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Gas Technology: Good Looking, Good Cooking
Burners on gas cooktops and rangetops have come a long way over the years. They can simmer so low as to melt chocolate and hold it in that melted state for hours. Yet that same burner can boil up to 4 quarts of water in a little more than 10 minutes. The cooktops available today can come in a variety of sizes and styles, differing from manufacturer to manufacturer. While different in many ways, at their core, gas burners found on cooktops and rangetops are very similar. Gas flows from a main gas valve to the burner through a venturi tube, which allows the gas to properly mix with air for clean combustion. The mixture flows into the burner where it is lit by an igniter. From this stepping off point, however, technology begins to vary.
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 | Displays & Indicators: Compelling Color
In a mature consumer electronics market, good engineering alone won’t guarantee a product’s success. To rise above the crowd and win over consumers, a product needs to offer something more: an engaging and appealing user interface. One can appreciate the power of advanced user-interface design by looking at Apple’s iPhone. The iPhone was not the first touch-screen smart phone, but it was the first to add the “wow” factor. The iPhone’s graphically rich, seductive, and simple user interface makes complex technology accessible to a younger, trend-seeking audience, not just the tech-savvy business professionals traditionally targeted by the segment.
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| Gas Technology: Good Looking, Good Cooking
Burners on gas cooktops and rangetops have come a long way over the years. They can simmer so low as to melt chocolate and hold it in that melted state for hours. Yet that same burner can boil up to 4 quarts of water in a little more than 10 minutes. The cooktops available today can come in a variety of sizes and styles, differing from manufacturer to manufacturer. While different in many ways, at their core, gas burners found on cooktops and rangetops are very similar. Gas flows from a main gas valve to the burner through a venturi tube, which allows the gas to properly mix with air for clean combustion. The mixture flows into the burner where it is lit by an igniter. From this stepping off point, however, technology begins to vary.
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Association Report: AHAM: Product Safety Law Needs Careful Attention
On Aug. 14, President Bush signed into law the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. This law will significantly change the regulatory framework for manufacturers attempting to comply with U.S. product safety requirements and is a major rewrite of the federal Consumer Product Safety Act and other federal consumer product safety laws. The changes are so important that AHAM, in partnership with the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute and the Consumer Electronics Association, held a special seminar on Oct. 8 in Washington D.C. for association members to get a first hand briefing from CPSC officials on how to comply with the new law. Some of the most important features of the bill are summarized below.
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Editorial: Vote for Usability
Depending on when you’re reading this, you may or may not have had the opportunity to see the Nov. 2 episode of The Simpsons in which a touchscreen voting machine switches Homer’s vote, then tries to kill him when he realizes the thing is rigged. “This doesn’t happen in America!” Homer screams. “Maybe Ohio, but not in America!”
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News Watch: Tarnishing Nanosilver
Will the growing use of nanoscale silver ultimately cause more harm than good? That is the question posed by many these days, accompanying concerns over the effect of nanosilver on the environment. Nanoscale silver is already embedded into more than 200 consumer products, including residential and commercial appliances, where it is employed for its antimicrobial properties. But silver is classified as an environmental hazard by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency because the metal is toxic to aquatic plants and animals.
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Tyco Electronics
The PolySwitch circuit protection devices are functionally equivalent to the company’s existing RXEF overcurrent protection devices, but are available in a form factor that is 30 percent smaller.
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Rosenberg
The backward curved centrifugal fans are available with or without housing in five sizes, from 16 in. to 25 in. The fans deliver up to six inches of static pressure and have a maximum capacity of 16,450 cfm.
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