PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 1996
Agency Loren Werner Company H. Curtis Peel
Contact 602/592-9089 Contact 810/585-7880
UPGRADES REDUCE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATOR ATTENDANCE FOR
CUBITAL RAPID PROTOTYPING MACHINES
New Cubital Upgrade Package Enhances Reliability and Reduces Maintenance
Troy, MI – Cubital America, Inc. today announced the availability of five
hardware upgrades and two software revisions which will combine to enhance
the reliability and ease-of-use of the company’s rapid prototyping machines.
Hardware improvements include a Chip Stopper which reduces the requirement
for operator attendance during production runs, two new integrated power
supplies, a new water cooler unit, a new resin collection pump and a color
display monitor. New software, MPM Version V3.15 and DFE V2.3, include a
variety of enhancements.
"These are the kinds of enhancements our customers have come to expect from
Cubital’s on-going R&D programs and our commitment to delivering the
industry’s most productive, reliable, rapid prototyping machines," says
Cubital America, Inc. General Manager Curtis Peel. Peel notes, "Our
customers purchase our machines because they provide the highest throughput
of any rapid prototyping hardware available today, with outstanding model
quality. But our R&D engineers are never satisfied with just leading the
industry. They continue to refine and enhance the design to squeeze every
last drop of performance, reliability and maintainability from our machines."
Chip Stopper
This engineering improvement, consisting of hardware and
software, implements a shutter located between the secondary UV exposure unit
(Flood) and Resin Wiper on the right side of the rapid prototyping machine.
Operated by the process control computer, the shutter blocks milling chips,
keeping them from reaching the delicate Mask Generator unit. Several
benefits include increased system reliability, reduction of required operator
attendance time, and reduced layer fabrication time. Cubital will install
the Chip Stopper free of charge on all systems that are still under warranty
or carry an annual service contract.
Power Supplies
Two new integrated power supplies, one for the secondary UV exposure unit
(the Flood) and the other for the Mask Generator replace several individual
power supplies. Manufactured with state of the art technology, the new power
supplies are more compact, reliable, and more easily accessible than the
units they replace.
Cooler Unit
The water cooler unit has been redesigned to be more reliable, accessible
and easier to maintain. It uses Freon 22, substantially more environmentally
friendly than Freon 12.
New Pump for used resin collection
A new pump automates the process of transferring used resin from the
collector drum to the barrel, releasing the operator from having to perform
this task manually.
New MPM (Model Producing Machine) Software Version V3.15
Improvements in this new version of the MPM software impact the
daily operation of the system. V3.15 contains the following improvements
over earlier software:
· Support for Chip Shutter – controls the new chip shutter
· Corrects Flood Timer Errors by correcting the long flood time delay that
occasionally occurs during a system reboot.
· Frequent Checking of Cooler – checks status of new cooler during the layer
fabrication process.
New DFE (Data Front End) Software V2.3 for SGI Platform
A new, more user-friendly version of the software for the SGI platform, and
an operation manual, are now available. Among the many upgrades contained in
the new release, the following are most noteworthy:
An "Undo" command has been added to the Academy application, allowing the
user to undo the last operation without having to perform a step-by-step
save, thus reducing file preparation time.
The Academy application now contains advanced geometric algorithms which
improve file correction capabilities and enhance reliability of file
preparation.
Built on a Tradition of Excellence
Cubital Ltd., parent company of Cubital America, Inc., was founded in
Israel in 1987. Cubital’s SGC product line of rapid prototyping systems was
developed through research conducted at Scitex Corporation, Ltd., an Israeli
company known for its outstanding image processing technology. Scitex
invested over one hundred man years of research and $13 million to develop
the technology that makes Cubital’s SGC possible.
Recognition of Cubital’s outstanding technology has led to acceptance of the
SGC product line worldwide. In addition to its headquarters in Israel, and
operations in the United States, Cubital has an office in Germany, and has
sales representatives in the Asian Rim. In the United states, some of
Cubital’s larger customers include Ford Motor company, Toledo Molding & Die,
Compression, Inc., Allied Signal Aerospace, and General Motors Midsize Car
Division.
Today, Cubital leads the industry in production rapid prototyping
throughput. Based on UV light-activated Solid Ground Curing (SGC)
technology, Cubital systems provide a number of advantages over competing
systems utilizing Stereolithographic (SL) technology. Cubital systems
deliver throughput at three to eight times that available from SL-based
systems. In part, this speed advantage arises from the ability of the
SGC-based systems to operate in dual-process mode, literally forming the
photo-mask for the next model layer while simultaneously curing the current
layer. The 5600’s SGC technology also produces self-supporting models,
eliminating the need to add support structures.
Beyond pure performance advantages, Cubital’s systems provide outstanding
price/performance. This is because Cubital
systems are priced competitively with laser-based rapid prototyping systems,
while providing several times the model building speed.
Additionally, unlike SL-based systems, Cubital’s systems have no requirement
to replace expensive lasers.
Cubital holds U.S. and Israeli patents on its unique Solid
Ground Curing technology, with European and Japanese patents pending.
Cubital SGC Data Front Ends are designed to accept input from most standard
CAD file formats.
For more information about Cubital, its products and marketplace, contact
Curtis Peel at 810/585-7880, and visit Cubital’s worldwide web site on the
Internet (http://www.cubital.com/cubital/). For editorial liaison, contact
Loren Werner, A-Z PR, 602/592-9089
(e-mail: azpr@aol.com).
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