Patent ID: 9483588
Filing Date: 2016-11-01
CPC Classification: B29C,B33Y,G06F,G06T

Claim Text:
1. A method for using a digital part in an additive manufacturing process, the method comprising: receiving the digital part on one or more data storage devices of a computer; generating a data structure for the digital part with the computer, wherein the generated data structure comprises a plurality of subsets based on a geometry of the digital part; generating a grid of cells for the data structure with the computer, wherein each subset is located in one of the cells, and wherein the cells define a plurality of cell arrays each having a first cell and a last cell offset along a directional axis; and analyzing the cells in a first cell array of the plurality of cell arrays until one of the cells with one of the subsets is identified, wherein if such a cell is identified, then designating the cells in the first cell array between the identified cell and the last cell in the first cell array as filled such that at least one unanalyzed cell is designated as filled; and repeating the analyzing step for at least a portion of the remaining cell arrays to determine a total filled volume.