Solid freeform fabrication using a plurality of modeling materials

Inactive Publication Date: 2010-07-29
OBJET GEOMETRIES
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0034]The ability of the system of the present embodiments to utilize two or more different modeling materials, makes it is possible to use and/or produce many more, and more varied materials in solid freeform fabrication than has been possible to date in conventional solid freeform fabrication techniques, as well as providing many different possibilities for combining multiple materials, according to the final object and/or object properties desired to be obtained.
[0035]The ability of the system of the present embodiments to utilize two or more different modeling materials, allows the fabrication of parts or objects having properties which are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve using conventional solid freeform fabrication techniques. For example, modeling materials which have a great tendency to shrink as a result of the polymerization process are not usually suitable for use in traditional solid freeform fabrication apparatus. A modeling material suffering from high shrinkage during solidification makes especially difficult the manufacturing of bulky three dimensional geometries but may allow the fabrication of thin shell like three dimensional geometries, for example, around a bulky object which is fabricated of a material with acceptable shrink

Problems solved by technology

The present inventors also found that the number of building materials that can be used or produced in conventional techniques is very limited

Method used

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  • Solid freeform fabrication using a plurality of modeling materials
  • Solid freeform fabrication using a plurality of modeling materials
  • Solid freeform fabrication using a plurality of modeling materials

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

example 1

System Operation Protocols

[0282]In the present Example, an object is defined as a volume in space (usually specified in an X, Y, Z coordinate system) which is confined by one or more close surfaces which do not intersect with each other (see, e.g., FIG. 2a). A region in the object is a sub-volume of the object which is confined in one or more close surfaces which do not intersect with each other (see, e.g., FIG. 2b)

[0283]A communication file is a file in which the specification of an object is saved by the CAD Software and from which the solid freeform fabrication apparatus retrieves the full information on the object. The structure and format of the communication file is known to both the CAD and the software controlling the solid freeform fabrication apparatus.

[0284]An STL file is an example of communication files that both CAD and the software controlling the solid freeform fabrication apparatus recognize. In an STL file, the object is specified by a series of triangles that opti...

example 2

Exemplified Workflow

[0294]The present Example describes a workflow for building one or more three-dimensional objects from several materials, according to some embodiments of the present invention. The workflow includes several stages which can be executed by the user or automatically.

[0295]The solid freeform fabrication apparatus is fed by different input materials, each being fed into a different container. In the following, N represents the number of different input materials. It is noted that the number of occupied containers in the solid freeform fabrication apparatus can be more than N, in which case two or more containers include the same material.

[0296]A computer, which is capable of communicating with the solid freeform fabrication apparatus, receives a list of groups of input materials which are allowed to be fed together into the apparatus. Each group can comprise from 2 to N combinable input materials. Materials which are not allowed to combine are not included in the sa...

example 3

Software Application for Combining 2 Materials in an Object

[0303]The background art fails to teach how different building materials can be used in order to build complex object assemblies and how a communication file representing a three dimensional object can be manipulated in order to build a three dimensional object comprising more than one material.

[0304]The following example describes a method suitable for designing and building an object from a composite material. The method enables the definition of composite material structures, without the need for standard CAD software in order to design the full three-dimensional structure, thus saving on the time that would be required for the design process as well as saving computer memory resources which would usually be required in order to design three-dimensional structures and for the analysis of such three-dimensional structure during the building process.

General

[0305]The method comprises Boolean comparison between bitmaps repres...

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Abstract

A system and methods for solid freeform fabrication of an object is disclosed. The system comprises a solid freeform fabrication apparatus having a plurality of dispensing heads, a building material supply apparatus configured to supply a plurality of building materials to the fabrication apparatus, and a control unit configured for controlling the fabrication apparatus and the supply apparatus based on an operation mode selected from a plurality of predetermined operation modes.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of PCT Patent Application No. PCT / IL2008 / 001025 having International Filing Date of Jul. 24, 2008, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 935,090, filed on Jul. 25, 2007. The contents of the above Applications are all incorporated herein by reference.FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to solid freeform fabrication and, more particularly, to a solid freeform fabrication using a plurality of modeling materials.[0003]Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) is a technology enabling fabrication of arbitrarily shaped structures directly from computer data via additive formation steps. The basic operation of any SFF system consists of slicing a three-dimensional computer model into thin cross sections, translating the result into two-dimensional position data and feeding the data to control equipment which fabricates a three-dimensional structure in a layerwise manner...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): G06F17/50
CPCB29C67/0059B29C67/0092G06T17/00B29K2105/0058B29K2105/24B33Y10/00B33Y30/00B33Y50/02B33Y80/00B29C64/106B29C64/112B29C64/20B29C64/393B29C64/40Y10T428/24802B29C67/202B29C64/268
Inventor NAPADENSKY, EDUARDOSHTILERMAN, SLAVAKLEINHENDLER, CHAIM
Owner OBJET GEOMETRIES
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