Integrated CAD/CAM At Its Best 

The new tolerancing functions in GOelan 2008 represent a very important improvement in this new version. The main interest for the operator is to be able to tolerance geometric, 2D and solid parts and to take these tolerances into account when machining.

Every company has to program parts that are not designed at the average dimension. Thanks to GOelan you can modify a dimension by changing it to the nominal dimension as can be seen in the example. The dimension read on the solid part is 35mm but your customer's plan indicates 35H7. GOelan offers many solutions in this case including the possibility of using the average dimension, which in this case is 35.013mm. Normally solid models do not work with the real tolerances of the part. GOelan enables you to apply these dimensions on the plan provided by your customer.

Topology :
GOelan 2008 gives you the ability to define tolerances, but on top of that it also enables you to modify incorrect dimensions of a mechanical part. In this example the thickness of the thin wall is 6mm despite the design error in the solid. All you have to do is change the value of the dimension to correctly position the pocket, the length of the dimension of 27mm being respected. Of course, the subsequent machining will be carried out on the profile created and not on the solid.

It is clear that the example used is somewhat exaggerated but in reality smaller modifications are often necessary and GOelan 2008 allows this.

Missler Software, developer of TopSolid'Wood, the integrated CAD/CAM software for the woodworking industry, has recently announced the generation of post-processors for Biesse machines, a leading manufacturer of CNC machinery for the furniture and carpentry industry.

TopSolid'Wood is an integrated design, manufacturing and management (CAD/CAM/PDM) software specialized for wood processing. TopSolid'Wood outputs to the CNC plant floor through TopSolid'WoodCam, an integrated CAM solution which automatically produces the ISO code, via a post processor, to manufacture parts on CNC machinery. TopSolid'Wood offers unique and complete simulation of the machine tool which is vital to verify complex 5 axis tool paths.

TopSolid'WoodCam outputs to the Biesse Rover series CNC machines and can manage all machining operations from 2 ½ D, 3D, 4 and 5 axis. Many software functions exist to optimise machining operations with Biesse machines: automatic positioning of parts, assemblies and nested parts; topological analysis which permits the choice of the optimum machining operation; automatic creation of tool paths in profiling, grooving, surfacing from 2½ D to 5 axes and customization of machining strategies by the generation of re-usable processes for greater automation of operations.

According to Dominique Laffret, Vice-President of Strategic Relationships at Missler Software: “We are very happy to collaborate with Biesse. Missler Software's strategy is to work closely with machine tool manufacturers to ensure that our post-processor development is in line with machine developments. TopSolid'Wood is a completely integrated CAD/CAM solution so we need to keep abreast of all machine innovations to ensure that our software is up to date. Biesse is a leading manufacturer of machines for the wood industry on a worldwide scale and we have many customers using Biesse machines.”

On one level Missler Software provides an interface to Biesse's shop floor CAM solution BiesseWorks. For more complex machining TopSolid'WoodCam can directly drive Biesse machines. With top-class Biesse machines, Missler Software will provide to customers a CAD/CAM solution to drive these machines.

Missler Software and its European resellers work closely with Biesse in Europe. TopSolid'Wood was on demonstration at the Biesse booth at Ligna in May '07, Expobois earlier this month and displayed at the BiesseInside in Biesse S.p.A Headquarter in October (Biesseinside, 10-13 October, Pesaro). Close collaboration also exists between Missler Software and Biesse America – TopSolid'Wood is demonstrated on the various One2One Biesse open days and on the Biesse booth at the AWFS wood trade fair which took place in Las Vegas in July 2007.

Missler Software has just recently launched the 2008 version of its TopSolid CAD/CAM software range. Many new time-saving functions have been added to TopSolid'Mold 2008 which you can discover on the MoldMaking fair, booth 310.

TopSolid'Mold is a dedicated mold design software offering complete CAM integration with TopSolid'Cam. (Including the standard design elements and machining processes involved in the mold making industry.) TopSolid'Mold enables calculation of the shrinkage factor, analysis of undercuts, calculation of the parting line and surface of the joint, automatic creation and definition of the core block and cavity, implementation of the standard carcass, systems of injection and ejection and analysis of the cooling system.

Here are some of the main improvements in the 2008 version:

• Parting line creation assistance: Supervise separation of parting lines
• Split in 2 shells
• Visualisation of critical zones during the parting line separation
• Improved components:
• TopSolid'Mold 2008 offers the possibility to manage components by grouping them in a « favourites » or bookmark document which enables a quicker insertion of TopSolid'Design components
• Availability of new components – such as the Polimold and Totalmatrix libraries
• Update existing libraries such as Meusburger, DME and Rabourdin
• Components server – Standard components which are driven by numerical control can now be inserted by a server. TopSolid'Mold 2008 can now manage all identical TopSolid'Design components in such a way that file size and time are reduced to a minimum. Thanks to the components server the geometry is calculated only once which permits important gains on several levels:
  • Quicker assembly updates
• Reduce memory consumption
• Smaller file sizes thanks to better mold component management
• Improved management of mold data:
• Availability of the associative rough
• Generation of dedicated sub-assembles : machined elements, bolts and screws, ejector pins, … to manager and exploit more quickly 3D mold data
• Easy use of industry BOMs using these function

• Management of mold design with several versions: This important improvement consists of several new functions which can quickly and efficiently manage different versions of a mold design This enables more than 1 designer to work on a version which is later integrated in the final mold design.
• Rheological analysis and technological integration with Moldflow – Once your plastic part has been designed in TopSolid'Mold 2008 you can transfer the 3D date to Moldflow Plastics Advisers (MPA). The great advantage of plastic simulation software during the early stages of your plastic mold design is the possibility to quickly detect the manufacturing feasibility of your mold.
• TopSolid'Mold 2008 includes a direct link to Ansys to carry out the structural analysis necessary to validate the part.

The US TopSolid 2008 user conference has just taken place earlier this month in Chicago. Organised by the TopSolid VAR, Clear Cut Solutions, the conference enabled TopSolid customers in the USA to see and learn more about TopSolid 2008.

The user conference also gave a number of TopSolid customers the opportunity to present their activities to those present. One such company was the TopSolid customer Dramco Tool and Die Co. based in Nebraska. Dramco Tool and Die has been a TopSolid customer for 5 years and is equipped with TopSolid'Design, TopSolid'Mold and TopSolid'Progress. Important time gains (In the region of 65%) in mold design has meant that this company is indeed a very happy TopSolid customer. The fact that design and engineering changes are associated between all documents thus making incorporating changes much faster and less error prone has been an important strong point of TopSolid for Dramco Tool and Die.

Missler Software Brazil is currently in the process of opening its second office in Joinville, in the state of Santa Catarina. Missler Software Brazil, established at the end of 2006, has its main office in Sao Paolo and has 14 employees. The opening of the new sales and technical office is Joinville is yet another sign of the growing success of TopSolid in the Brazilian market.

According to Glauber Longo, Managing Director of Missler Software Brazil "I have been selling TopSolid into the Brazilian market since 2002. Our efforts are going from strength to strength as TopSolid is really a very unique CAD/CAM solution for Brazil . It is the only fully integrated CAD/CAM solution on our market. The decision to establish an office in Joinville is due to the fact that we have a tremendous market between the axis of São Paulo, Curitiba in the state of Paraná to Joinville in the state of Santa Catarina. With technical and sales structures located in Joinville and São Paulo, together with our commercial structure opened in Curitiba, we believe we will be able to better respond to customer needs."

In close collaboration with its customers, Karl Klausmann GmbH develops and produces injection molds, cutting tools and tools for special purposes. TopSolid from Missler Software play a vital role in the company's success.

TopSolid'Design and TopSolid'Mold are used for the 3D modelling of the tools and injection molds, and TopSolid'Mold comes complete with a host of automatisms and functions for free-form surface modelling, making it the perfect tool for form modelling. TopSolid'Cam is used for the programming, and the corresponding post-processor is used for the NC-code generation of the milling stations. The company also uses the TopSolid'Wire application and its post-processor for wire erosion.

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You are a TopSolid operator and you would like some tips on what your software is capable of doing. Each newsletter will include a highlight of the month accompanied by a video of a TopSolid module.
This month let's take a look at a new tip for TopSolid'Design.

Video commentary

How to easly transform an arc in a sketch:

• Create the sketch
• Destroy the line
• Add an alignment constraint and dimension to completely constrain the sketch
• Create a tangent arc
• Move the extremity points of the existing arcs
• Close the sketch

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All Missler Software and reseller trade fairs will be published here each month and can also be found on http://www.topsolid.com/news/shows/showslist.asp