초록 ▼

The present invention generally relates to manufacturing apparatus for forming an integral three-dimensional object from individually contoured laminations of the same or gradually varying shape, successive laminae of that object being produced out of thin sheet or powder based materials through the

The present invention generally relates to manufacturing apparatus for forming an integral three-dimensional object from individually contoured laminations of the same or gradually varying shape, successive laminae of that object being produced out of thin sheet or powder based materials through the cutting, fusing or physicochemical property changing action generated by a computer directed beam of concentrated energy or matter, successive substantially planar laminations of that object being automatically stacked together for step-wise laminar buildup of the desired three-dimensional object.

대표청구항 ▼

A method of converting sheet material into a three-dimensional object comprised of a plurality of slices, including the steps of: positioning a layer of said sheet material over a work station; bonding said layer to an adjacent layer of sheet material to result in a bonded layer using a bonding tool

A method of converting sheet material into a three-dimensional object comprised of a plurality of slices, including the steps of: positioning a layer of said sheet material over a work station; bonding said layer to an adjacent layer of sheet material to result in a bonded layer using a bonding tool movably mounted over the work station; forming a slice in said layer using a forming tool movably mounted over the work station, portions of said layer not defining part of said slice being unwanted; and forming lines in said unwanted portions with said forming tool to facilitate removal of said unwanted portions after said three-dimensional object is formed, said lines in said unwanted portions closer to the edges of said slice being spaced closer together than the lines farther from the edges of said slice.