Support and method for additive fabrication of foot orthotics

• US 10,668,682 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2015
• Issued: 06/02/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shaoxing Ou Ai Di Medical Technology Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Shaoxing Ou Ai Di Medical Technology Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Li, Yong
• Primary Examiner(s): Minskey, Jacob T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Darnell, Baileigh Kate
• Application Number:
  US15/519,082
• Publication Number:
  US 20170252981A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,701 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 7/141 having an anatomical or curved form
• CPC Class Codes: A43D 1/025 comprising optical means, e.g. mirrors, photo-electric cells, for measuring or inspecting feet
• CPC Class Codes: A43D 2200/60 Computer aided manufacture of footwear, e.g. CAD or CAM
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/0111 for the feet or ankles
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/14 Special medical insertions for shoes for flat-feet, club-feet or the like
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 10/12 by photopolymerisation, e.g. stereolithography [SLA] or digital light processing [DLP]
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 10/18 by mixing binder with metal in filament form, e.g. fused filament fabrication [FFF]
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 10/28 Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM]
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 10/30 Process control
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 10/47 characterised by structural features
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/112 using individual droplets, e.g. from jetting heads
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/386 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/40 Structures for supporting 3D objects during manufacture and intended to be sacrificed after completion thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 35/12 Producing parts thereof, e.g. soles, heels, uppers, by a moulding technique
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/50 Footwear, e.g. shoes or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 10/00 Processes of additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/00 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2119/18 Manufacturability analysis or optimisation for manufacturability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 : Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 10/25 : Process efficiency

Abstract

A method for additive fabrication of foot orthotics comprises printing, in successive layers, a side support; and printing, in successive layers, a foot orthotics on the side support, wherein the foot orthotics comprises a side edge printed directly on top of the side support, and is supported on and connected to the side support through the side edge. A controller for controlling operation of an additive fabrication device comprises a processor and a memory. The memory stores thereon processor-executable-code, the code when executed by the processor, causes the additive fabrication device to print foot orthotics according to the above method. A method is also provided to construct a data structure for additive fabrication of foot orthotics according to the above. A computer comprising a processor and a memory is provided for constructing such a data structure.

Claims

1. A method for additive fabrication of foot orthotics, comprising:

printing, in successive layers, a side support; and

printing, in successive layers, a foot orthotics on the side support, wherein the foot orthotics comprises a top surface shaped to support a foot, a bottom surface opposite to the top surface, lateral side, a medial side, wherein the medial side comprises a side edge printed directly on top of the side support, and wherein the foot orthotics is supported only at the said edge of the medial side and is connected to the side support through the side edge,

wherein the side support comprises a base plate and a vertical wall formed on the base plate, the vertical wall being continuous and having a thickness of 0.2 mm to 10 mm and a length of 50 mm to 300 mm,

wherein the base plate comprises an elongated central section having a first width, and widened end sections having a second width wider than the first width for stabilizing the side support.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the vertical wall is thinner than a thickness of the side edge of the foot orthotics.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each one of the end sections is T-shaped, or generally circular-shaped.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the side support is in continuous contact with the side edge.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the side support and the foot orthotics are printed with a same material.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein successive layers are printed bottom-up.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing comprises depositing a print material layer-by-layer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the side edge of the foot orthotics faces downward and the side support is directly below the side edge.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the printing comprises fused deposition modeling.

10. A controller for controlling operation of an additive fabrication device, the controller comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing thereon processor-executable-code, the code when executed by the processor, causes the additive fabrication device to:

print, in successive layers, a side support; and

print, in successive layers, a foot orthotics on the side support, wherein the foot orthotics comprises a top surface shaped to support a foot, a bottom surface opposite to the top surface, a lateral side, and a medial side, wherein the medial side comprises a side edge printed directly on top of the side support, and wherein the foot orthotics is supported only at the side edge of the medial side and is connected to the side support through the side edge,

wherein the side support comprises a base plate and a vertical wall formed on the base plate, the vertical wall being continuous and having a thickness of 0.2 mm to 10 mm and a length of 50 mm to 300 mm,

wherein the base plate comprises an elongated central section having a first width, and widened end sections having a second width wider than the first width for stabilizing the side support.

11. The controller of claim 10, wherein the additive fabrication device comprises a three-dimensional printer.

12. A method of constructing a data structure for additive fabrication of foot orthotics, comprising:

obtaining a data structure comprising data representing a foot orthotics, the foot orthotics comprising an orthotic top surface, an opposite bottom surface, a lateral side, and a medial side, wherein the medial side has a side edge extending from the orthotic top surface to the bottom surface; and

adding to the data structure additional data representing a side support connected to the foot orthotics only at the side edge of the medial side for supporting the foot orthotics through the side edge of the medial side during additive fabrication of the foot orthotics based on the data structure,

wherein the side support comprises a base plate and a vertical wall formed on the base plate, the vertical wall being continuous and having a thickness of 0.2 mm to 10 mm and a length of 50 mm to 300 mm,

wherein the base plate comprises an elongated central section having a first width, and widened end sections having a second width wider than the first width for stabilizing the side support.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the adding comprises automatically adding the additional data to the data structure.