Patents by Inventor Thomas P. Chen

Thomas P. Chen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Boolean layer comparison slice
    Patent number: 6333741
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for slicing a three-dimensional object representation into a plurality of layer representations is described, wherein the layer representations are subsequently used to form the object layer-by-layer according to the principles of stereolithography. If not already provided in the object representation, a plurality of layer boundary representations are first formed, and then the boolean difference of successive layer boundary representations are computed to derive boundaries of up and down-facing regions, enabling different cure parameters to be specified for these different regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2001
    Assignee: 3D Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: David E. Snead, Dennis R. Smalley, Adam L. Cohen, Joseph W. Allison, Thomas J. Vorgitch, Thomas P. Chen
  • Boolean layer comparison slice
    Patent number: 5854748
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for slicing a three-dimensional object representation into a plurality of layer representations is described, wherein the layer representations are subsequently used to form the object layer-by-layer according to the principles of stereolithography. If not already provided in the object representation, a plurality of layer boundary representations are first formed, and then the boolean difference of successive layer boundary representations are computed to derive boundaries of up and down-facing regions, enabling different cure parameters to be specified for these different regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Assignee: 3D Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: David E. Snead, Dennis R. Smalley, Adam L. Cohen, Joseph W. Allison, Thomas J. Vorgitch, Thomas P. Chen
  • Boolean layer comparison slice
    Patent number: 5481470
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for slicing a three-dimensional object representation into a plurality of layer representations is described, wherein the layer representations are subsequently used to form the object layer-by-layer according to the principles of stereolithography. If not already provided in the object representation, a plurality of layer boundary representations are first formed, and then the boolean difference of successive layer boundary representations are computed to derive boundaries of up and down-facing regions, enabling different cure parameters to be specified for these different regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 2, 1996
    Assignee: 3D Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: David E. Snead, Dennis R. Smalley, Adam L. Cohen, Joseph W. Allison, Thomas J. Vorgitch, Thomas P. Chen
  • Boolean layer comparison slice
    Patent number: 5321622
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for slicing a three-dimensional object representation into a plurality of layer representations is described, wherein the layer representations are subsequently used to form the object layer-by-layer according to the principles of stereolithography. If not already provided in the object representation, a plurality of layer boundary representations are first formed, and then the boolean difference of successive layer boundary representations are computed to derive boundaries of up and down-facing regions, enabling different cure parameters to be specified for these different regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 14, 1994
    Assignee: 3D Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: David E. Snead, Dennis R. Smalley, Adam L. Cohen, Joseph W. Allison, Thomas J. Vorgitch, Thomas P. Chen
  • Rapid and accurate production of stereolighographic parts
    Patent number: 5182715
    Abstract: A stereolithography system employing a more powerful laser and faster dynamic mirrors to speed up part building without sacrificing accuracy is described, especially large or complex parts. A controllable shutter is placed in the beam path of the laser to selectably block the passage of the beam and prevent unwanted solidification. A suitable servo controlled feedback loop is provided to accurately position the mirrors at the higher velocity.Also described is a means to reduce data flow by distributing tasks in a multiple processor environment, and to improve user interaction by the use of a spreadsheet model. These also improve the speed of part building, especially for large or complex parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1993
    Assignee: 3D Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas J. Vorgitch, Raymond A. Bradford, Grady O. Floyd, Harry L. Tarnoff, Wayne A. Vinson, Frank F. Little, Richard A. Harlow, Wolfgang Schwarzinger, Paul H. Marygold, Mark A. Lewis, Yehoram Uziel, Borzo Modrek, Robert T. Pitlak, Thomas P. Chen