Network portal for 3D printable structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9959370-B2
Application number	US-201514851303-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2015
Priority date	Sep 11, 2015
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

A method includes receiving a plurality of design files at a computer-based system, wherein each of the design files is indicative of a respective structural design and a structural value associated with the respective structural design, causing a three-dimensional representation of at least a portion of the structural designs to be displayed to a user, causing a cost value to be displayed to the user for each of the displayed structural designs, receiving a user selection of a first structural design of the displayed structural designs, generating an additive manufacturing file indicative of the first structural design in a predefined format, wherein the predefined format enables the processing of the additive manufacturing file into a physical structure through an additive manufacturing process, and transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format.

First claim

I claim:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a plurality of design files at a computer-based system, wherein each of the design files is indicative of a respective structural design and a structural value associated with the respective structural design;
causing a graphical representation of at least a portion of the structural designs to be displayed to a user;
causing a cost value to be displayed to the user for each of the displayed structural designs, wherein the cost value is based at least on associated the structural value for each of the displayed structural designs;
receiving a user selection of a first structural design of the displayed structural designs;
generating an additive manufacturing file indicative of the first structural design in a predefined format, wherein the predefined format enables the processing of the additive manufacturing file into a physical structure through an additive manufacturing process; and
transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive manufacturing file is configured to be processed by an additive manufacturing machine to construct at least a portion of a structure based on at least the first structural design in a layer-by-layer manner.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an indication to manipulate the displayed graphical representation of at least one of the displayed structural designs; and
causing the displayed graphical representation of the at least one of the displayed structural designs to manipulated, based at least on the indication to manipulate, to provide an updated view of the at least one of the displayed structural designs.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structural value represents at least one of a strength criterion, a cost criterion, an aesthetic criterion, or a material grade.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the structural value of the first structural design based on at least a popularity of the first structural design, wherein the popularity is based at least on a number of user selections of the first structural design.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format comprises downloading the selected first structural design to a portable storage medium.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format comprises transmitting the selected first structural design to an additive manufacturing machine.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing a plurality of transmission options to be displayed to the user and receiving a selection of at least one of the plurality of transmission options, wherein the transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format is based on the selection of the at least one of the plurality of transmission options, and wherein the cost value is variable based at least on the plurality of transmission options.

9. A method comprising:
receiving, via a computer based system, a plurality of structural designs, each of the plurality of structural design having a respective category and structural value associated therewith;
allowing a user to view each of the plurality of structural designs;
receiving, via the computer based system, an input from the user to select a first structural design from the plurality of structural designs;
generating a virtual structure using at least the selected first structural design;
causing the virtual structure to be displayed to the user;
receiving, via the computer based system, an input from the user to select the first structural design for transmission;
transforming, via the computer based system, the selected first structural design into a predefined format;
transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format, wherein the predefined format enables the processing of the selected designs into a physical structure through an additive manufacturing process; and
determining, by the computer based system, a cost associated with the first structural design based at least in part on the structural value associated with the first structural design and one or more additional parameters.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the selected first structural design in the predefined format is configured to be processed by an additive manufacturing machine to construct at least a portion of a structure based on at least the selected first structural design in a layer-by-layer manner.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving an indication to manipulate the virtual structure; and
causing a visual modification to the virtual structure, based at least on the indication to manipulate, to provide an updated view of the virtual structure.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the structural value represents at least one of a strength criterion, a cost criterion, an aesthetic criterion, or a material grade.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising allowing the user to sort each of the plurality of structural designs based on the respective category of each of the plurality of structural designs.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format comprises downloading the selected first structural design to a portable storage medium.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format comprises transmitting the selected first structural design to an additive manufacturing machine.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more additional parameters comprises one or more of a number of transmission of the selected first structural design, a type of transmission of the selected first structural design, and a recipient device intended to receive the selected first structural design.

17. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more additional parameters comprise an ancillary product or service relating to the first structural design.

18. A method comprising:
receiving, via a computer based system, a plurality of structural designs, each of the plurality of structural design having a respective category and structural value associated therewith;
allowing a user to view each of the plurality of structural designs, wherein the plurality of structural designs are grouped based on the respective category of each of the plurality of structural designs;
receiving, via the computer based system, an input from the user to select a first structural design from the plurality of structural designs for viewing;
generating a virtual structure using at least the selected first structural design;
causing the virtual structure to be displayed to the user;
causing a plurality of viewing controls to be displayed to the user, wherein each of the plurality of viewing controls is configured to manipulate a view of the virtual structure;
causing a transmission option to be displayed to the user;
receiving a selection of the transmission option;
transforming, via the computer based system, the selected first structural design into a predefined format; and
transmitting the selected first structural design in the predefined format based at least on the selected transmission option, wherein the predefined format enables the processing of the selected designs into a physical structure through an additive manufacturing process in a layer-by-layer manner.

19. The method of claim 18 ,

Assignees

• Caterpillar Inc

Inventors

• Grivetti Tazio S

Classifications

• G06F30/00

  Computer-aided design [CAD] · CPC title

• G06F30/13 Primary

  Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads · CPC title

• G06Q30/0643 Primary

  graphically representing goods, e.g. 3D product representation · CPC title

• G06Q30/0283

  Price estimation or determination · CPC title

• B33Y50/02

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title