Patent ID: 11865768
Assignee: NEXA3D INC.
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A method, comprising:
controlling a light source and a mask so as to form a first layer of photo-cured liquid resin of an object by passing light through a telecentric lens system towards and through the mask while various ones of pixels of the mask are biased to be transparent or opaque, the object located within a tank containing a photo-curing liquid resin, the tank including a tank opening, and the tank opening sealed by a radiation-transparent flexible member;
controlling a height adjustor so as to displace an extractor plate, and through the displacement of the extractor plate to further displace the object coupled to the extractor plate, along a first axis, with respect to a first surface of the radiation-transparent flexible membrane facing into the tank;
controlling the light source and the mask so as to form a second layer of photo-cured liquid resin of the object by passing light through the telecentric lens system towards and through the mask while the various ones of pixels of the mask are biased to be transparent or opaque; and
controlling a pumping arrangement to circulate a volume of the photo-curing liquid resin through the tank while forming said first and second layers of photo-cured liquid resin of the object such that the photo-curing liquid resin is introduced into the tank through a first sidewall opening and is extracted from the tank through a second sidewall opening distinct from the first sidewall opening,
wherein the first sidewall opening and the second sidewall opening are located on opposite lateral sides of the tank defining a shortest lateral dimension of the tank, and
wherein the pumping arrangement is configured to circulate the volume of the photo-curing liquid resin across the shortest lateral dimension of the tank and in a direction orthogonal to the first axis.