초록 ▼

Embodiments of the instant invention are directed to various methods and an apparatus for building a three-dimensional object represented by object data and support data using thermal stereolithography. Some preferred embodiments of the building techniques include multiple building materials, wherei

Embodiments of the instant invention are directed to various methods and an apparatus for building a three-dimensional object represented by object data and support data using thermal stereolithography. Some preferred embodiments of the building techniques include multiple building materials, wherein, in some preferred embodiments, a different building material is used to build the object and the support. Embodiments of the methods for building three-dimensional objects include manipulation of the data, which is represented by a plurality of start/stop transitions to facilitate the computation of Boolean operations. In preferred embodiments, the object is built by selective disposition of the building materials in accordance with the object and support data.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] In a rapid prototyping system, a method of generating data descriptive of a support region for a given layer of a three-dimensional object to be formed on a layer-by-layer basis, comprising the steps of:providing object layer data descriptive of an object region for each

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] In a rapid prototyping system, a method of generating data descriptive of a support region for a given layer of a three-dimensional object to be formed on a layer-by-layer basis, comprising the steps of:providing object layer data descriptive of an object region for each layer of the object;determining a first region comprising at least a portion of the object region of at least one layer of the object above the given layer;determining a second region substantially corresponding to a boolean difference between a region of the plane covered by at least a portion of the given layer with the first region; anddefining the support region for the given layer based on said boolean difference.