PCU LED
1. Device description
The PCU LED (Post Curing Unit LED)
is a light polymerization device for the
curing of components which have been
created by means of 3D printing. The
following device properties are used in
the curing process:
a) LED technology
b) Electronic control
(micro-controller)
c) Logging and monitoring of the
process parameters
d) Simple control concept
e) Process reliability
f) Different curing environments
(air, vacuum, nitrogen)
g) Open system
Device properties:
a) LED technology
The advantages of the LED techno-
logy are that a permanent light of
one wavelength is emitted. The per-
manently emitted light radiation can
be captured by a standard UV sensor
and thus allows for the measurement
and the observation of the light out-
put in the exposure chamber. Further-
more, LED lamps do not produce any
heat which could cause the material
properties of the plastic component to
be cured to be negatively influenced.
Another advantage of the LED tech-
nology is that the stated operating life
of the LED lamps is approx. 20,000
hours and is accompanied by low
operating and maintenance costs.
b) Electronic control (micro-controller)
The use of a micro-controller allows for
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the control and reading of the current,
pressure and temperature sensors.
c) Logging and Monitoring
The information which is recorded by
the current, pressure and temperature
sensors represents the used process
parameters (e.g. light on/off; vacuum
on/off; nitrogen on/off). These process
parameters are recorded, saved and
transferred to a USB storage medium.
This allows for the transparent trace-
ability of the production chain of the
medical device.
d) Simple control concept
The device is operated by the removable
rotary button. The corresponding option
is selected by turning the button. The
selected option is operated by pressing.
Longer pressing opens the parent and
sub-folder menu. Another removable ele-
ment is the handle which is used to open
the lid of the exposure chamber. Both
elements can be cleaned with the appro-
priate cleaning agents after removal.
e) Process safety
To be able to guarantee a high process
liability, the control software is subdi-
vided into two levels. Level 1 is accessi-
ble to the user and process owner. Level
2 is only accessible to the process owner.
In level 1 only a predefined process can
be selected. In level 2, for example, a
process can be defined and an option
can be switched on and/or off.
f) Curing environment
The components to be cured can be
cured under different environments. The
g) Open system
environment to be set depends on the
In the PCU LED, 10 freely programmable
application and can be found in table 1.
storage spaces can be used.
Table 1: Curing environment for different uses
Environment
Use
PCU LED vacuum
Vacuum
Curing of labora-
tory products
Nitrogen
Curing of
medical devices
2. Technical data
Weight of the overall package
11.1 kg
Weight of the device
9.3 kg
Dimensions of the overall package
H 220 x W 455 x D 370 mm
Dimensions of the device
H 110 x W 389 x D 276 mm
Polymerization chamber
H 65 x W 150 x D 150 mm
Voltage
100–240 V
Nominal frequency
50–60 Hz
PCU LED nitrogen
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