3-D model making
DCFirst Claim
1. A method of producing a 3-D model by forming a contiguous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material on a platform comprising the steps of:
- a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition from a drop on demand jet at desired locations to solidify into beads to form at least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers;
b) controlling the locations of deposition by simultaneously coordinating relative movement in the X-Y coordinates for a support arrangement of said jet to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall;
c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish;
d) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layer in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; and
e) repeating steps a), b), c), and d) as required to complete the model.
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Abstract
A method of and apparatus for producing a 3-D model by forming a continuous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material comprising a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition at desired locations b) controlling the locations and timing of deposition to produce vectors, in any and all directions required to produce an outer surface defining wall of said layer with a desired surface finish; c) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; and d) repeating steps a), b), and c) as required to complete the model.
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Citations
52 Claims
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1. A method of producing a 3-D model by forming a contiguous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material on a platform comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition from a drop on demand jet at desired locations to solidify into beads to form at least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers; b) controlling the locations of deposition by simultaneously coordinating relative movement in the X-Y coordinates for a support arrangement of said jet to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall; c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish; d) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layer in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; and e) repeating steps a), b), c), and d) as required to complete the model. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A 3-D model maker for producing a 3-D model by sequentially forming layer upon layer, by plotting vectors of modeling material, one layer at a time comprising:
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a) a support means defining a surface for supporting the 3-D model during production; b) a drop on demand jet means for ejecting discrete bead producing drops of molten modeling material one drop at a time upon demand to meld with previously deposited beads, thereby to plot vectors of modeling material defining the layers; c) mounting means mounting the jet means i) for simultaneous movement along at least two axes of an X, Y, Z axis coordinate system relative to said surface to move the jet means along any desired vector direction while said jet means plots said vectors of modeling material on said surface and ii) for movement of the jet means, when desired, along all three of the X, Y, Z axes of the system, relative to said surface; and d) control means i) for providing vector plotting control of movement of the mounting means to move the jet means simultaneously along the at least two axes of the X, Y, Z axis coordinate system, and ii) for controlling the timing of the ejection of bead producing drops of molten modeling material by the jet means to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to generate vectors of modeling material, defined by the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, layer by layer by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall-of the model with a desired surface quality. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A 3-D model maker for producing a 3-D model by sequentially forming layer upon layer, by plotting vectors of modeling material, one layer at a time comprising:
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a) a support means defining a surface for supporting the 3-D model during production; b) a continuous stream jet means for ejecting an elongate bead producing continuous stream of molten modeling material to meld with previously deposited beads, thereby to plot vectors of modeling material defining the layers; c) mounting means mounting the jet means i) for simultaneous movement along at least two axes of an X, Y, Z axis coordinate system relative to said surface to move the jet means along any desired vector direction while said jet means plots said vectors of modeling material on said surface and ii) for movement of the jet means, when desired, along all three of the X, Y, Z axes of the system, relative to said surface; and d) control means i) for providing vector plotting control of movement of the mounting means to move the jet means simultaneously along the at least two axes of the X, Y, Z axis coordinate system, and ii) for controlling the volumetric rate of ejection of the bead producing stream of molten modeling material by the jet means to generate vectors of modeling material, defined by the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, layer by layer by vector plotting, at least a portion of at least the outer surface defining walls of the model with a substantially continuous thickness and thereby provide walls with a desired surface quality. - View Dependent Claims (37)
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38. A method of producing a 3-D model by forming a contiguous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition at desired locations to solidify into beads to format least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers; b) controlling the locations of deposition to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall; c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish; d) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layer in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; and e) repeating steps a), b), c), and d) as required to complete the model.
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39. A method of producing a 3-D model by forming a continuous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition at desired locations to solidify into beads to format least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers; b) controlling the locations of deposition to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall; c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish; d) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layer in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; e) machining, at select intervals, the last deposited layer to a uniform thickness along a plane defined by the layers before depositing a said next layer of the model, wherein the step of machining comprises milling a coarse cut that removes a top, of the last deposited layer substantially to the plane during a first pass and milling a fine climb cut that removes the remainder of the deposited layer down to the plane during a return pass; and f) repeating steps a), b), c), d), and e) as required to complete the model. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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41. A method of producing a 3-D model by forming a contiguous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition at desired locations to solidify into beads to format least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers; b) controlling the locations of deposition to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall; c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish; d) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layer in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; e) when an inter-layer build angle of an outer surface defining wall is less than a predetermined critical angle from vertical;
i) forming the outer surface defining wall by depositing at least two contiguous layers of beads of modeling material to produce said desired outer surface defining wall; and
ii) filling interior spaces of the model by depositing a single layer of support material formed by drops that are substantially twice as large as said bead producing drops of modeling material, thereby to decrease the time required to fill said interior spaces; andf) repeating steps a), b), c), d), and e) as required to complete the model. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43)
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44. A method of producing a 3-D model by forming a contiguous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition at desired locations to solidify into beads to format least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers; b) controlling the locations of deposition to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall; c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish; d) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layer in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; e) depositing at least one of a molten modeling material and a molten fill and support material to produce lattice walls, to at least one of i) and ii), wherein, i) support cantilever portions and other overhanging portions of the model during production, and ii) provide a fill structure in interior spaces of the model, and wherein depositing molten material to produce lattice walls comprises producing an interconnecting inner wall structure, that is intimately connected to an outer wall structure formed during the formation of the same layer to provide desired reinforcement of hollow models, and further wherein the step of producing said interconnecting inner wall structure that is intimately connected to said outer wall comprises the steps of; 1) forming the outer wall structure of the model; 2) filling interior spaces in the model by forming the interconnecting inner wall structure, leaving a gap between the interconnecting wall structure and the outer wall structure; and 3) after shrinkage of the interconnecting inner wall structure, closing the gap to join the interconnecting wall structure with the outer wall structure; and f) repeating steps a), b), c), d), and e) as required to complete the model. - View Dependent Claims (45)
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46. A method of producing a 3-D model by forming a continuous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition at desired locations to solidify into beads to format least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers; b) controlling the locations of deposition to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall; c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish; d) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layer in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; e) depositing a plurality of differently colored and transparent build materials in each layer to form a 3-D model in which each layer accurately represents a corresponding slice produced by a medical imaging machine to produce an accurate at least partially transparent biological model; f) interpolating data between slices produced by the imaging machine and forming layers in the 3-D model that are thinner than the slices produced by the imaging machine, thereby to enhance the resolution of the model; and g) repeating steps a), b), c), d), e), and f) as required to complete the model.
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47. A method of producing a 3-D model by forming a contiguous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition at desired locations to solidify into beads to format least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers; b) controlling the locations of deposition to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall; c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish only in portions of the model where said desired surface finish is required; d) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layer in preparation for the formation of a subsequent said layer; e) depositing molten modeling material using raster scanning to produce a lattice model structure to be deposited layer upon layer to quickly produce a near net shape model, leaving the lattice model structure exposed, except where closed off by said outer surface defining wall; and f) repeating steps a), b), c), d), and e) as required to complete the model. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A method of producing a contour mold by forming a contiguous plurality of parallel layers of modeling material comprising the steps of:
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a) producing a plurality of bead producing drops of the modeling material for deposition at desired locations to solidify into beads to format least a portion of a layer of said parallel layers; b) controlling the locations of deposition to produce vectors, defined by overlapping pluralities of the beads, in any and all directions required to produce, by vector plotting, at least a desired outer surface defining wall thereby to define a portion of the interior of the contour mold; c) timing the production of said plurality of beads, at least, when producing said desired outer surface defining wall to overlap previously deposited beads to a desired extent and to meld with previously deposited beads to produce said vectors, thereby forming said desired outer surface defining wall with a desired surface finish; d) filling the contour mold with a build material to produce a layer of a molded model, with at least a desired outer surface defining wall of the model, molded by said inner surface defining wall, having a desired surface finish; e) adjusting the distance of the location of drop production to the location of drop deposition following formation of said layers in preparation for formation of a subsequent said layer; f) depositing a plurality of differently colored and transparent build materials to form a plurality layers that accurately represent corresponding slices produced by a medical imaging machine, thereby to produce an accurate partially transparent biological model; g) interpolating data between slices produced by the imaging machine and forming layers in the biological model that are thinner than the slices produced by the imaging machine, thereby to enhance the resolution of the biological model; and h) repeating steps a), b), c), d), e), f), and g) as required to complete the contour model and the molded model.
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Specification