Method and system for toolpath generation
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsVictor B. Slaughter, Christopher S. Huskamp
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for toolpath creation is provided. The method includes exporting CAD defined 3-D geometry to a slicing module; slicing the 3-D geometry creating a set of 2-D patterns representing the 3-D geometry; generating vector code from the set of 2-D patterns; and translating the vector code to machine code.
Claims17
A method for fabricating a part, the method comprising:
- creating a toolpath for an additive metal wire deposition machine to fabricate the part using additive metal wire deposition, including:
- exporting CAD defined 3-D geometry of the part to a slicing module;
- slicing the 3-D geometry of the part and creating a set of 2-D patterns representing the 3-D geometry of the part, wherein the set of 2-D patterns are a set of boundary contours;
- generating vector code from the set of 2-D patterns, wherein the vector code comprises contour data that defines the toolpath;
- and translating the vector code to machine code configured to execute in the additive metal wire deposition machine;
- executing the machine code in the additive metal wire deposition machine;
- and
- fabricating the part by additive metal wire deposition following the toolpath, using the machine code executed by the additive metal wire deposition machine.
A system for part fabrication, the system comprising:
- a toolpath creation system for an additive metal wire deposition system, including:
- a CAD database for storing 3-D geometry of a part;
- a slicing module for receiving the 3-D geometry and slicing the 3-D geometry into a set of 2-D patterns, wherein the set of 2-D patterns are a set of boundary contours;
- a toolpath generator for receiving the set of 2-D patterns and generating vector code from the 2-D patterns, wherein the vector code comprises contour data that defines a toolpath;
- and a machine code translator for translating the vector code to machine code configured to execute in the additive metal wire deposition system;
- and the additive metal wire deposition system executes the machine code and fabricates the part following the toolpath, using the machine code.
Computer-executable process steps stored on a computer-readable medium, the computer-executable process steps for a part fabrication, the computer-executable process steps executable to perform a method comprising:
- creating a toolpath for fabricating the part in an additive metal wire deposition system, including:
- exporting CAD defined 3-D geometry to a slicing module;
- slicing the 3-D geometry creating a set of 2-D patterns representing the 3-D geometry, wherein the set of 2-D patterns are a set of boundary contours;
- generating vector code from the set of 2-D patterns, wherein the vector code comprises contour data that defines the toolpath;
- and
- translating the vector code to machine code configured to execute in the additive metal wire deposition system;
- and executing the machine code in the additive metal wire deposition system to fabricate the part following the toolpath.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.