TechArchive

Original article date: June 1999 GEORGE COLEMAN managing director of Sharetree Systems explains the rules of engagement for selecting test chambers and overviews what’s on offer on the market. Temperature test chambers are used for many different purposes ranging from fixed temperature testing of static products to fast thermal cycling of powered products that dissipate [...]

This article was originally written in the period 1995-2000 The mechanical pump is very much a product of the twentieth century, rather than a remnant of the nineteenth, argues BRIAN JOHNSTON of Spirax Sarco. Think of the advantages of a pump that uses no electricity, is robust and needs virtually no maintenance, yet is low [...]

Original article date: October 1997 A new family of microstepping drives has just been launched by Parker Hannifin’s Electromechanical Division. Known as the Zeta Series, the drives incorporate two techniques for which patents are pending. They are “active damping” and “electronic viscosity”. The combination of active damping and electronic viscosity gives much tighter control of [...]

Original article date: December 1996 The SNL bearing housing is designed on the split plummer block principle, to offer flexibility in bearing choice. Designing the SNL split plummer block housing on a modular principle allows a wide choice of bearings to be selected, including spherical roller bearings, self-aligning ball bearings or CARB. Overall bearing performance [...]

This article was originally written in the period 1995-2000 You’ve installed the flowmeter. Now how do you handle the signal? Advice from John Kelly of Fischer & Porter. The primary task of the converter connected to a primary sensor is to produce an output signal which is proportional to the measured value and which can [...]

Original article date: September 1997 Despite its common usage the power relay is rarely seen as a complex and important component.. Schrack’s NORBERT STERL introduces the different contact magnetic and mechanical systems and how to classify them. Using new and advanced contact materials the switching capacity of relays has either been maintained or increased and [...]

Original article date: February 1999 Two of the types of hydraulic accumulator in common use are the bladder type and the piston type. But which to use and when? This advice from ANDREW DELANEY of Parker Hannifin Cylinder Division. The main task of an accumulator is to take a specific amount of fluid under pressure [...]

Original article date: March 1996 Omron’s John Hickles considers the essential ac-dc power supply technologies and examines some of the features that modern designs can offer. The power supply may not seem the most glamorous aspect of a system design but needless to say most systems would be in serious trouble without one. Feed commercial [...]

This article was originally written in the period 1995-2000 An explosive atmosphere is one where a mixture with air, under atmospheric conditions, of flammable substances in the form of gas, vapour or mist, exists in such proportions that it can be exploded by excessive temperature, arcs or sparks – the danger is a real one. [...]

Original article date: April 1999 Quick to learn and fast to execute motion control programming is becoming an attractive alternative to traditional mechanical linkages. MILES CLEE of Baldor Optimised Control explains the features of the company’s MINT language. Programs developed in Baldor’s motion control programming language MINT can be used across the company’s line of [...]