Smooth 3D Printing Using Multi-Stage Filaments
AssigneeAdobe Systems Incorporated
InventorRadomir Mech
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This document describes techniques and apparatuses for smooth 3D printing using multi-stage filaments. These techniques are capable of creating smoother surfaces than many current techniques. In some cases, the techniques determine a portion of a surface of a 3D object that includes, or will include, a printing artifact or is otherwise not smooth, and then applies multi-stage filaments to provide a smoothing surface over that portion.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- determining that a portion of a surface of a three-dimensional (3D) object includes a multi-stage 3D production artifact;
- and
- providing, over the portion of the surface, a smoothing surface having one or more filaments, at least one of the one or more filaments provided over two or more stages of the multi-stage 3D production artifact.
One or more computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by one or more computer processors, perform a method comprising:
- determining, based on a desired three-dimensional (3D) object intended to be created using 3D printing, a portion of a surface in which support-to-support distances exceed a maximum droop distance of a multi-stage filament intended to be used to create a smoothing surface on the 3D object;
- and
- creating a 3D production model usable to control a filament-providing element to provide:
- a prior stage of production, the prior stage for the portion of the surface in which support-to-support distances exceed the maximum droop distance, the prior stage including a support structure having intra-contour support for the smoothing surface, the intra-contour support decreasing the support-to-support distances to less than or equal to the maximum droop distance;
- and
- a later stage of production, the later stage including the smoothing surface applied over the support structure.
A controller configured to control a filament-providing element of a three-dimensional (3D) printing device, the controller configured to:
- determine, using sensor data, that a physical, three-dimensional (3D) object includes an undesired surface characteristic having a multiple filament-width flaw in each of three dimensions;
- and
- provide, over the undesired surface characteristic, a smoothing surface having one more filaments, at least one of the one or more filaments provided over the multiple filament-width flaw in at least two of the three dimensions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.