Patent ID: 6165406
Filing Date: 2000-12-26
Classification: B29C,B29K,B33Y,G05B

Abstract:
Apparatus for making a multi-color three-dimensional object on a layer-by-layer basis, comprising:a droplet deposition device comprising:a multiplicity of flow channels; at least one of said channels containing a solidifiable liquid composition as a body-building baseline material for said object and at least one of said channels containing a colorant; each channel having on one side a discharge orifice of a predetermined size;a multiplicity of liquid reservoirs; each of said reservoirs having on one side a pipe means in fluid flow communication with one of said channels at another side of said channel remote from said orifice;actuator means located in control relation to each of said channels for actuating ejection of droplets through said discharge orifice;an object-supporting platform disposed underneath and at a predetermined initial distance from said discharge orifices to receive liquid droplets therefrom;motion means coupled to said platform and said deposition device for moving said deposition device and said platform relative to one another in a plane defined by first and second directions and in a third direction orthogonal to said plane to deposit said droplets into a three-dimensional object;a computer-aided design computer and supporting software programs operative to create a three-dimensional geometry and color pattern data of a desired object, to convert said geometry into a plurality of segments defining the object with each segment coded with a color, and to generate programmed signals corresponding to each of said segments in a predetermined sequence; anda three-dimensional motion controller electronically linked to said motion means and operative to actuate said motion means in response to said programmed signals for each of said segments received from said computer.