Product News

  PICTURE  CAPTION : Operator Lawrence Dunn, checks a product post-production. Rex Upton’s Christchurch company, Autobend, has 30 years experience in exhausts and mandrel tube bending. The company is big in the business of replacement exhausts, universal mufflers, headers, big bore, extensions, U Bends, tube, flanges, converters, studs and gaskets; you name it, Autobend stock the lot. However, if you are an architect, design engineer, developer, kinetic artist, dairyman or wine, boat or furniture maker. Autobend’s clarion-call is: ‘don’t weld it; bend it.’ You should be dropping by at their Andromeda Crescent premises and stepping into a spotless, engineering shop where their blue-and-yellow brute has recently been installed. It is New Zealand’s biggest mandrel tube-bender, the CSM 100TBRE-RBE, courtesy of Autobend. And they’ve backed that significant investment with a smart, young engineer, one of their own James Patterson, a production manager, who joined them since gaining NZCE James has alongside him an experienced and highly-qualified CNC machine operator and a ‘master of the black art of ‘adjustment’ in a precise business’, Lawrence Dunn, also blessed with experienced hands and not that many ‘miles on his clock’ who has just returned from his OE. You get the sense they are up for anything which isn’t dangerous or dumb. Anything from 1-180 degrees (the latter has a u-bend in it). The CSM bender is world class technology, offering high-precision bending and rolling of tubes, supported throughout by an internal mandrel – a series of inter-connected metal ‘balls’ of a matching diameter – and a carriage boost. This results in an absence of humps, bumps and wrinkles, or any elongation of bend. According to Patterson, Autobend staff can programme variable radii (when rolling tubes) or produce straight and concentric coils, with CNC precision, as well as repeat bending and rolling to the original specifications. […]

  Hammond Manufacturing has added the AA, the A and C sizes to its 1553 family of soft-sided hand held enclosures; all models feature an ergonomic curved shape that fits comfortably into the hand. The AA measures 75 x 50 x 17mm, the A 100 x 61 x 17mm and the C size, available with or without a battery compartment is 117 x 79 x 33mm. The C size is a deeper version of the existing B size, which has a depth of 24mm. Available in RAL 7035 light grey or RAL 9011 black, both colours feature RAL 7012 grey over-moulded soft side grips. The units are moulded in general purpose ABS and are ideal for housing small hand-held instruments, remote controllers, flying lead machine controllers and many other applications where a small stylish, easy to hold enclosure is required. The top cover is recessed to allow a membrane keypad to be flush mounted and PCB standoffs are moulded into the base. Battery versions are supplied with clips for two AA and one PP3 batteries. All 1553 enclosures can be supplied factory modified with machining and silk screening to the user’s specification; to help the design process, AutoCAD and PDF dimensioned drawings can be downloaded from www.hammondmfg.com. nextSTEP Contact: sales@hiq.co.nz Tel: 0800 800 293  

    The Veo 16:64 Phased Array instrument is highly capable with multi-technique functionality, including TOFD; fast data recording, a simple to use interface and rugged housing. Veo is ideal for Pipeline Weld Inspection, Corrosion Mapping, Aerospace and Composite Testing. Veo’s design has made simple controls and menu workflow of paramount importance. The display features full 3D views of the user’s test set up including probes, wedges, the weld and geometry, with phased array beams. On-board probe and wedge databases are incorporated in the Veo for fast setups. The Veo Phased Array instrument has TCG and ACG, a superior encoding speed with fast A-scan recording and excellent reporting functionality. Two separate conventional channels provide simultaneous Phased Array and TOFD scanning to speed inspection and ensure correct data referencing for improved defect characterization. Real Time Focal Law calculations allow the user to change scanning parameters instantly, reducing the time spent on setup and defect investigation. The Veo enclosure has been designed to withstand the tough environments in which NDT inspections are carried out, achieving IP65 standard for water and dust ingress and employing internal shock mounts to withstand impacts. The market sectors largest sunlight readable screen is on the Veo. This is a great advantage with complex inspections and multiple probe configurations. Batteries give up to 6 hours use, and are hot swappable for continuous use.      

Photo: Tim Parker, founder and managing director of Cleanfuelz with the latest experimental model. Did you know that most petrol engines only use 20% and diesels only use 40% of the fuel – and waste the rest as noxious exhaust fumes? Cleanfuelz has been developing a solution to the problem of the inefficient burning of fuel in vehicle engines since 2008. Their initial plan was to become the NZ distributor for American designed ‘Hydrogen On Demand’ products. However it was quickly established that the sample units were simply not robust enough and used a large amount of energy and often required major engine modifications to make them work. Cleanfuelz decided to take a totally different approach, and after numerous designs, a university test confirmed that the Catalyser produced gasses that had a catalytic effect on the combustion of the fuel. That is, introducing hydrogen into the fuel mixture increases the rate of combustion and means that nearly all the fuel is combusted. This results in lower noxious exhaust emissions (up to 90% reductions), while using only a small amount of energy. This can also result in fuel savings and less wear and tear on the engine. However, we found that fuel savings for every vehicle are often different because this depends on a number of factors including the condition of the engine and how it is tuned or programmed. The Catalyser can be installed on any type of vehicle using any type of hydrocarbon fuel. On bigger engines above six litres we usually suggest installing two units. We have seen remarkable improvements on petrol and diesel engines of 1500 CC up to 220HP in tractors. Vehicles can be your normal car or truck, or any off road vehicle like farm tractors, forklifts, heavy equipment, bulldozers, graders, diggers etc. We believe […]

A new approach to miniaturised heaters is proving to be outstandingly reliable, versatile and economic. Miniaturised ceramic heaters capable of independently controlling their dissipation are replacing Nichrome elements universally used until recently in domestic medical and military  applications. It is now possible to mass produce incredibly small controlled dissipation 230 V elements onto small 12 mm x 9 mm ceramic substrates capable of operating at over 350¡ celsius. Besides heaters the technology can be used for such diverse applications as thermal print heads, molecular gas flow sensors and tracking transmitters. Thick Film technology is used wherever high reliability is required, such as space satellites and heart pacemakers. Circuit elements are physically printed sometimes in multiple layers on thin ceramic sheets and then fired at high temperature typically 850¡C to form working electronic modules.

The Cigweld Transmig 175i is a self contained single phase multi process welding inverter that is capable of performing GMAW/FCAW (Mig), MMAW (Stick) and GTAW (Lift Tig) welding processes. The unit is equipped with an integrated wire feed unit, voltage reduction device (VRD applicable in stick mode only), digital voltage and amperage meters, and a host of other features in to fully satisfy the broad operating needs of the modern welding professional. It features: Full multi process capabilities: GMAW/FCAW (MIG), MMAW (STICK), GTAW (TIG) Standards Compliant Voltage Reduction device (VRD) Fully compliant to AS 60974.1 Digital voltage and amperage meters Enclosure rated to IP23S 3 Year Limited Warrant Specifications Supply Voltage            240 volt, 1 phase 50/60 Hz Supply plug lead        15 amp Welding current range        10 – 175 amps Duty Cycle            175 amps @ 25% duty cycle (Mig) 175 amps @ 20% duty cycle (Stick) 175 amps @ 25% duty cycle (Tig) Power source weight        14.6 kg : Plant 23 kg Dimensions            H460mm x W320mm x D590mm Plant contents: Transmig 175i inverter power Source, Tweco Fusion Mig Gun (3M), Comet Professional Argon regulator/flow meter, Feed rolls 0.6/0.8 V groove (fitted) , 1.0/1.2mm U groove; 0.8/0.9 V Knurled, Contact tips: 0.8mm fitted, 0.6mm, 0.9mm, 1.0mm, Electrode holder with 4m lead, Work clamp with 4m lead, Shielding gas hose assembly, Shoulder strap , Product bag and operating manual. NextSTEP Contact: ken-durbin@thermadyne.com.au

An earthquake the magnitude of that experienced in Christchurch on Saturday is devastating for any city. But as the hours since the quake pass, a positive story is emerging from the scene. The level of damage seen in modern buildings and bridges in Christchurch is much less than that caused by similar earthquakes in Kobe, Japan in 1995 or Haiti earlier this year. This can be directly attributed to exacting standards of the structural engineering profession, the city building inspectors, and the New Zealand construction industry, supported by modern earthquake engineering standards. Earthquake engineering has been considered seriously in New Zealand since the 1855 Wellington earthquake, and improved immeasurably following the Napier earthquake in 1931. During the 1970s, New Zealand emerged as an international leader in earthquake engineering, and the results of the Christchurch quake will provide researchers with tangible evidence of where improvements must be made in future. Members of the Institution of Professional Engineers (IPENZ) and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering were amongst the first volunteers on the scene, undertaking initial building safety evaluations and geotechnical assessments in the central city. “Engineers from around New Zealand have been flooding IPENZ with calls volunteering their services’ says IPENZ Director of Engineering Charles Wilmott “The high standard of work our industry has undertaken up to this point means Christchurch came through a huge earthquake relatively well, and the work we undertake going forward will ensure the region is back on it’s feet as soon as possible’. Saturday’s earthquake showed that the performance of “lifelines’ such as roads, bridges, water supplies and sewage systems is critical. Much more research is needed to understand these systems and to ensure they can better survive earthquake conditions. In the coming weeks engineers will continue to contribute to be at the forefront of […]

Korean manufacturing giant LG Electronics has recently introduced its first mobile phone designed with Delcam’s Tribrid Modelling software. The Waffle phone features a surface texture created in the ArtCAM artistic CADCAM program, wrapped around the body of a phone design produced with the PowerSHAPE CAD software.  It is expected to be the first of a number of new models that will use the Delcam software to create the distinctive designs needed to build market share in the highly competitive and fashion-conscious mobile phone market. Tribrid Modelling is Delcam’s unique, patented approach to design that adds triangle modelling to the solid and surface modelling options that are available in hybrid modelling systems.  It gives the ability to add triangle files of logos, branding, textures or other 3D decorations onto the surfaces of CAD models.  This effect is rather like sliding a transfer over the surface of an object, with the added advantages that the decoration can be scaled or stretched to fit any given area, and that the result is fully three-dimensional. Tribrid Modelling also allows Boolean operations to be carried out between triangle models and either surfaces or solids.  For many years, PowerSHAPE was one of very few CAD systems able to perform Boolean operations between solids and surfaces.  The ability to perform similar addition, subtraction and merge operations with triangles as well makes the software even more flexible. LG Electronics has become a global leader through more that 50 years of technical innovation in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances.  The company, which is based in the Korean capital Seoul, employs more than 80,000 people, working in over 115 operations around the world.  Last year, its global sales topped US$ 43 billion. Staff from Delcam’s Korean joint venture, Hankook Delcam, had their first contact with LG in August […]