Detecting three-dimensional (3D) part drag

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11511486-B2
Application number	US-201917256674-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 23, 2019
Priority date	Jan 23, 2019
Publication date	Nov 29, 2022
Grant date	Nov 29, 2022

Abstract

A system for detecting three-dimensional (3D) part drag includes an infrared image capture device to capture a plurality of thermal images of a 3D part build region of a 3D printing device on which a part is built, and an image analysis module to detect drag of the part based on a difference image produced by subtracting a first thermal image from a second thermal image.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for detecting three-dimensional (3D) part drag, comprising:
an infrared image capture device to capture a plurality of thermal images of a 3D part build region of a 3D printing device on which a part is built; and
a controller to detect:
a protrusion of the part elevated away from a bed surface of the 3D part build region; and
drag of the part across the bed surface of the 3D part build region due to interaction of the protrusion with a translating device of the 3D printing device, the drag being detected based on a difference image produced by subtracting a first thermal image from a second thermal image.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the infrared image capture device captures images in an infrared electromagnetic spectrum.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image capture device is a forward-looking infrared (FUR) camera.

4. The system of claim 1 , comprising an ablation laser to remove the protrusion from the part along an x,y plane in response to a detection of the protrusion by the image analysis module.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein detecting drag of the part based on the difference image produced by subtracting the first thermal image from the second thermal image comprises detecting thermal variations within the difference image, the thermal variations defining a drag instance.

6. A method of detecting three-dimensional (3D) part drag, comprising:
with an infrared image capture device, capturing a plurality of thermal images of a build region of a 3D printing device on which a part is built; and
with a controller:
detecting a protrusion of the part away from a bed surface of the build region by identifying fluctuations in environmental conditions;
detecting drag of the part across the bed surface of the build region due to interaction of the protrusion with a translating device of the 3D printing device, the drag being detected based on a difference image produced by subtracting a first thermal image from a second thermal image.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein detecting drag of the part based on the difference image comprises:
identifying abnormally cold regions within the difference image;
monitoring the abnormally cold regions for a plurality of layers for variations in process parameters;
determining whether the abnormally cold regions get warmer over the plurality of layers; and
in response to a determination that the abnormally cold regions get warmer over the plurality of layers, taking a remedial action to correct the part drag.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the remedial action comprises adjusting a layer thickness of a deposited layer, adjusting an amount of an agent deposited on the build region, adjusting torque output by a material spreader, removing protrusions from the along the x,y plane with an ablation laser, heating the build material with the ablation laser, abandoning the build of a layer of the part, abandoning the build of the part, initiating a new build of the part, adjusting the printing parameters of a print agent, modifying a bottom surface layer density of the part, or combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the remedial action comprises correcting operation of a translatable device, replacing the translatable device, presenting a warning of a drag event, or combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the remedial action comprises:
tagging the part as a confirmed draggable part; and
tagging parts within the build that have been affected by the dragging of the part.

11. The method of claim 6 , comprising:
determining whether a protrusion of the part along an x,y plane of the build region will come into contact with a layer deposition device; and
in response to a determination that the protrusion of the part will come into contact with the layer deposition device, adjusting a layer thickness of a deposited layer, adjusting an amount of an agent deposited on the build region, adjusting torque output by a material spreader, or combinations thereof.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code to, when executed by a processor:
with an infrared image capture device, capture a plurality of thermal images of a build region of a 3D printing device on which a part is built;
detect a protrusion of the part away from a bed surface of the build region;
detect drag of the part across the bed surface of the build region due to interaction of the protrusion with a translating device of the 3D printing device, the drag being detected based on a difference image produced by subtracting a first thermal image from a second thermal image; and
take a remedial action to correct the part drag in response to a determination that a drag instance has occurred.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein detecting drag of the part based on the difference image comprises:
identify abnormally cold regions within the difference image;
monitor the abnormally cold regions for a plurality of layers for variations in process parameters;
determine whether the abnormally cold regions get warmer over the plurality of layers; and
in response to a determination that the abnormally cold regions get warmer over the plurality of layers, take the remedial action to correct the part drag.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the remedial action comprises tagging the part as a confirmed draggable part, abandoning the build of the part, initiating a new build of the part, activate an electromagnetic wave source to heat up the cold regions, or combinations thereof.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 12 , comprising computer usable program code to, when executed by a processor:
with printing agent print data, locate thermal anomalies;
correlate printing agent print data to the part drag; and
store the correlation in a data storage device.

16. The method of claim 6 , wherein detecting a protrusion of the part comprises:
identifying abnormally cold regions within the difference image; and
identifying the abnormally cold regions as a detected protrusion of the part.

17. The method of claim 6 , further comprising detecting a height of the protrusion based on the difference image.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the remedial action comprises altering formation of build material below a bottom surface.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein locating thermal anomalies with printing agent print data comprises comparing a print agent density of a current layer with print agent density of a previous layer.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising computer usable program code to, when executed by a processor, identify a defect type based on the printing agent print data.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Kothari Sunil
• Heiles Tod
• Bockman Luke
• Dispoto Gary J
• Khan Md Abdullah Al Hafiz
• Goyen Todd

Classifications

• B29C64/393

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y50/02 Primary

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• G06T7/001

  using an image reference approach · CPC title

• B29C64/194

  during lay-up · CPC title