CAD/CAM Software Features Enhancements For Mold Designers

VX corporation has added a number of enhancments to the latest version of its software, VX CAD/CAM Version 12. These include improvements to features such as light-source rendering; raster-to-vector conversion; surface analysis; assembly modeling; drawing layout; and extended capabilities of the integrated two- to five-axis CAM. A design-centric, parametric mold library includes virtually all common mold-tool components and cooling channels. The software also includes improved parting-line gap checking and an electrode-design wizard for 3D definition and 2D layout of electrodes. A toolbar with texture mapping supports many common image formats and enables designers to map external image files as textures on 2D or 3D surfaces. In addition, designers can import pictures and convert them to sketch geometry with an image-to-geometry translator. When engraving solids and surfaces, users can apply face inlay based on any wireframe geometry. The software also supports 360-degree surfaces for reverse engineering, and users can trim or divide point clouds to planes or surfaces. Five-axis CAM enhancements include an isocut tool path and added side-cut depth for the swarfcut operation. Three-axis CAM features include link/leadin/leadout for the Mill3 feature, spiral and wave support for the quickmilling feature; dynamic shoulder and shank collision checking with automatic toolpath correction; and more engraving options. The two-axis suite of tool paths includes rest milling and direct 3D curve machining.