Major Developments Major Developments by Calendar Year

April 25, 2014

Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) – The Essence of Electronics

Filed under: 2014 — Tags: — Winson @ 12:57 AM

Printed circuit boards (PCB) are self contained modules and ensure the proper operation of the circuit. PCBs have survived the tests at different points of time and have earned wide acceptance across industries. Today, they are used in making of goods from toys, radios to complex computer and space applications – no circuit can be literally converted into meaningful application without the role of PCB.

Present scenario and electronic industry expanse
Prices of radios, computers and mobile phones come down because of the development in PCB technology. PCBs are transforming and accommodating the world. For example, the evolution of small-sized PCBs not only makes the devices handy, but more features embedded in a single chip in devices like calculators, cameras, GPRS, GSM, etc.

Importance
The early electronic circuit used to come with an end-end or point-point connection wiring electrically connecting the components of the circuit. Clumsy wiring posed problems in detecting made it difficult to detect issues and fix them.

Also, it was a failure on the part of the circuits to withstand the mechanical shocks and jolts. For example, short circuiting and the heat generated by the circuits owing to the long lengths of the wires and improper conducting material was another problem.

The advent of PCBs came as a boon to the electronic industry and things started getting simpler. The circuits were now free from issues that happened earlier, and added advantages of compactness, enhanced data transfer limits and more features on a single chip. They are more reliable in terms of workload.

Widespread usage
Printed circuit boards have evolved to be used in sectors ranging from simple devices to a complex satellites or missile guidance systems. The technology is advancing over the time getting more sophisticated to cater to the needs of the growing electronic industry. The present 2D and 2.5D PCB CAM software and technologies are capable of printing complex and compact PCB and have changed completely the domain with multilayer, flexible and ELIC technologies.

Role in revolutionizing the industry
Due to small size and other benefits mentioned earlier, PCB is revolutionizing consumer and industrial electronics industries. It is undergoing innovation like flexible PCB, and 3D printing is yet to see changing trends in the days to come.

To conclude, we can say that the contribution of PCB to the industry is immense. It is going to undergo multiple changes to suit the needs of users.
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April 21, 2014

The Working of a Differential

Filed under: 2014 — Tags: — Winson @ 5:15 AM

Did you ever think how the wheels of your car initiated to move ahead. The rotational force is passed from the transmission to the differential. The drive-shaft also known as a propeller shaft or cardan shaft is a device that transfers rotational force from the transmission system to the differential. Technically, a drive-shaft transfers torque and rotation to parts of the vehicle that are far from the transmission system. In automobiles, it is a longitudinal shaft from an engine/transmission to the other end of the vehicle before it goes to the wheels. Physically, it is tubular in design, with an outside metal housing that protects an interior metal cylinder.

Parts of a differential:

Flange: The flange is a collar like structure that fastens the drive-shaft to the pinion gear.

Pinion gear: This is just a normal gear and rides on the larger ring gear at a 90 degree angle.

Side gears: Side gears receive the rotation directly from the ring gear and transfer it to the axle.

Ring Gear: The biggest gear in the differential. This is the gear that receives the rotation from the drive-shaft.

Left and right axle shaft: Axle shafts on both the sides of the vehicle.

Spider Gears: Spider gears hold both the axles intact and allow the two axles to rotate at two different speeds.

Why is a differential needed?
The need for a differential arises due to a single, simple reason. While the vehicle turns towards the right or left, the wheels don’t rotate in the same speed. While taking a turn, the distance traveled by the front wheels is always a little more than the rear wheels. Since distance is directly proportional to the speed, the wheels spin at different speeds.

Now, if all the wheels had been fixed in order to spin at the same speed, at turns, the slow-spinning wheels have to drag on the ground, since their necessity to undergo spinning is less. If the vehicle is making a right turn, the order of speeds in each wheel is Front Left>Front Right>Rear Left>Rear Right. In case of the absence of differentials, in hard surfaces such as tar, the drag faced by the wheel that undergoes less spin is more intense. This induces wear and tear on the tire and driving on such conditions is also difficult.

The drive-shaft carries the rotating motion from the engine crankshaft to the differential. At the differential, the Ring gear along with the side gear and pinion gear breaks the flow of rotational motion in between so that, the wheels can rotate at different speeds while the differential receives a single speed of rotation.
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April 16, 2014

Get to Know Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT)

Filed under: 2014 — Tags: — Ralph C Dreher @ 8:17 AM

Unlike other transmission systems, CVT does not have a set of gears. The common CVT uses a pulley system to transmit rotation. So theoretically, the number of gears a continuous variable transmission system offers is infinity. While riding a vehicle with a CVT system, you would find the transmission to be smooth and you does not feel the gear shift like in automatic and manual systems. There are basically three kinds of CVT systems.
a)Pulley based b) Toroidal and c) Hydrostatic

The pulley-based system
The pulley based system consists of two pulleys, the driving pulley, (also called the driving pulley) and the driven pulley (output pulley). A triangular shaped belt runs around them. The triangular shape is because the pulley groves taper towards the inside and so to have maximum friction.

The distance between the center of the pulleys where the belt makes contact in the groove is known as the pitch radius. When one pulley increases its radius, the other decreases its radius in order to keep the belt tight. So relatively, both the pulleys change their radii resulting in gear shifting. For example, when the pitch radius is small on the driving pulley and large on the driven pulley, the rotational speed of the output pulley decreases and vice-versa. The introduction of metal belts further enhances the performance of the belt. These flexible belts are composed of several (typically nine or 12) thin bands of steel that hold together high-strength, bow-tie-shaped pieces of metal.

Toroidal CVT
Toroidal CVT are very similar to the pulley-based model. There are two discs, one called as the input disc and the other called as the output disc replacing the input and output pulleys of the pulley based system. The discs are cone shaped structures with the tapered ends facing each other, and they have a curved surface. The rollers or wheels are rotating structures fixed to an external axis and are placed between the discs. They act like a gear wheel and transmit rotational force from the input disc to the output disc. The rollers while rotating on the external axis can also tilt themselves between the discs touching different places of the disc offering various speeds of rotation. For example,When the wheels touch the driving disc near the rim, they must contact the driven disc near the center, resulting in an increase in speed and a decrease in torque (i.e., overdrive gear). A simple tilt of the wheels, then, incrementally changes the gear ratio, providing for smooth, nearly instantaneous ratio changes.

Hydrostatic CVTs
Both pulley-based and toroidal models are friction based. But a hydrostatic CVT is a little different because it uses variable-displacement pumps and a hydrostatic motor. The rotational motion of the engine operates a pump and the pump converts this motion into fluid flow. This flow is then converted into rotating motion by a motor on the driven side. This system is usually used along with a planetary gear set as a hybrid system. Hydro-transmissions are good for heavy-performance vehicles which is why they are used in tractors.
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April 15, 2014

Technical features and advantages of a Rotary engine

Filed under: 2014 — Tags: , — Ralph C Dreher @ 9:36 AM

A Rotary engine has a radial configuration and the cylinders are arranged around the crankshaft. In a radial engine, the pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly. One piston attaches with the crankshaft using a master rod. The remaining pistons attach themselves to rings around the edge of the master rod. The number of the cylinders is always odd, to maintain uniformity in firing order which is important for smoothness.

Advantages
In rotary engines, smoothness is achieved easily than in other engines. Since rotary engines are air-cooled, they are less heavy and thus can be used in battle vehicles. A rotary engine has a comparatively shorter crankshaft, which means less vibration and thus higher durability.

Disadvantages
Since the engine is air cooled, cooling isn’t achieved perfectly. Since all the cylinders are exposed to airflow, it results in drag. Due to it’s bulk size, it also makes difficult pilot looking outside. They also cost a lot to maintain which is undesirable.

Usage
The usage of Rotary engines were limited until the World War II, when it was used in air crafts and tanks. The main reason behind its usage in tanks was that it had a good weight-power ratio and was considered better than the inline engines at the time.

Types
1) Multi-row rotary engine: As the size and requirements of the engine increased, it became necessary to increase the number of rows of the engine. The rows of cylinders are placed next to each other on different planes. However, they are joined to the same stationary crankshaft.

2) Diesel engine: Most rotary engines are built as gasoline engines. Diesel engines were made in 1920s and 1930s due to two advantages. Diesel engines consume less amount of fuel and they have a reduced fire risk.

3) Compressed-air engine: In compressed air rotary engines, air is used in the cylinders instead of fuel. It’s used mostly in model airplanes and gas compressors.

4) The Wankel engine: An engine that works with a similar principle as that of a rotary engine is the Wankel engine. It was developed by Felix Wankel in 1957. Like a piston engine, the Wankel engine also uses the pressure from combustion.

In a rotary engine, the pressure of combustion is held in the space created by a housing and a triangular rotor fixed inside it. Fuel is pumped into one of these chambers and is moved towards the ignition location. It also gets compressed because the housing surrounding it gets narrower. When it gets ignited, the rotor is pushed with force and the next chamber automatically draws in fuel towards compression and ignition. A Wankel engine has the advantage of fewer moving parts but the parts are expensive if they are to be replaced with.
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April 8, 2014

Importance of Writing Content Relevant to Your Business

Filed under: 2014 — Tags: — Winson @ 2:19 AM

We have all heard this about hundred or thousand times that ‘Content is King’, but do we really look into the depth of the phrase and figure out why it is called so? Well, then let me explain the importance of having relevant content in your website and how it helps your business attract more customers.

What relevant content is all about?
Relevant content talks about your business alone. For example, if you own a website for a business that sells drug testing kits, you should add content- articles or blog posts that talk about benefits of staying away from drugs, harmful effects of teen drug abuse, use of drug test trips help determine the level of drugs and the like. Avoid writing content that is not related to your business. Thus, do not publish content on your favorite car in the example just quoted.

Make sure that content is focused because search engines appreciate content that is relevant and have a common theme throughout. So, you have to make sure that the content you write is informative, helpful, engaging, relevant and useful to your visitors.

In this article, we will talk about the importance of relevant content and why you should write content that is related to your business and how it will benefit your site and your business.

Search engines emphasize relevant content
Visitors come with an intent to get information related to matters of their interest. Content that is focused on giving relevant content makes visitors and engaging. This is likely to to improve search engines’ impression on your website and improves traffic.

Helps to target niche market
Your business is related to a niche. Relevant content is important to convince your audiences on the product/service. Your targeted audiences are interested in knowing better on your product/service. Therefore, publishing regularly such content will make it easy for you target customers.

Helps with decision process
Having relevant content in your website that talks about your business and the benefits of your products/services is important because, people research before buying. In this context, if your content is specific, informative and useful, it helps visitors decide why they should consider buying your products/services instead of buying it from your competitors.

Shows your expertise in the subject
Writing articles or blogs on your specific industry/business niche is likely to establish yourself as an expert. When you answer the questions asked by your customers, in the online queries, etc. you are building trust and gaining credibility from your customers.

Visitors stay on your website
Relevant content fulfills the needs of visitors and is worth their time spending. Therefore, they keep on coming to your website and stay there engaged. This is likely lead to conversion.

Content is more important than any other aspect of a website when it comes user experience. Relevant content is beneficial to businesses as it is effective in promoting themselves as well as other groups such as audiences, visitors, users and customers.
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