A retainer sleeve configured for use in a retainer system for a ground engaging tool includes a plurality of plate-like sections, each section being flexibly joined with an adjacent section along either a radially inner edge or a portion of a radially outer edge. The radially inner edges of the plurality of sections form part of a segmented inner surface configured for engagement with an outer surface of a locking member of the retainer system. The inner surface extends partially around a central axis of the retainer sleeve to form a substantially C-shaped retainer sleeve having opposite circumferential ends that are spaced from each other. The radially outer edges of the plurality of sections form part of a segmented, frustoconical outer surface configured for engagement in an internal lock cavity of a ground engaging tool tip.

A three-dimensional shaping apparatus includes an ejection portion, a base stage, a movement portion, and a controller. The ejection portion configured to eject a fused thermoplastic resin. The movement portion configured to change relative positions of the ejection portion and the base stage. The controller configured to control the movement portion and the ejection portion such that a wall is formed by ejecting a fused thermoplastic resin from the ejection portion while relatively moving the ejection portion with respect to the base stage to provide a space surrounded by the wall in a horizontal direction and open in an upward direction, and such that a filling portion is formed by injecting a fused thermoplastic resin into the space from above.

An orthodontic appliance may include an outer shell having a plurality of cavities shaped to receive the patient's teeth and generate one or more of a force or a torque in response to the appliance being worn on the patient's teeth. The orthodontic appliance may also include an inner structure having a stiffness different than a stiffness of the outer shell. The inner structure can be positioned on an inner surface of the outer shell in order to distribute the one or more of a force or a torque to at least one tooth received within the plurality of cavities.

A 3D printing apparatus and method corrects for skew in the motion components of the apparatus without the use of an independent reference object. A calibration object having features therein or thereon is printed. A user rotates the calibration object by a certain angle after it is printed. The features in/on the calibration object are measured, and an amount of skew is determined based on the measurements. In addition, a 3D printing operation is compensated based on the effects of a coefficient of thermal expansion and/or moisture absorption on dimensional changes.

A process control system and a method for process control of a solid-state additive manufacturing system capable of performing various additive processes, such as joining, additive manufacturing, coating, repair and others, are disclosed. The process control system is capable of simultaneous measuring, monitoring and controlling multiple process variables, viz. material temperature, actuator down force, tool force (or torque), tool position, tool angular and transverse velocity, spindle torque (angular velocity), filler flow rate, filler composition, track width, inert gas flow rate and others. A feeding system for continuous supply of filler material to the solid-state additive manufacturing system is also disclosed. The filler material can be in a form of a powder, granules, briquettes, beads, flakes, wires, rods, films, scrap pieces, sheets, blocks or their combinations. Methods for generation of different periodic and non-periodic structures and joints using the process-controlled solid-state additive manufacturing system are also disclosed.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including medium-encoded computer program products, for automatic generation of probe path for surface inspection and part alignment. A mesh model is obtained of at least a portion of a three dimensional model of a part to be manufactured using a computer-controlled manufacturing system. Vertex points from the mesh model are collected to be an initial set of probing points in a three dimensional space of a working coordinate system of the computer-controlled manufacturing system, and filtering out points are filtered out from the initial set of probing points based on coverage of the least a portion of the three dimensional model to produce a final set of probing points. The final set of probing points is provided for use in alignment or surface inspection of the part by the computer-controlled manufacturing system.

For personalizing a vessel stent, images associated with a subject generated by various imaging modalities are aggregated. The images are then processed for identifying Regions of Interest (ROIs) and various parameters associated with the ROIs. Further, a model and a composition of the vessel stent to be administered to the subject to alleviate the condition in the vessel are computed. Thereafter, the model is verified for compatibility using information derived from patient stratification parameters. Upon successful verification of the model, a format of the model is generated that can be used directly for fabricating the vessel stent using additive manufacturing processes known in the art.

A method of treating the surface of a 3D object, comprising obtaining a digital 3D shape representation defining characteristics of the object; using a computerised device to convert the 3D shape representation into a digital 2D shape representation defining the 3D surface of the object as it if laid out flat; using the computerised device to generate a digital 2D tool path representation defining movements an applicator or removal tool would take to treat the surface of the shape defined by the 2D shape representation; using the computerised device to convert the 2D tool path representation to a digital 3D tool path representation defining movements that the applicator or removal tool will take to deposit material on, or remove it from, the surface to treat the 3D object; and using the 3D tool path representation to control the applicator tool or removal tool to treat the 3D object.

A management system is configured to manage an apparatus configured to perform a modeling process for generating three-dimensional modeled object. The management system includes an apparatus data acquiring unit, and a state determining unit. The apparatus data acquiring unit is configured to acquire apparatus data on an operation of the apparatus. The state determining unit is configured to determine a state of the apparatus, using the acquired apparatus data and reference data corresponding to a reference state of the apparatus to be managed.

A 3D thermoplastic pultrusion system and method based upon a 3D variable die system and including one or more sets of 3D thermoplastic forming machines to continuously produce thermoplastic composite pultrusions with at least one of varying cross-section geometry and constant surface contours, varying cross-section geometry and varying surface contours, and constant cross-section geometry and varying surface contours. The 3D thermoplastic pultrusion system and method including at least one of one or more pairs of shapeable and flexible dual-temperature bands and a rotating assembly that rotates the one or more sets of 3D thermoplastic forming machines to impart a twist to the thermoplastic composite.