The MPIF has announced the winners of its 2020 powder metallurgy design excellence awards competition in the Consumer Goods segment.
Alpha Precision Group was awarded a grand prize in the lawn and garden/off highway category for conventional PM components for a commercial diesel exhaust flange component used for sensor placement in regulating exhaust emissions. The part combined what previously were three stand-alone components: a flange and two bosses.
A grand prize was also awarded to Smith Metal Products in the hand tools/recreation category for MIM components, for a jaw frame used in an archery string release device. This device reportedly retains the ‘fingers’ that hold the bowstring securely and accurately while the shooter aims at the target. It also houses the trigger for when the archer is ready to shoot. In the industrial motors/controls and hydraulics category for conventional PM components, a grand prize was awarded to Catalus Corporation, for a shoe used in a clutch for a refrigeration compressor. The part has been in production since 1984 and has undergone numerous iterations over the years, and can now be made net shape at an increased compaction rate, the company said.
A grand prize was also awarded to FMS Corporation and its customer Hansen Ag Solutions in the hardware/appliances category for conventional PM components, for a click-plate assembly used in an agricultural livestock feeder. The assembly consists of an inner and outer click plate. Both parts were challenging due to: multi-level requirements, detailed lettering inscriptions, premium density/wearability in the teeth, and a relatively complex core rod configuration for compacting the inner plate.
In the hardware/appliances category for MIM components, a grand prize was awarded to ARC Group Worldwide for a gearbox used in a drive system for motorized blinds. The component holds nine gears that rotate when actuated, to allow blinds to function with a remote-control device.
In the hand tools/recreation category for metal AM components, a grand prize was awarded to Sandvik Additive Manufacturing for a lightweight milling cutter made for Sandvik Coromant using laser-beam, powder-bed-fusion metal AM processing. Productivity improvements of up to 200% have been achieved using the cutter, the company said.
In the lawn and garden/off-highway conventional PM components category, an award of distinction was given to Catalus Corporation for a spacer that serves as a poke-yoke locator and compression limiter where a seat belt assembly is attached to the frame in a sideby-side vehicle. Metalpo Ind E Com Ltda also received an award in the hardware/appliances conventional PM components category for an upper stator used in a ceiling fan by its customer Philips do Brasil Ltda (Walita Division). In the hand tools/recreation category for metal AM components, an award of distinction was given to Sandvik Additive Manufacturing and its customer Seco Tools for a coolant clamp that attaches to the cutting edge of industrial turning heads used in machining. Coolant flows through the clamp, cooling the cutting edge and controlling the waste chips produced. AM makes it possible to form the curved holes inside the clamps that were previously impossible to form using traditional manufacturing processes.
This story uses material from the MPIF, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
