Universal translator provides opportunity for quick turnaround operation

Modern Machine Shop, July, 1991

Universal Translator Provides Opportunity For Quick Turnaround Operation

As a supplier of injection molds used to produce lenses, lens housings, grilles and bezels for major North American and international automobile manufacturers, Hallmark Tools depends on being able to access their customers' computer-aided design (CAD) databases to receive the part surface and geometry needed to build the molds.

Many of the Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) files Hallmark receives at its Windsor, Ontario location are large and contain excessive information not necessarily required to cut the part. Hallmark requests all this information be included so they may make the decision as to what is and what is not required for machining.

However, large complicated files were beginning to prove difficult for their system to read using their current multiple translators. Approximately 25 percent of the incoming data they processed presented some problem or another.

For this and other reasons, Hallmark began looking for a universal translator that could "speak" multiple languages. After testing a variety of IGES conversion software, the company discovered Multi-CAD from Xysys, Inc., 315 E. Eisenhower Pkwy., Suite 7, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.

Multi-CAD has IGES in and out translation capabilities relevant to many major CAD systems. The system was designed around the specifications of a variety of systems for complete compatibility. According to Hallmark, 100 percent of the IGES files that arrive at the company are now viewed within minutes because of the speed and strength of Multi-CAD.

This system contains specially tailored IGES converters for all of the leading CAD systems. It also supports the five different types of splines which are used by popular mainframe CAD systems--linear, quadratic or parabolic, Bezier, Hermite and B-spline--and will convert from one to another when required during a translation. In addition, Multi-CAD supports both the picture and the layer concepts of organizing geometric data.

One example of the benefits Hallmark has encountered was the ability of the system to read Ford Standard Tape files. To obtain surface information from their CAD system, the company receives "Standard Tape" files or native PDGS format, which Multi-CAD reads and passes along to the CAD system. Prior to using Multi-CAD, data sent by the CAD system was limited to IGES wireframe files. Multi-CAD can read the files from each of the automotive CAD systems as well as the Ford Standard Tape files and convert them to the Cimatron format in about 20 minutes. The system also includes a powerful CAD package which Hallmark uses to simplify and validate the surfaces. An example is the conversion of a plane made up of 50 flat patches into a single patch constituting the entire surface of the plane. The validation process consists of taking section cuts and comparing them with the models made from the original CAD data.

Hallmark feels that, because very few of their competitors have these capabilities, a profitable new line of work has opened to them. All in all, the software package has saved a tremendous amount of time and expanded the company's capabilities by giving them confidence to handle any type of file.

PHOTO : The conversion capabilities of Multi-CAD have given Hallmark Tool the confidence to translate any type of major CAD format for their needs.