Phoenix, Arizona USA, August 16, 2002 - TLC International, home of the TLC Phoenix-600^® High-Accuracy Mechanical Rectilinear/SHAPES Glass Cutter, streamlines the new age of singulating laminated glass panels into curvilinear precision parts. New technology -- or is it old? Each year, as new products and concepts come to light, if we look deep enough, we can find the roots in our past. This, too, is the case with the fast growing industry of shaped displays. They first emerged about eight years ago, but quickly lost favor because there was no equipment available at that time that could easily cut the required tolerances and/or, when necessary, align to targets. When TLC first started its design of the TLC Phoenix-600^® , this was a major part of the thought process that went into their new, innovative glass cutting machine. Now, with the second generation of the TLC Phoenix-600^®  on the market, even more improvements have been made to further the ease of aligning and cutting shaped - as well as standard X-Y - displays.

Regardless of orthogonal placement of a laminate on the stage, alignment of all targeted panels has been simplified by the use of TLC's proprietary in-head camera system that seeks targets and relays the information to the computer that generates the cutting pattern to the head. Once a substrate is placed on the stage, (even if crooked), no further adjustment is necessary until the cutting process has been completed and the panel is removed. TLC's stationary (non-rotating) stage increases reliability of maintained flatness on the scribe surface. All rotation is accomplished with the uniquely designed computer-controlled cutting head with encoder feedback. With calibrated wheel placement accuracy, the TLC Phoenix-600^®  provides repeatable exactness, maximum throughput performance, clean afterbreak edge quality, and high yields for all thin, flat glass applications.

TLC's initial design was destined to be the - Shape of the future.- Truly, it has taken the lead position in accomplishing what flat panel display customers requested (and desperately needed) years ago - a quick and easy shapes and X-Y close tolerance cutter, simple-to-operate and economically competitive with other precision glass cutters available in the world today.

See the TLC Phoenix-600^®  demonstrated at electronicAsia/World of Display Technology 2002 in Hong Kong October 11-14 (Booth 7G08).