Systems for thermal forming an object
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsYevgeniy Sirovskiy, James C. Culp
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems for thermal forming an object are provided. In some embodiments, a system for thermal forming an object using a mold includes one or more processors, and memory including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform the following operations: receiving a mold identifier identifying the mold; determining mold process information for forming the object based on the mold identifier; inserting a material into a heating area, the material having a geometry selected based on the mold process information; heating the material using one or more independently controllable heat sources; and forming the object by disposing the heated material over or into at least a portion of the mold.
Claims20
A system for thermal forming an object using a mold, the system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a mold identifier identifying the mold,
- determining mold process information for forming the object based on the mold identifier,
- inserting a material into a heating area, the material having a geometry selected based on the mold process information,
- heating the material using a plurality of independently controllable heat sources, wherein heating the material comprises using the plurality of independently controllable heat sources to heat a plurality of different portions of the material, and wherein at least some of the different portions overlap each other;
- and
- forming the object by disposing the heated material over or into at least a portion of the mold.
A thermoforming system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a mold identifier associated with a mold,
- determining mold process information for forming an object based on the mold identifier,
- heating a material using a plurality of heat sources according to the mold process information, wherein heating the material comprises using the plurality of heat sources to heat a plurality of different portions of the material, and wherein at least some of the different portions overlap each other;
- and
- forming the object by disposing the heated material over or into at least a portion of the mold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.