Print bureau interface for three-dimensional printing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9862149-B2
Application number	US-201414473357-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2014
Priority date	Aug 29, 2014
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

The claimed subject matter includes techniques for printing a three-dimensional (3D) object. An example system includes a network interface to obtain a 3D model from a client system. The example system also includes a print bureau data collection engine to identify capabilities of a plurality of print bureaus. The example system also includes a print bureau filter to compare characteristics of the 3D model with capabilities of the plurality of print bureaus to identify a subset of the plurality print bureaus that are able to print the 3D model and send the subset to the client system via the network interface.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for fabricating a three-dimensional (3D) object comprising:
a first network interface to:
obtain user authorization credentials and a 3D model of the 3D object from a client system via a network, wherein the 3D model is generated by a 3D design tool residing on the client system and the user authorization credentials are provided by a user of the client system;

a second network interface to:
receive, from a selected print bureau via the network, a reference identifier identifying a job to fabricate the 3D object using a resource of the selected print bureau, wherein the resource of the selected print bureau fabricates the 3D object in response to receiving a request from the client system; and
a processor to:
authenticate the user authorization credentials;
identify capabilities of a plurality of print bureaus;
compare characteristics of the 3D model with the identified capabilities of the plurality of print bureaus to identify a subset of the plurality print bureaus that are able to fabricate the 3D object from the 3D model;
send a list of the subset to the client system via the first network interface;
receive an identity of the selected print bureau via the first network interface, the selected print bureau being a member of the subset;
generate log-in information that conforms with rules specific to the selected print bureau based on the authenticated user authorization credentials; and
send the 3D model and the log-in information to the selected print bureau via the second network interface.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first network interface is to further:
send to the client system a link to the resource of the selected print bureau.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to further:
convert the 3D model received from the client system to a file format accepted by the selected print bureau.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to further:
determine whether the 3D model includes features that are too small for the 3D object to be fabricated successfully.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to further:
determine whether the 3D model is a closed volume.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to further:
determine whether the 3D model represents a true volume.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to further:
determine whether each face of the 3D model is correctly oriented.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to further:
modify the 3D model to reduce an amount of material used during fabrication of the 3D object.

9. A system comprising:
a processor;
a first network interface to:
obtain user authorization credentials and a 3D model of a 3D object from a client system via a network, wherein the 3D model is generated by a 3D design tool residing on the client system and the user authorization credentials are provided by a user of the client system;

a second network interface to:
receive, from a selected print bureau via the network, a reference identifier identifying a job to fabricate the 3D object using a resource of the selected print bureau, wherein the resource of the selected print bureau fabricates the 3D object in response to receiving a request from the client system; and

a system memory comprising code to direct the processor to:
authenticate the user authorization credentials;
determine whether the 3D model represents a closed volume;
if the 3D model does not represent the closed volume, then automatically repair the 3D model to generate a modified 3D model representing the closed volume;
identify capabilities of a plurality of print bureaus;
compare characteristics of the modified 3D model with the identified capabilities of the plurality of print bureaus to identify a subset of the plurality print bureaus that are able to fabricate the 3D object from the modified 3D model;
send a list of the subset to the client system via the first network interface;
receive an identity of the selected print bureau via the first network interface, the selected print bureau being a member of the subset;
generate log-in information that conforms with rules specific to the selected print bureau based on the authenticated user authorization credentials; and
send the modified 3D model and the log-in information to the selected print bureau via the second network interface.

10. The system of claim 9 , the system memory comprising
code to direct the processor to:
send the modified 3D model to the selected print bureau through the Internet via the second network interface; and
send a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to the client system via the first network interface, wherein the URL identifies the resource of the selected print bureau.

11. The system of claim 10 , the system memory comprising
code to direct the processor to further:
convert the 3D model received from the client system to a file format accepted by the selected print bureau.

12. The system of claim 9 , the system memory comprising
code to direct the processor to further:
determine whether the 3D model includes features that are too small for the 3D object to be fabricated successfully.

13. The system of claim 9 , the system memory comprising
code to direct the processor to further:
determine whether the 3D model represents a true volume.

14. The system of claim 9 , the system memory comprising
code to direct the processor to further:
determine whether each face of the 3D model is correctly oriented; and
for any face of the 3D model that is not correctly oriented, change the orientation of the face.

15. The system of claim 9 , the system memory comprising
code to direct the processor to further:
automatically create a hollow space inside a closed volume of the 3D model.

16. The system of claim 9 , the system memory comprising
code to direct the processor to further:
automatically create a drain hole coupling a hollow space to an external surface of a 3D volume.

17. A method, comprising:
obtaining user authorization credentials and a three-dimensional (3D) model of a 3D object from a client system via a first network interface, wherein the 3D model is generated by a 3D design tool residing on the client system and the user authorization credentials are provided by a user of the client system;
comparing characteristics of the 3D model with capabilities of a plurality of print bureaus to identify a subset of the plurality print bureaus that are able to fabricate the 3D object from the 3D model;
sending a list of the subset to the client system via the first network interface;
receiving an identification of a selected print bureau from the list from the client system via the first network interface;
authenticating the user authorization credentials;
generating log-in information that conforms with rules specific to the selected print bureau based on the authenticated user authorization credentials;
sending the 3D model and the log-in information to the selected print bureau via a second network interface;
receiving, from the selected print bureau via the second network interface, a reference identifier identifying a job to fabricate the 3D object using a resource of the selected print bureau, wherein the resource of the selected print bureau fabricates the 3D object in response to receiving a request from the client system.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
sending a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to the client system via the first network interface, w

Assignees

• Microsoft Corp
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Wang Zheng
• Iverson Kristofer

Classifications

• G05B2219/49023

  3-D printing, layer of powder, add drops of binder in layer, new powder · CPC title

• B33Y50/00

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• G06F30/00 Primary

  Computer-aided design [CAD] · CPC title

• G06F30/10

  Geometric CAD · CPC title

• G06F2111/02

  CAD in a network environment, e.g. collaborative CAD or distributed simulation · CPC title