METHOD, APPARATUS, SIGNALS, AND MEDIA FOR PRODUCING A COMPUTER REPRESENTATION OF A THREE-DIMENSIONAL SURFACE OF AN APPLIANCE FOR A LIVING BODY
First Claim
1. A method for producing a computer representation of a three-dimensional surface of an appliance for a living body, the method comprising:
- identifying a plurality of spaced apart planes intersecting the three-dimensional surface;
for each plane in said plurality of spaced apart planes;
identifying a plurality of basis points on said plane, said basis points lying generally along a curve on said plane;
determining surface coordinate locations of a plurality of points on said plane that lie on said three-dimensional surface, each surface coordinate location being defined as an offset from said basis point; and
storing said surface coordinate locations in a computer memory.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for producing a computer representation of a three-dimensional surface of an appliance for a living body is disclosed. The method involves identifying a plurality of spaced apart planes intersecting the three-dimensional surface, and for each plane in the plurality of spaced apart planes identifying a plurality of basis points on the plane. The basis points lie generally along a curve on the plane. The method also involves determining surface coordinate locations of a plurality of points on the plane that lie on the three-dimensional surface, each surface coordinate location being defined as an offset from the basis point, and storing the surface coordinate locations in a computer memory.
91 Citations
65 Claims
-
1. A method for producing a computer representation of a three-dimensional surface of an appliance for a living body, the method comprising:
-
identifying a plurality of spaced apart planes intersecting the three-dimensional surface; for each plane in said plurality of spaced apart planes; identifying a plurality of basis points on said plane, said basis points lying generally along a curve on said plane; determining surface coordinate locations of a plurality of points on said plane that lie on said three-dimensional surface, each surface coordinate location being defined as an offset from said basis point; and storing said surface coordinate locations in a computer memory. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21)
-
-
2. (canceled)
-
8. (canceled)
-
9. (canceled)
-
16. (canceled)
-
17. (canceled)
-
18. (canceled)
-
19. (canceled)
-
22. An apparatus for producing a computer representation of a three-dimensional surface of an appliance for a living body, the apparatus comprising:
-
means for identifying a plurality of spaced apart planes intersecting the three-dimensional surface; means for identifying a plurality of basis points for each plane in said plurality of spaced apart planes, said basis points lying generally along a curve on said plane; means for determining surface coordinate locations of a plurality of points on each said plane that lie on said three-dimensional surface, each surface coordinate location being defined as an offset from said basis point; and means for storing said surface coordinate locations in a computer memory. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42)
-
-
23. (canceled)
-
29. (canceled)
-
30. (canceled)
-
37. (canceled)
-
38. (canceled)
-
39. (canceled)
-
40. (canceled)
-
43. An apparatus for producing a computer representation of a three-dimensional surface of an appliance for a living body, the apparatus comprising a processor circuit operably configured to:
-
identify a plurality of spaced apart planes intersecting the three-dimensional surface; for each plane in said plurality of spaced apart planes; identify a plurality of basis points on said plane, said basis points lying generally along a curve on said plane; determine surface coordinate locations of a plurality of points on said plane that lie on said three-dimensional surface, each surface coordinate location being defined as an offset from said basis point; and store said surface coordinate locations in a computer memory. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 62, 63)
-
-
44. (canceled)
-
50. (canceled)
-
51. (canceled)
-
58. (canceled)
-
59. (canceled)
-
60. (canceled)
-
61. (canceled)
-
64. A computer readable medium encoded with codes for directing a processor circuit to produce a computer representation of a three-dimensional surface of an appliance for a living body, the codes directing the processor circuit to:
-
identify a plurality of spaced apart planes intersecting the three-dimensional surface; for each plane in said plurality of spaced apart planes; identify a plurality of basis points on said plane, said basis points lying generally along a curve on said plane; determine surface coordinate locations of a plurality of points on said plane that lie on said three-dimensional surface, each surface coordinate location being defined as an offset from said basis point; and store said surface coordinate locations in a computer memory.
-
-
65. (canceled)
Specification