Chuck Hull
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Chuck Hull (Charles W. Hull; born May 12, 1939) is the co-founder, executive vice president and chief technology officer of 3D Systems. He is the inventor of the solid imaging process known as stereolithography, the first commercial rapid prototyping technology, and the STL file format. He is the inventor on more than 60 U.S. patents as well as other patents around the world in the fields of ion optics and rapid prototyping.
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[edit] Beginnings of stereolithography
Hull coined the term “stereolithography” in his U.S. Patent 4,575,330, entitled “Apparatus for Production of Three-Dimensional Objects by Stereolithography” issued on March 11, 1986. He defined stereolithography as a method and apparatus for making solid objects by successively “printing” thin layers of the ultraviolet curable material one on top of the other. [1]
In Hull’s patent, a concentrated beam of ultraviolet light is focused onto the surface of a vat filled with liquid photopolymer. The light beam, moving under computer control, draws each layer of the object onto the surface of the liquid. Wherever the beam strikes the surface, the photopolymer polymerizes/crosslinks and changes to a solid. An advanced CAD/CAM/CAE software mathematically slices the computer model of the object into a large number of thin layers. The process then builds the object layer by layer starting with the bottom layer, on an elevator that is lowered slightly after solidification of each layer. [2]
[edit] Commercial rapid prototyping
In 1986, commercial rapid prototyping was started by Hull when he founded 3D Systems in Valencia, CA. Hull realized that his concept was not limited to liquids and therefore gave it the generic name “stereolithography” (3D printing), and filed broad patent claims covering any “material capable of solidification” or “material capable of altering its physical state.”
Hull built up a patent portfolio covering many fundamental aspects of today’s additive manufacturing technologies such as data preparation via triangulated models (STL file format) and slicing, and many exposure strategies such as alternating hatch directions. [3]
[edit] References
- ^ U.S. Patent 4,575,330 (“Apparatus for Production of Three-Dimensional Objects by Stereolithography”)
- ^ Stereolithography
- ^ Microsoft Word - LANE-2004-EOS-DMLS.doc
