3D Systems, Inc.

Harry L Tarnoff

Stuart T Spence

Richard A Harlow

Dennis R Smalley

Charles W Hull

Hop D Nguyen

Charles W Lewis

David J Albert

David Z Remba

Tom J Vorgitch

Phil Stinebaugh

Thomas A Almquist

Borzo Modrek

Stuart Thomas Spence

Mark Anthony Lewis

Thomas J Vorgitch

Wayne A Vinson

Raymond S Freed

Thomas P Chen

Frank F Little

Brent Parker

Paul H Marygold

Robert T Pitlak

Yehoram Uziel

Wolfgang Schwarzinger

Phil Steinbaugh

Wayne B Vinson

Grady O Floyd

Raymond A Bradford

Warren Juran

Charles William Lewis

Dennis Rollette Smalley

Charles William Hull

An improved stereolithography system for generating a three-dimensional object by creating a cross-sectional pattern of the object to be formed at a selected surface of a fluid medium capable of altering its physical state in response to appropriate synergistic stimulation by impinging radiation, particle bombardment or chemical reaction, information defining the object being specially processed to reduce curl and distortion, and increase resolution, strength, accuracy, speed and economy of reproduction even for rather difficult object shapes, the successive adjacent laminae, representing corresponding successive adjacent cross-sections of the object, being automatically formed and integrated together to provide a step-wise laminar buildup of the desired object, whereby a three-dimensional object is formed and drawn from a substantially planar surface of the fluid medium during the forming process.

Method and apparatus for production of high resolution three-dimensional objects by stereolithography

Method and apparatus for production of high resolution three-dimensional

An apparatus and a method for calibrating and normalizing a stereolithographic apparatus so that a reaction means directed by a positioning means supplied with positioning means information may be positioned accurately on a designated surface of a working medium. One or more sensors fixed in location with respect to the designated surface of the working medium are utilized to correlate positioning means information with specific locations on the designated surface of the working medium. Other locations intermediate the specific locations may then be determined by the technique of linear interpolation.

Apparatus and method for calibrating and normalizing a

A stereolithography system employing a more powerful laser and faster dynamic mirrors to speed up part building without sacrificing accuracy is described, especially large or complex parts. A controllable shutter is placed in the beam path of the laser to selectably block the passage of the beam and prevent unwanted solidification. A suitable servo controlled feedback loop is provided to accurately position the mirrors at the higher velocity. Also described is a means to reduce data flow by distributing tasks in a multiple processor environment, and to improve user interaction by the use of a spreadsheet model. These also improve the speed of part building, especially for large or complex parts.

Rapid and accurate production of stereolighographic parts

Method and apparatus for production of three-dimensional objects by

An apparatus and a method for correcting for drift in production of objects by stereolithography is disclosed. A beam sensor comprising a pinhole in a plate and a photodector behind the pinhole is used to obtain the apparent position of the beam at calibration time and subsequently. A comparison between the prior and present apparent position of the sensor is made in order to determine a drift error correction term to be used to compensate for drift and thereby improve the accuracy and pointing repeatability of the scanning mechanism.

Apparatus and method for correcting for drift in production of objects

An improved sterolithography system for generating a three-dimensional object by creating a cross-sectional pattern of the object to be formed at a selected surface of a fluid medium capable of altering its physical state in response to appropriate synergistic stimulation by impinging radiation, particle bombardment or chemical reaction, information defining the object being specially processed to reduce curl and distortion, and increase resolution, strength, accuracy, speed and economy of reproduction even for rather difficult object shapes, and successive adjacent laminae, representing corresponding successive adjacent cross-sections of the object, being automatically formed and integrated together to provide a step-wise laminar buildup of the desired object, whereby a three-dimensional object is formed and drawn from a substantially planar surface of the fluid medium during the forming process.

Methods and apparatus for production of three-dimensional objects by

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Van Nuys, CA, United States of America

Harry L Tarnoff