System and method of removing excess material from a dental appliance
AssigneeAxsys Corporation
InventorsSteven Michael Braykovich, Thomas Anthony Benedetti
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and a method allow for the removal of excess material from a dental appliance. The system includes at least one 5-axis computer numerical control (CNC) machine and at least one administrative computing system. The administrative computing system is used to determine the trim line for the dental appliance. The administrative computing system is also used to determine a tool path for an automated tool that is an integrated part of the 5-axis CNC machine. The tool path is then relayed from the administrative computing system to the 5-axis CNC machine. The 5-axis CNC machine is used to machine off the excess material from the dental appliance along the trim line, while the automated tool follows the tool path.
Claims17
A method of removing excess material from a dental appliance, the method comprising the steps of:
- (A) providing at least one 5-axis computer numerical control (CNC) machine and at least one administrator computing system, wherein the 5-axis CNC machine includes an automated tool;
- (B) providing at least one three-dimensional (3D) model managed by the administrator computing system, wherein the 3D model is a virtual representation of at least one dental appliance;
- (C) executing a line assessment process with the administrator computing system by outputting a trim line with the line assessment process, wherein the 3D model and the dental appliance are each delineated into a useful portion and at least one excess portion by the trim line;
- (D) generating a tool path for the automated tool in accordance to the trim line and the 3D model with administrator computing system;
- (E) relaying the tool path from the administrator computing system to the 5-axis CNC machine;
- (F) loading the dental appliance into the 5-axis CNC machine;
- (G) machining the dental appliance along the trim line with the automated tool, while guiding the automated tool along the tool path with the 5-axis CNC machine;
- (H) unloading the useful portion of the dental appliance as a finished product from the 5-axis CNC machine;
- providing a number of computational nodes along the trim line, wherein the line assessment process includes a desired low node threshold and a desired high node threshold during step (C);
- increasing the number of computational nodes with the administrator computing system, if the number of computational nodes is less than or equal to the desired low node threshold;
- and
- decreasing the number of computational nodes with the administrator computing system, if the number of computational nodes is greater than or equal to the desired high node threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.