Author: Serkadis

Despite all of our government’s recovery efforts, it still can’t get a grasp on the dampened job market.

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AP: Unemployment worsened or stayed the same in most metro areas in October, the Labor Department said Wednesday, as jobs remained scarce nationwide.

The report comes a day before the Obama administration is to hold a “jobs summit” at the White House that will gather economists, academics and corporate executives to consider how the government can spur job creation.

The jobless rate rose in 162 of the 372 metro areas tracked by the Labor Department. The rate was unchanged in 42 areas. It dropped in 168 areas.

In September, unemployment had improved in 223 areas and worsened in only 123. The deteriorating trend mirrors the U.S. unemployment rate, which jumped to 10.2 percent in October from 9.8 percent in September.

The metro unemployment data isn’t seasonally adjusted and is therefore volatile from month-to-month. All 372 areas reported higher unemployment rates in October compared with the previous year.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release the national unemployment report for November on Friday. Wall Street economists expect it will show the jobless rate was unchanged at 10.2 percent while employers shed 130,000 jobs, according to Thomson Reuters. There were 190,000 job cuts in October.

Fifteen areas recorded jobless rates of 15 percent or worse in October, the department said, with nine of those in California and three in Michigan. That’s up from 13 areas with rates above 15 percent the previous month.

Fresno, Calif., for example, saw its jobless rate soar to 15.8 percent from 14 percent in September. And the rate in Hanford-Corcoran, Calif., jumped to 15.5 percent from 13.9 percent.

The areas with the biggest increases were: Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, which soared to 8 percent from 5.6 percent; Ocean City, N.J., to 10.6 percent from 8.5 percent; and Sandusky, Ohio, to 10.9 percent from 9.5 percent.

The largest improvements were in: Lawrence, Kan., where the rate fell to 4.7 percent from 5.4 percent; Ames, Iowa, to 4 percent from 4.5 percent; and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass., to 7.9 percent from 8.8 percent.

El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz. posted the nation’s highest jobless rates of 30 and 23.5 percent, respectively. The two adjacent counties are heavily agricultural and have many seasonal farm workers.

Bismarck, N.D., recorded the nation’s lowest rate, at 2.8 percent, followed by Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D., both at 3.5 percent.

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See Also:

• Video Games Make Awesome Unemployment Gifts (BBY, ATVI, ERTS)
• Watch The Country Get Fired: Unemployment By County 2007-2009
• 10%+ Unemployment Through 2015, Says Mish

If you’re stressed about getting everything done this holiday season, have you considered skipping the decorations? I’ll admit that you probably can’t get away with that if you have young kids, but think of the extra time you’d have. No crawling into the attic or closet to drag out decorations. No worries over watering live trees or assembling manufactured ones. No carefully unpacking ornaments and putting hooks on them. No extra things to dust around the house.

Am I sounding like a Scrooge?

Even without holiday decorating, you can still enjoy Christmas music. You’ll be able to complete holiday baking. And, of course, you can continue do your Christmas shopping. You can celebrate Christmas, but without the extra stuff you have to put away at the end of December. It’s not like you can’t see a Christmas tree in nearly every shop or office you visit. Decorations are all around us for the entire month of December. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a jolly-free refuge inside your home?

For people with pets, an added bonus of not putting up a Christmas tree or other unusual decor is that you won’t have to worry with pets disturbing or breaking anything. In the past, my cat has gone bonkers with attempting to eat bows on presents, hooks on ornaments or wax in candles. Yeah, maybe he has pica?

Besides saving you time, not decorating with lights also saves energy. Yes, I know not decorating for Christmas is a very radical idea, but try it on in your mind for a few minutes to see how you like it!

(Image via stock.xchng)

Post from: Blisstree

Would You Ever Skip Holiday Decorating?

ESUC base is an option available for the celpac® 2G range.

This optional module is pluggable directly on SU / SUL Solid State Contactor and permanently measures the load current.

This is possible to make a diagnostic up to 5 heating elements in parallel.

Current range : 2-40A
Control : 8-32VDC

The current value is compared to a reference value which has been stored during initialisation by means of the “Teach “ push button or “external Teach” input.

If the operator presses the teach push button for at least 3s or if the external teach input is ON for at least 3s the device will record the value Iteach of the current and set a high current threshold at Iteach + 16% and a low current threshold at Iteach – 16%.
If the current varies outside the reference value ( +/- 16%), the module detects a fault (partial load fault or overload).
At the same time, the module monitors a network failure (no current with control) or a thyristor fault (current without control). In case of a failure, the output status indicates a problem after a small delay (100ms max).
Different configurations and status are visualised by 3 LEDs.

2 alarm limits 0,84*Iteach and 1,16*Iteach (+/-16%)

Possible detections :
-Open Load
-Open Mains
-Partial load break
-SSR Short-circuited
-Overload (partial load short-circuit)

Why choosing celduc’s current monitoring function ?
-Quick fault detections (instantaneous alarm)
-Maintenance
-To detect when a heater is broken which bring problems and is difficult to locate
-To have good quality products for plastic/rubber parts manufacturers (specially thermosetting material) where you need an accurate temperature
-22.5mm width with integrated heatsink and DIN rail adaptor

Options on request :
Micro-switches can be added to allow parameters setting (threshold,
delay, locking,alarm inhibition etc…)
Do not hesitate to contact us

Depending on the requirements imposed on the optical conductive material, we can, on our own drawing lines, produce fiber bundles of UV-conducting quartz (high OH), IR-conducting quartz (low OH) or of optical glass with different numerical apertures.

The diameters of the single fibers are normally between 30 µm and 150 µm, though we can also draw customer-specific diameters upon request.

The lengths of the fiber bundles can vary between 4, 5, 10 and 20 metres. The bundle diameters are made specifically to customer requirements. To provide optimum illumination, we can supply the fiber bundles with different angles of reflected beam of 67°, 83°, 90° and > 100° particularly for endoscopic applications.

Get to grips – temporary measurement from outside with Prosonic Flow 93T!
Are you looking for a way to verify and optimize processes efficiently? Would you like to record the flow in pipelines – wherever and whenever you want? And without interrupting the process? If so, you can rely on the Prosonic Flow 93T completely and without question. This portable ultrasonic flowmeter impresses with its sophisticated “clamp-on” technology. Flow quantities can be measured quickly and reliably, directly from the outside of the pipe. It offers the flexibility to measure flow in very large pipes up to 4 meters in diameter or small-bore pipes (DN 15 / ½”).

Daily production challenges become critical where particularly low feed rates are required. This can either be due to the high cost of ingredients, or to the significance of accurate addition of small quantity of ingredients.

The new DIW-PE-GLD87 Feeder has been designed for the requirements of minor ingredient addition. The latest weighing system technology, which is based on using electromagnetic strength compensation, put into operation in combination with the GLD87 High Accuracy Feeder, leads to extremely exact feeding results. The GLD87 is easy to clean and ideal for industrial applications. Perfect feeding results are achieved if high accuracy is required and products to be metered are very sluggish. This Small Scale Feeder is stable. In order to reduce adverse effects by external influences, the feeder can be supplied with wind shields, special connecting sleeves and vibration cushions and be combined with the fine adjustment possibilities of the Easydos Pro controller.

Our Know how:
• Interaction of feeding of small and large components. Gericke supplies feeding equipment for throughputs up to 77’000 l/h and is also the right partner for additive feeding from 0.2 l/h.
• Optimal refilling. Gericke can draw upon its own feeders, flaps, discharging elements and valves.
• Gericke is well aware of the difficulties involved in connection with starting and shutting down the system and at the same time retaining high product quality.
Special features:
• Feed rates from 0.2 to 10 l/h (approx. throughput value based on a reference product)
• Compact construction
• Quick changeover between products and feed rates
• Variety of helix configurations available to enable a single system to be used for a wide variety of products
• Available with full ATEX 95 Certification

Recommended additional equipment:
For continuous mixing, we recommend our continuous GCM250 and GCM500 mixers. Both can easily be dismantled for cleaning.

Industry Automation, a Siemens division, has developed a new generation of its sonar proximity switches Simatic PXS. The new sensors of the compact series in M30 design have a reduced blind zone and are shorter than models of the previous generation. These improvements make for better detection of objects at close range and reduce the space requirements of the components. The new programming interface lets users read out status and diagnostic information in running operation without any reaction. This means you can easily adapt the parameters to the operating environment for process optimization.

Sherborne Sensors (www.sherbornesensors.com) has announced the debut of the A320 series, a family of ultra-low range linear servo accelerometers, designed with exceptional durability, for use in a multitude of military and industrial applications, including flight test, geophysical studies, structural monitoring and low acceleration analysis applications.

Series A320 offers high precision measurements from + 0.1 to + 2 g, with full range outputs of + 5 Vdc or 4-20 mA. These gravity referenced, closed loop sensors can reliably monitor acceleration down to 20 micro g, while withstanding mechanical shock levels of up to 1,500 g. Sensors are housed in a rugged, anodized aluminum alloy case, and can be specified with a military style connector or solder pin electrical termination. They are fully self-contained, and able to be connected to a DC power source and readout or control device to form a complete measurement system.

For additional technical details, drawings and specifications, please contact Sherborne Sensors toll-free (in the US & Canada) at 1-877-486-1766 [email protected] or on +44 (0)870 444 0728 [email protected] (World Wide), or by visiting www.sherbornesensors.com.

Based in Sursee, central Switzerland, KNF Flodos develops and manufactures a wide range of high-tech products. The latest innovation is the NF25, which is the world’s most compact diaphragm liquid pump. With the dimensions of 38x26x38mm and a weight of 60 g this new product transfers liquids and liquid / gas mixtures at a flow rate of 250 ml per minute.
Efficiency at its best
Compared with other diaphragm liquid pumps, the NF 25 exhibits the highest performance to size ratio making it the best solution for equipment where space is a critical factor.
A state of the art patented valves system ensures that the flow to motor speed curve remains linear, making it an ideal alternative to bigger pumps for simple dosing applications. KNF recommends the use of a brushless motor for several years of maintenance free pumping.
Smoother pumping
The NF25 also includes an anti-cavitation chamber which is a KNF speciality.
This proven technology optimises the fluid dynamics of the pump thus reducing noise and increasing flow.
The KNF modular system contains a wide range of materials, motors, voltages and frequencies to enable the selection of an optimal solution for every application.

Varied fields of use
The new NF 25 covers a wide range of applications including medical devices, analytical instruments, fuel cells, ink jet printers, semi conductors, cleaning and disinfection devices, water treatment only to name a few.
Technology leader
KNF Flodos is part of the KNF Group and was founded in 1987. The company has since then been focusing all its efforts on research and development as well as production of liquid pumps and accessories. The company has gained a leading position in this field.

Our success exists most of all in collaborating with our customers, understanding their requirements, analysing the precise problem and creating possible solutions even the mosto unexpected or resourceful.

It is in this context that we develop our industrial project towards satisfying new requirements in mechanical automation with design and manufacture of any kind of cam and cam mechanism.

In the transmission shaft sector the increase of the production range, which took place in the last few years, allows an ample ex-stock delivery of the medium-light types.

The power increase of the heavy types, with flanges up to 1200 mm and maximum torque of 9000 kN, sets our company among the European leaders of this sector.

Our dense phase conveying systems with pressure vessels are designed for processes that require gentle conveying, low segregation, low wear, low air and energy consumption. Another advantage when using a dense phase conveying system with pressure vessels rather than a lean phase conveying systems with rotary valves is that no part rotates in the product stream. In lean phase conveying systems, the rotating rotary valve will cause fine metallic attrition when coming in contact with the housing and thereby contaminate the product. Another disadvantage is air leakage. This occurs because of the gap between the rotor and the housing. Due to wear on the rotary valves, the gap gets bigger which leads to increased leakage of air, reduced capacity, to conveying problems and pipe blockages.
We designed the dense phase conveying system mini-double vessel PTAD20 to replace rotary valves in existing conveying plants. The Gericke dense phase conveying system mini-double vessel PTAD20 has the advantages of a plug conveying system. The space-saving execution allows the installation heights of 750 mm. The system consists of two 20 l pressure vessels which guarantee continuous operation. They are delivered with a common inlet tube or they are directly connected to the upstream process. Depending on the tube diameter (DN65–DN100) and on the product to be conveyed, capacities of 4–10 m3/h are achieved.
Several systems of this type are successfully in operation in the food industry to convey products such as milk powder, whey powder, gelatine, granules and premixes. The dense phase conveying system mini-double vessel PTAD20 is also well suited for the gentle conveying of granulates.
In the Gericke Test Centers all kinds of pneumatic conveying techniques can be tested to determine the conveying parameters. Knowledge concerning product quality (attrition) and roduct build-up in pipes can be acquired. Furthermore, Gericke offers rental units to be used on site.

The economical torque rheometer for mixers and extruders

The Brabender® Plastograph® EC is the economical table-top version of the universal torque rheometer Plastograph® applied all over the world for application investigations in laboratories and simulation.

With its digital 3.8-kW motor, a torque measuring range of 200 Nm, and a speed range from 0.2 to 150 min-1, the Plastograph® EC is the perfect measuring drive for practice-oriented measurements with the Brabender® mixers and extruders for

raw material and recipe development
material testing
quality control parallel to production
optimization of the production process
laboratory-scale production of samples for further investigations

Varvel announces the implementation of modular worm gearboxes, Series RT.

The gearboxes are made of pressure die-cast aluminium housings and covers from size 28 to 85 and cast iron for size 110 up and are lubricated with synthetic long-life oil.

The major features of the new series RT are the “universal” B3 foot mounting, the easy fitting/replacement of input flanges B5 or B14, output flanges on both sides of the PC shaftmount basic version.

Furthermore the usual key-coupling between motor and gearbox was replaced by a customized elastic coupling type “G” without any increase in the geared motor dimensions allowing the motor shaft matching to an external coupling kit and not to a prearranged gearbox.

Such features make the new Series RT particularly fit for distribution, that is more and more concerned about versatility, inventory control and configuration flexibility.

Temperature Controlled HDMP with Seal Lengths up to 50″ for Big Jobs and Tough Materials

Designed for accurate, reliable repeatable fully validatable total process control. The Heavy Duty Sealer is built with industry leading seal pressure to seal the toughest materials. Password protected digital control of all seal parameters, 5 Operating modes, 6 Seal process recipes, and Audible and Visual Alarms.
The HDMP is designed for use on a table top, a stand or in a full verticle position over a conveyor to maximize production. 100% verifiable and Calibratable across all seal parameters for ISO 11607 compliance. External verification ports offer ease of calibration. The laser cut and welded Stainless Steel cases withstand harsh environments and resist the effects of chemicals and biocides.

To expand the international sales network, Accu Seal Corporation is looking for experienced partners in Europe.

Built-In Safety features include safe low pressure jaw close, emergency stop button, internal ‘coyote’ high temperature limit and thermal overload protection.
Accu-Seal products are manufactured in the USA using the highest quality materials and components for unmatched product quality and trouble free performance.

Kistler’s electromechanical joining modules facilitate automation of force-displacement monitored joining and press-fitting processes. The new NC joining module NCFB Type 2160A… has been specially designed for standard joining processes and is an enhancement of the existing product range. With its cost-optimized design, it offers a more favorable price/performance ratio. The piezoelectric force sensor integrated into the robust case offers a choice of two predefined measuring ranges, 50 kN and 25 kN, for precision force measurement.

Even deep end points such as the position of bearings in half-shell gear boxes can be easily reached with a 400 mm stroke. The speed of up to 150 mm/s offers a quick return stroke and hence a short machine cycle, even for a long idle stroke. The use of the absolute encoder, which is part of the standard equipment on all Kistler NC joining modules, eliminates the need for reference point determination even during operation.

The NC Compact Firmware (Type 2159A…), which is integrated into the servo controller, is perfect for simple force displacement evaluation and documentation of standard joining tasks with the NC joining module NCFB. With extremely low investment and mounting costs, it facilitates integration into the customer’s existing control environment.

The Operating Panel (Type 2158A) is used for parameterization and visualization of a standard joining process and for data backup. It is not required for ongoing operation. It has 16 different programs for optimum flexibility in the joining process. These contain functions such as measuring range switchover, fast shutdown, force control, active deflection compensation which eliminates the effect of bending of the customer’s assembly, intermediate positioning and evaluations with up to three analysis windows.

The force-displacement monitoring unit DMF-P A300 NCF Type 4734A… can be used as an alternative to the NC Compact Firmware. With its wide range of analysis windows, it can evaluate the force displacement curves of virtually any application. Moreover, it allows comprehensive documentation of curve developments and the associated target and actual values.

Vlotho – At the 2009 SPS/IPC/Drives exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany, LOHMEIER presents a new assembly table for populating and wiring mounting plates. The height-adjustable and tiltable table helps implement the optimal working position. Moreover, it enables users to install the populated, often heavy mounting plates into the control cabinet without additional hoisting tools: the table, which carries the fully wired plate, is simply upended and slid side-ways on a roller rail onto guide rails inside the cabinet. Four caster wheels with total lock brakes allow for the mounting plates to be moved between the work stations. Users can thus not only perform the majority of equipping and wiring tasks, but also carry out inspection tasks before final assembly.
The MT-400 type table is suitable for mounting plates measuring up to 1,200 x 1,900 mm and weighing up to 400 kg. The plates are fastened to the table via quick release latches. They can be upended or tilted at any angle up to the horizontal level. The table is variable in height between 750 and 1,150 mm. Height and tilt can be freely adjusted via remote control. Time-consuming and laborious handling is altogether minimized. As a further advantage installation on the assembly table means that control cabinets do not enter the production cycle until final assembly since the mounting plates remain on the table throughout the process, which saves much-needed space.

For perfect ergonomics and to suit the specific work place requirements, the assembly tables can be individually equipped. Optionally, they can be fitted with e.g. power supply, compressed air supply, chip suction device, small parts containers, tool holders, cable reels, and lighting. LOHMEIER alternatively offers assembly tables for sale or leasing

For edges and laces

A new developped electrical circuit beveler of the famous japanese manufacturer Nitto Kohki enables steel to get on without edges and laces.
The heart of this new handtool is a new motor which drives the cutting tips at a power of more than 1000W.
The cutting tips remove edges at mild steel to a maximum length of 7mm, at stainless steel maximum 3mm. At circular working the maximum working length is 4mm.
* The chamfer angle can be adjusted between 15° and 45°.
* A dust box collects the separated parts.
* As an option a series of cutting tips for different sizes is available.

Applications are various, reaching from the shipbuilding industry to the machinery building industry and to the production of containers.
For further information pls. see www.nitto.de

Capacitec, a global leader in the design and manufacture of non-contact capacitive displacement, gap and parallelism sensing technologies for scientific and industrial customers, has announced the debut of a series of non-contact capacitive gap and parallelism sensor systems for the solar panel market. The systems are designed to measure the precise distance between liquid, anti-reflective and CVD coating head-to-media during solar panel production, helping manufacturers maintain thin-film coating uniformity, while improving yields and efficiencies.
The unique expertise of Capacitec within the solar panel manufacturing market is the culmination of more than 15 years of successful implementation of measurement technology within the semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as well as in design of slot die coater gap measurement systems sold to companies, working with customers such as 3M, DuPont and Avery Dennison. Within the liquid coating market, Capacitec has successfully collaborated with leading global manufacturers of labels, tapes and films, as well as slot die suppliers, to develop new systems that more precisely measure coater gaps. These systems have made dramatic improvements over traditional gap measurement methods allowing manufacturers to achieve coater gap uniformity of better than 0.25 microns, with gaps as thin as 110 microns across the full length of the coater die.
In traditional solar panels, a thin-film PV layer is deposited onto the silicon layer using a Chemical Vapor Deposition process. Additional layers are added and the PV module is then encapsulated between a glass panel and reflective backing, forming the Solar Panel Module. Capacitec systems are used during each of these steps. In flexible solar panels, CVD coaters are used in the production of the Transparent Conductive Oxide. In this case, a Capacitec parallelism sensor system is used to measure the distance in-process between the CVD coater head and metal carrier roll, in temperatures up to +600°C. During OPV solar panel fabrication, a Capacitec slot die coater gap measurement system is employed to maintain organic material coatings uniformity during PV production. Capacitec systems are also used to maintain parallelism between the Slot Die Coater and metal roller, as well as the parallelism of metal rollers during the encapsulation stage. For more information about these and other non-contact capacitive sensing systems available from Capacitec, please visit www.capacitec.com.

The high-performance 20W Yb Fiber Laser Marker.

Miyachi’s new ML-7320C Yb: fiber laser marker is designed for high speed laser marking, laser engraving, and laser ablation resulting in high contrast marks on both plastics and metals. With all the advantages of fiber technology, user configurable options and unique features the ML-7320C can be tailored for optimized production.

Largest Q switch range of 2 – 500 kHz enables high speed high quality marking on steels and plastics

Full featured user friendly software

Complete integration flexibility with PC, touchscreen, standalone through I/O control or remote programming, LAN connectivity

Integrated motion control for XYZ and rotary

Unique guide beam implementation enables class 1 with guide beam on

Multi language capability

Low cost of ownership