The United States Patent and Trademark Office officially announced 46 new patents granted by Apple this week. One of Apple's new patents covers inventions related to 3D printing technology. More specifically, Apple has patented a new method that uses triangle mosaics to efficiently print 3D models.
According to Michael R, the method divides the smooth surface into small triangles that approximate the shape of the original model, and appears to be more efficient in terms of speed and / or material usage than the circular printhead movement used in current 3D printers. Sweet, a senior printing system engineer at Apple Inc. of Canada, is also the sole inventor of the patent.
"In one embodiment, the triangles that make up the triangle mosaic are fixed-size triangles. In another embodiment, the triangles that make up the triangle mosaic are dynamically sized triangles. For example, small triangles can be used to form the edges of an object or require Other areas of strength / support. Larger triangles can be used to build or build areas where strength / support is less important, "Sweet wrote in the patent.
The patent is unique in its fill design. A filler is a repeating structure inside an object to keep it rigid. Fill percentages and patterns affect print weight, material usage, strength, print time, and sometimes decorative performance. Most fillers include shapes or waves within the object in a uniform manner to prevent the structure from collapsing. However, this traditional method often results in cracking or brittleness of the final product.
Apple's new invention changes the shape of the inner fill to triangles of different sizes, which the patent refers to as printed tiles.
"Instead of using a fixed grid triangle pattern, triangle tessellation can be used for additional optimization, whose size and position are determined dynamically," Sweet wrote. "The method according to this type of embodiment can, for example, use smaller print patches in areas where greater intensity is needed, such as near edges, and larger print patches in areas where intensity is less important. Thus, Materials can be deposited according to the needs of a specific design. Using a dynamic triangle mosaic (ie a mesh that is not a fixed-size triangle) will allow further optimization to provide greater strength and reduce material in specific areas (such as near edges) Use in less critical areas internally. "
This system is also used to print surfaces to approach smooth surfaces.
Sweet pointed out that the convective printhead pattern requires the 3D printhead to continuously change its orientation, but the system allows the printhead mechanism to reach and maintain its maximum speed because it only moves forward to form a triangular shape, and the printhead should consider a larger area When you can keep the direction of a longer distance.
Sweet and Apple's "Using Triangular Mosaic in 3D Printing" patent (No. 10,105,905, granted October 23, 2018)