WOOD DALE, IL – Micron® AquaTRUE Planetary® Gearheads from Thomson have been named a 2011 Golden Mousetrap finalist by the editors of Design News magazine.? Micron AquaTRUE are 100% stainless steel planetary gearheads specifically designed to satisfy the demanding performance requirements of food, beverage and pharmaceutical handling, medical hygienic, packaging and dispensing applications, among others.

“Until now, manufacturers in these industries have been unable to use gearheads in many of these harsh applications because there wasn’t a product available that met their unique needs.? The Micron AquaTRUE changes that, enabling manufacturers to install these gearheads anywhere in the application to eliminate the cost of watertight enclosers, shielding or mechanical transmissions,” says Howard Horn, Product Manager.? “This revolutionary concept was borne from numerous market assessments, commenced only after the most stringent environmental and agency testing was performed and passed, and was completed with over 100 years of Thomson engineering expertise at our disposal.”

For more than two decades, the Design News Awards Program has recognized engineering innovation and creativity in product design. This year, Golden Mousetrap awards were given in four major categories: Electronics & Test, Automation & Control, Design Tools: Hardware & Software, and Materials & Assembly.? Managing Editor Jennifer Campbell gathered a record number of entries, distributing them to Design News beat editors for judging.? Based on their expertise in each technology area, 18 winners and 95 finalists were selected.

“The products highlighted?in this year's Golden Mousetrap winners and finalists clearly demonstrate both cutting-edge design ideas and the practical evolution of technologies for systems and product design engineers.? Design News congratulates all the engineers and their companies who?have been?recognized?with the Golden Mousetrap Award, and we are grateful for their contribution to this year's competition,” says David Greenfield, Editorial Director, Design News.

Micron AquaTRUE planetary gearheads feature 300 series Stainless Steel external housings for maximum corrosion resistance, and are IP67 protected to provide reliable operation and long life in environments subject to caustic cleaning chemicals and high pressure washdown.? The external housing is also round with no external seams to eliminate the potential for bacteria collection or ingress, which would otherwise result in interior damage, compromised performance and shorten operating life.? They are available in a host of sizes, with varied ratios, torque capacity and precision to suit nearly any application requirement.

Micron TRUE planetary gearheads?from Thomson are used in high precision motion control applications that require a high torque to volume ratio, high torsional stiffness, and low backlash.? All Micron gearheads are self-lubricating and have high radial load capacity for any given size.? The ability to match inertias with a large variety of ratios provides stable and well controlled servo systems.

Thomson has available a number of?educational webinars for on-demand viewing, including Gearhead Solutions for Washdown Applications that provides participants with practical information on gearhead technologies and their application in food processing and packaging, medical and pharmaceutical, and high pressure washdown applications.? Additional gearhead-related webinars include Planetary Gearheads 101: Basics for Design Engineers and Planetary Gearheads 201: Troubleshooting for Design Engineers.? These two webinars provide an educational overview of planetary gearhead technology, and establish a framework to help users quickly select the right planetary gearhead to reduce design time and optimize machine designs.

Thomson also offers a number of gearhead-specific training and design tools to help machine builders specify the right gearhead for their next machine.??Micron MOTIONEERING® is a gearhead sizing, selection, and pricing tool to help machine builders correctly specify gearheads for high precision motion control applications that require a high torque to volume ratio, high torsional stiffness, and low backlash.? 2D/3D models can be downloaded through Micron MOTIONEERING.

About Thomson
With more than 60 years of motion control innovation and quality, Thomson is the industry’s premier producer of Linear Ball Bushing® Bearings and Profile Rail Bearings, 60 Case? Shafting, ground and rolled Ball Screws, Linear Actuators, Gearheads, Clutches, Brakes, Linear Systems, and related accessories.? Thomson invented the Linear Ball Bushing Bearing in 1945, and has set the standard ever since with an unsurpassed set of mechanical motion control solutions serving global commercial and aerospace & defense markets.? Thomson Industries, Inc. has facilities in North America, Europe and Asia with over 2000 distributor locations around the world.

Thomson, 1500 Mittel Boulevard, Wood Dale, IL 60191-1073; 1-540-633-3549; 1-540-633-0294 (fax); thomson@thomsonlinear.com; www.thomsonlinear.com.