The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 27, 2017
Filed:
Aug. 30, 2013
Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose, CA (US);
Ondrej Stava, Cupertino, CA (US);
Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods and systems for defining adaptive support structures for three dimensional (3D) printing are disclosed. An exemplary method detects an area of a 3D model needing support and generates contact points for the area. The method creates a set of virtual supports that extend downward from respective contact points and then identifies connections between the virtual supports in the set, the connections satisfying connection constraints. Next, a virtual support in the set is selected to be a trunk based on comparing connectivity levels of virtual supports in the set, the connectivity level of each of the virtual supports determined by a number of connections between the respective virtual support and other virtual supports. The method then defines a support structure originating from the contact points and including the trunk, at least one virtual support connected to the trunk, and connections between the trunk and the at least one virtual support.