Taipei AMPA 2011 Lives Up to Reputation for Innovation

Innovation Awards honor six makers for creativity and practicality

This year the Taipei AMPA (Taipei International Auto Parts & Accessories Show), staged April 12-15 at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangan Exhibition Hall, closed on a good note, having seen more foreign buyers from over 40 countries compared to the 2010 edition. The event has over the years built a reputation for showcasing innovative products. Buyers saw Taiwanese suppliers' R&D efforts and reported ample business potential as result of such investment. The Taipei AMPA also presented the Innovation Awards, drawing 77 contestants who showed creativity and originality.

Ultimately six winners were honored for developing cutting-edge products, including TYC Brother Industrial Co., Ltd. (LED Head Lamp with DRL), Yang Min Enterprise Corp. (Crown Shaped Wire Coil Springs), Power Circling Co., Ltd. (Brushless DC Circulating Pump), Red Heart Enterprise Co., Ltd. (The Multi-functional Accessibility Ramp Assembly for A Vehicle), Just Auto Lighting Technology Co., Ltd. (LED Door Safety Lamp) and Shou Le Industrial Group (Trip Recorder).

Innovation Award Winners

LED Head Lamp with Daytime Running Light
A number of auto head lamps featuring LED chips have been developed in Taiwan over the past years, few of which can match the one demonstrated by TYC Brother at Taipei AMPA this year, for the award-winning 6W LED head lamp is well recognized in the EU for being a practical replacement for traditional counterparts due to its brightness and light distribution angle meeting applicable standards.

TYC Brother is a top-3 maker in Taiwan of auto lamps and regarded as a top-caliber ODM (original design manufacturer), whose line of head lamps for sedans and heavy-duty vehicles have helped to build a sizable presence in both OE (original equipment) and AM (aftermarket) segments worldwide.

Trying to tap a potential market driven by the mandatory installation of DRLs in new cars sold in Europe since the beginning of this year, TYC Brother, who has worked hard to build OEM (original equipment manufacturing) business with large global automakers in recent years, has been focusing on improvement of DRLs. The LED DRL system in the head lamp is designed to burn less fuel but emits higher luminous flux, as well as meeting ECE R87 regulation related to candelas.

TYC Brother builds an improved elliptic reflector and projector lens into the low-beam headlamp to assure light intensity, photometric characteristics of the product meet EU's ECE R112 regulations regarding asymmetric low-beam illumination; while the forced air-cooling design helps to extend life cycle beyond 6,000 hours.

The head lamp is patented in Germany, France and Taiwan, underlining the company's ambition to capture business opportunities in this segment.

Crown-Shaped Wire Coil Spring
Despite springs being a mundane part with ubiquitous applications, the Crown-Shaped Wire Coil Spring developed by Yang Min proved to Innovation Award judges that product evolution surrounding springs has yet to reach its limit.

Of high-grade steel and through special production methodologies independently developed by the company, such as nano-crystal technology, the spring is structurally durable and has a flat, so-called crown-shaped section that increases effective stroke and distributes stress uniformly along the internal side.

To minimize spring fatigue, the company uses ultra-fine grain size that meets ASTM standards. The spring is stress-tested over 300,000 times to 1,300Mpa to assure satisfactory compression performance; while compared to traditional springs, Yang Min's is 5-15% lighter and greener for acid pickling isn't part of production.

With excellent durability, flexibility and stress distribution, the corrosion-resistant spring is versatile to create more added-value for manufacturers, buyers and distributors, the company claims.

Brushless DC Circulating Pump
Featuring improved functionality and quality, the Brushless DC Circulating Pump developed by Power Circling, a seasoned pump and motor producer in Taiwan, also won in the innovation competition.

Developed with improved electromechanical technology, the pump is quieter and is 17.6% more power efficient than competing models, with the motor RPM varying automatically without overheating abruptly. The company says the pump has a service life exceeding 20,000 hours as well as being virtually maintenance-free.

To minimize breakdown, the motor is protected against reverse polarity, locked-rotor, soft start and over current, and is fully sealed to be waterproof. Also the ceramic bearing and magnetic coupling (optional) make the pump mandrel moisture-proof.

Suitable for hot water circulation in automotive heating system, water circulation of cooling system in electric cars, solar water heating systems and commercial air conditioners, the pump is well-received by European customers, says the company.

LED Door Safety Lamp
Obviously an auto lamp developer dedicated to product safety, Just Auto won an award with its newest LED Door Safety Lamp this year.

The company stresses safety as the biggest feature of the lamp, also sometimes known as a courtesy light, which casts a very bright, intense, white light directly on spots to enable safe egress, ingress for drivers and passengers, as well as signaling to oncoming cars to enhance security for all.

With a white and yellow LED, the lamp is rated at 1W and 10,000-hour-plus life cycle, or about 10 times the lifespan of T5 incandescent light bulbs. With toxic-free materials used in production, the energy-stingy LED lamp complies with EU's environmental regulations.

The safety lamp makes Just Auto a second-time winner of the AMPA Innovation Award in two consecutive years, with its TOYOTA YARIS LED DRL being a winner last year for energy efficiency and excellent exterior design. The 0.07W lamp has LEDs as light source that achieves service life exceeding 10,000 hours. Toyota now offers the lamp as a premium option in its 2010 New Yaris.

Driving Recorder
The Driving Recorder, or also known as a trip video recorder, developed by Shou Le is a winner that taps the achievements by Taiwan's makers of globally well-known information technology products and auto parts and accessories.

The recorder is activated by the vehicle ignition and differs from typical twin-camera models for Shou Le's model offers a multi-split screen to allow drivers to immediately see all four sides of a car. The lens module is available as an embedded and clamp type to enable installation in most vehicles.

The recorder also has integrated GPS receiver, enabling users to check current location, browse files and set driving routes. A very practical function is the warning beep to inform users that old recordings will be overwritten to start a new recording, as well as 10% of memory remaining.

The recorder also comes with a suction-cup mount for the windshield and is 360- degree adjustable horizontally and 120-degree vertically.

Multi-functional Accessibility Ramp Assembly
Motivated by the need for easier, safer access by the handicapped and elderly to vehicles, especially those with high ground clearance, Red Heart has developed the Multi-functional Accessibility Ramp Assembly to win another award in this year's innovation competition, which has been held for three years.

The ramp offers fast, easy and convenient boarding, can easily fit onto rear doors of most vehicles, and has a remotely-controlled power system enabling users to raise or lower the ramp safely, effortlessly to load and unload wheelchairs and passengers. The maker says this product also enables families with aged, disabled members to venture outdoors for improved lifestyle.

Red Heart, a specialized maker of car seats and chairs, also won the AMPA Innovation Award in 2008 with the Welfare Care Seat, a product developed to offer elderly, disabled people easier mobility, egress and ingress in vehicles.

The Welfare Care Seat has an improved swivel mechanism, enabling the seat to turn 110 degrees to allow disabled passengers to easily move between the seat and vehicles easily and conveniently. The seat also doubles as car seat or wheelchair to offer seniors and infirm persons better mobility, convenience. The product also features ergonomic design and cushion support to minimize tiring load on spine, very beneficial to users who are chair-bound due to physical problems.

By devoting resources to develop chairs to improve life quality for seniors and disabled, Red Heart has over the years built a reputable profile in the line.