Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for generating fillet surface between two surfaces

US5345546A · kind A · utility

36Cited by
1References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 19, 1991
Grant dateSep 6, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 19, 2011

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S715/964
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A 3-dimensional (3-D) Computer Aided Design (CAD) System generates a fillet surface which smoothly connects two surfaces to each other. This is accomplished by sliding a circle on a normal plane of a user-designated spine curve which is in contact with two surfaces. Then, the fillet surface is approximated by Gregory patches which are generated from trajectories of two tangent points between the circle and the two surfaces. The fillet surface thus expressed by the Gregory patches is easily and efficiently processed in computers such as those in 3D CAD systems. Because the fillet surface is generated along the spine curve, various fillet surfaces, including that generated by the conventional rolling-ball blending method, can be generated to satisfy various needs of designers of 3-D CAD Systems.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.