Plastics hold key to slimmer notebook computers.

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Author: Unknown

Dateline: Pittsfield, MA â€"

Just how thin can notebook computers become and yet perform even better at an affordable price? GE Plastics experts tackled that question in an 18-month review of 15 commercially available notebooks from a materials and manufacturing perspective. They present their findings in an 40-page report entitled "The Fulcrum Notebook."

"Our concept delivers innovative systems and creative ideas that can provide manufacturers with productivity improvements to meet intensifying global competition," explains Marilyn Lye, GE Plastics market development manager. "The concept combines outstanding thermal and shielding systems with engineering thermoplastics design advancements to develop a better-performing and more cost-competitive notebook."

To establish proper design guidelines, the concept focused on a prototypical multimedia notebook. The computer included a floppy drive, CD-ROM/DVD drive, hard drive, and one battery. It also incorporated sound and video with options for a ZIP^® drive, an extra battery, a JAZ^® drive, a second hard drive or other possible upgrade modules.

A carbon-filled engineering thermoplastic from GE Plastics' Custom Engineered Products served as the enclosure material for EMI/RFI shielding. The design also embodied thin-wall molding and enhanced boss and rib design for weight and cost savings. Thin-wall technology combines advances in processing machines and plastic materials with sophisticated tooling designs for injection molding.

The project also studied creative solutions suggested by PolymerSolutions, a joint venture of GE Plastics and the industrial design firm Fitch, Inc. Some key findings:

• In general, most notebook computers may be over-shielded, resulting in added parts and cost. Most require less than 20dB of shielding to meet regulatory requirements.
• Effective design of seams, joints, and openings hold the key in controlling notebook computer emissions.
• Conductive resins are suitable for designing integrated notebook enclosures that serve as cost-effective shielding.
• Conductive resins can be designed as a cost-effective shielding and enclosure solution for notebook computers.

The modular Fulcrum Concept envisions that all notebook parts be "hot-swapped," allowing the user to configure the notebook to suit the application. This can simplify assembly processes and allow for just-in-time assembly, the study reports.

To produce the thinnest notebook, while retaining modular bays, the GE concept moves components inside the computer as close together as possible, yet leaves airflow space for cooling.

"The knowledge derived from the Fulcrum Concept can help customers with requirement analyses, material selection, conceptual evaluation, and performance characterization," Lye concludes.

For more information on the Fulcrum Concept. Circle 544

PHOTO (COLOR): Although more extreme than today's notebook computers, GE Plastic's Fulcrum notebook design falls within the boundaries of current surface envelopes and thicknesses.

PHOTO (COLOR): Heat spreader, heat sink, and heat pipes spread heat and provide convection coding in GE Plastics Fulcrum notebook computer concept.