With a build envelope of 300 x 200 x 200 mm, the Vector 3SP fits nicely between the larger format Xede 3SP (457 x 457 x 457 mm) and the smaller format Ultra 3SP printers (266 x 175 x 193 mm).
The company uses a photolaser curing process in the 3SP models, which has a number of advantages. In the area of costs and maintenance, the system has a self-calibrating feature to maintain consistency and the light-imaging source assembly can be replaced by the customer using a precalibrated replacement.
The process provides for fast production; build times are significantly faster than stereolithography and have a higher accuracy as well. The production technique is used across a range of industries. One of those is dental.
The dental industry is on the move: CAD, CAM and additive manufacturing technologies have revolutionized the field. The entire range of 3SP family models can be used for dental work but the company has created a targeted solution in the form of the 3Dent printer.
The build envelope of 266 x 175 x 76 mm corresponds to dental industry requirements. The entire design targets a dental-lab working environment, with a small footprint, very few moving parts for increased reliability, low operating costs, reduced waste and a user-friendly touch-screen interface.
Industries such as aerospace and automotive are also important to EnvisionTEC. The choice of build sizes allows many models to be attractive in industry. Both the 3SP family and the Perfactory (the name comes from “personal” and “factory”) products are well suited for a range of industrial uses. The Perfactory line is also applicable in automotive and other industries. It produces robust parts with a very high-quality finish. Many clients use the printed prototypes for functional tests, which reduces development time and costs.
The Perfactory product line uses an advanced digital light processing. The technique promises extremely smooth surfaces, which provides many benefits to manufacturing clients. The technique is friendly to the office environment, and the products are designed for such work.
Although the company is listed as a German firm, it is located in Dearborn, Michigan. This office serves as the head office. The German location is in Gladbeck and it serves as the European headquarters.
For more information, see the EnvisionTEC website.
About the Author
Tom Lansford is an international marketing consultant and manages the sites Professional Workstation, CADplace France and CADplace UK. He has been living in Europe since 1992, and previously managed workstation marketing in Europe at NVIDIA. Lansford is a professional videographer and his interests include design visualization, simulation, graphics and GPU computing.