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3D Systems, Inc.
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MQC SYSTEM OPERATIONS
Follow the instructions in this section to use MQC System safely . The instructions tell you how to load fresh material, blend material,
and breakout parts from the print cake .
Refer to the section,
“ProX Material Quality Control (MQC) System” on page 8
for diagrams and an overview of the MQC
System .
Refer to the section,
“MQC System User Interface” on page 16
for an overview of the user interface .
HOW THE MQC SYSTEM WORKS
The MQC System regulates the material usage for the ProX 500 . It stores and mixes fresh, blended, and recycled powder and can
supply material for one or two ProX 500 printers. Each printer sends a separate refill request to the MQC System when its feed hopper
is low .
Receiving and Storing Material
Used print material, fresh material, and blended material are received and stored in three separate bins on the MQC System:
Used bin –
receives and stores used material that has been removed from a print cake . It is reclaimed through the sifter . To feed
recycled material into the system, the Sifter Switch must be turned on during breakout .
Fresh bin –
receives and stores fresh material input by the user . The fresh material is loaded from the material containers . The
container’s tag (on top of the lid) must be scanned by the reader on the interface of the MQC System before it can be fed into the
system . For instructions on loading fresh material, refer to the section,
“Load Material from Material Container” on page 31
.
Blending and Sending Material
The MQC System automatically initiates a blend cycle when it has at least 20 kg of material . At a 50% fresh ratio, it requires 10 kg
in the fresh bin and 10 kg in the used bin .
The level settings available for fresh powder on the MQC System is material-specific. The
information is transferred to the MQC System from the material container’s tag .
A blend cycle typically takes about 20 minutes .
During the blend cycle the user should not perform any activities with the MQC System except breaking out a print
cake–but NOT using the sifter .
NOTE: A load cell under the bin and a material sensor at the top of the bin read the material weight and level . Do not
place objects on top of the bin . This will give an incorrect reading of the material weight .
BASIC OPERATIONS
Turning on the MQC System:
3D Systems designed the MQC System to remain with the power
on at all times . You seldom need to power-up the machine . If you
ever find the power off, this subsection describes how to turn on
the system .
1 . Make sure the facility power to the system is turned on .
2 . Turn on the dust collector by pressing the power switch .
3 .
On the user interface, flip the power switch to the ON position.
Power
Switch