Press Release: Enhamcement Kit Boosts Cubital Machine Productivity

From: AZPR@aol.com
Date: Sat Nov 16 1996 - 00:19:28 EET


 
 

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 11, 1996

Agency Loren Werner Company H. Curtis Peel
Contact 602/592-9089 Contact 810/585-7880

PRODUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT PACKAGE IMPROVES RELIABILITY AND REDUCES MAINTENANCE
OF CUBITAL RAPID PROTOTYPING MACHINES

Automatic Self-cleaning Ion Cartridge, Chip Stopper, New Power Supplies,
Improved Cooler Unit, Automated Resin Collector Pump and Software Upgrades
Enhance Cubital System Performance

        Troy, MI – Cubital America, Inc. today announced the availability of a
productivity enhancement package for its SGC 5600 and SGC 4600 rapid
prototyping machines. Consisting of several hardware upgrades and software
revisions, the enhancement package improves the reliability and ease-of-use
of the company’s rapid prototyping machines. Hardware improvements include
an Automatic Self-Cleaning Ion Cartridge, 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 (currently
available) and DFE V3.0 (scheduled for release in February 1997), include a
variety of enhancements.

        "Our R&D department is committed to a program of refinement and enhancement
designed to constantly extend the productivity and ease-of-use of our rapid
prototyping systems," says Cubital Ltd. President and CEO Yehudah Baron.
 Baron continues, "Our customers have selected Cubital rapid prototyping
equipment for use in demanding, high-production application environments
because our machines deliver the highest throughput of any rapid prototyping
technology and hardware available today. At Cubital, we are committed to
helping our customers get the maximum performance from our machines, as well
as maintaining our position as the unchallenged leader in providing the
world’s fastest rapid prototyping machines."

        At the present time, all Cubital customers whose machines are under
warranty, or under a Cubital maintenance agreement, will receive the
enhancement package upgrades.

Automatic Self-Cleaning Ion Cartridge

        The development of a self-cleaning ion cartridge means eliminating a
periodic manual maintenance function typically performed by the operator of a
Cubital machine. The ion cartridge, which deposits ions on a glass plate in
order to attract the toner used to create a photomask for a resin layer, can
become clogged with toner particles.

        Under the prior manual cleaning system, the operator would use a hand-held
vacuum hose to clean the ion cartridge. The new self-cleaning cartridge uses
a mechanical mouse with a vacuum attachment to clean the cartridge
automatically. This reduces the frequency of operator time required to
supervise the system during parts fabrication, and almost eliminates the
introduction of errors into the photomask.

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. Benefits include increased system
reliability and reduction of required operator attendance time to monitor and
supervise the system during layer fabrication. Cubital has begun to install
the Chip Stopper free of charge on all systems that are under warranty or
carry a Cubital 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 V3.0 for SGI Platform

        Offering improved graphics and overall better system response, DFE software
V3.0 incorporates a number of significant changes. DFE version 3.0
incorporates the Cure algorithms into the Academy package with its Graphical
User Interface (GUI), providing user-friendly access to these advanced
algorithms. The updated software also includes an Undo command with three
steps (ability to Undo the last three commands). A number of other
enhancements combine to give users easy-to-use tools for viewing models in
the graphics applications Academy and Show. These enhancements include
maintaining the corresponding scale between Top, Front, Side and Isometric
views, interactive view rotate, translucency, true clipping and icon
separation between Display mode and Type or Cast modes.

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
started through research conducted at Scitex Corporation, Ltd., an Israeli
company known for its outstanding image processing technology that is used
worldwide. Commercial sales of Cubital rapid prototyping machines began
during the fourth quarter of 1991.

        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,
Inc., Compression Inc., Allied Signal Aerospace, D & C Industries, Inc., and
General Motors Midsize Car Division.

        Today, Cubital leads the industry in production rapid prototyping
throughput. Based on UV light-activated Solid Ground Curing technology,
Cubital systems provide a number of advantages over competing systems
utilizing Stereolithographic (SL) or other technologies. Cubital systems
deliver throughput at three to eight times that available from SL-based
systems. In part, this speed
 advantage arises from the use of a photomasking technique that allows
Cubital systems to cure/harden an entire model layer at once upon exposure to
a UV light source. The speed of Cubital systems is further enhanced through
the capability of these SGC-based systems to operate in dual-process mode,
literally forming the photo-mask for the next model layer while
simultaneously fabricating the current layer. 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.

        The Cubital Data Front End workstation is 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 or web site http://ypo.com/azpr/).



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