Method and apparatus for the computer-controlled manufacture of three-dimensional objects from computer data
US5594652A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 7, 1995 |
| Grant date | Jan 14, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 7, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH05K2203/013
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An object produces from a computer data base by representing the object in the data base as a solid voxels surrounded by support voxels within a volume. The data base representation of the object as the solid voxels is converted to a data base representation of the object as a shell of solid voxels surrounding filler support voxels, and the object from said converted data base representation is constructed in a layerwise fashion. A first material is dispensed in liquid form at selected locations of a target surface, and the selected locations correspond to the shell locations of a cross-section of an object. The first material solidifies after being dispensed; a second material is applied at locations of said target surface other than the shell locations at which the first material is dispensed, to form another target surface. The dispensing and applying is repeated to form an object comprising a shell of the first material surrounding said second material, and surrounded by the second material. The portion of said second material surrounding said shell is removed, relative to the first material, to leave an object formed of a shell of the first material surrounding a portion of th…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.