Patent ID: 6711451
Filing Date: 2004-03-23
Classification: B29C,G05B,G06F,G16Z

Abstract:
A method of power management for a selective deposition modeling apparatus, the apparatus having a plurality of power drawing components, each component having an activation power rating wherein the accumulative total of all the power ratings of the components exceeds a baseline power consumption value of the apparatus and one of the components is a high drawing component that draws a substantial amount of power when activated; the method comprising:a) measuring a divergence from a desired effect to be achieved in the apparatus by each component; b) determining which components need to be activated based on a comparison of the measured divergence and an acceptable threshold effect for each component; c) sorting the components that need to be activated into a list; d) determining from the list a number of the power consuming components that can be activated without exceeding the baseline power consumption value; e) activating the components determined from step d) f) repeating steps a)-e) a plurality of times until the apparatus achieves a steady state condition wherein the apparatus may begin printing layers of a three-dimensional object; g) printing a layer of the three-dimensional object; h) continuing to repeat steps a)-e) to maintain the apparatus in a steady state condition; and i) activating the high power drawing component for a desired period of time while deactivating all other components so that the baseline power consumption value is not exceeded.