VeinViewer Flex designed using Stratasys 3D printed prototypes
VeinViewer Flex designed using Stratasys 3D printed prototypes
3D printing technology leader Stratasys has announced that Christie Digital Systems' in-house rapid prototyping centre Hyphen is using Stratasys 3D printing to test commercial digital projectors and explore new applications.
Managing Director at Hyphen Mark Barfoot revealed that both Stratasys FDM and PolyJet 3D printing technologies has allowed the product development team to concentrate on ensuring customers get the perfect design before the final mould has been produced.
He said: "The main benefit for Hyphen is that when we go to market, the product is manufactured right the first time, ensuring our customers get something that has been optimised specifically for them. We've seen a real mind-set change in our engineers. They are no longer willing to live with one prototype and hope it works, but instead are now iterating daily to ensure they get the optimum design.
"With an in-house environmental testing facility, Hyphen puts its 3D printed prototypes through the paces including testing with extreme heat and vibration, enabling the identification of potential field failures or other issues early in the product development cycle.
"The Stratasys FDM process creates functional prototypes that have high heat deflection temperatures and exceptional chemical and solvent resistance, which is essential for us, as some projectors need products that must withstand very high temperatures. The materials are an exact match of the final product, so whether we are doing vibration or drop-testing, EMI, or thermal, they will behave very similar to the final injection molded parts."
For more rubber-like 3D printing materials, the company turned to Stratasys' PolyJet-based Connex multi-material 3D printing technology, which enabled Hyphen to combine rigid and flexible material.
Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing at Stratasys, stated: "We are seeing more and more companies combining PolyJet and FDM 3D printed parts in the same products – enabling true functional realism during the design phase.
"By producing working prototypes that can be tested in extreme conditons, manufacturers can more easily evaluate product features and continue to make iterative changes until the optimal design is achieved."
For the medical sector, Hyphen used both FDM and PolyJet 3D printing technologies to develop a prototype for the VeinViewer® product, an innovative device that utilises near-infrared light to detect subcutaneous blood and instantly projects a real-time image of the patient's veins directly onto the surface of the skin. The VeinViewer imaging system is designed to help improve peripheral vascular access and is currently being used in facilities in over 40 countries around the world.
Barfoot said: "Having the ability to introduce both technologies into the additive manufacturing process was critical to perfecting the design and functionality of this product.
"Using the PolyJet system allowed us to trial the product using rubber overmolding and achieve a smooth surface finish, which gave us an accurate prototype to test with nurses early on in the process. With the FDM technology we were able to build functional parts, allowing us to conduct drop tests well before we got to tooling."
