PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15958161
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-04
Publication Date: 2019-04
Patent Classification: ["264", "401000"]

Abstract:
A method and apparatus for making a three-dimensional object by solidifying a photohardenable material are shown and described. A photohardening inhibitor is admitted into a surface of a photohardenable material through a flexible film to create a “non-solidification zone” where little or no solidification occurs. The non-solidification zone prevents the exposed surface of the photohardenable material from solidifying in contact with the film. The inhibitor tends to cause the film to deform along the build axis, thereby creating a non-planar interface between the photohardenable material and the film, which distorts the resulting three-dimensional object. An apparatus is provided to stabilize the flexible film and eliminate or minimize such deformation.

Claim (Index 26):
A method of making a three-dimensional object by sequentially forming cross-sections of the object on a build platform defining a build envelope having a build envelope area by solidifying a photohardenable material in a volume of the photohardenable material, wherein as each of the cross-sections of the object is formed, the cross-section being formed forms a currently formed object surface and is attached to a previously formed object surface formed by a previously formed one of the cross-sections of the object, and wherein the volume of the photohardenable material is contained in a container having a bottom defined by a photohardening inhibitor delivery device comprising:\n a photohardening inhibitor reservoir comprising an inlet channel in fluid communication with a continuous chamber, the continuous chamber having an open top, a plurality of supports within the continuous chamber, and an area greater than the build envelope area, wherein the continuous chamber has an open area that is not occupied by any supports in the plurality of supports, and the open area is 50 to 99 percent of the continuous chamber area; and a flexible film that is permeable to the photohardening inhibitor and is attached to the photohardening inhibitor reservoir, the flexible film having a first side that faces the continuous chamber and a second side that faces away from the continuous chamber, wherein the flexible film encloses the open top of the continuous chamber, wherein each of the supports in the continuous chamber is attached to the film, and wherein the photohardenable material is in contact with the flexible film at an interface of the flexible film with the photohardenable material, the method comprising:\n supplying the photohardening inhibitor through the continuous chamber and to the flexible film such that the photohardening inhibitor permeates the flexible film; \n immersing into the volume of the photohardenable material the previously formed object surface formed by previously solidifying the photohardenable material in the container such that the previously formed object surface is spaced apart from the flexible film; and \n supplying solidification energy to the photohardenable material in a pattern corresponding to one of said cross-sections of the three-dimensional object through the flexible film to form a currently formed object surface from solidified photohardenable material, wherein the currently formed object surface is attached to the previously formed object surface and is spaced apart from the flexible film, and wherein during the step of supplying solidification energy, the photohardening inhibitor prevents the photohardenable material from solidifying within a zone of non-solidification that includes the interface of the flexible film with the photohardenable material.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 11.0
- Percentile: 91.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.71014
- Patent Class: 264.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15729050', '15117628', '15387179', '13361803', '14326629']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7630135186497993
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5631233397241739
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7430245007572368
- Mean Citation Score: 225.685744
- Max Citation Score: 454.134
- Similarity Product: 368.5158607084752

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 0
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test