Break away support for 3d printing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021237161-A1
Application number	US-201817051753-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 29, 2018
Priority date	Sep 29, 2018
Publication date	Aug 5, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

In one example, a 3D printing system includes a support structure generator to identify a breakaway support to temporarily support part of the object, to design a wedge shaped groove between a portion of the object and the support, the groove ending at a line along which the support intersects the object, and to generate a digital object model that includes the support and the groove. The system also includes a 3D printer to print the object, support and groove based on the object model.

First claim

1 . A 3D printing system, comprising:
a support structure generator to identify a breakaway support to support part of an object, to design a wedge shaped groove between a portion of the object and the support, the groove ending at a line along which the support intersects the object, and to generate a digital object model that includes the support and the groove; and a 3D printer to print the object, support and groove based on the object model.

2 . The system of claim 1 , comprising a slicer to generate multiple slices from the object model with each slice defining those portions of a layer of build material to be printed to form the object, support and groove.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the slicer is implemented in a controller for the 3D printer or in an object model processor separate from the printer controller.

4 . A memory having processor readable instructions that, when executed, cause a 3D printing system to:
analyze a digital model of an object; identify a breakaway support to support part of the object; design a structural feature to concentrate a breakaway force along a line where the support intersects the object; and modify the digital object model to include the support and the structural feature.

5 . The memory of claim 4 , having instructions to cause the 3D printing system to generate multiple slices based on or within a modified object model, with each slice defining those portions of a layer of build material to be printed to form the support and the structural feature.

6 . The memory of claim 4 , wherein:
the instructions to cause the 3D printing system to identify a breakaway support comprise instructions to cause the 3D printing system to design a breakaway support integral to the object; and the instructions to cause the 3D printing system to design a structural feature to concentrate a breakaway force along a line where the support intersects the object comprise instructions to cause the 3D printing system to design a groove between a portion of the object and the support, the groove ending at the line along which the support intersects the object.

7 . The memory of claim 4 , having instructions to cause the 3D printing system to print the object, support and groove based on a modified object model.

8 . The memory of claim 4 residing on a 3D printer controller.

9 . A process for 3D printing an object, comprising:
identifying a span; designing a breakaway support to support the span; designing a groove to concentrate a breakaway force along a line where the support intersects the span; and generating digital object slices to print the span, support, and groove.

10 . The process of claim 9 , comprising:
analyzing a digital model of the object to identify the span; modifying the object model to include the support and the groove; and generating the digital object slices using a modified object model.

11 . The process of claim 9 , comprising printing the object using the object slices.

12 . A unified structure, comprising:
an object including a span; a breakaway support to temporarily support the span, the support integral to and extending away from the span and made of a same material as the span; and a structural feature to concentrate a breakaway force along a line where the support intersects the span.

13 . The structure of claim 12 , wherein the structural feature comprises a groove between a portion of the span and the support, the groove narrowing to the line along which an inner portion of the support intersects the span.

14 . The structure of claim 13 , wherein the groove is a wedge shaped groove that ends at the line.

15 . The structure of claim 14 , wherein the groove is designed to initiate a break along the line in response to a force, below a threshold force, exerted on the support.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Mckinnell James Charles

Classifications

• Y02P90/02

  Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS] · CPC title

• G06F30/20

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• G06F2119/18

  Manufacturability analysis or optimisation for manufacturability · CPC title

• G06F2113/10

  Additive manufacturing, e.g. three-dimensional [3D] printing · CPC title

• B33Y50/00

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title