Originally Published September 2000

HOTLINE

Heavy Composites Allow Designers to Tune the Weight of Parts

Weight can be varied in fixed-size parts

The recently expanded line of Thermocomp HSG composites from LNP Engineered Plastics (Exton, PA) features additional mechanical and physical properties.

Among the benefits of these Thermocomp HSG composites are x-ray opacity and shielding properties.

Now produced in a total of 14 resins with specific gravities ranging form 1.7 to 10, these "heavy" composites enable designers to combine functions and tune the weight of parts. According to Paul Blanchard, marketing manager, "the ability to add weight to functional plastic parts provides designers with new productivity opportunities. With LNP's Thermocomp HSG product family, designers can specify the weight in addition to the mechanical and thermal property performance."

Benefits for medical applications include shielding properties and x-ray opacity. Another important benefit of the HSG composites is that weight can be varied in parts of a fixed size. In one recent application in which HSG products of several gravities were used, the weight of an insert was changed without altering its size.–Karim Marouf

Thermal-Transfer Printer Reduces Ribbon Waste

Printer stops feeding ribbon and disengages printhead over blank areas

Although thermal-transfer printers produce high-quality images, they have a major drawback: they waste ribbon because the ribbon is advanced together with the label even when there is a blank spot on the label. QuickLabel Systems Product Group (West Warwick, RI) has designed a thermal-transfer printer that overcomes this problem and cuts ribbon waste by as much as 50%.

The LRU bar code printer can cut ribbon waste by as much as 50%.

The LRU bar code label printer creates a digital map of each label, storing in memory every detail of its format. When it receives a print command, the unit knows exactly when to feed ribbon in order to print and exactly when to disengage the printhead and stop feeding the ribbon. Blank spaces or preprinted areas thus do not cause unnecessary ribbon waste.

"The average user of a thermal-transfer printer spends as much as $8000 a year on ribbon," says Eric Pizzuti, QuickLabel sales manager, "so this printer should provide significant savings by reducing ribbon use."

A pair of nip rollers firmly maintain back tension on the label at all times, even when the printhead is raised, to ensure accurate print registration. The printhead is smoothly and positively raised and then lowered precisely back to the print position by a reliable air-actuated motor, thus eliminating print smearing. No operator intervention is required.

The printer features 12-in./sec printing, a rugged industrial-grade design, hand replacement of wear parts, 1000-m ribbon capacity, and 12-in.-diam label supply. With its 300-dpi printhead and smoothing algorithms, the unit prints text, logos, and all bar code symbologies.–Karim Marouf

Compact 25-W Power Supplies Introduced

Use of convection cooling results in a smaller footprint

Open-frame switching power supplies provide more than 3 W/cu in. to deliver 25 W of output power with 80% or greater efficiency. The increased efficiency of the MVLT25 series developed by EOS Corp. (Camarillo, CA) stems from convection cooling that eliminates the need for space-consuming fans. The power supplies are certified for use in non-patient-connected medical applications and meet safety standards including UL 2601, EN 60601, and IEC 601.

The MVLT25-series power supplies are designed for a wide range of medical electronics.
The units are designed to power a wide range of medical electronic equipment including medical test systems, hospital data systems, healthcare information systems, touch screen displays, dental and outpatient equipment, laboratory and analysis systems, and medical research equipment. According to James Schultz, executive vice president of marketing and sales, the new miniature power supplies "will enable engineers to design smaller and more portable products requested by their end-user customers." –Jodi Triplett

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