Reverse engineering of polymeric solid models by refractive index matching
First Claim
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1. A method for reverse engineering an object, comprising:
- (a) moving the object through a liquid interface formed by an immersion liquid and a masking liquid, (i) wherein the immersion liquid has substantially the same refractive index as the object, (ii) wherein the masking liquid is substantially opaque; and
(b) acquiring cross-sectional images of the object at the liquid interface as the object is passed through the liquid interface;
(c) processing the images of the object to create a three-dimensional model of the object.
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Abstract
A reverse engineering technique allows the creation of 3-D CAD files from a solid model. A solid model of a part to be reverse engineered is created from polymers having an index of refraction matching that of an immersion liquid. Over the immersion liquid is a masking liquid that is substantially opaque. The generally clear polymeric model of the part is moved through the immersion/masking layer interface while images of the cross section of the model are acquired at the interface layer. The images are then used to create digital solid models from a physical model or to compare an existing physical model with its digital model.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for reverse engineering an object, comprising:
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(a) moving the object through a liquid interface formed by an immersion liquid and a masking liquid, (i) wherein the immersion liquid has substantially the same refractive index as the object, (ii) wherein the masking liquid is substantially opaque; and
(b) acquiring cross-sectional images of the object at the liquid interface as the object is passed through the liquid interface;
(c) processing the images of the object to create a three-dimensional model of the object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
(a) detecting the edges of the object in the cross-sectional images;
(b) converting the images from a raster format to a vector format; and
(c) exporting the vector format to a CAD program.
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3. The method of claim 1, where the masking liquid has a different refractive index and density of the immersion liquid.
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4. The method of claim 1, where the masking liquid is a liquid with an opposite polarity of the immersion liquid.
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5. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the three-dimensional object.
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6. The method of claim 5, where the object is displayed on a computer screen.
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7. The method of claim 5, where the object is displayed on paper.
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8. The method of claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional images of the object are acquired at the immersion/masking liquid interface with an optics based imaging system.
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9. The method of claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional images of the object are acquired at the immersion/masking liquid interface with non-optics based imaging system.
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10. The method of claim 1, where the object is a substantially translucent.
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11. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the three-dimensional model of the object comprises:
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importing the acquired cross-sectional images into a CAD program; and
allowing the CAD program construct the three-dimensional model.
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12. The method of claim 1, where the object is moved through the immersion/masking liquid interface using a linear actuated driver.
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13. Apparatus for reverse engineering an object, said apparatus comprising:
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(a) an object having a refractive index;
(b) a tank;
(c) an immersion liquid disposed in the tank, the immersion liquid having substantially the same refractive index as the object;
(d) a masking liquid that is disposed in the tank, the masking liquid being substantially opaque and a liquid interface is formed by the immersion liquid and masking liquid;
(e) an image sensor that acquires cross-sectional images at the liquid interface;
(f) means for moving the object through the liquid interface;
(g) a computer system that receives multiple cross-sectional images, taken by the image sensor, and builds a three-dimensional representation of the object from the images. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification