Method of making a three-dimensional object by stereolithography
DCFirst Claim
1. A method of forming at least a portion of a three-dimensional object on a stacked layer-by-layer basis using stereolithography comprising:
- a) applying a layer of flowable material capable of solidification upon exposure to synergistic stimulation;
b) generating and sequencing a pattern of exposure paths, in a prescribed order and direction, for said layer corresponding to a cross section of said object;
c) exposing said exposure paths to synergistic stimulation according to said sequencing of said exposure paths to form a layer of said three-dimensional object; and
d) repeating steps b) and c) for subsequent layers until said three-dimensional object is formed, wherein the step of sequencing the exposure of said exposure paths is altered with a different sequence of exposure on at least one subsequent layer.
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Abstract
An improved method for stereolithographically making an object by alternating the order in which similar sets of vectors are exposed over two or more layers. In another method, a pattern of tightly packed hexagonal tiles are drawn. Each tile is isolated from its neighboring tiles by specifying breaks of unexposed material between the tiles. Using an interrupted scan method, vectors are drawn with periodic breaks along their lengths. In another method, modulator and scanning techniques are used to reduce exposure problems associated with the acceleration and deceleration of the scanning system when jumping between vectors or changing scanning directions.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of forming at least a portion of a three-dimensional object on a stacked layer-by-layer basis using stereolithography comprising:
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a) applying a layer of flowable material capable of solidification upon exposure to synergistic stimulation; b) generating and sequencing a pattern of exposure paths, in a prescribed order and direction, for said layer corresponding to a cross section of said object; c) exposing said exposure paths to synergistic stimulation according to said sequencing of said exposure paths to form a layer of said three-dimensional object; and d) repeating steps b) and c) for subsequent layers until said three-dimensional object is formed, wherein the step of sequencing the exposure of said exposure paths is altered with a different sequence of exposure on at least one subsequent layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An improved method for forming at least a portion of a three dimensional object on a layer by layer basis from a medium solidifiable upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, of the type wherein successive layers of the medium are applied and selectively solidified to form layers of the three-dimensional object, and wherein the solidified layers of the three-dimensional object are adhered together to form said three-dimensional object, each layer of the medium being selectively solidified through the scanning of patterns of synergistic stimulation corresponding to a cross-section of the object, the scanning patterns including exposure paths being scanned in a sequenced order and direction, the improvement comprising:
altering the sequence of exposure of exposure paths to synergistic stimulation between at least two layers to be formed. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An improved apparatus for forming at least a portion of a three-dimensional object on a layer-by-layer basis from a medium solidifiable upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, of the type including means for applying successive layers of the medium, means for selectively solidifying the layers to form layers of the three-dimensional object, and for adhering the layers of the three-dimensional object together to form said at least portion of the three-dimensional object, wherein the means for solidifying includes means for scanning patterns of synergistic stimulation corresponding to a cross-section of the object, and wherein the scanning patterns include exposure paths being scanned in a sequenced order and direction, the improvement comprising:
means for altering the sequence of exposure of exposure paths to synergistic stimulation between at least two layers to be formed. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
Specification