Systems and methods of post-processing features for additive fabrication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10011075-B2
Application number	US-201414501967-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2014
Priority date	Nov 22, 2013
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

According to some aspects, a method of additive fabrication wherein a plurality of layers of material are formed on a build platform is provided. The method comprises forming a raft structure in contact with the build platform, the raft structure formed from one or more layers of material and comprising at least one removal pocket adjacent to the build platform and forming additional material in contact with the raft structure. According to some aspects, an additive fabrication apparatus configured to form a plurality of layers of material on a build platform is provided. The apparatus comprises the build platform, and at least one controller configured to form a raft structure in contact with the build platform, the raft structure formed from one or more layers of material and comprising at least one removal pocket adjacent to the build platform, and form additional material in contact with the raft structure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of additive fabrication wherein a plurality of layers of material are formed on a build platform, the method comprising:
forming a raft structure in contact with the build platform, the raft structure formed from one or more layers of material and comprising at least one removal pocket adjacent to the build platform, wherein at least a first removal pocket of the at least one removal pocket includes a raised portion, and wherein at least an inner or outer surface of the raised portion decreases in height with increasing distance from an edge of the raft structure; and
forming additional material in contact with the raft structure.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more layers of material are substantially laminar and have a thickness between 10 μm and 500 μm.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the raft structure and the additional material from the build platform.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining a representation of a three-dimensional object; and
generating a representation of a part consisting of the raft structure and the three-dimensional object,
wherein the raft structure and the additional material are formed in accordance with the representation of the part.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the raft structure is generated based at least in part on the representation of the three-dimensional object.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein generating the representation of the part comprises computationally combining a representation of a first structure with a representation of the at least one removal pocket using a polygon Boolean algorithm.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the at least one removal pocket comprises creating at least one void space adjacent to the build platform.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least partially filling at least one of the at least one removal pockets with a sacrificial structure.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of layers of material includes a portion of the raft structure and a portion of the additional material.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more layers of the raft structure and the additional material are formed by actinic radiation incident on a liquid photopolymer that causes a solid photopolymer to form.

11. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising an executable program that, when executed, causes a computer to perform a method of:
obtaining a representation of a three-dimensional object; and
generating a representation of a part, the part including a raft structure and the three-dimensional object in contact with one another at a base of the three-dimensional object,
wherein the raft structure comprises at least one removal pocket,
wherein at least a first removal pocket of the at least one removal pocket includes a raised portion, and
wherein at least an inner or outer surface of the raised portion decreases in height with increasing distance from an edge of the raft structure.

12. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the raft structure is generated based at least in part on the representation of the three-dimensional object.

13. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
generating, based at least in part on the representation of the part, a plurality of instructions for an additive fabrication device that instruct the additive fabrication device to fabricate the part.

14. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of instructions further comprise instructions to the additive fabrication device to at least partially fill at least one of the at least one removal pockets with a sacrificial structure.

15. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein generating the plurality of instructions comprises decomposing the representation of the part into a plurality of layers and generating instructions that instruct the additive fabrication device to form each layer of the plurality of layers in a layerwise sequence.

16. The at least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein generating the representation of the part comprises computationally combining a representation of a first structure with a representation of the at least one removal pocket using a polygon Boolean algorithm.

Assignees

• Formlabs Inc

Inventors

• Walker Will
• Keeter Matthew

Classifications

• B29C64/40

  Structures for supporting 3D objects during manufacture and intended to be sacrificed after completion thereof · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29L2009/00

  Layered products · CPC title

• B33Y40/00

  Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling · CPC title

• B29C67/0066 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic