US5137662A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for production of three-dimensional objects by stereolithography
Assignee: 3D Systems Inc
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Filing: 1991-05-02
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Granted: 1992-08-11
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Expires: 2011-05-02
Abstract
Abstract An improved stereolithography system for generating a three-dimensional object by creating a cross-sectional pattern of the object to be formed at a selected surface of a fluid medium capable of altering its physical state in response to appropriate synergistic stimulation by impinging radiation, particle bombardment or chemical reaction, information defining the object being specially processed to reduce curl and distortion, and increase resolution, strength, accuracy, speed and economy of reproduction even for rather difficult object shapes, the successive adjacent laminae, representing corresponding successive adjacent cross-sections of the object, being automatically formed and integrated together to provide a step-wise laminar buildup of the desired object, whereby a three-dimensional object is formed and drawn from a substantially planar surface of the fluid medium during the forming process.
Inventors
- 👤 Charles W. Hull
- 👤 Borzo Modrek
- 👤 Brent Parker
- 👤 Raymond S. Freed
- 👤 Thomas Almquist
- 👤 Stuart T. Spence
- 👤 David J. Albert
- 👤 Dennis R. Smalley
- 👤 Richard A. Harlow
- 👤 Phil Stinebaugh
- 👤 Harry L. Tarnoff
- 👤 Hop D. Nguyen
- 👤 Charles W. Lewis
- 👤 Tom J. Vorgitch
- 👤 David Z. Remba
- 👤 Wayne B. Vinson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 15:20
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T17/00; G06T17/20; B; B29; B29C; B29C64/00; B29C64/40; B33; B33Y; B33Y50/00; B33Y50/02; G01; G01J; G01J1/00; G01J1/42; G01J1/4257; G03; G03F; G03F7/00; G03F7/0037; G03F7/70; G03F7/70416; G06T17/10; B29K; B29K2995/00; B29K2995/0037; B29K2995/0072; B29K2995/0073; G05; G05B; G05B2219/00; G05B2219/30; G05B2219/49; G05B2219/49013
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 63
Claim 1
Independent Claim
88 words
A system for producing a high resolution reproduction of an object cross-section by cross-section out of a material capable of selective physical transformation upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising: at least one computer programmed to form cross-sectional representations from an object descriptive representation, wherein at least some of the cross-sectional representations are comprised of vectors formed from said object descriptive representation at planes corresponding to slicing planes; means for selectively exposing layers of the material in accordance with said cross-sectional representations to form said object cross-section by cross-section.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
88 words
A system for producing a high resolution reproduction of an object cross-section by cross-section out of a material capable of selective physical transformation upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising: at least one computer programmed to form cross-sectional representations from an object descriptive representation, wherein at least some of the cross-sectional representations are comprised of vectors formed from said object descriptive representation at planes corresponding to slicing planes; means for selectively exposing layers of the material in accordance with said cross-sectional representations to form said object cross-section by cross-section.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
69 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming, for at least one of said cross-sectional representations, border vector data descriptive of a border of a cross-section represented by said cross-sectional representation, skin vector data descriptive of any surface on the cross-section, and hatch vector data descriptive of any solid portion of the cross-section within the border of the cross-section.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
50 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming said skin vector data which comprises flat skin vector data descriptive of any flat object surfaces on the cross-section, and near-flat skin vector data descriptive of any near-flat surfaces at the cross-section.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
48 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to form said vector data representative of vectors comprising a head and a tail endpoint, a direction which points from the tail to the head endpoint, and said vector data also including vector orientation information.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming said hatch vector data which comprises data representative of vectors pointing in a X-direction.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming said skin vector data which comprises data representative of vectors pointing in a X-direction.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
57 words
The system of claim 4 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming said border vector data which comprises a plurality of border vectors placed endpoint to endpoint, wherein, in following a path in the directions of the vectors, the vector orientation information for the vectors indicates the vectors are oriented similarly.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 4 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of generating the hatch and skin vector data from the border vector data.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
72 words
The system of claim 8 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of generating at least some of the hatch vector data by overlapping the border vector data with a plurality of spaced hatch paths, and then starting and stopping the generation of hatch vectors at an intersection of a hatch path with a border vector, based at least in part on orientation information for the border vector.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to form said cross-sectional representations from said object descriptive representation which comprises a plurality of polygons having vertices which substantially surface the object.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
73 words
The system of claim 10 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to overlay the object descriptive representation with a plurality of spaced slicing planes, wherein at least some of the slicing planes comprise a grid of spaced points and wherein said at least one computer is further programmed to round at least some of the polygonal vertices to a closest one of said points on a closest one of said layers.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 11 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to space said slicing planes by a spacing and is programmed to be capable of varying the spacing between the slicing planes.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system of claim 10 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to form said cross-sectional representations from said polygons, at least some of the polygons having slopes, and from information indicative of the slopes.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
40 words
The system of claim 10 wherein the rounding of polygonal vertices causes reorientation of at least some polygons, and said at least one computer is programmed to detect and correct for the reorientation of at least some of these polygons.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming the border vector data from the object descriptive representation at a plane offset from a slicing plane.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
The system of claim 15 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to offset said plane from the slicing plane by no more than 0.3 mils.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to form said cross-sectional representations which are configured to produce a substantially uniformly oversized reproduction of the object.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to form said cross-sectional representations which are configured to produce a substantially uniformly undersized reproduction of the object.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
52 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to form said cross-sectional representations which are formed as an average of cross-sectional representations configured to produce a substantially uniformly oversized reproduction of the object, and cross-sectional representations configured to produce a substantially uniformly undersized reproduction of the object.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
51 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said selectively exposing means includes a laser which produces a laser beam having a width and said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of selectively offsetting the border vector data to at least in part compensate for the width of the beam.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
65 words
The system of claim 4 wherein said selective exposing means includes a laser which produces a laser beam having a beam width, and said at least one computer is programmed to place at least some border vectors endpoint to successively offset the endpoints of the vectors to compensate at least in part for the beam width in a direction determined utilizing the vector orientation information.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 21 further comprising means for automatically determining the beam width for use by the system without manual intervention.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
58 words
The system of claim 21 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to selectively offset the endpoints of the border vectors in a loop, to recompute the border vectors and check them for crossover with other border vectors in the loop, and to back up the offsetting of the endpoints to eliminate crossover if it is detected.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming said hatch vector data which comprises data representative of vectors pointing in a Y-direction.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
41 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming said hatch vector data which comprises data representative of vectors pointing in directions which are about 60° and about 120° from an X-direction.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming said skin vector data which comprises data representative of vectors pointing in a Y-direction.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
41 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of forming said akin vector data which comprises data representative of vectors pointing in directions which are about 60° and about 120° from an X-direction.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
72 words
The system of claim 8 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to be capable of generating at least some of the skin vector data by overlapping the border vector data with a plurality of spaced skin paths, and then starting and stopping the generation of skin vectors at an intersection of a skin path with a border vector, based at least in part on orientation information for the border vector.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
85 words
A process for providing a high-resolution reproduction of an object cross-section by cross-section out of a material capable of selective physical transformation upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising: providing an object descriptive representation; forming cross-sectional representations from said object descriptive representation, wherein at least some of the cross-sectional representations are comprised of vectors formed from the object descriptive representation at planes corresponding to slicing planes; and selectively exposing layers of the material in accordance with said cross-sectional representations to form said object cross-section by cross-section.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
85 words
A process for providing a high-resolution reproduction of an object cross-section by cross-section out of a material capable of selective physical transformation upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising: providing an object descriptive representation; forming cross-sectional representations from said object descriptive representation, wherein at least some of the cross-sectional representations are comprised of vectors formed from the object descriptive representation at planes corresponding to slicing planes; and selectively exposing layers of the material in accordance with said cross-sectional representations to form said object cross-section by cross-section.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
28 words
The process of claim 29 wherein said providing step comprises providing said object descriptive representation which comprises a plurality of polygons having vertices which substantially surface the object.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
67 words
The process of claim 30 wherein the forming step comprises the substeps of: overlaying the object descriptive representation with a plurality of spaced slicing planes, wherein at least some of the slicing planes comprise a grid of spaced points; rounding at least some of the polygonal vertices to a closest one of said points on a closest one of said layers prior to forming said cross-sectional representation.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
35 words
The process of claim 31 wherein the overlaying substep further comprises overlaying said object descriptive representation with said spaced slicing planes, which are spaced by a spacing, and varying the spacing between the slicing planes.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
40 words
The process of claim 31 wherein the rounding of the polygonal vertices in the rounding substep causes reorientation of certain polygons, and the generating substep further comprises detecting and correcting for the reorientation of at least some of these polygons.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
54 words
The process of claim 29 wherein the forming step comprises the substeps of: generating border vector data descriptive of a border of at least one cross-section; generating hatch vector data descriptive of any solid portion of the cross-section bounded by the border; and generating skin vector data descriptive of any surfaces at the cross-section.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
20 words
The process of claim 34 further comprising generating the border vector data from a plane offset from a slicing plane.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
28 words
The process of claim 35 further comprises generating said border vector data from said plane which is offset from said slicing plane by no more than 0.3 mils.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
30 words
The process of claim 29 wherein said forming step comprises forming said cross-sectional representations which are configured to be capable of producing a substantially uniformly oversized reproduction of the object.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
27 words
The process of claim 29 wherein said forming step comprises forming said cross-sectional reproductions which are configured for producing a substantially uniformly undersized reproduction of the object.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
45 words
The process of claim 29 wherein said forming step comprises forming said cross-sectional representations as an average of cross-sectional representations configured to produce a substantially uniformly undersized reproduction of the object, and cross-sectional representations configured to produce a substantially uniformly oversized reproduction of the object.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
52 words
The process of claim 34 wherein said forming step further comprises generating said vector data which is representative of vectors, at least some of said vectors having a head and a tail endpoint, a direction pointing from the tail to the head endpoint, and said vector data also including vector orientation information.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
59 words
The process of claim 40 wherein the substep of generating said border vector data further comprises ordering the data so that at least some of the border vectors are placed endpoint to endpoint, and so that in the following a path in the direction of the vectors, the vectors are oriented similarly as indicated by the vector orientation information.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
67 words
The process of claim 40 wherein the substep of generating said hatch vector data further comprises: overlaying the border vector data with spaced hatch paths; and starting and stopping said substep of generating said hatch vector data at intersections between said hatch paths and said border vector data utilizing, at least in part, the vector orientation information provided for the vectors represented by the border vector data.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
26 words
The process of claim 34 wherein said forming step further comprises generating said hatch vector data which is representative of hatch vectors pointing in an X-direction.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
67 words
The process of claim 40 wherein the substep of generating said skin vector data further comprises: overlaying the border vector data with spaced skin paths; and starting and stopping said substep of generating said skin vector data at intersections between said skin paths and said border vector data utilizing, at least in part, the vector orientation information provided for the vectors represented by the border vector data.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
57 words
The process of claim 34 wherein said selective exposing step comprises selectively exposing said layers of material with a laser beam having a width, and said forming step further comprises generating said border vector data and offsetting at least some of said border vector data, at least partly, to compensate for the width of the laser beam.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
60 words
The process of claim 45 wherein said border vector data is representative of vectors having endpoints, and of vector orientation information, wherein said forming step further comprises selectively offsetting the endpoints of at least some of the vectors represented by the data, and then reforming the vectors, to compensate for at least some of the width of the laser beam.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
127 words
The process of claim 46 wherein said forming step further comprises: compensating said data by ordering at least some of the border vector data such that the vectors represented by the data are placed endpoint to endpoint, and so that in following a path in the direction of the vectors, the orientation of substantially all the vectors, as indicated by the orientation information for the vectors, are similar; successively offsetting at least some endpoints of the border vectors in direction based upon the orientation information associated with the vectors; recalculating the border vectors after said offsetting, and performing a comparison of the border vectors to detect a crossover; and if a crossover is detected, selectively backing off the offsetting of the endpoints until the crossover is eliminated.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
31 words
The process of claim 45 further comprising automatically measuring the width of the beam for use in offsetting said border vector data to compensate, at least in part, for said width.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
26 words
The process of claim 34 wherein said forming step further comprises generating said hatch vector data which is descriptive of hatch vectors pointing in a Y-direction.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
37 words
The process of claim 34 wherein said forming step further comprises generating said hatch vector data which is representative of hatch vectors pointing in a direction about 60° to an X-direction, and about 120° to the X-direction.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
26 words
The process of claim 34 wherein said forming step further comprises generating said skin vector data which is descriptive of skin vectors pointing in an X-direction.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
26 words
The process of claim 34 wherein said forming step further comprises generating said skin vector data which is descriptive of skin vectors pointing in a Y-direction.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
37 words
The process of claim 34 wherein said forming step further comprises generating said skin vector data which is descriptive of skin vectors pointing in a direction about 60° to an X-direction, and about 120° to the X-direction.
Claim 56
Independent Claim
86 words
A system for producing a high resolution reproduction of an object cross-section by cross-section out of a material capable of selective physical transformation upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising: at least one computer programmed to form cross-sectional representations from an object descriptive representation, wherein at least some of the cross-sectional representations are formed utilizing said object descriptive representation at planes corresponding to slicing planes; and means for selectively exposing layers of the material in accordance with said cross-sectional representations to form said object cross-section by cross-section.
Claim 57
Independent Claim
86 words
A system for producing a high resolution reproduction of an object cross-section by cross-section out of a material capable of selective physical transformation upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising: at least one computer programmed to form cross-sectional representations from an object descriptive representation, wherein at least some of the cross-sectional representations are formed utilizing said object descriptive representation at planes corresponding to slicing planes; and means for selectively exposing layers of the material in accordance with said cross-sectional representations to form said object cross-section by cross-section.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 54 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to form said cross-sectional representations used to form said reproduction, the cross-sectional representations being such that said reproduction is within a tolerance of 50 mils of the object descriptive representation.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 55 wherein said at least one computer is programmed to form said cross-sectional representations used to form said reproduction, the cross-sectional reproductions being such that said reproduction is within a tolerance of 5 mils of the object descriptive representation.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
83 words
A process for producing a high resolution reproduction of an object cross-section by cross-section out of a material capable of selective physical transformation upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising: providing an object descriptive representation; forming cross-sectional representations from said object descriptive representation, wherein at least some of the cross-sectional representation are formed from said object descriptive representation at planes corresponding to slicing planes; and selectively exposing layers of the material in accordance with said cross-sectional representations to form said object cross-section by cross-section.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
83 words
A process for producing a high resolution reproduction of an object cross-section by cross-section out of a material capable of selective physical transformation upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising: providing an object descriptive representation; forming cross-sectional representations from said object descriptive representation, wherein at least some of the cross-sectional representation are formed from said object descriptive representation at planes corresponding to slicing planes; and selectively exposing layers of the material in accordance with said cross-sectional representations to form said object cross-section by cross-section.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
36 words
The process of claim 57 further comprising forming said cross-sectional representations used to form said reproduction, the cross-sectional representations being such that said reproduction is within a tolerance of 50 mils of the object descriptive representation.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
36 words
The process of claim 58 further comprising forming said cross-sectional representations used to form said reproduction, the cross-sectional representations being such that said reproduction is within a tolerance of 5 mils of the object descriptive representation.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1995-08-11 | 1996-02-10 | 1996-08-11 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1999-08-11 | 2000-02-10 | 2000-08-11 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2003-08-11 | 2004-02-10 | 2004-08-11 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |