Systems And Methods For Fabricating Three-Dimensional Objects

Abstract

A system including a container for holding a photosensitive medium adapted to change states upon exposure to a light source, an optical imaging system, configured to move above the container holding the photosensitive medium, and having the light source, and a control system configured to: slice a digital model of a three-dimensional object into a slice having a cross-section, generate a build cross-section by filling a two-dimensional image with one or more copies of the cross-section, add to the build cross-section a conformal lattice to fill space in the build cross-section around the one or more copies of the cross-section, and control movement of the optical imaging system above the container to cure a portion of the photosensitive medium corresponding to the build cross-section to produce a layer of a three-dimensional object.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 slicing a digital model of a three-dimensional object into a slice having a cross-section;   generating a build cross-section by filling a two-dimensional image with one or more copies of the cross-section; and   adding, to the build cross-section, a conformal lattice to fill space in the build cross-section around the copy of the cross-section.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 slicing the digital model into a plurality of slices, each slice having a respective cross-section, and 
 generating the build cross-section by filling the two-dimensional image with one or more copies of a first cross-section selected from the group of the respective cross-sections of the plurality of slices. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising adding, to the build cross-section, a break line through the conformal lattice. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising adding, to the build cross-section, a tank wall to a perimeter of the two-dimensional image. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising adding, to the build cross-section, a conformal wall spaced around the one or more copies of the cross-section. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the two-dimensional image has a predetermined size corresponding to a size of a container, and   the method further comprises:
 generating the build cross-section by filling the two-dimensional image having the predetermined size with a plurality of copies of the cross-section; and 
 adding, to the build cross-section, a conformal lattice to fill space in the build cross-section between the plurality of copies of the cross-section. 
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising adding, to the build cross-section, a plurality of break lines through the plurality of copies of the cross-section. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising adding, to the build cross-section, a plurality of conformal walls spaced around the plurality of copies of the cross-section;
 wherein the conformal lattice spans between the plurality of conformal walls. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising controlling movement of an optical imaging system above a container to cure a portion of a photosensitive medium corresponding to the build cross-section to produce a layer of one or more three-dimensional objects. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising controlling movement of an optical imaging system above a container to cure a portion of the photosensitive medium corresponding to the build cross-section to produce a layer of one or more three-dimensional objects. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising repeating the method for each of the plurality of slices to produce the one or more three-dimensional objects. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program code configured to cause a system to perform a method comprising:
 slicing a digital model of a three-dimensional object into a slice having a cross-section;   generating a build cross-section by filling a two-dimensional image with one or more copies of the cross-section; and   adding, to the build cross-section, a conformal lattice to fill space in the build cross-section around the copy of the cross-section.