Support arrangement determining apparatus, three-dimensional printing system, and method of determining support arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016368223-A1
Application number	US-201615184070-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 16, 2016
Priority date	Jun 17, 2015
Publication date	Dec 22, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An arrangement determining apparatus includes a center-of-gravity calculating processor that calculates a center of gravity of a three-dimensional model, a placement surface determining processor that determines a placement surface to attach and arranging supports thereon, a reference point setting processor that draws a perpendicular line from the center of gravity toward the placement surface and sets a reference point, a region dividing processor that divides the placement surface into a first region and a second region excluding the first region, and an arranging processor that attaches and arranges the supports on the placement surface so that the contact area per unit area between the first region and the supports in the first region is larger than the contact area per unit area between the second region and the supports in the second region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A support arrangement determining apparatus for determining a position arrangement of supports, for use with a three-dimensional printing apparatus wherein the supports are attached and arranged on a target object to be formed to form the target object and the supports, the arrangement determining apparatus comprising:
a storing processor configured or programmed to store data of a three-dimensional model of the target object; a center-of-gravity calculating processor configured or programmed to calculate a center of gravity of the three-dimensional model stored in the storing processor; a placement surface determining processor configured or programmed to determine a placement surface of the three-dimensional model on which the supports are attached and arranged; a reference point setting processor configured or programmed to draw a perpendicular line from the center of gravity calculated by the center-of-gravity calculating processor toward the placement surface determined by the placement surface determining processor, and set a reference point at which the perpendicular line and the placement surface intersect; a region dividing processor configured or programmed to divide the placement surface determined by the placement surface determining processor into a first region and a second region, the first region being within a predetermined area containing the reference point set by the reference point setting processor, and the second region excluding the first region; and an arranging processor configured or programmed to attach and arrange the supports on the placement surface so that, in the first region and the second region divided by the region dividing processor, a contact area per unit area between the first region and the supports attached and arranged in the first region is larger than a contact area per unit area between the second region and the supports attached and arranged in the second region.

2 . The support arrangement determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the arranging processor is configured or programmed to attach and arrange first supports having a first thickness in the first region, and second supports having a second thickness in the second region, the second thickness being less than the first thickness.

3 . The support arrangement determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the arranging processor is configured or programmed to attach and arrange the supports on the placement surface so that a number of the supports attached and arranged in the first region per unit area of the first region is larger than a number of the supports attached and arranged in the second region per unit area of the second region.

4 . The support arrangement determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the arranging processor is configured or programmed to attach and arrange one of the supports on the reference point of the placement surface.

5 . The support arrangement determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the region dividing processor is configured or programmed to divide the placement surface into the first region and the second region so that the reference point is disposed at a center of the first region.

6 . The support arrangement determining apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the target object includes a forbidden surface on which the supports are not attached or arranged; and the placement surface determining processor is configured or programmed to determine the placement surface among the surfaces of the three-dimensional model excluding the forbidden surface.

7 . The support arrangement determining apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a display screen configured or programmed to display the three-dimensional model on which the supports are attached and arranged by the arranging processor; and a display processor configured or programmed to enable the display screen to display the three-dimensional model on which the supports are attached and arranged.

8 . A three-dimensional printing system comprising:
the three-dimensional printing apparatus; and a support arrangement determining apparatus according to claim 1 .

9 . A method of determining a support arrangement, for use with a three-dimensional printing apparatus wherein supports are arranged on a target object to be formed to form the target object and the supports, for determining a position arrangement of the supports, the method comprising:
a center-of-gravity calculating step of calculating a center of gravity of the three-dimensional model; a placement surface determining step of determining a placement surface of the three-dimensional model on which the supports are attached and arranged; a reference point setting step of drawing a perpendicular line from the center of gravity calculated in the center-of-gravity calculating step toward the placement surface determined in the placement surface determining step, and setting a reference point at which the perpendicular line and the placement surface intersect; a region dividing step of dividing the placement surface determined in the placement surface determining step into a first region and a second region, the first region being within a predetermined area containing the reference point set in the reference point setting step, and the second region excluding the first region; and an arranging step of attaching and arranging the supports on the placement surface so that, in the first region and the second region divided in the region dividing step, a contact area per unit area between the first region and the supports attached and arranged in the first region is larger than a contact area per unit area between the second region and the supports attached and arranged in the second region.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein in the arranging step, first supports having a first thickness are attached and arranged in the first region, and second supports having a second thickness that is less than the first thickness are attached and arranged in the second region.

11 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein in the arranging step, the supports are attached and arranged on the placement surface so that a number of the supports attached and arranged in the first region per unit area of the first region is larger than a number of the supports attached and arranged in the second region per unit area of the second region.

12 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein in the arranging step, one of the supports is attached and arranged on the reference point of the placement surface.

13 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein in the region dividing step, the placement surface is divided into the first region and the second region so that the reference point is disposed at the center of the first region.

14 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein
the target object includes a forbidden surface on which the supports are not attached or arranged; and in the placement surface determining step, the placement surface is determined among the surfaces of the three-dimensional model excluding the forbidden surface.

15 . The method according to claim 9 , further comprising a displaying step of displaying the three-dimensional model on which the supports have been attached and arranged, on a display screen to display the three-dimensional model.

Assignees

• Roland Dg Corp

Inventors

• Kobayashi Kouichi
• KUNIFUJI Tetsuhiro

Classifications

• B33Y30/00

  Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title

• B33Y50/02

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B29C64/393

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• 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