Apparatus for forming a three-dimensional reproduction of an object from laminations
First Claim
1. An apparatus for forming a three-dimensional reproduction of an object from laminations comprising:
- a. a non-invasive data acquisition means that discerns the exterior and interior structure of said object, said data acquisition means creates electronic sections that represent planar slices of said object;
b. a three-dimensional printing means whereby said planar slices of said object are manufactured as laminae and joined to create a three-dimensional replica of said object, said three-dimensional printing means comprising;
(1) means for receiving the electronic sectional data corresponding to an electronic representation of said object;
(2) means for exposing a charged electro-photographic element with an electro-magnetic radiation pattern corresponding to said electronic sectional data to form a two dimensional electro-static latent image on said electro-photographic element;
(3) means for applying a plurality of forming powders to said two dimensional electro-static latent image contained on said electro-photographic element to form a physical layer of lamina;
(4) means for transferring said physical layer of lamina to an intermediate support;
(5) means for causing said physical layer of lamina to become tacky;
(6) means for transferring and bonding said physical layer of lamina to previously formed laminae and building up a physical replication of said object in a step-wise fashion whereby the three dimensional object is automatically formed from a composite of laminae.
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Abstract
An object replicator that replicates the physical form of an object in a polymer or the like by employing a Computed Tomography scanner or a Magnetic Resonance Imaging system, to digitize the physical features of the object to be copied. This data is used to form an electronic three-dimensional representation of the object. The electronic representation is then sectioned and provided to a three-dimensional printer to replicate a copy of those features by sequentially forming and joining laminae corresponding to the sections, to build up a physical replication of the object in a step-wise fashion whereby the three dimensional object is auto-matically formed from a composite of laminae.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. An apparatus for forming a three-dimensional reproduction of an object from laminations comprising:
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a. a non-invasive data acquisition means that discerns the exterior and interior structure of said object, said data acquisition means creates electronic sections that represent planar slices of said object; b. a three-dimensional printing means whereby said planar slices of said object are manufactured as laminae and joined to create a three-dimensional replica of said object, said three-dimensional printing means comprising; (1) means for receiving the electronic sectional data corresponding to an electronic representation of said object; (2) means for exposing a charged electro-photographic element with an electro-magnetic radiation pattern corresponding to said electronic sectional data to form a two dimensional electro-static latent image on said electro-photographic element; (3) means for applying a plurality of forming powders to said two dimensional electro-static latent image contained on said electro-photographic element to form a physical layer of lamina; (4) means for transferring said physical layer of lamina to an intermediate support; (5) means for causing said physical layer of lamina to become tacky; (6) means for transferring and bonding said physical layer of lamina to previously formed laminae and building up a physical replication of said object in a step-wise fashion whereby the three dimensional object is automatically formed from a composite of laminae. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An apparatus for forming a three-dimensional reproduction of an object from laminations comprising:
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a. a non-invasive data acquisition means that discerns the exterior and interior structure of said object, said data acquisition means creates an electronic three-dimensional representation of said object; b. an electronic sectioning processing means wherein said electronic three-dimensional representation of said object is electronically sectioned into plural parallel planar sections; c. a three-dimensional printing means whereby said plural parallel planar sections of said electronic three-dimensional representation of said object are sequentially manufactured as laminae and joined to create a three-dimensional replica of said object, said three-dimensional printing means comprising; (1) means for deriving graphic image data output from the data acquisition means, said graphic image data defining successive adjacent cross-sections of the three-dimensional object to be replicated; (2) means for exposing a charged electro-photographic element with an electro-magnetic radiation pattern corresponding to said graphic image data, to form a two dimensional electro-static latent image on said electro-photographic element; (3) means for applying a plurality of forming powders to said two dimensional electro-static latent image contained on said electro-photographic element to form a physical layer of lamina; (4) means for moving said lamina relative to the forming means; (5) means for causing said physical layer of lamina to become tacky; (6) means for transferring said physical layer of lamina to previously formed laminae; (7) means for joining said laminae as they are formed and building up a physical replication of said object in a step-wise fashion whereby the three-dimensional object is automatically formed from a composite of laminae. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for forming a three-dimensional reproduction of an object from laminations comprising:
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a. a non-invasive data acquisition means that discerns the exterior and interior structure of an object, said data acquisition means creates electronic sections that represent planar slices of said object; b. a three-dimensional printing means whereby said planar slices of said object are sequentially formed and joined to create a replica of said object, said three-dimensional printing means comprising; (1) means for deriving graphic image data output from the data acquisition means, said graphic image data defining successive adjacent cross-sections of the three-dimensional object to be replicated; (2) a sheet of curable polymer. (3) means for spraying a pattern of catalyst or hardener upon said sheet of curable polymer initiating a curing process, said pattern corresponding to said graphic image data, whereby said sheet of curable polymer is selectively cured to form a physical layer of lamina corresponding to said graphic image data; (4) means for moving said laminae relative to the forming means; (5) means for transferring and joining said physical layer of lamina to previously formed laminae as they are formed and building up a physical replication of said object in a step-wise fashion whereby the three-dimensional object is automatically formed from a composite of laminae. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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Specification