Guest Contributor Blaine Childress is a longtime advisory board member of the InnoVision Awards. He is a member of Sealed Air Corporation’s R&D Technology Scouting. Sealed Air Corporation is the sponsor of the Sustainability Award for the InnoVision Awards.
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Upstate companies developing a better nail gun, fire-resistant buildings and 3-D printers
The InnoVision Technology Awards celebrate the inventive spirit. The creative minds and determined vision of inventors amaze and inspire others to achieve greatness. Their innovations define our future and enrich our economy.
The 2013 InnoVision Technology Awards provide a remarkable opportunity to witness the inventive spirit. One of the finalists, 3D Systems of Rock Hill, S.C., is competing for a technology application award with a device that will serve inventors all over the world. Their CUBE invention is a tabletop solids “printer” that takes the technology of computerized part manufacture from the exclusive realm of large corporations to the workstations of the individual. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a 3-D object that one can hold and test-fit is indeed worth a million words.
While we may imagine an object from its description and image, we cannot really involve all of our senses and truly appreciate the value of an innovation until we can touch it, test it and show it to customers. With the CUBE, the creative minds of artists, inventors and architects can translate their concepts into actual objects that would-be partners and clients can readily understand. Such interaction can place starting entrepreneurs on a more even footing with corporate laboratory inventors.
For those unfamiliar with this new capability, it is indeed a quickly expanding technology. NASA is planning to send a 3-D printer to the International Space Station. This additive manufacturing device delivers precise strands of molten polymer (somewhat like a craft glue gun) to build replacement parts. Sending replacement parts is costly and takes long time, and storing extra parts is impractical due to limited storage. So, if a part wears or fails on the station or a satellite, the plan is to transmit a computer file describing the item, and have an astronaut build a new part.
Now such 3-D creations have extended to food. Chefs are designing elaborate desserts from molten sugar while engineers are experimenting with this technology to assemble pizzas in space. Additive manufacturing technology now embraces many materials and methods, but with the CUBE, this South Carolina global leader has enabled each of us to participate in a creative experience familiar to leading high-tech manufacturers or Space Station residents.
Meanwhile on planet Earth, Techtronic Industries in Anderson and Milliken in Spartanburg have recognized that builders and do-it-yourselfers still have important needs. Professional carpenters and builders depend on air-powered nail guns to save time and energy. These devices can quickly drive nails in tight places and positions that challenge a hammer and nail.
TTI had a vision in 2008 to invent a cordless nailer that operates from a battery. After all, not everyone has an air compressor. Even those who have one know the hassle of running long hoses up ladders or staircases to an air compressor to make home improvements.
The journey from idea to action has indeed been challenging, but TTI has now developed the Ryobi 320 nail gun. The invention includes a compression piston that builds air pressure until overriding the holding force of a neodymium magnet and then driving a nail. The device uses the same lithium ion power platform as its other ONE+ tools to fire 5/8-inch to 2-inch nails from a spring-loaded clip. The lightweight tool features depth of drive adjustment, firing speed control and LED illumination, all without air hose or cord. TTI is a 2013 finalist in Technology Application.
The inventive spirit is evident at Milliken & Company, which has produced its newest innovation, FireStrong concrete-based building components. Their technology has been recognized as a finalist in the InnoVision Technology Application category for its unique abilities to repair or modify concrete-based building components.
Milliken combined its deep knowledge in fibers with its recognition of infrastructure rehabilitation needs to define innovative construction products. Concrete composites have been used to repair deteriorating infrastructure in many cities. But previous reinforcement techniques have used epoxy adhesives to bond reinforcement to concrete, or used metal components that corrode. Epoxy compositions could not survive exposure to fire temperatures, so those could not always meet code standards.
The Milliken FireStrong system maintains its strength in high-heat environments (in excess of 250 degrees Fahrenheit). This is accomplished by locating high-temperature carbon fiber bars in shallow grooves and encapsulating these with a cementitious grout. Indeed, a FireStrong application can withstand the heat generated in a fire for greater than two hours for beams, thus enabling lower-cost, code-approved repairs or retrofits to extend the longevity of concrete-based buildings.
We invite you to join us to celebrate the 2013 InnoVision Award finalists. The dinner will be held at the TD Center in Greenville on Thursday evening, Nov. 14. Contact Kathy Ham by email to reserve your seat.
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About the InnoVision Awards Program
The InnoVision Awards Program, founded by Deloitte in 1999 and presented by McNair Law Firm P.A., is South Carolina’s premier organization dedicated to the advancement of technology in the state through communication, education and recognition of the spirit of innovation and technological progress. Learn more.
