LEMO USA’s use of Autodesk’s Inventor software package has garnered the connector manufacturer the Inventor of the Month award for December 2009 from the software provider. When announcing that LEMO was this month’s winner, Autodesk senior vice president Robert Kross said, “Companies like LEMO are using digital prototyping to respond to customer needs quicker and bring their innovative products to market sooner. In a global economy, these are practices that serve manufacturers well.”
In LEMO’s case, custom-connector design time is reduced by two-thirds through the use of Inventor, Autodesk claims. “Designing a custom connector could take LEMO up to three weeks, from designing the part, building a physical prototype, and shipping it to the customer for approval,” the company explained. Using a digital prototype workflow allows LEMO to “simply produce and share 3D models with the customer, completing the entire design process within a week.”
“Every time someone sits down on Sunday to watch football in high definition, they are likely watching the game through one of LEMO’s hybrid connectors,” said Erik Gammon, engineering manager with the connector maker. “Autodesk Inventor software has been instrumental in helping us design, visualize, and simulate precision connection solutions that deliver the high-quality results our customers expect.” LEMO offers the 3K.93C connector for HDTV cameras.
He further explains that the hybrid connector, incorporating high-voltage, fiber-optic, and low-voltage contacts, represents a challenging design feat because of the several different types of pins that must connect with the corresponding sockets in a small space. Using Inventor software allows LEMO to first check for interferences among all the components. It then enables tolerance checks on the contacts to help them mate with the right amount of insertion, producing a reliable connection.
On the Web: LEMO, Autodesk Inventor
