Wednesday - SAE

PPG pioneers
spray-on bedliner
The first application of PPG’s
Durabed is on a pickup truck bed,
but the protective coating system
might find additional uses.
“We are investigating other
applications for this unique
coating system,” said Dennis
Taljan, Director of Global Technology,
Automotive OEM
Coatings for PPG Industries.
Available as optional equipment
on the Nissan Titan,
Durabed is the result of a more
than one-year development
program. “During that time,
many technical challenges were
successfully resolved to create a
two-component polyurethane
coating that can be applied with
a high-speed process,” according
to Taljan.
The bedliner is applied
robotically after the vehicle leaves
the factory’s paint area. Beds are
removed from the trucks and sent
via conveyor to the bedliner
application area. They are coated
with the material, and then
carried by conveyor back to the
original vehicle before it arrives at
final assembly.
“The bedliner process is
relatively short since no bake time
is involved. The cure is ambient,
and the material is touchable
within minutes,” Taljan explained,
adding, “A significant
challenge was to slow the front
end of the cure process so that
the material would not cure in
the gun, and then hasten the
cure rate toward the end to
provide the desired consistency in
texture and gloss.”
In contrast to drop-in bedliners,
spray-on bedliners create an
airtight seal. “Drop-in bedliners
can move around in the bed and
create noise. This movement can
also result in abrasion and/or
scratching of the paint film. Water
can become trapped between the
drop-in bedliner and the truck
bed. And the combination of
trapped water and scratched
coatings film can lead to corrosion,”
according to Taljan.
Durabed’s surface texture is
accomplished “per customer
specifications via control of the
application process. The material
is applied in two coats. The
second coat is a dust coat that
provides the texture,” Taljan
explained. PPG’s Durabed is not
available in the aftermarket.
“Durabed is formulated for use in
an automotive OEM assembly
plant,” noted Taljan.
Kami Buchholz
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
SAE strengthens OEM coalition for the World
Congress—General Motors, BMW AG, Toyota
to host events from 2005 through 2007
SAE has reached agreements with
the host companies for its 2005
through 2007 SAE World Congress
events. General Motors Corp.
previously agreed to host the SAE
2005 World Congress, while BMW
AG (Bayerische Motoren Werke)
will now host the 2006 World
Congress event, and Toyota
Motor Corp. will host in 2007.
SAE in recent years has sought
to build a strong coalition of OEM
support and international representation
for its flagship event, held
each year at Cobo Center in
Detroit, MI.
General Motors has hosted the
SAE World Congress many times
over its 58-year history. BMW AG
became the first ever Europeanbased
manufacturer to host the
event when it did so in 2000.
Toyota Motor Corp. will become
the first manufacturer with
headquarters in Asia to host when
it takes the reins in 2007.
“Having host company agreements
from such top-notch
companies on three continents this
far in advance is a terrific development
for SAE World Congress.
With Ford’s great support this
year, with Phil Martens’ serving as
General Chairperson, Group Vice
President, Product Creation, Ford
North America, General Motors
hosting the SAE centennial
meeting next year, and then to add
companies the caliber of BMW AG
and Toyota in ’06 and ’07 is a best
case scenario for us” said Dave
Amati, Director of Automotive
Business for SAE. “When we are
able to actively engage companies
like these in a leadership role for
SAE World Congress, we’re finding
the event itself continues to
transform into something very
special,”Amati added.
Jim Queen, Vice President, North
American Engineering for General
Motors Corp., is the General Chair
for the SAE 2005 World Congress.
General chairs have not yet been
announced by BMW AG and Toyota
for the 2006 and 2007 SAE World
Congress events. Below are the
dates for the next three SAE World
Congress events:
• SAE 2005 World Congress –
Sponsored by General Motors
Corp.: April 11-15, 2005
• SAE 2006 World Congress –
Sponsored by BMW AG: April 3 -
7, 2006
• SAE 2007 World Congress –
Sponsored by Toyota Motor
Corp.: April 16-20, 2007
All SAE World Congress events
will be held at Cobo Center in
downtown Detroit, MI.
High-resolution camera
Flir Systems’ thermovision A40V is a solution for industrial product and
process monitoring as well as security applications. The camera features highresolution
IR imaging; multiple connectivity interfaces; a maintenance-free,
longwave microbolometer detector, standard Ethernet connection; real-time
14-bit digital video output; plug-and-play setup; and multiple independent
target spots and alarms selected from menu-driven configuration controls.
The camera’s onboard software and electronics can discriminate temperature
variations as small as 0.8°C (33°F). The A40V was designed to operate
unattended for long periods in harsh industrial environments.
Booth 1429
Microscopy camera
Developed through collaboration with the
National Institute of Advanced Science
and Technology, the FocusScope from
Photron is a microscopy camera system
that significantly increases the depth of
focus displayed. Via a high-speed sensor
and extremely high-speed image
processing techniques, the FocusScope
has increased the depth compared to a
traditional system up to one hundred microns. A piezoelectric actuator
physically moves the objective lens full-scale at a rate of thirty times per
second while the camera records at 1000 frames per second resulting in
approximately thirty frames per second, each with a different focal point. In
real time the camera processor analyzes each of the frames to find those
sharply focused pixels and then integrates those pixels, along with the other
29 for that second, into a single “all-in-focus” image for display and
recording. Through adoption of Gauss’ law, the system produces the relevant
three-dimensional (X, Y, and Z) topographical image data, along with
imagery with a much greater field of focus than is available through conventional
microscope-mounted cameras, and all in real time. It features a C-
mount lens mount that can mount on practically any microscope to produce
512 by 512 pixel resolution imagery. All-in-Focus and Depth Image data are
output via BNC cables, while a three-meter CameraLink cable is used for the
digital output connection between the camera and Digital Interface Unit.
Booth 426
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