About JP System 5

JP5 is an inexpensive rapid prototyping system that is used commercially and in a large number of engineering universities. It is a patented product of Schroff Development Corporation and was developed in partnership with the University of Utah.

Models may be designed in the SilverScreen Solid Modeler, or in any CAD package that is capable of exporting a stereolithography (STL) file. If the model is designed outside of SilverScreen (e.g., Pro-Engineer or AutoCAD), it may be imported to JP5 via an STL file.

The prototypes are made of slices of paper that are cut with a cutter/plotter. The slices are organized by JP5 and then assembled using a registration board that allows slices to be aligned precisely.

How SilverScreen is Used

The file import command is used to import STL files into SilverScreen's drawing database. The model is rotated scaled and positioned with SilverScreen geometry commands. The slices are constructed through access to SilverScreen's internal drawing database.

To prepare the prototype for cutting, the user must first organize the slices into sections. JP5 takes advantage of SilverScreen's ability to display several windows simultaneously. By displaying sections in separate windows, the user to able to easily indicate how he wishes to move slices from one section to another.

The paper is cut by plotting to scale. Printing to scale is a standard SilverScreen command.