Method of stabilizing a photohardening inhibitor-permeable film in the manufacture of three-dimensional objects

A method of making a three-dimensional object from a photohardenable material, the method comprising:

• providing a photohardenable material container comprising an upper enclosure and a lower enclosure, and comprising a container bottom defined by a photohardening inhibitor delivery device, wherein the photohardenable material container holds a volume of photohardenable material, and wherein the photohardening inhibitor delivery device comprises:
• a photohardening inhibitor reservoir comprising sidewalls and a base that define a continuous chamber having a plurality of supports and an open top, the reservoir further comprising an inlet channel, with the base, the sidewalls, and the supports defining an open area of the continuous chamber, wherein the inlet channel is in fluid communication with the open top via the open area, and wherein the reservoir is an integral unitary structure of the base, the inlet channel, the sidewalls, and the supports, with the inlet channel being defined within the body of the base and being spaced away from the open area along a build axis, and with the inlet channel extending to a side surface of the reservoir distinct from the open top;
• a flexible first film attached to the supports and enclosing the open top of the continuous chamber;
• and
• a second film on top of the flexible film;
• solidifying a first layer of the photohardenable material at a distance from the second film along the build axis by exposure to electromagnetic radiation so as to become attached to a bottom surface of a build platform submerged into the volume of the photohardenable material held within the container, the attached first layer having a first exposed object surface within the volume of photohardenable material and having a layer thickness;
• moving the build platform with the first layer attached thereto along the build axis away from the second film by a first distance greater than the layer thickness;
• moving the build platform along the build axis back toward the second film by a second distance, wherein the second distance is equal to the first distance less the layer thickness;
• solidifying a second layer of the photohardenable material by exposure to electromagnetic radiation so as to become attached to the first exposed object surface, the second layer having a second exposed object surface and having the layer thickness;
• and
• forming the three-dimensional object by repeating each of the moving steps in sequence and the second-layer solidifying step so as to form one or more additional layers of the photohardenable material attached in sequence to the second exposed surface,
• wherein during the solidifying steps for each of the first, second, and one or more additional layers, photohardenable inhibitor is fed through the flexible first film and the second film via the inlet channel and open area of the photohardening inhibitor reservoir so as to create a non-solidification zone of the photohardenable material extending from the second film within the photohardenable material container.