Contex launches 3D printers

Contex today unveiled its first line of 3D printers, enabling organizations to quickly and affordably create physical 3D models in office environments.

Contex demonstrated the new products at EuroMold 2005, the 12th annual world trade fair for moldmaking and tooling, design and application development. The event takes place today through Saturday at the Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Exhibition Centre.

Just as conventional desktop printers emit hard copies of documents, 3D Printers build physical models of real-world objects, such as engine parts, buildings, and landscapes. Engineers use these physical representations of electronic design concepts to communicate more effectively with customers, partners, and suppliers. Applications include concept models, presentation models, functional testing, Finite Element Analysis, sales presentations, and market research on style, color, and packaging options. 3D printing is widely used in engineering markets including computer-aided design (CAD); geographic information systems (GIS); and architecture, engineering and construction (AEC).

"We're making 3D printing as easy and accessible to engineers as 2D printing," said Thomas Weldingh, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing, Contex. "Contex 3D printers are the world's fastest and most affordable, and our full-color capabilities are one-of-a-kind. 3D printing is for highly competitive companies that want 3D models in-house and on demand. This expanding market is a natural for Contex, which today becomes a global leader in color scanning and 3D printing solutions for engineering markets."

The value-priced Contex DESIGNmate Mx, whose 300x450 dpi resolution is the highest in its price class, creates physical models directly from digital data in hours instead of days. It is fast, versatile, and simple to use, allowing engineers to produce concept models and functional test parts inexpensively. The monochrome DESIGNmate Mx's straightforward user interface and affordable price make it the ideal entry-level prototyping system for office environments and educational institutions.

The top-of-the-line Contex DESIGNmate Cx produces high-definition (600 x 540 dpi), full-color 3D models quickly and affordably, eliminating the traditional weeklong waiting period for custom-fabricated prototypes. Superior inkjet printing technology creates parts with crisply defined features, enhanced accuracy, and precise 24-bit color, so engineers can evaluate accurate models of design concepts in their nearly finished state. Users can leverage color capabilities to highlight and annotate physical models just as they would with a 2D drawing.