hello,

i ran across an article today and see a possible application for what it
describes for reproduction of braille material via a fax machine or using a
fax machine as a local printer.  if a braille translation program was used
to print regular ink dots on paper rather then physically scribe them, the
process described below could produce braille as oupput, absent physical
punching of paper.  remember you saw it here first and i claim all patent
rights for it's application for braille reproduction.  (grin)

here is the article:

        What kind of fax machine makes 3-dimensional objects?

----------------------------------------------------------------------A
normal fax machine receives a coded message over the phone and
translates it into a pattern of black and white dots on a page of
paper.  But there's a kind of fax machine that builds a three-
dimensional object instead of a picture on paper.

Charles Hull invented the process, called stereolithography or solid
imaging, in 1984.  More than just a 3-D fax machine, it's a whole new
way of making things.  Descriptions of objects are stored as computer
data files, which can be given physical form in a solid imaging
machine.

A solid imaging machine creates an object by scanning a light beam
across the surface of a liquid.  The liquid solidifies wherever the
light touches it.  The newly created solid is lowered slightly, and
another scan adds another layer of solid material.  An object of
almost any shape can be created.

More about stereolithography:

http://www.aaroflex.com/stereo.htm

http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/~kbhiggin/VDF/SLA.html

Description and diagram of a solid imaging machine:
http://www.cs.hut.fi/~ado/rp/subsection3_6_1.html

Why is it so important?

http://reality.sculptors.com/stereolithography.html




"Nothing needs so reforming as other people's habits." -- Mark Twain


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