Delcam to focus on mould design and inspection at Die-Mold Korea
Delcam will demonstrate the latest developments in its software for mould design and inspection at the Die-Mold Korea exhibition to be held in Seoul from 14 th to 18 th April . Recent enhancements in both the PS-Moldmaker design software and the PowerINSPECT inspection system will allow users to benefit from even greater improvements in productivity, cost-effectiveness and delivery times.
PS-Moldmaker enables designers of injection mould tools to move from processes based on traditional two-dimensional drawings to new methods based completely on three-dimensional computer models. Moving to this new approach offers significant opportunities to eliminate mistakes during both design and manufacture. Realistic representations of the individual components and computer simulations of the mould’s operation help ensure that the mould will operate as expected. At the same time, the automation of routine and repetitive operations minimises calculation errors, while computer models are less prone to errors in dimensions and positions than drawings.
|
Furthermore, the built-in intelligence within PS-Moldmaker can make the design process both faster and more efficient. It allows the software to recommend, at every stage, suitable standard component sizes from the catalogues of a range of manufacturers. This automated approach is much faster than searching catalogues manually and ensures that non-standard components are only used when absolutely necessary.
Once the design has been finalised, direct links from PS-Moldmaker to Delcam’s PowerMILL CAM software ensure highly reliable machining of both holes and pockets. Company-specific templates can be established to provide automated feature-based machining that takes full account of the machine tools available and the preferred manufacturing methods.
The latest version of PowerINSPECT can be used for On-Machine Verification as well as for inspection on conventional measuring equipment. It allows off-line programming of the inspection sequence, with fully-integrated simulation, and so minimises the time taken on the machine for the verification operation.
The OMV version of the software offers all the advantages associated with the existing releases of PowerINSPECT for use on dedicated inspection equipment. It gives both quick and easy comparison of tooling and sample components against CAD data, and produces clear, comprehensive reports that can be understood by everyone involved in the product development process, not just inspection specialists.
The most obvious benefit of on-machine verification is for those companies that do not have existing inspection capabilities. Most modern machine tools either come with, or can be retrofitted with, probing capabilities to assist in the set-up of the job. With the OMV version of PowerINSPECT, this same equipment can now be used for verification at little extra cost.
On-machine verification can give huge time savings by enabling the quality of the component being machined to be monitored at all stages in the manufacturing process. This will allow any errors to be detected earlier, and so corrected more quickly and at lower cost. Similarly, the extent of any damage caused, for example, by a tool breakage, can be assessed accurately and a decision made immediately to determine whether the part can still be completed within tolerance or whether it will have to be scrapped.
For further information please contact: