High productivity three-dimensional printer

A system for manufacturing a three-dimensional article, the system comprising:

• a resin vessel including a lower opening closed by a transparent sheet, the transparent sheet having opposed upper and lower surfaces, with the upper surface being for contacting resin contained in the resin vessel and being supported by a rim of the resin vessel around edges of the opening at a distance D from a build plane disposed above the transparent sheet;
• a vertical movement mechanism for positioning a support tray having a lower surface for supporting the three-dimensional article being manufactured, the support tray or the three-dimensional article being manufactured defining a lower face disposed within the resin and facing the upper surface of the transparent sheet;
• a light engine disposed below the transparent sheet and configured to selectively harden layers of the resin across the build plane above so as to form the three-dimensional article, the light engine including:
• a light bar including at least one light emitting device arranged along a first lateral axis, the light bar including a light guide providing a dual function of directing light from the at least one light emitting device to the build plane while impinging upon the lower surface of the transparent sheet to maintain a proper operating distance H between the upper surface of the transparent sheet and the build plane, with the distance D being at least 1.5 times the proper operating distance H;
• and
• a lateral movement mechanism configured to scan the light bar along a second lateral axis so as to allow the light bar to address the entire build plane and cause the light guide to push the transparent sheet from the distance D to the proper operating distance H across the build plane where the light bar is addressing the build plane.