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US 11,534,861 B2Granted
Laser cutting
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorJames C. Culp
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Laser cutting systems and methods are described herein. One or more systems include a laser generating component, an optical component, a fixture for holding a support with a part positioned on the support, and a control mechanism for adjusting at least one of the laser generating component, the optical component, and the fixture such that a ratio of a laser energy applied to the part and a part material thickness is maintained within a predetermined acceptable range at each point along a cut path to cut through the part while maintaining the integrity of the support. Other systems and methods are disclosed herein.
Claims32
A method of manufacturing a trimmed dental appliance, the method comprising:
- forming a dental appliance of a series of dental appliances from a sheet of a polymer material over a first mold, wherein the first mold comprises one of a series of molds corresponding to a patient-specific treatment plan for incrementally moving teeth;
- identifying a cut path for trimming excess polymer material from the dental appliance;
- conducting a non-contact measurement of the dental appliance prior to trimming the dental appliance;
- trimming the excess polymer material from the dental appliance along the cut path with a laser while controlling, using a laser trimming system, movement of a fixture to which the first mold is attached and movement of the laser relative to the dental appliance, wherein the fixture is movable relative to the laser in at least three axes of movement;
- and
- adjusting the trimming by maintaining a laser energy delivered to the dental appliance along the cut path within a predetermined acceptable range based on input to the laser trimming system from the non-contact measurement, while moving the fixture relative to the laser in the at least three axes of movement with a constant speed relative to a laser beam of the laser to avoid increasing brittleness of the polymer material along an edge of the dental appliance.
3 more elements
A method of manufacturing a trimmed dental appliance, the method comprising:
- forming a dental appliance of a series of dental appliances from a sheet of a polymer material over a first mold, wherein the first mold comprises one of a series of molds corresponding to a patient-specific treatment plan for incrementally moving teeth;
- identifying a cut path for trimming excess polymer material from the dental appliance that corresponds to the first mold;
- trimming the excess polymer material from the dental appliance along the cut path with a laser of a laser trimming system while controlling, using the laser trimming system, movement of a fixture to which the first mold is attached and movement of the laser relative to the dental appliance, wherein the fixture is movable relative to the laser in at least three axes of movement;
- conducting non-contact measurements of the dental appliance;
- and
- adjusting the trimming based on the non-contact measurements so that a laser energy applied to the dental appliance along the cut path stays within a predetermined acceptable ranges while moving the fixture relative to the laser in the at least three axes of movement with a constant speed relative to a laser beam of the laser to avoid increasing brittleness of the polymer material along an edge of the dental appliance.
3 more elements
A method of manufacturing a trimmed dental appliance, the method comprising:
- forming a dental appliance of a series of dental appliances from a sheet of a polymer material over a first mold, wherein the first mold comprises one of a series of molds corresponding to a patient-specific treatment plan for incrementally moving teeth;
- identifying a cut path for trimming excess polymer material from the dental appliance that corresponds to the first mold, wherein the cut path represents at least a portion of a gum line of a patient;
- conducting non-contact measurements of the dental appliance;
- trimming the excess polymer material from the dental appliance along the cut path using a laser of a laser trimming system while controlling, using the laser trimming system, movement of a fixture to which the first mold is attached and movement of the laser relative to the dental appliance, wherein the fixture is movable relative to the laser in at least three axes of movement;
- and
- adjusting the trimming to maintain a laser energy delivered to the dental appliance along the cut path within a predetermined acceptable range, based on the non-contact measurements, while moving the fixture relative to the laser in the at least three axes of movement with a constant speed relative to a laser beam of the laser to avoid increasing brittleness of the polymer material along an edge of the dental appliance.
3 more elements
A method of manufacturing a trimmed dental appliance, the method comprising:
- thermoforming a dental appliance of a series of dental appliances from a sheet of a polymer material over a first mold, wherein the first mold comprises one of a series of molds correspond to a patient-specific treatment plan for incrementally moving teeth;
- identifying a cut path corresponding to the first mold for trimming excess polymer material from the dental appliance;
- trimming the excess polymer material from the dental appliance along the cut path with a laser of a laser trimming system while controlling, using the laser trimming system, movement of a fixture in at least three axes of movement and the movement of the laser relative to the dental appliance;
- conducting non-contact measurements of the dental appliance;
- and adjusting the trimming by maintaining a laser energy delivered to the dental appliance along the cut path within a predetermined acceptable range based on the non-contact measurements, while moving the fixture relative to the laser in the at least three axes of movement with a constant speed relative to a laser beam of the laser to avoid increasing brittleness of the polymer material along an edge of the dental appliance.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.