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Presenter(s)
Peter Duran
Dimensional Printer Corporation
110 Commerce Drive, Suite 210
Fayetteville, GA 30214
Tel: 770-716-9222
Fax: 770-716-9599
E-mail: pduran@dimensionalprinter.com
Dimensional Printer Corporation (DPC) has developed a 3-Dimensional Printer (DP) using UV inks that can render text and graphics as crisp, textured, durable tactile images. Moreover, concurrent print, Braille, and raised tactile image production is available. This commercial product will replace today's antiquated tactile graphics production methods.
Current tactile graphic production methods are labor intensive, often complicated to employ, and, most importantly, fail to render graphic images (i.e. software icons, company logos, and graphs of equations) accurately and completely. Current methods have numerous inherent problems: very low resolution tactile images, fuzzy tactile images, multiple production steps, and flimsy tactile images not capable of duplication. Moreover, they employ nonstandard technology which causes severe maintenance problems and increased costs. Taken together, these factors severely limit the amount and quality of tactile graphics that are readily available to students and professionals.
CONSUMER NEEDS
The use of graphics adds to the clarity and usability of information. The rapid proliferation of internet, multimedia, and electronic books have resulted in substantial reliance on visually complex graphics. Very often images, figures, or layouts are used to complement textual information, which by itself will otherwise remain unclear and incomplete to the ordinary reader. Graphical information is extensively used for participation in education, employment, and community activities. Students rely on maps and pictures to enhance their learning of history and geography, while access to graphics depicted electronically is key for people in their workplaces. Graphical information from maps and architectural layout are commonly used as navigation tools in the community. People with visual impairments in general are deprived of the richness and comprehensiveness of information that is available to the general public with a click of a mouse. The visual nature of graphics presents a significant problem to individuals with low vision and blindness. There is a high priority need for a technology that provides a simple but efficient means of access to graphics.
PRINTER CONCEPT
DPC has developed a 3-D UV ink based Dimensional Printer not only benefiting people with visual impairments, but also taking into account its universal applicability. The DP employs a specialized UV ink that can be jetted multiple times to create a raised or textured print surface. This ability can extend print into a third dimension and give print significant depth, realism and appeal presently unattainable by any other print method. The DP under computer control can jet fluids of various kinds onto a surface to form raised or textured characters, designs or images in three dimensions. This printer provides persons with visual impairments direct tactile access to graphical information. The DP will further the concept of multi-modal learning in children by involving and necessitating use of multiple senses such as vision, touch and kinesthesia. The combination of proprietary UV ink and UV light system offers lower cost in a compact, energy efficient, and low heat generating device.
Among the several significant applications of the DP, a few are immediately addressable and others will emerge as the technology matures. Most inkjet printers currently employ inks that need to be dried. In this process, they loose about 90% of their original volume via evaporation. Current methods used in inkjet printers also leave very little material deposited on the substrate (i.e. paper, plastic, metal, etc). Consequently, current inkjet printers are unable to form durable raised or textured print and graphics. However, our proprietary UV-curable inks retain most of their original volume as the ink is cross-linked into a plastic resin by the catalytic energy of the UV light used to cure the ink; therefore, UV-curable inks can form successive durable layers to render 3 dimensional shapes. This represents a fundamental innovation in printer technology.
DIMENSIONAL PRINTER FEATURES
DPC's technology makes it possible to print and braille on the same medium (paper, plastic, metal) concurrently. This ability makes it possible to : produce print/braille labels in a single pass; overlay "clear" braille on print text; create tactile graphics with textures and various depths; and create master templates for reproduction.
A 600 dot resolution allows for smooth, continuous tactile shapes, diagrams, and pictures. This high resolution permits production of hitherto impossible tactile graphics - with variable width lines, variable height images, and tactile elements which feel different.
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