Additive fabrication support structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10011079-B2
Application number	US-201514873310-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2015
Priority date	Apr 5, 2013
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

Some aspects provide a method of generating a support structure for an object, the support structure and the object to be fabricated via one or more additive fabrication techniques, comprising identifying one or more regions of the object as one or more regions to which mechanical support is to be provided, identifying one or more support points within at least a first region of the one or more regions, and generating the support structure for the object, the support structure comprising one or more support tips coupled to the object at the one or more support points, the support tips being generated based at least in part on a direction normal to the surface of the object at the respective support point.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method of generating a support structure for an object represented by a three-dimensional model, the support structure and the object to be fabricated via additive fabrication, the method comprising:
determining, using at least one processor, a direction normal to the surface of the object at each of a plurality of surface points of the object;
generating, using the at least one processor, a support structure for the object, the support structure comprising a scaffolding portion and one or more support tips coupled to the scaffolding portion and coupled to the object at the one or more surface points, wherein an orientation of each of the one or more support tips is determined by the at least one processor based at least in part on the direction normal to the surface of the object determined for the surface point to which the support tip is coupled; and
providing instructions to an additive fabrication device that, when executed by the additive fabrication device, cause the additive fabrication device to fabricate the object and the support structure.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the direction normal to the surface of the object for at least a first surface point of the one or more surface points comprises:
constructing, using the at least one processor, a voxel representation of the object, the representation comprising a plurality of voxels;
identifying, using the at least one processor, a first voxel of the plurality of voxels as comprising the first surface point; and
calculating, using the at least one processor, the direction normal to the surface of the object for the first surface point by determining whether one or more voxels neighboring the first voxel are exterior to the object.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the direction normal to the surface of the object for at least a first surface point of the one or more surface points comprises:
accessing, using the at least one processor, data describing a plurality of polygons that describe the object, the data comprising a normal direction for each of the plurality of polygons;
identifying, using the at least one processor, a first polygon of the plurality of polygons as comprising the first surface point; and
identifying, using the at least one processor, the normal direction associated with the first polygon as the direction normal to the surface of the object for the first surface point.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein some, but not all, of the one or more support tips are oriented in the direction normal to the surface of the object determined for the surface point to which the support tip is coupled.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the orientation of at least a portion of the one or more support tips is determined by applying an offset, based on directions of expected forces at the surface point to which the support tip is coupled, to the direction normal to the surface of the object determined for the surface point.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more support tips are generated by the at least one processor with geometries that depend, at least in part, upon a degree of support to avoid mechanical damage calculated based on directions of expected forces at respective surface points.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the geometries include an asymmetric cross-sectional area of contact with the object.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein at least a subset of the support tip geometries include a long axis and a short axis, and wherein the tips of the subset are positioned on the object such that the long axis of each tip is substantially perpendicular to a line extending from a centroid of the object.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein at least a subset of the support tip geometries include a long axis and a short axis, and wherein the tips of the subset are positioned on the object such that the long axis of each tip is substantially normal to a direction of a force predicted by the at least one processor to be exerted on the object during fabrication thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the at least one processor, a plurality of layers that together correspond to a shape of the support structure.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a length of at least a first support tip of the one or more support tips is less than 10% of a length of the at least one scaffolding portion.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more support tips contacts the scaffolding portion at a non-zero angle.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scaffolding portion is generated by the at least one processor based on a minimum spanning tree.

Assignees

• Formlabs Inc

Inventors

• Wighton Shane
• Lobovsky Maxim
• Keeter Matthew
• Hogge Akimitsu

Classifications

• G06F2111/10

  Numerical modelling · CPC title

• B33Y50/00

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29C64/153

  using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting · CPC title

• B29C64/124

  using layers of liquid which are selectively solidified · CPC title

• B29C33/3842

  Manufacturing moulds, e.g. shaping the mould surface by machining · CPC title