Jan 8, 2018 | By Tess
3D printing company Carbon has announced a new collaboration with device protection company Incase at CES 2018. Together, the companies will combine Incase’s design savvy with Carbon’s 3D printing technology to produce protective cases and skins for mobile devices.
The multi-year agreement between the two companies will essentially give Incase access to 20 of Carbon’s M2 Carbon 3D printers, which are based on the company’s innovative CLIP technology.
Known for its business-friendly bags and cases, Incase says it will exploit Carbon’s 3D printing platform—which comprises its cloud-connected M2 printer hardware, regularly updated software, and a range of materials—to design and produce more advanced protection solutions for mobile devices.
In other words, Incase will be branching into 3D printed phone cases. In fact, Carbon and Incase claim to be offering the industry’s “first 3D-manufactured protective mobile solutions designed with complex structures in new elastomers at scale.”
Carbon and Incase have identified three key areas in which 3D printing will have a critical impact in the latter’s design and production processes: technology, materials, and design.
Within the technology sphere, Incase explains that Carbon’s M2 3D printer, which uses the company’s proprietary Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology to produce highly accurate parts out of resin, can be leveraged for the manufacturing of complex structures, such as lattices, which could be integrated into mobile cases for advanced performance and strength.
In addition to being able to integrate strong lattice structures into mobile cases, 3D printing could also help produce more lightweight and durable cases, which will surely appeal to clients.
In terms of materials, the two companies say they will be working together to produce custom resins for manufacturing the phone cases, which will prioritize durability and impact-absorption. These new materials, which will be UV-curable polyurethane-based resins, will reportedly be the first of their kinds in the mobile device protection sector.
“With these materials,” reads a press release. “elaborate structures can be configured and intentionally engineered to create a semi-rigid structure and material composition to achieve unprecedented impact and drop protection.”
Finally, from a design perspective, Incase plans to integrate Carbon’s design and simulation software into its own design process. By using Carbon’s software, Incase designers are aiming to produce high-performance lattices that can provide higher functions and performance for mobile protection all while cutting back on weight.
“With Carbon, we’re rewriting the playbook on device protection, marking a new era in the mobility industry, covering every aspect of the business,” commented Andy Fathollahi, CEO of Incase.
“In addition to redefining device protection from a material level, our partnership with Carbon significantly changes the mobility space operationally, delivering benefits such as faster go-to-market strategies, on-demand supply chain simplification, reduced tooling and prototyping stages and customization opportunities for our customers,” he added. “Together, we are effectively changing the way mobile device protection will be thought of in the future.”
Phil DeSimone, Vice President of Business Development and Co-founder of Carbon, echoed the excitement, saying: “We are very excited to partner with Incase, fundamentally changing how device protection is designed, engineered, made, and delivered. The age of digital 3D manufacturing is here, and we believe this will profoundly disrupt traditional manufacturing methods used to develop device protection today.”
In addition to giving Incase access to 20 of Carbon’s M2 3D printers, the agreement will also provide Incase with the exclusive right to co-brand protective mobile products 3D printed using Carbon’s technology with the company’s name.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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