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Assignee3D Systems, Inc.
InventorsJoseph W. Allison, Jan Richter, Craig M. Childers, Dennis R. Smalley, Charles W. Hull, Paul F. Jacobs
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An improved method for stereolithographically making an object by alternating the order in which similar sets of vectors are exposed over two or more layers. In another method, a pattern of tightly packed hexagonal tiles are drawn. Each tile is isolated from its neighboring tiles by specifying breaks of unexposed material between the tiles. Using an interrupted scan method, vectors are drawn with periodic breaks along their lengths. In another method, modulator and scanning techniques are used to reduce exposure problems associated with the acceleration and deceleration of the scanning system when jumping between vectors or changing scanning directions.
In a stereolithographic method for constructing an object from a medium solidifiable upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising the successive formation of layers of the medium applied to previously formed layers of the medium, each layer of the medium having a desired thickness, and selectively exposing the layers to synergistic stimulation in a pattern corresponding to cross-sections of the three-dimensional object, to build up the three-dimensional object layer by layer, the pattern including paths of exposure defined by vectors, with the exposure of the vectors resulting in a cure depth and a cure width, the improvement comprising the steps of:
The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of repeating the steps of claim 7 on a second layer overlying the first layer, with the first set of vectors on the second layer offset from the first set of vectors on the first layer.
In a stereolithographic method for constructing an object from a medium solidifiable upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising the successive formation of layers of the medium applied to previously formed layers of the medium, each layer of the medium having a desired thickness, and selectively exposing the layers to synergistic stimulation in a pattern corresponding to cross-sections of the three-dimensional object, to build up the three-dimensional object layer by layer, the pattern including paths of exposure defined by vectors, the improvement comprising the steps of:
In a stereolithographic method for constructing an object from a medium solidifiable upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising the successive formation of layers of the medium applied to previously formed layers of the medium, each layer of the medium having a desired thickness, and selectively exposing the layers to synergistic stimulation in a pattern corresponding to cross-sections of the three-dimensional object including at least one down-facing region, to build up the three-dimensional object layer by layer, the pattern including paths of exposure defined by vectors, with the exposure of the vectors resulting in a cure depth, the improvement comprising the step of:
In a stereolithographic method for constructing an object from a medium solidifiable upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising the successive formation of layers of the medium above previously formed layers of the medium, each layer of the medium having a desired thickness, and selectively exposing the layers to synergistic stimulation in a pattern corresponding to cross-sections of the three-dimensional object, to build up the three-dimensional object layer by layer, the pattern including paths of exposure defined by vectors, with the exposure of the vectors resulting in a cure depth, the improvement comprising the step of:
In a stereolithographic method for constructing an object from a medium solidifiable upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising the successive formation of layers of the medium applied to previously formed layers of the medium, each layer of the medium having a desired thickness, and selectively exposing the layers to synergistic stimulation in a pattern corresponding to cross-sections of the three-dimensional object, to build up the three-dimensional object layer by layer, the pattern including paths of exposure defined by vectors, with the exposure of the vectors resulting in a cure depth and a cure width, the improvement comprising the steps of:
In a stereolithographic method for constructing an object from an medium solidifiable upon exposure to synergistic stimulation, comprising the successive formation of layers of the medium applied to previously formed layers of the medium and a down facing region, each layer of the medium having a desired thickness, and selectively exposing the layers to synergistic stimulation in a pattern corresponding to cross-sections of the three-dimensional object, to build up the three-dimensional object layer by layer, the pattern including paths of exposure defined by vectors, with the exposure of the vectors resulting in a cure depth, the improvement comprising the step of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.