US5840239A — Apparatus and method for forming three-dimensiona…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 185 words

A method of forming a 3D object from a solidifiable medium, comprising the steps of: forming a coating of solidifiable medium adjacent to a previously formed lamina in preparation for forming a subsequent lamina of said object; selectively exposing a target surface of said solidifiable medium to a beam of pulses of electromagnetic radiation, having a desired pulse repetition rate, to form a subsequent lamina of the object and to adhere said subsequent lamina to said previously formed lamina; and repeating the forming and exposing steps to form the three-dimensional object from a plurality of adhered laminae; wherein the pulse repetition rate is selected to be equal to or greater than that given in ##EQU2## wherein V s is a scanning speed of the beam, W o is a half width of the beam at 1/e 2 of a peak irradiance distribution of the beam, P L is a power of the beam, E c is a critical exposure of the medium, C d is a desired cure depth, and D p is a penetration depth (1/e absorption depth) of the beam in the medium.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 185 words

A method of forming a 3D object from a solidifiable medium, comprising the steps of: forming a coating of solidifiable medium adjacent to a previously formed lamina in preparation for forming a subsequent lamina of said object; selectively exposing a target surface of said solidifiable medium to a beam of pulses of electromagnetic radiation, having a desired pulse repetition rate, to form a subsequent lamina of the object and to adhere said subsequent lamina to said previously formed lamina; and repeating the forming and exposing steps to form the three-dimensional object from a plurality of adhered laminae; wherein the pulse repetition rate is selected to be equal to or greater than that given in ##EQU2## wherein V s is a scanning speed of the beam, W o is a half width of the beam at 1/e 2 of a peak irradiance distribution of the beam, P L is a power of the beam, E c is a critical exposure of the medium, C d is a desired cure depth, and D p is a penetration depth (1/e absorption depth) of the beam in the medium.

Claim 3

Independent Claim 151 words

A method of forming a 3D object from a solidifiable medium, comprising the steps of: forming a coating of solidifiable medium adjacent to a previously formed lamina in preparation for forming a subsequent lamina of said object; selectively exposing a target surface of said solidifiable medium to a beam of pulses of electromagnetic radiation, having a desired pulse repetition rate, to form a subsequent lamina of the object and to adhere said subsequent lamina to said previously formed lamina; and repeating the forming and exposing steps to form the three-dimensional object from a plurality of adhered laminae; wherein the pulse repetition rate is selected to result in a pulse separation at said target surface to be less than or equal to an effective width of said beam when said beam is being scanned at a desired velocity and an average exposure deposited by said beam is equal to a desired amount.

Claim 4

Independent Claim 151 words

A method of forming a 3D object from a solidifiable medium, comprising the steps of: forming a coating of solidifiable medium adjacent to a previously formed lamina in preparation for forming a subsequent lamina of said object; selectively exposing a target surface of said solidifiable medium to a beam of pulses of electromagnetic radiation, having a desired pulse repetition rate, to form a subsequent lamina of the object and to adhere said subsequent lamina to said previously formed lamina; and repeating the forming and exposing steps to form the three-dimensional object from a plurality of adhered laminae; wherein the pulse repetition rate is selected to result in a pulse separation at said target surface to be less than or equal to an effective width of said beam when said beam is being scanned at a desired velocity and an average exposure deposited by said beam is equal to a desired amount.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 37 words

A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength within the range of wavelengths which have reactive responses which are within about 50% of the peak reactive response of the solidifiable medium.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 18 words

A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the electromagnetic radiation is produced by a solid state laser.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 19 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the wavelength of said electromagnetic radiation is in the range of 320-345 nM.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 19 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the wavelength of said electromagnetic radiation is in the range of 328-337 nM.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 28 words

The method of claim 4 wherein a stimulated emission cross-section for the fundamental wavelength yielding the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation is greater than 1×10 -19 cm 2 .

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the electromagnetic radiation is obtained from a frequency quadrupled Q switched 1342 nM Nd:YVO 4 laser providing an output wavelength of approproximately 335 nM.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the electromagnetic radiation is obtained from a frequency quadrupled Q switched 1328 nM Nd:S--FAP laser providing an output wavelength of approproximately 332 nM.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the pulse rate is greater 10 Khz.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the pulse rate is greater 20 Khz.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 3 wherein the pulse rate is greater 30 Khz.

Claim 15

Independent Claim 125 words

A method of forming a 3D object from a solidifiable medium, comprising the steps of: forming a coating of solidifiable medium adjacent to a previously formed lamina in preparation for forming a subsequent lamina of said object; selectively exposing a target surface of said solidifiable medium to a beam of electromagnetic radiation produced by a solid state laser to form a subsequent lamina of the object and to adhere said subsequent lamina to said previously formed lamina; and repeating the forming and exposing steps to form the three-dimensional object from a plurality of adhered laminae; wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength within the range of wavelengths which have reactive responses which are within about 50% of the peak reactive response of the solidifiable medium.

Claim 16

Independent Claim 125 words

A method of forming a 3D object from a solidifiable medium, comprising the steps of: forming a coating of solidifiable medium adjacent to a previously formed lamina in preparation for forming a subsequent lamina of said object; selectively exposing a target surface of said solidifiable medium to a beam of electromagnetic radiation produced by a solid state laser to form a subsequent lamina of the object and to adhere said subsequent lamina to said previously formed lamina; and repeating the forming and exposing steps to form the three-dimensional object from a plurality of adhered laminae; wherein the electromagnetic radiation has a wavelength within the range of wavelengths which have reactive responses which are within about 50% of the peak reactive response of the solidifiable medium.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method of claim 2, wherein said effective width of said beam is equal to a width of cure associated with a single pulse of said beam of pulses.

Claim 18

Independent Claim 196 words

A method of forming a three-dimensional object from a solidifiable medium, comprising the steps of: forming a coating of solidifiable medium adjacent to a previously formed lamina in preparation for forming a subsequent lamina of said object; selectively exposing a target surface of said solidifiable medium to a beam of pulses of electromagnetic radiation, having a desired pulse repetition rate, to form a subsequent lamina of the object and to adhere said subsequent lamina to said previously formed lamina, wherein exposure of said solidifiable medium to a pulse of said beam results in a subcritical region of partially polymerized solidifiable medium adjacent to a solidified portion of said solidifiable medium; and repeating the forming and exposing steps to form the three-dimensional object from a plurality of adhered laminae; wherein the pulse repetition rate is selected to result in a pulse separation at said target surface to be greater than an effective width of said beam and wherein said subcritical regions of sufficiently overlap to exceed a critical exposure for said subcritical regions when said beam is being scanned at a desired velocity and an average exposure deposited by said beam is equal to a desired amount.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 196 words

A method of forming a three-dimensional object from a solidifiable medium, comprising the steps of: forming a coating of solidifiable medium adjacent to a previously formed lamina in preparation for forming a subsequent lamina of said object; selectively exposing a target surface of said solidifiable medium to a beam of pulses of electromagnetic radiation, having a desired pulse repetition rate, to form a subsequent lamina of the object and to adhere said subsequent lamina to said previously formed lamina, wherein exposure of said solidifiable medium to a pulse of said beam results in a subcritical region of partially polymerized solidifiable medium adjacent to a solidified portion of said solidifiable medium; and repeating the forming and exposing steps to form the three-dimensional object from a plurality of adhered laminae; wherein the pulse repetition rate is selected to result in a pulse separation at said target surface to be greater than an effective width of said beam and wherein said subcritical regions of sufficiently overlap to exceed a critical exposure for said subcritical regions when said beam is being scanned at a desired velocity and an average exposure deposited by said beam is equal to a desired amount.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method of claim 15, wherein said solidified portion of said solidifiable medium is surrounded by said subcritical region of partially polymerized solidifiable medium.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2001-11-23	2002-05-25	2002-11-24	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2005-11-23	2006-05-25	2006-11-24	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2009-11-23	2010-05-25	2010-11-24	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Apparatus and method for forming three-dimensional objects in stereolithography utilizing a laser exposure system having a diode pumped frequency quadrupled solid state laser

Abstract

Inventors

Bibliographic Details

Claims Analysis

References Cited (Backward Citations)

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Assigned Categories & Tags

Assign Category Tag