EnvisionTEC
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Gladbeck, Germany, 2002 |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Al Siblani (CEO) |
| Products |
3D printers Rapid prototyping solutions Direct digital manufacturing solutions |
| Website | envisiontec.com |
EnvisionTEC is a manufacturer of 3D Printers including software and material. The company was founded in 2002 in Marl, Germany[1] and now has two corporate headquarters located in Gladbeck, Germany and Dearborn, MI. EnvisionTEC produces 3D Printers that are used for a wide range of dental,[2] medical,[3] mold making, animation[4] prototyping, biofabrication[5] and other applications.
Technology
EnvisionTEC uses two types of technology to cure liquid resin into a 3 dimensional object.
- In 2002, EnvisionTEC started producing Perfactory printers utilizing Texas Instruments DLP[6] projectors. Perfactory systems build 3D objects by using the projectors to project voxel data into liquid resin, which then causes the resin to cure from liquid to solid.
- 3SP – Scan, Spin and Selectively Photocure is a technology invented in 2013. A multi-cavity laser diode with an orthogonal mirror spinning at 20,000 rpm, the light is reflected through the spinning drum and goes through a series of optical elements thereby focusing the light onto the surface of the photo polymer across the Y direction. The Imaging Light source (ILS) which contains the multi cavity laser diode, it’s driver, and all optics, is traveling in X direction at 1-2 inches per second (material dependent) as the light is scanning in the Y direction and selectively photo curing the polymer based on the path data set.
EnvisionTEC utilizes a third technology with the 3D-Bioplotter.[7] Extruding multiple materials in three dimensions using pressure. Materials range from a viscous paste to a liquid, and are inserted using syringes moving in three dimensions. Air or mechanical pressure is applied to the syringe, which then deposits a strand of material for the length of movement and time the pressure is applied. Parallel strands are plotted in one layer. For the following layer, the direction of the strands is turned over the center of the object, creating a fine mesh with good mechanical properties and mathematically well-defined porosity.
See also
References
- ↑ "Company Overview", EnvisionTEC Official Website
- ↑ "Trends in 3D Printing of Customised Medical Devices", Medical Plastic News
- ↑ Rakesh Sharma, "The 3D Printing Revolution You Have Not Heard About", Forbes
- ↑ Todd Grimm, [http://www.engineering.com/3DPrinting/3DPrintingArticles/ArticleID/4328/envisionTEC-Supports-Aardmans-Latest-Feature-Film.aspx, "EnvisionTEC Supports Aardman's Latest Feature Film"], Engineering.com
- ↑ Christopher Barnatt, "3D Printing", Explaining the Future
- ↑ Myriam Joire,"Texas Instruments brings sci-fi tech to life with DLP", engadget
- ↑ Kucklick, Theodore R. (December 2012). The Medical Device R & D Handbook (2nd ed.). CRC Press. pp. 158–159. ISBN 978-1-4398-1189-4.