Systems, devices, and methods for generating a lattice support structure outside of an exclusion area
A printing device receives modeling data that defines a three-dimensional solid model of a component body having a plurality of faces and a plurality of edges. Each of the faces meets another face of the component body at a respective edge of the component body. The printing device interrogates one or more faces of the component body to identify one or more looped geometries, and defines a lattice exclusion area having a boundary formed based at least in part on one or more faces of the component body that correspond to the looped geometries. The printing device generates a printer output of the component body and a lattice support structure for the component body. The printer output of the lattice support structure is outside of the lattice exclusion area.
1 . A method carried out by a printing device, the method comprising:
receiving modeling data that defines a three-dimensional solid model of a component body having a plurality of faces and a plurality of edges, each of the faces meeting another face of the component body at a respective edge of the component body;
interrogating faces of the component body to identify a first looped geometry on a first face of the faces of the component body and a second looped geometry on a second face of the faces of the component body;
defining a lattice exclusion area having a boundary formed based on the first face and the second face of the component body that correspond to the first looped geometry and the second looped geometry, wherein the boundary extends from the first looped geometry on the first face to the second looped geometry on the second face, and the lattice exclusion area defines a space where a lattice support structure is excluded thereby preventing the lattice support structure from blocking areas formed by the boundary extending between the first looped geometry and the second looped geometry; and
generating a printer output of the component body and the lattice support structure for the component body, the printer output of the lattice support structure being outside of the lattice exclusion area.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first looped geometry or the second looped geometry comprise respective cylindrical faces among the interrogated faces, and
the faces that correspond to the first looped geometry or the second looped geometry comprise the cylindrical faces.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein:
interrogating the faces of the component body comprises interrogating the faces to identify cylindrical faces that are among the interrogated faces and that have respective diameters less than a threshold diameter, and
the first looped geometry or the second looped geometry comprise the cylindrical faces that are among the interrogated faces and that have respective diameters less than the threshold diameter.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein interrogating the faces comprises:
receiving an indication of the faces of the component body via a user interface; and
interrogating the indicated faces to identify one or more cylindrical faces among the indicated faces.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first looped geometry or the second looped geometry comprise one or more loops, each of the loops comprising one or more respective edges of the component body, and
the faces that correspond to the first looped geometry or the second looped geometry comprise one or more faces that correspond to the loops.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein interrogating the faces comprises:
receiving an indication of the faces of the component body via a user interface; and
interrogating the indicated faces to identify one or more loops in the indicated faces.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
defining the lattice exclusion area comprises pulling one or more extreme faces of the lattice exclusion area, and
the printer output of the lattice support structure is outside of the lattice exclusion area subsequent to the pulling of the one or more extreme faces.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the printer output of the lattice support structure is within a lattice filling area but outside of the lattice exclusion area.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the printer output of the lattice support structure comprises a tiling of a lattice unit cell within the lattice filling area but outside of the lattice exclusion area.
10 . A method carried out by a printing device, the method comprising:
receiving modeling data that defines a three-dimensional solid model of a component body having a plurality of faces and a plurality of edges, each of the faces meeting another face of the component body at a respective edge of the component body;
interrogating faces of the component body to identify a first loop on a first face of the faces of the component body and a second loop on a second face of the faces of the component body, each of the first loop and the second loop comprise one or more respective edges of the component body;
identifying one or more faces of the component body that correspond to the identified first loop and the identified second loop;
defining a lattice exclusion area having a boundary formed based on the first face and the second face of the component body that correspond to the first loop and the second loop, wherein the boundary extends from the first loop on the first face to the second loop on the second face, and the lattice exclusion area defines a space where a lattice support structure is excluded thereby preventing the lattice support structure from blocking areas formed by the boundary extending between the first loop and the second loop; and
generating a printer output of the component body and the lattice support structure for the component body, the printer output of the lattice support structure being outside of the lattice exclusion area.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
defining the lattice exclusion area comprises pulling one or more extreme faces of the lattice exclusion area, and
the printer output of the lattice support structure is outside of the lattice exclusion area subsequent to the pulling of the one or more extreme faces.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the printer output of the lattice support structure is within a lattice filling area but outside of the lattice exclusion area.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the printer output of the lattice support structure comprises a tiling of a lattice unit cell within the lattice filling area but outside of the lattice exclusion area.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein interrogating the faces comprises:
receiving an indication of the faces of the component body via a user interface; and
interrogating the indicated faces to identify one or more loops in the interrogated faces.