US 11,794,255 B2
Method and apparatus for forming overhang structures with a metal drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer
David A Mantell, Rochester, NY (US); Christopher T. Chungbin, Rochester, NY (US); Daniel Cormier, Pittsford, NY (US); David G. Tilley, Williamson, NY (US); Walter Hsiao, San Mateo, CA (US); PriyaankaDevi Guggilapu, Webster, NY (US); Michael F. Dapiran, Webster, NY (US); and Dinesh Krishna Kumar Jayabal, Rochester, NY (US)
Assigned to Xerox Corporation, Norwalk, CT (US)
Filed by Xerox Corporation, Norwalk, CT (US); and Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated, Palo Alto, CA (US)
Filed on Jan. 27, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/159,975.
Prior Publication US 2022/0234111 A1, Jul. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. B22F 10/85 (2021.01); B33Y 10/00 (2015.01); B33Y 30/00 (2015.01); B33Y 50/02 (2015.01); B22F 10/22 (2021.01); B22F 12/53 (2021.01)
CPC B22F 10/85 (2021.01) [B22F 10/22 (2021.01); B22F 12/53 (2021.01); B33Y 10/00 (2014.12); B33Y 30/00 (2014.12); B33Y 50/02 (2014.12)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A metal drop ejecting apparatus comprising:
a melter configured to receive and melt a bulk metal;
at least one ejection head having a nozzle that is fluidly connected to the melter to receive melted bulk metal from the melter;
a platform positioned opposite the ejection head;
at least one actuator operatively connected to at least one of the platform and the at least one ejection head, the at least one actuator being configured to move at least one of the platform and the at least one ejection head relative to one another; and
a controller operatively connected to the melter, the at least one ejection head, and the at least one actuator, the controller being configured with a first group of machine-ready instructions stored in a non-transitory computer readable media that cause the controller when the first group of machine-ready instructions are executed by the controller to:
identify sloped edges to be formed for each portion of a perimeter in a layer of an object to be formed by the metal drop ejecting apparatus;
use a maximum individual step-out distance to generate additional machine-ready instructions that operate the metal drop ejecting apparatus to form the identified sloped edges at each portion of the perimeter in the layer of the object to be formed; and
execute the generated additional machine-ready instructions to operate the metal drop ejecting apparatus to form the sloped edges at each portion of the perimeter in the layer of the object to be formed; and
the controller being further configured with a second group of machine-ready instructions stored in the non-transitory computer readable media that cause the controller when the second group of machine-ready instructions are executed by the controller to:
identify a step-out distance for each identified sloped edge for each portion of the perimeter to be formed in the layer of the object; and
identify a number of passes for forming each identified sloped edge for each portion of the perimeter using the identified step-out distance for each identified sloped edge at each portion of the perimeter and the maximum individual step-out distance; and
the controller being further configured with a third group of machine-ready instructions stored in the non-transitory computer readable media that cause the controller when the third group of machine-ready instructions are executed by the controller to:
identify the number of passes for at least one identified sloped edge as being greater than one.