Glossary - Ioline SmarTrac I/S Series User Manual

A
Acceleration - The rate that a cutter changes the
velocity of the carriage or the material. Acceleration
is measured in units of g (1 g = 32.2 ft/s
celeration can increase throughput but may degrade
cut quality.
Arc - A segment of a circle, also called a curve.
Axis - The geometric guidelines used to place a coor-
dinate. Used to determine pen or blade paths for
cutters.
B
Blade - Refers to the carbide steel cutting tool used
by design-cutting cutters. Blades are specified by
offset (tip distance from center) and angle (relative
to material). They are designed to work with many
different materials.
Blade Bevel - Angle of the vertical cutting edge of
a blade. Larger angles help the blade travel through
thicker material that produce more drag between the
blade and the medium.
Blade Offset - The distance the blade tip trails be-
hind the center of the blade.
Blade Steering Arc - The arc followed by the center
of the blade as it rotates around the (fixed) tip. This
is used to align the blade in the direction of the next
vector so no tearing occurs.
C
Calendered - PolyVinyl Chloride (PVC) sheet-
ing squeezed between a series of heated rollers to
achieve a small enough thickness for cutting with a
cutter. Calendered film is generally thicker and less
expensive than cast vinyl, but it sometimes tends to
shrink or move back to its original thickness.
). Higher ac-
2
Cast - Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheeting formed by
spreading a molten vinyl mixture on a carrier sheet
or web, and then baking at high temperatures to re-
move solvents and fuse the remaining material into
a film. Cast film is usually thinner and more expen-
sive than calendered vinyl.
Control Panel - Panel on the right side of the ma-
chine where primary plotter functions are accessible.
Also called the Keypad.
Coordinate - A point that can be referenced by its
position on the X or Y axes of a cutter. The use of
line or arc segments to connect coordinates creates
paths for pens and knives to follow when cutting.
Contour Cut - The contour cut feature provides an
automatic registration process that, when combined
with contour cut enabled design software, will read
registration marks on a pre-printed image, send the
position data to the software, then receive an 'ad-
justed' plot file that precisely cuts around the image.
Cut Sheet - A single piece of material that is loaded
into the cutter but is not pulled from a roll.
D
DM/PL - Programming instructions language used
to connect a cutter with a computer. DM/PL is used
in the plotter drivers of some design programs.
Drive Shaft - The motor driven shaft that moves
material through a friction feed cutter. The drive
shaft has a rough surface that grips the material.
F
File Name Extensions - In MS-DOS
based programs, the three letters after the period in
a file name. In design files the three letters denote
a file type, such as the vector and bitmap based
Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) and the vector based
Hewlett Packard Graphics Language (PLT).
®

Glossary

and Windows
® ®