufacturability and functionality of a mechanical "zipper," which folds the holes onto teeth around the plastic chair frame. The Arnitel combines strength and processing characteristics of engineering plastics with the performance of thermoset elastomers. As a thermoplastic, it does not require vulcanization to optimize properties, saving part cost. Compared to other elastomers, it has relatively consistent performance over its operating temperature range. DSM Business Development Manager: Doug Bosch, doug.bosch@dsm.comhttp://rbi.ims.ca/3847-543

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