MODELING DATA CREATING SYSTEM, MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND MODELING DATA CREATING PROGRAM

• US 20100042241A1
• Filed: 10/10/2007
• Published: 02/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shofu Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Shofu Incorporated
• Inventors: Inoue, Tomoyuki
• Granted Patent: US 8,209,044 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/97
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/0004 Computer-assisted sizing or machining of dental prostheses
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 5/77 Methods or devices for making crowns
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/153 using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/40 Structures for supporting 3D objects during manufacture and intended to be sacrificed after completion thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/00 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/02 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

A modeling data creating system comprises: a correction unit that corrects structure data expressing the form of a desired structure based on change amount data; a contour generation unit that generates contour data expressing the contour of a support member for supporting the structure on a modeling table, based on the structure data; a support member generation unit that generates support member data expressing the form of multiple column bodies within the contour expressed by the contour data; and a cross-section generation unit that generates cross-sectional data expressing the cross-sectional shape of each of multiple planes approximately parallel to the modeling table, the planes making up a model configured of the support member expressed by the support member data and the structure expressed by the structure data. Through this, the modeling data creating system suppresses a difference in the model that is to be formed and the modeling data expressing the form of the model.

Claims

1. A modeling data creating system that creates modeling data expressing the form of a structure, the modeling data being used by a layered modeling apparatus that layers, upon a base plane, modeling layers that have been at least partially shaped through light irradiation or saturation of a binder liquid, the shaped parts forming the model, and the system comprising:

a structure data input unit that inputs structure data expressing the form of a desired structure;

a composition data recording unit that records composition data expressing the composition of a material used in the model formed by the layered modeling apparatus;

a change amount data recording unit that records a composition of a material that may be used in the model in association with change amount data indicating the amount of change that material will undergo due to drying, polymerization, or sintering;

a correction unit that obtains the change amount data indicating the amount of change corresponding to the composition of the material indicated in the composition data from the change amount data, and based on the obtained change amount data, corrects the structure data so that the model formed using the structure data resembles the form of the desired structure after the change caused by drying, polymerization, or sintering;

a contour generation unit that uses the structure data to generate contour data expressing the contour of a space between the structure and a projection plane in which the structure is positioned above the base plane and the positioned structure is projected vertically onto the base plane;

a support member generation unit that generates support member data expressing the form of a support member that is formed so as to approximately fill the entirety of the space and support the structure; and

a cross-section generation unit that generates cross-sectional data expressing the cross-sectional shape of each of multiple planes approximately parallel to the base plane, based on the structure data, the support member data, and the contour data.

2. The modeling data creation system according to claim 1, wherein in the case where the desired structure is to be attached to another object, the structure data input unit further inputs relationship data indicating the relative positional relationship between the object and the structure;

and

the system further comprises a supplementary form data generation unit that generates supplementary form data expressing a member for fixing the positional relationship between the object and the structure based on the relationship data, and adds the supplementary form data to the structure data.

3. The modeling data creating system according to claim 1, wherein the supplementary form data generation unit generates data expressing plate bodies or column bodies provided between the object and the structure as the supplementary form data, and generates the supplementary form data by finding the cross-sectional surface area of the plate bodies or column bodies using the composition data recorded in the composition data recording unit.

4. The modeling data creating system according to claim 2, wherein the supplementary form data generation unit generates the supplementary form data by calculating, using the structure data and the relationship data, the surface area of the portion where the member makes contact with the object so that the surface area is sufficient for fixing the positional relationship and sufficient for keeping the adhesive strength between the structure and the object above a predetermined value.

5. The modeling data creating system according to claim 2, wherein the supplementary form data generation unit generates supplementary form data expressing a member, formed from multiple plate bodies or column bodies, that is added to the surface of the structure indicated by the structure data that is attached to the object, that has a thickness equivalent to a desired space provided between the structure and the object, and whose surface that makes contact with the object is the same form as the form of the corresponding portion of the object.

6. The modeling data creating system according to claim 2, wherein the supplementary form data generation unit generates supplementary form data expressing a member formed from multiple plate bodies or column bodies extending in the normal direction in the portion of the structure that makes contact with the member.

7. The modeling data creating system according to claim 1, wherein the contour generation unit determines the positioning of the corrected structure based on the volume of a space formed between the corrected structure data corrected by the correction unit and the base plane, and generates contour data expressing the contour of the space formed between the corrected structure data and the base plane.

8. The modeling data creating system according to claim 1, where the support member data expresses a support member formed from multiple plate bodies or column bodies provided vertically relative to the base plane.

9. The modeling data creating system according to claim 8, wherein the support member data expresses a support member in which the horizontal thickness of the plate bodies or column bodies is, in the portion that makes contact with the structure, smaller than in the other portions.

10. The modeling data creating system according to claim 1, wherein the support member generation unit generates support member data expressing a support member having a notch near the portion that makes contact with the structure.

11. The modeling data creating system according to claim 1, wherein the support member generation unit corrects the structure data so that the periphery of the portion of the structure that makes contact with the support member is recessed toward the inner surface of the structure.

12. The modeling data creating system according to claim 8, wherein the composition data recording unit further records composition data expressing the composition of a material used in the support member;

and

the support member generation unit finds the horizontal thickness of the plate bodies or column bodies using the composition data recorded in the composition data recording unit.

13. The modeling data creating system according to claim 1, wherein the support member generation unit calculates a distribution of force exerted on the support member by the structure using the structure data, and finds the horizontal thickness of the plate bodies or column bodies based on the distribution.

14. The modeling data creating system according to claim 1, wherein the structure is a prosthesis within the oral cavity, and the structure data is data generated based on measurement data obtained by measuring the interior of the oral cavity or the periphery thereof.

15. A manufacturing method for manufacturing the structure using the cross-sectional data created by the modeling data creating system according to claim 1 and the layered modeling apparatus, the method comprising:

a layer formation step of forming a modeling layer of a predetermined thickness upon a modeling table, provided in the layered modeling apparatus, that is capable of moving up and down;

a modeling step of selectively irradiating with light or ejecting a binder liquid onto and saturating at least a portion of the modeling layer, the portion having a form corresponding to a cross-sectional shape expressed by the cross-sectional data, thereby shaping the modeling layer;

a descent step of causing the modeling table to descend by an amount equivalent to the predetermined thickness;

a layering step of layering modeling layers by sequentially repeating the layer formation step and the shaping step for each of multiple planes expressed by the cross-sectional data; and

a removal step of forming the structure in a state in which the structure is supported upon the modeling table by the support member, by removing the portions of the modeling layer layered in the layering step aside from the portions shaped in the shaping step.

17. The modeling data creating system according to claim 3, wherein the supplementary form data generation unit generates supplementary form data expressing a member, formed from multiple plate bodies or column bodies, that is added to the surface of the structure indicated by the structure data that is attached to the object, that has a thickness equivalent to a desired space provided between the structure and the object, and whose surface that makes contact with the object is the same form as the form of the corresponding portion of the object.

18. The modeling data creating system according to claim 3, wherein the supplementary form data generation unit generates supplementary form data expressing a member formed from multiple plate bodies or column bodies extending in the normal direction in the portion of the structure that makes contact with the member.

16. A modeling data creating program that causes a computer to execute a process for creating modeling data expressing the form of a structure, the modeling data being used by a layered modeling apparatus that layers, upon a base plane, modeling layers that have been at least partially shaped through light irradiation or saturation of a binder liquid, the shaped parts forming the model, and the program comprising:

a structure data input process of inputting structure data expressing the form of a desired structure;

a correction process of accessing a composition data recording unit that records composition data expressing the composition of a material used in the model formed by the layered modeling apparatus and a change amount data recording unit that records a composition of a material that may be used in the model in association with change amount data indicating the amount of change that material will undergo due to drying, polymerization, or sintering, obtaining the change amount data indicating the amount of change corresponding to the composition of the material indicated in the composition data from the change amount data, and based on the obtained change amount data, correcting the structure data so that the model formed using the structure data resembles the form of the desired structure after the change caused by drying, polymerization, or sintering;

a contour generation process of using the structure data to generate contour data expressing the contour of the space between the structure and a projection plane in which the structure is positioned above the base plane and the positioned structure is projected vertically onto the base plane;

a support member generation process of generating support member data expressing the form of a support member that is formed so as to approximately fill the entirety of the space and support the structure; and

a cross-section generation process of generating, based on the structure data, the support member data, and the contour data, cross-sectional data expressing the cross-sectional shape of each of multiple planes approximately parallel to the base plane, the planes making up the model configured of the support member expressed by the support member data and the structure expressed by the structure data corrected by the correction unit.