 |
| Fraunhofer’s novel micro-pump works in a similar
way to the human esophagus: The liquid is ingested from the left, propelled
forward by contractions of the pump and released on the right. |
|
SMART PUMP.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in
Freiburg, Germany, have developed a controllable peristaltic micro-pump system
for medicine and other liquids that mimics the human esophagus. The researchers
say the pump solves problems that traditional micro-pump systems face such as
only being able to work in one direction and difficulties with bubbles in
liquid or bothersome particles. The new pump solves these problems by
contracting in waves, changing shape as needed and propelling the liquid along.
The liquid is “ingested” from the left, propelled forward by contractions of
the pump and then released on the right side of the unit. To achieve this, the
researchers used lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) films that are joined with
bending elements made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic and a flexible tube.
The PZT materials change shape when an electric field is applied to them, which
makes it possible to control the pump system electronically. Special adhesives
hold the various components of the pump system together and control electronics
allow for tiny quantities of liquid to be accurately pumped through the system.
BSH GETS NEW CEO.
BSH Home Appliances of Huntington Beach, Calif., has named Michael Traub its
new president and CEO. Traub replaces Franz Joseph Bosshard who was chosen to
manage global business development for the BSH Group. Bosshard will report
directly to the chairman of the board of management and CEO of Bosch and
Siemens Home Appliances Group, Kurt-Ludwig Gutberlet. Traub returns to the U.S.
after serving four years as CEO of BSH Latin America. Prior to that, he served
as the Bosch Group’s vice president for International Sales based in Munich.
Before joining BSH in 1997, Traub worked for the Bosch Group in various roles
and was headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, and Singapore. Since then, he has
been responsible for setting up operations in Asia-Pacific region; he first
served as the regional financial controller and then as managing director.
ENODIS DEAL DELAYED. As
of press time, the latest bid for Enodis plc offered by The Manitowoc Co.,
Manitowoc, Wis., was put on hold pending recommendations from the Takeover
Panel in the U.K, which oversees acquisitions of U.K. listed companies. Reports
in the British financial press suggested that the Takeover Panel may recommend
an auction to end the drawn out bidding war between Manitowoc and Illinois Tool
Works. Manitowoc made an initial offer for Enodis in April. Enodis commercial
foodservice brand names include Frymaster, Garland, Lincoln, Scotsman, Kysor
Warren, and Convotherm. Manitowoc, whose product line focuses on the cold side
of foodservice equipment (refrigeration and ice) was hoping to break into the
hot (cooking) side with the acquisition. Then, in May, ITW made a better offer
for Enodis. ITW’s foodservice division includes brands such as Hobart, Vulcan,
Traulsen, Avery Berkel, and Bonnet. In late May, Manitowoc upped the ante,
topping ITW’s offer. The Enodis board was set to approve that buyout in early
June, but then both companies agreed to put the process on hold pending advice
of the Takeover Panel.
WHIRLPOOL’S THIENEMAN RETIRES. Mike
Thieneman, who served as executive vice president and chief technology officer
for Whirlpool Corp., Benton Harbor, Mich., retired as of June 30. The company
plans to name a successor at a later date. Thieneman had been with the company
for more than 31 years and held numerous positions. Chairman and CEO Jeff
Fettig credited Thieneman with instilling a global, disciplined product
development process to ensure continued innovation.
BUILD
A BETTER BULB. The U.S. Department of Energy is sponsoring a
competition designed to spur lighting manufacturers to develop high efficiency
solid-state lighting products to replace 60 W incandescent lamps and PAR 38
halogen lamps. The Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize competition, referred to as
the L Prize, will award cash prizes, and may also lead to opportunities for
federal purchasing agreements, utility programs, and other incentives. To meet
the competition’s requirements, the lighting products must consume 17 percent
less energy than is used by most incandescent lamps. An evaluation process is
part of the contest, including testing at independent laboratories, and field
evaluations. Four California utilities have agreed to work cooperatively to
promote sales of the winning products.
LONMARK
SIGNS DEAL. LonMark International of San Jose, Calif., has
signed a marketing agreement with the NewEnergy Alliance. LonMark is a
non-profit trade association that helps develop and promote interoperability
standards. NewEnergy Alliance, a group founded by Constellation Alliance, LLC,
a subsidiary of Constellation NewEnergy, is working to establish a new
electricity load-response model that will surpass the current utility-driven
demand-response models. The group hopes to create “Energy Responsive Buildings”
that give end-users more control over their energy costs. The buildings would
integrate building automation systems with real-time energy market data and
pricing signals. LonMark International is developing a program that will allow
it to work with third-party organizations and companies on complimentary
technologies. The NewEnergy Alliance is the first of these non-exclusive
relationships.
HVAC DEMAND TO GROW.
World demand for HVAC equipment is projected to rise 5.8 percent per year
through 2012 and reach $83.7 billion, according to a new study from the
Freedonia Group. Demand in the Asia/Pacific region will outpace the global
average, rising 6.9 percent annually through 2012. China will be the fastest
growing national market, comprising 40 percent of global demand growth through
2012. India will also see above-average growth. Opportunities for growth will exist in developed regions as well,
the study says. Demand in the U.S. will recover after a period of sluggishness
resulting from the housing crisis. Gains are expected in Western Europe as air
conditioning becomes more common in residential buildings. Cooling equipment
will outpace heating equipment gains through 2012, due in part to the lower
penetration rates of air conditioners in Western Europe. Room air conditioners
are expected to be the largest seller because of its lower cost and ease of
installation.
TAKE TOUCH FURTHER.
Researchers at Lancaster University are working with DoCoMo Communications
Laboratories Europe GmbH (DoCoMo Euro-Labs) to develop new touch technology
that will allow users to wave their mobile phones over dedicated readers,
writers or tags to obtain information, pay bills, or perform other tasks. The
two-year research project, called Multitag, is funded by DoCoMo Euro-Labs, a
research laboratory of Japan’s NTT DoCoMo. A prototype in joint development is
a system that uses a mobile phone as a smart stylus. An application of this
technology was shown at this year’s NFC Forum Competition in Monaco. The
demonstration showed how a tourist could touch an interactive map with their
phone and download information about the particular locale that they touched.
ELECTROLUX
CLOSES PLANT. Swedish
appliance maker Electrolux AB plans to close one plant in Italy and consolidate
production of refrigerators in another plant. The company plans to close its
factory in Scandicci, Italy, and move the work to its Susegana, Italy,
facility. Electrolux says it plans additional investments at the Susegana
factory to increase production efficiency. The company says it is making the
moves to counter price pressures and a decline in profit margins. The revamping
of production is expected to be completed in the second half of 2009.
RETAILERS
SUED. Sears Roebuck & Co., Home Depot, Loew’s, and HHGregg
Inc. were named in a federal lawsuit that claims the retailers ignored
fire-hazard warnings by using metal foil and plastic vents when installing
dryers. The lawsuit claims that all dryer manufacturers instruct owners to use
heavy metal vents when setting up the appliances. Failure to do so could lead
to a fire or death, according to the suit. The suit doesn’t link any dryer
fires to the retailer installations. In an email response to an Appliance
Design inquiry, a Sears spokesman said that as this is pending litigation, the
company would have no comment.
SANYO BUYS
SHARP LCDS. Japan-based Sanyo Electric Co. has started
purchasing LCD panels from Sharp Corp., also of Japan, for use in its flat
panel TVs sold in North America. Sanyo sold about 1 million LCD TVs in North
America in the last business year, ending March 31. According to a Reuters
report, the two companies are considering jointly developing kitchen
appliances. In other news, Sanyo announced improved financial results and said
it was in the black for the first time in four years. The company cited
increased sales of rechargeable batteries and digital cameras for the
improvement. In addition, the company says profits will jump this year on the
sale of its cell phone unit, according to the Reuters report.
EXTERNAL
POWER DEMAND. The worldwide external power supply (EPS) market
is projected to grow from $6.7 billion in 2008 to almost $10 billion in 2013,
according to a new report from the Darnell Group. In terms of units sold, the
EPS market is expected to grow at a somewhat faster pace, increasing from 2.0
billion units in 2008 to 3.3 billion units in 2013. Although this market is
mature, and a number of segments have slowed, the industry as a whole is still
strong and expanding, the report says. The report breaks down the worldwide
market into three regions, North America, Europe and Asia, and projects steady
growth for the external AC-DC power supply market over the forecast period in each
of those regions.
CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.
The Universal Powerline Association (UPA), an industry consortium providing a
forum for the design and development of interoperable and open specifications
for powerline communications, has launched the UPA Powerline Interop 2008
Certification program. The program, which kicked off with a two-day plugtest
and certification event held on June 25-26, was created to support the
commercial deployment of the UPA’s 200 Mbps Powerline communication technology
and to ensure interoperability between current and future Powerline products
from different vendors. Specifically, the UPA is working to support the IEEE
P1901 and ITU-T G.hn standards under development. The former focuses
exclusively on Powerline networking and the latter adds coaxial and phone line
networking to ensure that Powerline technology will have complete
interoperability within a final standard.
GRILLING
YEAR ROUND. BBQ grilling is no longer just a summertime activity
as an increasing number of Americans fire up their grills year round, according
to The NPD Group, a market research company. NPD’s 22nd annual Eating Patterns
in America report shows that outdoor grill usage in the U.S. is at an all-time
high; nearly double what it was 20 years ago. In 1985, 17 percent of households
used a grill to cook dinner at least once during an average two-week period
throughout the year; in 2007, it was 38 percent. Summer still accounts for the
highest consumption levels of grilled food, however. The majority of households
have an outdoor grill (76 percent) and the gas grills are most often purchased.
The study reports that 75 percent of grill owners have a gas grill. In 2007,
NPD estimates that overall unit sales of grills grew by 3.2 percent as compared
to 2006.
IGO GETS CONNECTED.
Whirlpool Corp., Benton Harbor, Mich., has added a recharging station for its
centralpark Connection refrigerator. The iGo from Mobility Electronics,
Scottsdale, Ariz., is a plug-and-play platform for interchangeable consumer
electronics devices. The station can charge cell phones, MP3 players and more
than 2,700 other devices by changing a iGo tip that fits that product.
GREEN
HOME SCORES. Energy- and water-saving appliances from Whirlpool
and KitchenAid and electronic items from Panasonic helped National Homebuilder
Mainstream GreenHome achieve a historically low score in the Home Efficiency
Rating System (HERS) from Energy Star. The Mainstream GreenHome, located in
Raleigh, N.C., was built to show that sustainable construction is compatible
with conventional building and design practices. Appliances in the home
included the KitchenAid Architect Series II Built-In Refrigerator and a
KitchenAid brand Energy Star qualified dishwasher. The home also featured the
Whirlpool Duet HT model clothes washer and Panasonic’s WhisperGreen Premium
series fans. The fans include built-in speed and timer controls and DC motors.
Panasonic flat-screen TVs, including two high performance plasma display TVs,
are Energy Star certified and are the only models available from any
manufacturer in the world to feature a completely lead-free display.
DIGITAL
DIVIDE. Roughly one-fifth of all U.S. heads-of-household have
never used e-mail, according to the National Technology Scan, a study from
Parks Associates. This annual phone survey of U.S. households found 20 million
homes are without Internet access, which represents approximately 18 percent of
all U.S. households. In addition, nearly one out of three heads-of-households
have never used a computer to create a document. John Barrett, director of
research for Parks Associates, says, “The data underscores the significant
digital divide between the connected majority and the unconnected minority that
rarely, if ever, uses a computer.” Age and education are factors in this divide
as about 50 percent of those who have never used e-mail are older than 65, and
56 percent had no schooling beyond high school. The study found that just seven
percent of the 20 million “disconnected” homes plan to get an Internet
subscription within the next 12 months.
MIDDLEBY
ACQUISITIONS. Foodservice equipment maker, The Middleby Corp.
has acquired two European manufacturers of cooking equipment. The company,
based in Elgin, Ill., acquired the net assets and related business operations
of FriFri aro SA from the Franke Group. FriFri, a manufacturer of frying
systems located in La Neuveville, Switzerland, had annual revenues of
approximately $10 million in 2007. A purchase price was not announced. Middleby
also acquired Giga Grandi Cucine, S.r.l of Florence, Italy, for 12.9 million
Euro, including 6.2 million Euro paid in cash at closing, 3.4 million of deferred
payments due to the sellers, and 3.3 million Euro in assumed debt. Giga makes a
broad line of commercial cooking equipment, including ranges, ovens and steam
cooking equipment. The business has annual revenues of approximately 15 million
Euro. The acquisitions expands Middleby’s platform of cooking equipment
designed for the international marketplace.
APPLIANCE
SAVINGS QUANTIFIED. The Association of Home Appliance
Manufacturers has released new data based on 2007 shipments of major
appliances, highlighting decreases in home appliance energy consumption since
2000. Refrigerators, dishwashers and clothes washers account for a 43 percent
combined decrease in energy consumption since 2000. From a global climate
change perspective, the energy savings realized in 2007 shipments of
refrigerators, dishwashers, and clothes washers would offset the CO2 emissions
of more than 698 million gallons of gasoline consumed, or the annual CO2
emissions from 1.3 coal-fired power plants. Clothes washer energy consumption
has decreased by 63 percent since 2000 while tub capacity has grown by 8
percent. Dishwasher energy consumption has dropped nearly 30 percent and water
consumption has declined 29 percent since 2000. Refrigerator energy consumption
has also decreased 30 percent since 2000 and efficiency, measured by a unit’s
energy factor has increased 39 percent. The average refrigerator sold today
consumes less energy than a 60 W light bulb left on 24 hours a day.
APPLIANCE
ETHICS. Whirlpool Corp. was among those listed as one of the
world’s most ethical companies by the Ethisphere Institute in its second year
of such designations. The institute is a think tank dedicated to the research
and promotion of profitable best practices in global governance, business
ethics, compliance and corporate responsibility. The institute’s extensive
research process included reviews of more than 10,000 companies on six
continents.
GROUP TARGETS IP ROUTING.
Executives from Cisco and Arch Rock Corp. are co-chairing a new Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF) Working Group chartered with developing a
framework for using IP-based routing techniques over low-power, “lossy”
networks. The networks wirelessly connect large numbers of sensors and other
embedded devices. The IETF Routing Over Low-power and Lossy Networks (ROLL)
Working Group’s focus is on developing interoperable routing protocols that
support the use of open-standard, low-power IP networking over a variety of physical
links, including IEEE 802.15.4, Bluetooth, Low Power Wi-Fi and wired links. An
end-to-end IP-based routing framework will help enable systems of embedded
devices that have limited power, memory and processing resources to be
connected and managed seamlessly under the IP umbrella regardless of the type
of physical links on which they are connected. This contrasts with earlier
non-IP architectures that have linked entire networking and routing schemes to
a single radio technology.
SHOPPING ONLINE.
A new survey of online consumers by PriceGrabber.com, found that more people
are using the Web to do research on major products for the home and that more
of them are purchasing the products online. According to the survey, 53 percent
of the 1,945 respondents indicated that Web sites are their primary source for
researching products and merchants, and 81 percent of respondents say they do
some research online prior to purchasing home furniture and major appliances.
Of that, 31 percent indicate that they purchase those products they researched.
Price is the primary factor in the purchasing decision, as 43 percent of
respondents say they find more competitive prices for big-ticket items when
they search online. This appears to be a change in attitude. As recently as
August 2006, more than 70 percent of consumers wanted to touch and feel the
product before purchasing. In this survey, that rate dropped to 56 percent.
SMOOTHIES
MADE EASY. Enodis of Tampa Bay, Fla., has developed an
integrated smoothie machine that can make and dispense smoothie drinks in less
than 40 seconds. The patent-pending
unit features a fully integrated ice system that completely eliminates an
operator’s need to transport ice during blending. Drinks are blended directly in a cup rather than in a pitcher,
simplifying the process even further. The launch is anticipated in the fourth
quarter of 2008. The unit will be manufactured by Delfield, an Enodis brand, at
its Mt. Pleasant, Mich., facility.
FUEL CELL
FOR THE HOME. Panasonic has developed a home-use polymer
electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) cogeneration system. The fuel cell cogeneration
system features what the company calls the world’s highest power-generating
efficiency of up to 39 percent Lower Heating Value (LHV). It adds that the
power system has been tested out to 40,000 hours of operation and 4,000
start-stops, and has a predicted lifetime of more than 10 years. Field-testing
is continuing through March 2009. When installed in a household, Panasonic says
the system can reduce primary energy consumption by 22 percent and cut CO2
emissions by 12 percent based on the basic unit for all power sources. The
cogeneration system uses cell stack technology that employs Membrane Electrode
Assemblies (MEA) fuel-processing technology. Panasonic has installed production
equipment for the new system at its plant in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture,
Japan. Limited production began in June of this year and full-scale
commercialization of this system is anticipated for 2010.
DIAGNOSIS BY
CELL. Researchers are studying how to use cell phones for
telemedicine purposes. Researchers at Harvard University and in Brazil released
a study describing a simple, inexpensive telemedicine system that uses ordinary
cell phone cameras to collect medical data from patients and transmit the data
to experts located offsite for analysis and diagnosis. The system is especially
suited for developing countries and remote areas as well as battlefields,
disaster zones, and other dangerous locations. The study, which appeared in the
American Chemical Society’s Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal,
details a prototype system that combines cell phone cameras with paper-based
diagnostic tests that undergo color changes when exposed to certain disease
markers. The researchers demonstrated the system by using paper test-strips to
collect and characterize artificial urine samples, as urine can be easily
obtained from patients and contains a wide range of disease markers. Using a
cell phone camera, the scientists took pictures of the color-changing
test-strips and transmitted them remotely to an off-site expert. The trained
expert accurately measured glucose and protein levels — used as hallmarks to
diagnose various kidney diseases — from the test-strip image. Similar tests can
be conducted on other body fluids, including teardrops and saliva, the
researchers say.
CONTROL FROM THE
ROAD. Panasonic has introduced two new HDD Car Navigation System
models in Japan. The new high-end Strada F-Class(2) models enable a network link
between a car and a home. These models are upgrades of the Strada, which was
introduced in 2003 and has sold more than one million units in Japan. The
navigation systems link cars to household electrical appliances through
Bluetooth technology. The new F-Class models allow drivers to remotely operate
lighting and air conditioners at home, monitor conditions at home via still
images captured with a network camera, and record TV programs by controlling a
Panasonic DIGA DVD recorder from the car.
