Method and equipment for defining a supporting structure for a three-dimensional object to be made through stereolithography

Equipment for producing a supporting structure for a three-dimensional object in a stereolithography process, comprising:

• a computer comprising a processing unit and a memory support accessible by said processing unit;
• means for acquiring a first set of data representative of the geometry of said three-dimensional object and for loading said first set of data in said memory support;
• means for defining a first surface to be supported belonging to said three-dimensional object;
• means for defining a second surface facing said first surface;
• means for defining a plurality of supporting elements having an elongated shape and extending from said first surface to said second surface;
• means for defining a plurality of pairs of said supporting elements;
• means for defining, for each pair of said plurality of pairs of supporting elements, at least one reinforcing element having an elongated shape and connecting the two corresponding supporting elements;
• said means for defining at least one reinforcing element comprising:
• means for defining a reference point belonging to each one of said supporting elements;
• means for defining a connected acyclic graph having as vertices said reference points and comprising corresponding edges between said vertices;
• and
• means for defining one pair of supporting elements for each one of said edges, said pair comprising two supporting elements corresponding to the ends of said edge;
• characterized in that said means for defining said plurality of pairs of supporting elements are configured so as to define an additional pair of supporting elements for each vertex having order 1 of said connected acyclic graph, said additional pair comprising a first supporting element corresponding to said vertex having order 1 and a second one of said supporting elements not connected to said first supporting element through any of said edges;
• means for generating a second set of data representative of a geometry resulting from a union of said supporting elements and said reinforcing elements with said three-dimensional object and for loading said second set of data in said memory support;
• and
• means for producing the three-dimensional object, the supporting elements and the reinforcing elements according to the second set of data through formation of sequential superimposition of solidified layers under control of the computer.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions which when executed on a computer controlling a stereolithography machine comprising a processing unit and a memory support accessible by said processing unit, said stereolithography machine producing a three-dimensional object and support structure, the executable instructions comprising instructions for:

• acquiring a first set of data representative of a geometry of said three-dimensional object and for loading said first set of data in said memory support;
• defining a first surface to be supported belonging to said three-dimensional object;
• defining a second surface facing said first surface;
• defining a plurality of supporting elements having an elongated shape and extending from said first surface to said second surface;
• defining a plurality of pairs of said supporting elements;
• defining, for each pair of said plurality of pairs of supporting elements, at least one reinforcing element having an elongated shape and connecting the two corresponding supporting elements;
• said instructions for defining said at least one reinforcing element comprising instructions for:
• defining a reference point belonging to each one of said supporting elements;
• defining a connected acyclic graph having as vertices said reference points and comprising corresponding edges between said vertices;
• and
• defining one pair of supporting elements for each one of said edges, said pair comprising the two supporting elements corresponding to the ends of said edge;
• wherein said defining said plurality of pairs of supporting elements are configured so as to define an additional pair of supporting elements for each vertex having order 1 of said connected acyclic graph, said additional pair comprising a first supporting element corresponding to said vertex having order 1 and a second one of said supporting elements not connected to said first supporting element through any of said edges;
• and
• generating a second set of data representative of the geometry resulting from the union of said supporting elements and said reinforcing elements with said three-dimensional object and for loading said second set of data in said memory support.