US5847956A — Automatic trimming of geometric objects in CAD/CA…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 126 words

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system, performs a method of trimming a design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the first and second model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of: automatically creating a trimmed geometry representing a trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive responsive to creation of the second model primitive; and automatically displaying the trimmed geometry on the display.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 126 words

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system, performs a method of trimming a design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the first and second model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of: automatically creating a trimmed geometry representing a trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive responsive to creation of the second model primitive; and automatically displaying the trimmed geometry on the display.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 51 words

The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically creating includes steps of: assigning at least one attribute to the second model primitive; and passing the first and second model primitives to a trimming engine that automatically creates the trimmed geometry based on the at least one attribute.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the step of automatically displaying the trimmed geometry includes displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 34 words

The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the step of assigning includes a step of assigning the at least one attribute to the second model primitive when the second model primitive is created.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 75 words

The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises steps of: receiving, in response to user input, a signal to change the at least one attribute assigned to the second model primitive; changing the at least one attribute assigned to the second model primitive; passing the first and second model primitives to the trimming engine to automatically create a new trimmed geometry; and automatically displaying the new trimmed geometry on the display.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 47 words

The computer readable medium of claim 2, wherein the step of assigning the at least one attribute to the second model primitive includes a step of inferring the at least one attribute based upon the design actions taken by the user which create the second model primitive.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 65 words

The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically creating includes steps of: assigning a sense to each of the first and second model primitives, each sense being selected from a group including positive and negative sense; and determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive using the sense of the first and second model primitives.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 44 words

The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the step of determining the trimmed interaction further uses a temporal order of creation of the first and second model primitives in determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 55 words

The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the step of determining includes determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive to be a boolean union of the first model primitive and the second model primitive when the senses of the first and second model primitives are both positive.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 62 words

The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the step of determining includes determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive to be a boolean subtraction of the second model primitive from the first model primitive when the sense of the first model primitive is positive and the sense of the second model primitive is negative.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 68 words

The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the group from which each sense is selected further includes a neutral sense, and wherein the step of determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive includes a step of determining that the second model primitive does not interact with the first model primitive when the sense of the first model primitive is neutral.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 32 words

The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises a step of retaining the first model primitive and the second model primitive after the trimmed geometry has been created.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 56 words

The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the group from which each sense is selected further includes a neutral sense, and the step of automatically creating further includes a step of assigning one of positive, negative, and neutral sense to the second model primitive when the second model primitive is a closed planar model primitive.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 77 words

The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the step of determining includes steps of: calculating, for each positively-sensed model primitive in the design, a respective intermediate evaluation that corresponds to the positively-sensed model primitive, the respective intermediate evaluation being a boolean subtraction from the corresponding positively-sensed model primitive of each negatively-sensed model primitive associated with the corresponding positively-sensed model primitive, and calculating a final evaluation based on an interaction of each of the respective intermediate evaluations.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of calculating the final evaluation includes a step of calculating a boolean union of each of the intermediate evaluations.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 46 words

The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of automatically creating further includes, for each positively-sensed model primitive in the design, a step of associating each negatively-sensed model primitive in the design with the positively-sensed model primitive at creation of the positively-sensed model primitive.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 84 words

The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of assigning the sense to the first and second model primitives assigns positive sense to the first model primitive and negative sense to the second model primitive, the method further comprising steps of: receiving, in response to user input, a signal to change the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive; and dissociating, in response to the step of receiving, the second model primitive from the first model primitive.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 84 words

The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of assigning the sense to the first and second model primitives assigns positive sense to the first model primitive and negative sense to the second model primitive, the method further comprising steps of: receiving, in response to user input, a signal to change the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive; and associating, in response to the step of receiving, the second model primitive with the first model primitive.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 73 words

The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the step of determining includes determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive with the second model primitive to be a boolean subtraction of the second model primitive from the first model primitive when the sense of the first model primitive is positive, the sense of the second model primitive is negative, and the first model primitive is created before the second model primitive.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 61 words

The computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the step of determining includes a step of determining that the first model primitive does not interact with the second model primitive when the sense of the first model primitive is positive, the sense of the second model primitive is negative, and the first model primitive is created after the second model primitive.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 32 words

The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a step of retaining the first model primitive and the second model primitive after the trimmed geometry has been created.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the step of automatically displaying the trimmed geometry includes displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 66 words

The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises steps of: automatically creating, in response to a user initiated design action that modifies a portion of the design that includes the first model primitive, a new trimmed geometry representing a new trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive; and automatically displaying the new trimmed geometry on the display.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 27 words

The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically displaying the geometry includes displaying the geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 103 words

A computer aided design (CAD) system that includes a sketcher that creates a first model primitive and a second model primitive based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, an interaction of the first and second model primitives forming a design, the CAD system comprising: first means, responsive to creation of the first model primitive,for automatically creating a trimmed geometry representing a trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive; and second means for automatically displaying the trimmed geometry on the display.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 103 words

A computer aided design (CAD) system that includes a sketcher that creates a first model primitive and a second model primitive based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, an interaction of the first and second model primitives forming a design, the CAD system comprising: first means, responsive to creation of the first model primitive,for automatically creating a trimmed geometry representing a trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive; and second means for automatically displaying the trimmed geometry on the display.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 56 words

The CAD system of claim 25, further comprising: means, responsive to a user initiated design action that modifies a portion of the design that includes the first model primitive, for causing the first means to automatically create a new trimmed geometry representing a new trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 54 words

The CAD system of claim 25, wherein the first means includes: means for assigning an attribute to each of the first and second model primitives; and means for determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive based upon the attributes assigned to the first and second model primitives.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 24 words

The CAD system of claim 27, wherein the means for determining includes means for performing boolean operations on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 48 words

The CAD system of claim 27, wherein the first means further includes means for automatically creating a new trimmed geometry representing a new trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive in response the user changing the attribute assigned to the first model primitive.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 26 words

The CAD system of claim 27, wherein the second means includes means for automatically displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 63 words

The CAD system of claim 25, wherein the first means includes: means for assigning a sense to the first and second model primitives, each being selected from a group including positive and negative sense; and means for determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive based upon the attributes assigned to the first and second model primitives.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 42 words

The CAD system of claim 31, wherein the means for determining further includes means for performing a boolean union of the first model primitive and the second model primitive when the senses of the first and second model primitives are both positive.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 49 words

The CAD system of claim 31, wherein the means for determining further includes means for performing a boolean subtraction of the second model primitive from the first model primitive when the sense of the first model primitive is positive and the sense of the second model primitive is negative.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 50 words

The CAD system of claim 31, wherein the group from which the sense is selected further includes a neutral sense, and wherein the means for determining includes means for determining that the first model primitive does not interact with the second model primitive when the second model primitive is neutral.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 33 words

The CAD system of claim 31, wherein the means for assigning includes means for assigning the sense to the first and second model primitives when the first and second model primitives are created.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 27 words

The CAD system of claim 31, wherein the first means includes means for retaining the first and second model primitives after the trimmed geometry has been created.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 26 words

The CAD system of claim 36, wherein the second means includes means for automatically displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 50 words

The CAD system of claim 31, wherein the group from which the sense is selected further includes a neutral sense, and wherein the means for assigning assigns one of positive, negative, and neutral sense to the first model primitive when the first model primitive is a closed planar model primitive.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 76 words

The CAD system of claim 31, wherein the means for determining includes: means for calculating, for each positively-sensed model primitive in the design, a respective intermediate evaluation that corresponds to the positively-sensed model primitive, the respective intermediate evaluation being a boolean subtraction from the corresponding positively-sensed model primitive of each negatively-sensed model primitive associated with the corresponding positively-sensed primitive; and means for calculating a final evaluation based on the interaction of each of the intermediate evaluations.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 27 words

The CAD system of claim 39, wherein the means for calculating the final evaluation includes means for calculating a boolean union of each of the intermediate evaluations.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 27 words

The CAD system of claim 39, wherein the first means further includes means for associating each negatively-sensed model primitive in the design with each positively-sensed model primitive.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 51 words

The CAD system of claim 41, further comprising: dissociating means responsive to input from the user, for dissociating the second model primitive from the first model primitive to change the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive generated by the means for calculating the final evaluation.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 65 words

The CAD system of claim 25, wherein the first means includes: means for inferring and assigning an attribute to the first model primitive based upon the design actions taken by the user which create the first model primitive; and means for determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive based upon the attribute assigned to the first model primitive.

Claim 46

Dependent Claim 27 words

The CAD system of claim 25, wherein the first means includes means for retaining the first and second model primitives after the trimmed geometry has been created.

Claim 47

Dependent Claim 26 words

The CAD system of claim 44, wherein the second means includes means for automatically displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 48

Dependent Claim 155 words

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system, performs a method of trimming a design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the first and second model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of: assigning a first attribute to the first model primitive and a second attribute to the second model primitive; determining, in response to the creation of the second model primitive, a trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives based upon the first and second attributes; and displaying a trimmed geometry representing the trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives on the display.

Claim 49

Dependent Claim 155 words

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system, performs a method of trimming a design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the first and second model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of: assigning a first attribute to the first model primitive and a second attribute to the second model primitive; determining, in response to the creation of the second model primitive, a trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives based upon the first and second attributes; and displaying a trimmed geometry representing the trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives on the display.

Claim 50

Dependent Claim 55 words

The computer readable medium of claim 46, wherein the step of assigning the first and second attributes includes a step of assigning a first sense to the first model primitive and a second sense to the second model primitive, the first and second senses each being selected from a group including positive and negative sense.

Claim 51

Dependent Claim 45 words

The computer readable medium of claim 47, wherein the step of determining includes determining the trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives to be a boolean union of the first and second model primitives when the first and second senses are both positive.

Claim 52

Dependent Claim 51 words

The computer readable medium of claim 47, wherein the step of determining includes determining the trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives to be a boolean subtraction of the second model primitive from the first model primitive when the first sense is positive and the second sense is negative.

Claim 53

Dependent Claim 65 words

The computer readable medium of claim 47, wherein the group from which each of the first and second senses is selected further includes a neutral sense, and wherein the step of determining the trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives includes a step of determining the first model primitive does not interact with the second model primitive when the second sense is neutral.

Claim 54

Dependent Claim 32 words

The computer readable medium of claim 46, wherein the method further comprises a step of retaining the first model primitive and the second model primitive after the trimmed geometry has been created.

Claim 55

Dependent Claim 28 words

The computer readable medium of claim 51, wherein the step of displaying the trimmed geometry includes displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 56

Dependent Claim 28 words

The computer readable medium of claim 46, wherein the step of displaying the trimmed geometry includes displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 57

Dependent Claim 75 words

The computer readable medium of claim 46, wherein the method further comprises steps of: determining, in response to a user initiated design action that modifies a portion of the design that includes the first model primitive, a new trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives based upon the first and second attributes; and displaying the new trimmed geometry representing the new trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives on the display.

Claim 58

Dependent Claim 137 words

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system, performs a method of trimming a design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the first and second model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a displays system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of: creating, in response to the creation of the second model primitive, a trimmed geometry representing a trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives; displaying the trimmed geometry on the display system; and retaining the first and second model primitives after the trimmed geometry is created.

Claim 59

Dependent Claim 137 words

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system, performs a method of trimming a design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the first and second model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a displays system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of: creating, in response to the creation of the second model primitive, a trimmed geometry representing a trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives; displaying the trimmed geometry on the display system; and retaining the first and second model primitives after the trimmed geometry is created.

Claim 60

Dependent Claim 27 words

The computer readable medium of claim 55, wherein the method further comprises a step of displaying the first and second model primitives along with the trimmed geometry.

Claim 61

Dependent Claim 28 words

The computer readable medium of claim 56, wherein the step of displaying the trimmed geometry includes displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 62

Dependent Claim 60 words

The computer readable medium of claim 55, wherein the method further comprises a step of: assigning an attribute to each of the first and second model primitives; and wherein the step of creating includes a step of determining the trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives based upon the attributes assigned to the first and second model primitives.

Claim 63

Dependent Claim 51 words

The computer readable medium of claim 58, wherein the step of assigning the attribute to each of the first and second model primitives includes a step of assigning a sense to each of the first and second model primitives, each sense being selected from a group including positive and negative sense.

Claim 64

Dependent Claim 55 words

The computer readable medium of claim 59, wherein the step of determining includes determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive to be a boolean union of the first model primitive and the second model primitive when the senses of the first and second model primitives are both positive.

Claim 65

Dependent Claim 62 words

The computer readable medium of claim 59, wherein the step of determining includes determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive to be a boolean subtraction of the second model primitive from the first model primitive when the sense of the first model primitive is positive and the sense of the second model primitive is negative.

Claim 66

Dependent Claim 68 words

The computer readable medium of claim 59, wherein the group from which each sense is selected further includes a neutral sense, and wherein the step of determining the trimmed interaction of the first model primitive and the second model primitive includes a step of determining that the first model primitive does not interact with the second model primitive when the sense of the second model primitive is neutral.

Claim 67

Dependent Claim 128 words

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system performs a method of trimming design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of model primitives, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of: inferring, according to a predetermined protocol, a selected one of a plurality of possible trimmed representations of an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive; creating a trimmed geometry corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of trimmed representations; and displaying the trimmed geometry on the display.

Claim 68

Dependent Claim 128 words

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system performs a method of trimming design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of model primitives, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of: inferring, according to a predetermined protocol, a selected one of a plurality of possible trimmed representations of an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive; creating a trimmed geometry corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of trimmed representations; and displaying the trimmed geometry on the display.

Claim 69

Dependent Claim 35 words

The computer readable medium of claim 63, wherein the predetermined protocol defines a plurality of design actions for the user to follow that uniquely identify the selected one of the plurality of possible trimmed representations.

Claim 70

Dependent Claim 35 words

The computer readable medium of claim 63, wherein the predetermined protocol defines a sequence of design actions for the user to follow that uniquely identify the selected one of the plurality of possible trimmed representations.

Claim 71

Dependent Claim 29 words

The computer readable medium of claim 63, wherein the method further comprises a step of retaining the first and second model primitives after the trimmed geometry has been created.

Claim 72

Dependent Claim 27 words

The computer readable medium of claim 66, wherein the method further comprises a step of displaying the first and second model primitives along with the trimmed geometry.

Claim 73

Dependent Claim 28 words

The computer readable medium of claim 67, wherein the step of displaying the trimmed geometry includes displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Claim 74

Dependent Claim 31 words

The computer readable medium of claim 63, wherein the step of displaying the trimmed geometry includes a step of displaying the trimmed geometry superimposed on the first and second model primitives.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2001-12-07	2002-06-08	2002-12-08	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2005-12-07	2006-06-08	2006-12-08	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2009-12-07	2010-06-08	2010-12-08	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Automatic trimming of geometric objects in CAD/CAM systems

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