The Kappa CTD Finishing System from Gerber Coburn

You can provide better service, control turnaround, and control quality. And that's where the newest generation of in-house equipment comes in. Never before has it been easier to not only edge in-house without specially skilled techs, but to also offer a flexibility of services to meet all the needs of your patients.

THE PRODUCTS

Many of the major retail equipment manufacturers have recently released systems or added on to existing systems with technology allowing operators to do premium and custom lens work easily.

Faceted lenses by the ME-1000 DESIGN+ from Santinelli International

GERBER COBURN's latest, the Kappa CTD Finishing System, is designed to simplify the in-house edging process while offering customized lens shapes for rimless eyewear. The system consists of the Kappa CT Tracer and Blocker, which together perform the most complicated part of the finishing process with the touch of a button.

The system's shape modifier software enables customized mounts and optimally suited lens shapes. Operators can change eye sizes without a pattern or demo lens, change with the half B or the full dimension for a better fit, and change dimensions at a single point to for a better fit or shape.

The Kappa CTD edger and drill processes all material and identifies the drilling coordinates, places the lens, and drills the holes within seconds. The Kappa CTD accommodates through and non-through holes, straight or angled notches, vertical, horizontal, or oblong.

Up to 10 combinations are allowed, including extreme diameters down to 0.8mm, allowing ECPs to deliver a multitude of mounts and customization, choose unique edge cuts, or engrave one-of-a-kind creations.

SANTINELLI INTERNATIONAL's new ME-1000 DESIGN+ multifunction edger also brings customization to the in-house finishing lab. This upgrade to the company's ME-1000 edger features lens facet and partial groove functions, enabling eyecare practitioners to expand, create, and customize rimless eyewear.

With ME-1000 DESIGN+, facet processing is applied to the lens outline, providing a "jewel-like" finish. A user-friendly touch panel provides operation of the lens facet function. Both front and rear facets are available, and the facet amount and width are easily set by the operator. A 3-D simulation of the lens is provided on the unit's touch panel, visually confirming of the result prior to actual processing.

Practica Evolution with Drill System from AIT Industries

The unit's partial grooving function can create a custom design and attractive look by applying a partial groove to the lens, which can then be colored, accentuating the contour. The groove width and depth can also be partially altered, making the groove in which the nylon cord sits barely noticeable. The system also has a tab-style LCD screen to display the unit's functions. For example, the hole function tab displays the various hole types, allowing the operator to place holes on the lens by a simple "drop and drag" function.

AIT INDUSTRIES is offering practitioners the lab equipment they want without paying for features they don't. Their latest offering, the Practica Evolution with Drill System is a combination of the Practica Evolution edger with the new CNC Opera Drill.

Together, the package provides ECPs with the flexibility to add drilling to their in-house edging without the expense of investing in all new equipment. AIT's system offers the ability to do rimless work without other complex features if the ECP isn't interested in them.

Briot USA's new Alta edger and driller

The Opera Drill is a numerical control device with an abundance of features for drilling plastic lenses for rimless eyewear. It's a stand-alone automated drill that provides CNC precision without the complex software. The drill has 3-D operations and total manual axis control, providing the ability to handle special or handcrafted jobs. The Practica Evolution system also offers 3-D patternless technology and shape modification at an economical price.

BRIOT USA has released its new Alta automatic edging and drilling system, which combines automatic edging and drilling features with customizable machine settings. The result is a user-friendly machine that edges, grooves, drills, and safety bevels all lens types automatically.

Incorporating the company's digiform technology, the system enables the operator to modify the size and shape of rimless lenses to create custom-shaped rimless eyewear. The Alta displays the image of the uncut rimless lens on the touch screen, where it can be reshaped to accommodate a patient's cosmetic and lifestyle requirements or desires.

National Optronic's 7EA and stacker

The Alta also reduces the time and skill required to process rimless len-ses, automatically identifying the exact placement of up to 10 drill holes or slots on its touch screen, where adjustments can be made eas-ily. Once in the cutting chamber, it grooves, drills, and safety bevels automatically, tilting up to 30 degrees to accommodate high base curves. The Alta performs all steps automatically: It does 5-D tracing, reads lens powers, finds the optical center, blocks, and edges all lens materials.

NATIONAL OPTRONIC's 7EA automated edging system is designed with a dedicated pick and place assembly unit for each edger. The edger's back-loading feature provides accessibility to the unit's front for maintenance and troubleshooting.

The arm uses a pneumatic cup to pick up a lens from its tray and place it it in the edger. The mechanism reverses itself when the lens is complete, removing the lens and replacing it in the tray stacker or conveyor system before repeating the cycle. 

The 7EA is also a patternless edger with drilling capability. The angle of the drill is designed to be nominally perpendicular to the front surface of a medium base lens, providing better frame fit as well as an aesthetically pleasing product.

The unit can drill up to six holes in each lens, in hole diameters or slot widths ranging from 1mm to 5mm. The edger drills accurate, clean, and chatter-free holes in plastic lenses without requiring a bit change.

In addition, the 7EA has a 15" color flat panel LCD monitor on an adjustable hinge for multi-positioning of the viewing angle. Hole placement for drilled lenses is displayed for viewing and/or making adjustments. Finally, the modular design of the unit isolates the electronics and cutter motor from the cutting chamber.