Bernhard Fischbacher, Tobias Telser, and Paul Heilmann, the managing directors of DHF Precision Mechanics GmbH, were visiting a fair to catch up on laser marking systems. While visiting the Rofin-Baasel exhibit, they were invited to take a seat in front of the manual laser welding system to weld some parts by themselves, an experience that caused the three DHF managers to re-think their investment agenda.
Today, two years later, DHF uses laser material processing to manufacture Brainlab's DASH, among others. It is an intra-surgical navigation system for knee endoprothesis, which relies on an iPod touch for analysis, planning, and exact positioning of cutting tools.
Headquartered in Ostermünchen near Munich (Fig. 1), DHF Precision Mechanics counts among its customers well-known medical device, electronics, and aerospace engineering companies. The company specializes in high-precision CNC-milled parts and assemblies. After 15 years of virtually continuous growth, the company now operates 18 CNC machining centers and offers a service portfolio ranging from prototype manufacturing to bulk production of several 10,000 parts/year.
DHF has established a very good reputation in the market with utmost precision and fast and flexible reaction to customer requirements. When needed, DHF pushes the technical limits of CNC milling, like series production of parts for electrical motors, which must be produced with tolerances down to some microns on a lathe. The parts feature bearing seats where ball bearings have to be glued in place.
With quick reaction to customer requirements as a major objective, DHF established high in-house production depth. From CAD/CAM construction to preparing wrought material (various steel and aluminum alloys and titanium), to CNC-milling, to surface finishing, assembly and quality assurance.
Production processes at DHF frequently comprise welding, engraving and marking. Techniques for marking and joining on high-precision workpieces call for the laser. Welded parts have to feature perfect, pore and crack-free weld seams, especially in medical device manufacture, which has to provide sterile hardware and calls for immaculate surface quality to eliminate any chance of bacterial colonization. The same goes for all deep engravings and markings; contours have to be free from burrs and ditches. The marking process must not induce any material changes that might promote surface corrosive action.
Until 2012, DHF had been outsourcing laser material processing jobs completely. However, outsourcing significantly reduced production flexibility and speed for certain parts and increased complexity of logistics. More than that, the annual outsourcing business volume had been reaching the six-digit range; reason enough to think about establishing an in-house laser material processing center. Being laser rookies, Fischbacher, Telser, and Heilmann initially focused on laser marking because they expected laser welding to be much more difficult to control, at least before they had their first personal laser welding experience.
The complete solution
The DHF managers decided to incorporate a laser welding system in their investment planning. That meant sending samples to various laser manufacturers and asking them for a live presentation of the laser welding process. This was not an easy task, considering the required acuteness and surface quality, namely for medical devices. Andreas Sch?llhorn (Rofin-Baasel Lasertech Starnberg) knows about the importance of an optimum presentation in the application lab. He also knows that's just the beginning: "Medium-sized companies expect way more from us than just selling suitable laser systems. We take care of the employee's training, help setting up the first applications and our application support provides unbureaucratic assist during the first months. If required, we even design the production room according to laser safety standards, like we did for DHF."
Establishing an in-house laser processing center
Six months after Rofin and DHF's first contact at the fair, a Rofin laser processing center was installed at DHF GmbH, comprised of the integrated CNC and manual laser welding system and the CombiLine Advanced marking system (Fig. 2). The laser welding workstation seamlessly integrates manual or joystick-controlled deposition welding with CNC operation (Fig. 3). It offers a cross table for workpieces of up to 500 kg weight and an additional rotary axis. The Integral was chosen because of its large working chamber, which is spacious enough to freely rotate parts of up to 400 mm in diameter.
Even today when looking back, Paul Heilmann still expresses his surprise. "We had been planning to ramp up things slowly and to backsource the laser jobs one by one. In fact external laser processing was gone within a few weeks. Today we have ready-to-use setups for some 100 marking and welding applications right at our hands."
Laser processing for high-tech medical devices
A lengthy cooperation with Brainlab, a worldwide market leader for image-guided surgery and radiotherapy, benefitted from laser technology as well. Fischbacher says, "Frequently, we are cooperating in early product design stages. It is a big advantage to know exactly not only the possibilities of CNC milling but also of joining technology and marking, not to mention the faster manufacturing of prototypes."
For Brainlab's DASH (Fig. 6), DHF Precision Mechanics GmbH manufactures and assembles the iPod holder with all fixed or detachable 3D position markers and cutting devices. All pieces have to meet the sophisticated quality standards for medical devices. The entire parts set comprises 14 weld joints of precision milled parts, even of different stainless steel alloys. The mostly circular weld seams feature a width of only some 100 μm and must not show any pores or micro cracks (Fig. 7).
DHF deep-engraves the plastic iPod holder with the laser to form cavities which will be filled with a special paint. Thus, the marking is still visible when the paint slowly vanishes after numerous sterilizations.
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2013年8月27日 星期二
2013年6月17日 星期一
What if … you’re injured on a run or other outing?
A near-miss with a pickup during a run led an entrepreneurial Kentuckian to create a product that quickly IDs injured outdoor warriors.
Edward Wimmer of Northern Kentucky launched Road ID in 1999 after jogging alone along a rural road preparing for a marathon. It was during that run that a pickup truck ran him off the road. He dodged it, landing in a ditch.
But what would have happened if things turned out differently? Just a week earlier, Wimmer’s dad feared for his safety during those runs.
“He’d asked about the kinds of roads I was running on. He’d said ‘What would happen to you if you were in an accident. How would I know if anything happened?’ No one would know who I was,” the Georgetown College graduate said.
Road ID was launched that year from Wimmer’s father’s basement. It was his first job right out of college. The company’s first product, which it still sells, is the FIXX ID. It’s similar to a dog tag in style but is made from high-polished stainless steel. The ID is laser engraved with the wearer’s name, town and emergency contact phone numbers. It’s worn around the neck with a stainless steel chain.
The ID gives emergency responders a quick way to identify an injured person and his emergency contacts, if he is unconscious or just too shaken up to answer questions, Wimmer said.
Wimmer started Road ID out of college, at the age of 21, deciding to work for himself rather than for a company. He’d graduated with degrees in marketing and finance, and entrepreneurship runs through his family line, he said.
“I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, it was in my blood. But I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” until the idea for Road ID came along.
Wimmer started the company with a couple of credit cards he’d signed up for in college. He now has an office in Erlanger, and a smaller one in Austin, Texas.
“My father (Mike) is co-owner. We still work together to this day,” he said.
Since that first product, the Road ID line has expanded into wrist bands, ankle straps and shoe pouches. It’s become a product for all sorts of outdoor athletes, who want to better ensure their safety if an accident happens.
“We paid really close attention to our customers, and what they wanted were IDs for the wrist, ankle and shoe,” Wimmer said.
Their most popular product is The Wrist ID Slim ($17.99), a tough silicon-based band, to which the ID attaches. The band comes in several colors.
The company also sells an “interactive” version of each band that allows wearers to create and store additional medical information online, including allergies, additional contact information, previous medical procedures and health insurance information.
The interactive bands include instructions that allow emergency personnel to access that information, which they can do by phone or the web. Users pay a small annual fee for the service.
There are two main components to Road ID products. First, of course, is the safety factor. Road ID is one of the rare products where the user is better off not using it, but the company receives messages every day from customers who say it’s been of vital help in times of crisis, Wimmer said.
“One great story is from a guy who was riding his bike down a hill at 40 mph. The next thing he remembers, after briefly coming to consciousness, is seeing the top of an ambulance. When he got to the hospital, his wife and kids were waiting for him. What more could you ask for?” Wimmer said. “We are a for profit company, but safety is our motivator.”
Edward Wimmer of Northern Kentucky launched Road ID in 1999 after jogging alone along a rural road preparing for a marathon. It was during that run that a pickup truck ran him off the road. He dodged it, landing in a ditch.
But what would have happened if things turned out differently? Just a week earlier, Wimmer’s dad feared for his safety during those runs.
“He’d asked about the kinds of roads I was running on. He’d said ‘What would happen to you if you were in an accident. How would I know if anything happened?’ No one would know who I was,” the Georgetown College graduate said.
Road ID was launched that year from Wimmer’s father’s basement. It was his first job right out of college. The company’s first product, which it still sells, is the FIXX ID. It’s similar to a dog tag in style but is made from high-polished stainless steel. The ID is laser engraved with the wearer’s name, town and emergency contact phone numbers. It’s worn around the neck with a stainless steel chain.
The ID gives emergency responders a quick way to identify an injured person and his emergency contacts, if he is unconscious or just too shaken up to answer questions, Wimmer said.
Wimmer started Road ID out of college, at the age of 21, deciding to work for himself rather than for a company. He’d graduated with degrees in marketing and finance, and entrepreneurship runs through his family line, he said.
“I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, it was in my blood. But I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” until the idea for Road ID came along.
Wimmer started the company with a couple of credit cards he’d signed up for in college. He now has an office in Erlanger, and a smaller one in Austin, Texas.
“My father (Mike) is co-owner. We still work together to this day,” he said.
Since that first product, the Road ID line has expanded into wrist bands, ankle straps and shoe pouches. It’s become a product for all sorts of outdoor athletes, who want to better ensure their safety if an accident happens.
“We paid really close attention to our customers, and what they wanted were IDs for the wrist, ankle and shoe,” Wimmer said.
Their most popular product is The Wrist ID Slim ($17.99), a tough silicon-based band, to which the ID attaches. The band comes in several colors.
The company also sells an “interactive” version of each band that allows wearers to create and store additional medical information online, including allergies, additional contact information, previous medical procedures and health insurance information.
The interactive bands include instructions that allow emergency personnel to access that information, which they can do by phone or the web. Users pay a small annual fee for the service.
There are two main components to Road ID products. First, of course, is the safety factor. Road ID is one of the rare products where the user is better off not using it, but the company receives messages every day from customers who say it’s been of vital help in times of crisis, Wimmer said.
“One great story is from a guy who was riding his bike down a hill at 40 mph. The next thing he remembers, after briefly coming to consciousness, is seeing the top of an ambulance. When he got to the hospital, his wife and kids were waiting for him. What more could you ask for?” Wimmer said. “We are a for profit company, but safety is our motivator.”
2012年12月4日 星期二
Pinokio lamp is the real-life counterpart
Luxo Jr, the adorable little lamp that appears in the Disney Pixar logo, illustrates how animators can breathe life into mundane inanimate objects. Now, robotics technology allows us to do the same thing in real life, as shown by a trio from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Using a combination of readily available robotics and automated manufacturing technology, mixed with open-source software, they were able to grace a desk lamp with a little personality.
Pinokio, unlike its fairy tale namesake, needs strings to move – strings of code, that is. Its actions are driven primarily by Arduino and image processing software OpenCV, which searches for faces in the images from its web cam. When it finds a face, it attempts to follow it as if trying to maintain eye contact.
Programmer Shanshan Zhou ensured it would change its behavior with preset "moods" – introvert or extrovert – causing the lamp to recoil or stretch outwards, respectively. When switched off, Pinokio responds by flicking its power switch back on – similar to the most useless machine ever – further adding to its character.
Adam Ben-Dror, who worked out the mechanical details, found that it only took six servo motors to actuate the lamp's hinges. These hinges had to be replaced with ones he designed in CAD, which were then manufactured using a variety of techniques, from 3D printing, laser cutting, water jet cutting, and CNC lathing to good old-fashioned welding. He also had to work out how to fit the halogen bulb (covered with a mechanical iris), a hacked webcam, a microphone, and a pair of servos – including the necessary wiring – into the back of the lamp's shade.
As you'll see in the video below, the end result lives up to the concept sketches provided by the team's designer, Joss Dogget. Pinokio springs to life and engages its audience with seemingly effortless interaction.
FROM filing keys by hand to laser cutting, Rodney Graham has seen it all in the past quarter of a century. The RCG Locksmiths proprietor yesterday celebrated 25 years in the industry. He was just 16 when he embarked on a four-year apprenticeship with Bathurst Locksmiths.
"I finished school on the Thursday afternoon and started there on the Friday morning," he said. As a first-year apprentice, he took home $81 in his first paypacket. He said he's seen many changes in the industry in the past two decades, none bigger than the advances in machinery and technology.
"The mechanics of a lock haven't changed at all. But the technology we use to put that together has changed," he said. "We used to cut keys by hand with a file. You don't miss those days, but you do.
"You learn a lot by doing it the original way." Nowadays, Rodney works with key cutting machines worth over $40,000 each. "They have cameras in them now," he said. "We've got the best and the most advanced equipment in the Central West."
Rodney and his wife have been at the helm of RCG Locksmiths for almost five years. What started as a two-man operation has expanded to involve 11 staff, including three fully-qualified locksmiths and two apprentices, and two shopfronts, one in Bathurst and one in Lithgow.
On the side, Rodney and his wife also run Prestige Embroidery Bathurst and a commercial laundry, R and G Linen.
"When we opened, we were just doing residential work and key cutting," Rodney said. "Now we do residential, architectural, commercial, automatic doors, automotive locks and keys, roller and car remotes, and much more.”
"We just keep expanding. But I love what I do. I work between 70 and 80 hours a week, but at the end of the day, I love helping people and I love my job." he said.
Pinokio, unlike its fairy tale namesake, needs strings to move – strings of code, that is. Its actions are driven primarily by Arduino and image processing software OpenCV, which searches for faces in the images from its web cam. When it finds a face, it attempts to follow it as if trying to maintain eye contact.
Programmer Shanshan Zhou ensured it would change its behavior with preset "moods" – introvert or extrovert – causing the lamp to recoil or stretch outwards, respectively. When switched off, Pinokio responds by flicking its power switch back on – similar to the most useless machine ever – further adding to its character.
Adam Ben-Dror, who worked out the mechanical details, found that it only took six servo motors to actuate the lamp's hinges. These hinges had to be replaced with ones he designed in CAD, which were then manufactured using a variety of techniques, from 3D printing, laser cutting, water jet cutting, and CNC lathing to good old-fashioned welding. He also had to work out how to fit the halogen bulb (covered with a mechanical iris), a hacked webcam, a microphone, and a pair of servos – including the necessary wiring – into the back of the lamp's shade.
As you'll see in the video below, the end result lives up to the concept sketches provided by the team's designer, Joss Dogget. Pinokio springs to life and engages its audience with seemingly effortless interaction.
FROM filing keys by hand to laser cutting, Rodney Graham has seen it all in the past quarter of a century. The RCG Locksmiths proprietor yesterday celebrated 25 years in the industry. He was just 16 when he embarked on a four-year apprenticeship with Bathurst Locksmiths.
"I finished school on the Thursday afternoon and started there on the Friday morning," he said. As a first-year apprentice, he took home $81 in his first paypacket. He said he's seen many changes in the industry in the past two decades, none bigger than the advances in machinery and technology.
"The mechanics of a lock haven't changed at all. But the technology we use to put that together has changed," he said. "We used to cut keys by hand with a file. You don't miss those days, but you do.
"You learn a lot by doing it the original way." Nowadays, Rodney works with key cutting machines worth over $40,000 each. "They have cameras in them now," he said. "We've got the best and the most advanced equipment in the Central West."
Rodney and his wife have been at the helm of RCG Locksmiths for almost five years. What started as a two-man operation has expanded to involve 11 staff, including three fully-qualified locksmiths and two apprentices, and two shopfronts, one in Bathurst and one in Lithgow.
On the side, Rodney and his wife also run Prestige Embroidery Bathurst and a commercial laundry, R and G Linen.
"When we opened, we were just doing residential work and key cutting," Rodney said. "Now we do residential, architectural, commercial, automatic doors, automotive locks and keys, roller and car remotes, and much more.”
"We just keep expanding. But I love what I do. I work between 70 and 80 hours a week, but at the end of the day, I love helping people and I love my job." he said.
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