Product category:
Infrastructure and CAD Software
News Release from: Unimatic Engineers | Subject: Prototyping and production machine
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 July 2007
New prototyping and production machine
Rapid prototyping for rubber moulds and lost wax casting from Unimatic.
Unimatic has launched a new prototyping and production machine, which can take ideas from conception to production in minimum time This is the product for any organisation that wishes to use the concept of rapid prototyping for the creation of silicon / rubber moulds or wishes to cast (through investment / lost wax casting) the output from its CAD designs
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 24 Jan 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Called Next Factory DigitalWax, in use a small TRAY is filled with a proprietary photosetting polymer resin and an ultraviolet laser selectively hardens areas of it to create a pattern of the item.
The model will have previously been designed in a CAD package (this system is compatible with any industry standard CAD package), and the model produced will be an exact replica of the design.
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The models are very high quality with excellent surface finish and no residual ash left after burnout, so can be used directly for moulds or casting.
Thanks to the layer by layer model building technique there are no limits to the geometric complexity of the pattern being produced: undercuts, cavities, gossamer thin surfaces and curvilinear edges are all achievable without secondary operations.
The key to DigitalWax is its simplicity.
The machine themselves are compact and very quiet in operation; designed as desk top units they can happily be operated in an office or workshop environment.
Their operation is so simple that little training is required, and the processes involved are clean and fast.
Furthermore, the material costs are so low that there is no barrier to the production as many models as are needed.
"One of the critical aspects of the DigitalWax design is that it does not use jets to lay down the model-making material, so there is nothing to get blocked, nothing to go wrong" says Martin Stevens of Unimatic.
"Because the resin comes in liquid form, there is no long delay while it melts either".
"And because it sets hard immediately, there isn't a dwell time while the model hardens." In fact the overall speed of production is such that new designs can be realised within a day.
This means that considerable cost can be pulled from production processes, improving cash flow and reducing capital employed.
There are three versions of DigitalWax, the 010, 010 plus and 015.
Where the 010 is dedicated to producing rubber and silicon moulds, the others (as well as being able to produce patterns for moulds) are ideal for making models suitable for lost wax / invest casting.
The 015 is spec'd to provide high speed processing with a laser traverse of up to 80mm/sec, so is ideal for busy workshops and for prolific designers.
All have a generous working area of 200x200x60mm, large enough to accommodate multiple items at one go.
Externally, the largest unit is only 600x430x400mm, comparable with a desktop printer/scanner/fax.
Stevens again: "I have seen the development of rapid prototyping machines over the years".
"DigitalWax represents a significant step in the maturation of the technology". Request a free brochure from Unimatic Engineers ...
"Its models are superb, it requires little training, there is little to go wrong - ensuring high up time - and it will make a measurable contribution to its owner's bottom line in very short order.".
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