Originally Published January 2000

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Materials

Adhesives Suitable For Metal, Plastic Bonding

Work on a variety of substrates

Useful for interior and exterior industrial and medical fabrication applications, SHB-series adhesives from Tailored Label Products Inc. (Menomonee Falls, WI) can replace mechanical fasteners, spot welds, liquid adhesives, and other permanent fasteners. Both SHB-AF, a super-high-bond double-coated acrylic foam, and SHB-AT, a double-coated acrylic transfer adhesive bonding system, are suitable for bonding to a variety of substrates, including most metals, plastics, composites, painted surfaces, glass, and sealed wood. Both systems are strong enough to replace rivets, bolts, welds, and similar fastening methods.

The SHB-series systems provide several advantages over traditional fastening methods. First, the viscoelastic properties of the adhesives can help absorb shock and distribute stress to eliminate the concentrated stress points of mechanical fasteners. This provides for high holding power in static and dynamic loads. Second, the adhesives flow into microscopic surface irregularities, sealing against moisture, salts, UV light, and other environmental conditions. Third, the adhesives reduce noise common to mechanical fasteners by damping vibration on the exterior and interior panels.

SHB-series adhesives from Tailored Label Products Inc. can replace spot welds, liquid adhesives, and various fasteners.

SHB-series adhesives allow for thinner, lighter, and dissimilar materials to be used in fabrication. This is in contrast to rivets, stud welding, and similar fastening options, which can cause problems such as pull through and dimpling. The adhesives also compensate for differential thermal expansion or contraction caused by exposing dissimilar materials to temperature change. SHB-series adhesives produce virtually invisible bonds, reducing the need to grind and refinish distortions caused by the use of rivets.

For more information, call Tailored Label Products at 262/703-5000.

Equipment

Safety Tester Provides Five Measurements

Supplies a single connection to the device being tested

A SAFETY TESTER from QuadTech Inc. (Marlborough, MA) provides ac and dc hipot, insulation resistance (IR), simulated leakage current, and ground bond measurement capabilities in one unit. The Guardian 6000 electrical safety analyzer provides a single connection to the device under test in accordance with UL, CSA, IEC, TUV, and EN standards. Standard features of the unit include an LCD that gives setup parameters and test results, pass/fail output, front-panel lockout with password protection, and storage for 50 test setups. Any combination of the five tests can be run in sequence, with the results displayed as either go or no-go. An optional built-in eight-channel scanner is suited for fast switching and testing of multilead devices, including transformers, motors, and power supply assemblies.

QuadTech Inc.'s Guardian 6000 electrical safety analyzer offers both digital and analog displays of the stimulus parameter, voltage, and current.

The tester can perform ac hipot tests from 100 to 5000 V, dc hipot tests from 100 to 6000 V, IR measurements from 100 k to 50 G, rms line leakage simulation using the UL1950 model, and ground bond testing to 30 A. The hipot testing functions cover a range of 1 µA to 40 mA ac and 0.1 µA to 20 mA dc. The unit offers both digital and analog displays of the stimulus parameter, voltage, and current. For an automated production environment using either a remote control or data logging equipment, the tester is equipped with PLC and IEEE-488 interfaces. To provide flexibility, the unit has both front- and rear-panel test connectors. Other features include an on/off selectable arc detection feature, zero offset for eliminating test lead effects, programmable voltage ramp and test times, and a NIST-traceable calibration certificate. Other options include an RS-232 interface and auxiliary scanners for expansion to 64 test connectors.

For more information, call QuadTech at 800/253-1230.

Components

Digital Frame Grabber Handles High Data Rates

A video window supports experimentation with camera parameters

A 32-BIT DIGITAL FRAME GRABBER for machine vision systems is aimed at medical imaging applications where high data rates, advanced control options, and high-resolution capture capabilities are desirable. The PXD1000 digital frame grabber from Imagenation Corp. (Beaverton, OR) supports most commercially available digital cameras by providing preconfigured files for several operating modes. The unit can work with single-, dual-, or four-channel cameras, as well as area and line scan and time delay and integration cameras. On-the-fly pixel reordering for multichannel cameras can convert alternate pixels and lines, alternate half-lines with normal and reversed scans, alternate 1/4 lines with normal and reversed scans, and quadrants with normal and reversed scans. Pixel reordering is performed automatically for a variety of formats, which allows processing to begin immediately. Both RS-422 and RS-644 signals are supported at up to 30 and 40 MHz per channel, respectively, on the same board.

For users who need to add or reconfigure cameras, a Windows-based camera configuration application is included. The application allows users to create, modify, and test configuration files without knowledge of the frame grabber's internal architecture. A video window reflects real-time changes to support interactive experimentation with a variety of camera parameters, including data format and framing, exposure control, and camera modes. Demo programs are also included, giving users the ability to capture and save images to disk and to adjust image capture features without the need to write any code. Included as well are white paper and a single 100-pin connector, with the option to include both an interface cable and cable kit.

Designed for medical imaging applications, the PXD1000 digital frame grabber from Imagenation Corp. supports most commercially available digital cameras.

Other specifications of the frame grabber include input data rates of up to 40 million pixels/sec for eight-bit, single-channel cameras; 80 million pixels/sec for dual-channel cameras; and 160 million pixels/sec for four-channel cameras. A programmable debounced trigger, horizontal and vertical synchronization, four general-purpose I/O ports, and three general-purpose RS-422 outputs for camera control are also included. Two strobes with programmable pulse width and polarity can be used as camera exposure controls. Image size measures 32,000 x 32,000 pixels for area images and 32,000 pixels wide for line-scan images. Image data is secured through 100 MByte/sec PCI bus performance with 132 MByte/sec burst speed and 2 MByte of onboard FIFO memory.

For more information, call Imagenation at 800/366-9131.

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