copam

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

The copam cp2500 debuted about the same time as the usb port and support started with windows - I was amazed to find it is now a 17 year old design - still a decent cutter today.  how many other products have lasted on the market that long!  I doubt too many value cutters will be on the market that long - hats off to the copam

[slice&dice 2,450]

"How many other products have lasted on the market that long?!"

 

As my wife is fond of reminding me -  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 

The basic design of our cutting/plotter machines was developed in the late-1950's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotter

 

 

A number of printer control languages were created to operate pen plotters, and transmit commands like "lift pen from paper", "place pen on paper", or "draw a line from here to here". Three common ASCII-based plotter control languages are Hewlett-Packard's HP-GL, its successor HP-GL/2 and Houston Instruments DMPL. Here is a simple HP-GL script drawing a line :
SP1;
PA500,500;
PD;
PR0,1000;
PU;
SP;

This program instructs the plotter, in order, to take the first pen, to go to coordinates X=500, Y=500 on the paper sheet, to lower the pen against the paper, to move 1000 units in the Y direction (thus drawing a vertical line), to lift the pen and finally to put it back in its stall.

 

Calcomp 565 was one of the early units, and used a feed system with sprocket-rollers (that's why you get perforated-edge rolls even today)

In the 1980s, the small and lightweight HP 7470 introduced the "grit wheel" mechanism that we're familiar with on our cutters.

[Coaster36 327]

yeah what slice said!