US 12,487,579 B2
3D print portal to assist in revising, reviewing, and approving 3D printable files
Ryan Hess, Boulder, CO (US); Fred Herold, Boulder, CO (US); Steven A. Nelson, Boulder, CO (US); Gary Turner, Boulder, CO (US); Patrick Gannon, Boulder, CO (US); Jeanette Wall, Boulder, CO (US); and John Gramlich, Boulder, CO (US)
Assigned to Ricoh Company, LTD., Tokyo (JP)
Filed by Ryan Hess, Boulder, CO (US); Fred Herold, Boulder, CO (US); Steven A. Nelson, Boulder, CO (US); Gary Turner, Boulder, CO (US); Patrick Gannon, Boulder, CO (US); Jeanette Wall, Boulder, CO (US); and John Gramlich, Boulder, CO (US)
Filed on Mar. 9, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/196,842.
Prior Publication US 2022/0291660 A1, Sep. 15, 2022
Int. Cl. G05B 19/4099 (2006.01); G06F 21/44 (2013.01)
CPC G05B 19/4099 (2013.01) [G06F 21/44 (2013.01); G05B 2219/49023 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
interacting with an image viewer and segmentation tool executing in a requester computer via an API of the image viewer and segmentation tool to receive, by a manager computer, a request including print data of an object from the requester computer that is separate from the manager computer;
associating, by the manager computer, the print data with an initial version of one or more 3D printable data for printing the object;
electronically storing, by the manager computer, the print data and the initial version of the 3D printable data in a data repository;
interacting with a modification tool executing in a reviewer computer via an API of the modification tool to transmit, by the manager computer over a network, the initial version of the 3D printable data from the data repository to the reviewer computer for modification by the reviewer computer, wherein the reviewer computer is separate from the manager computer and the requester computer;
interacting, via an application programming interface (API), with the modification tool executing in the reviewer computer via the API of the modification tool, to receive, by the manager computer, a modified version of the 3D printable data from the reviewer computer, wherein the modified version of the 3D printable data differs from the initial version of the 3D printable data, the modified version of the 3D printable data comprising one or more modifications to the initial version of the 3D printable data made by the reviewer computer;
electronically storing, by the manager computer, the modified version of the 3D printable data in the data repository;
interacting with the image viewer and segmentation tool via the API of the image viewer and segmentation tool to transmit, by the manager computer over the network, the modified version of the 3D printable data from the data repository to the requester computer for approval;
interacting with the image viewer and segmentation tool via the API of the image viewer and segmentation tool to receive, by the manager computer, an approval indication for a particular version of the 3D printable data from the requester computer, wherein the particular version of the 3D printable data is a version from a plurality of versions of the 3D printable data for printing the object that is electronically stored in the data repository, wherein the plurality of versions of the 3D printable data comprise the modified version of the 3D printable data;
in response to receiving the approval indication, causing to 3D print the object according to the particular version of the one or more 3D printable data.