| 摘要 |
The disclosure relates to rapid informational prototypes of three-dimensional objects and systems having three or more dimensions, wherein the informational prototype includes information beyond outer physical shape, such as stress contours, thermal gradients, internal structures and elements, and elements varying with time. One preferred manner for indicating information is through the use of differently colored regions in the prototype. According to a rapid prototyping method of the present invention, a series of slices through the object or system are defined by an ordinal number, overall contour information for describing shape of the slice in an X-Y plane, slice thickness information for describing thickness of the slice in a Z direction, and slice image information for providing useful information other than the overall contour information, preferably through color images. The method further involves cutting or otherwise extracting a plurality of layers corresponding to the defined slices from stock material, such as transparent plastic, and applying corresponding slice image information to the layers either before or after they are extracted. The layers are stacked based on the ordinal numbers of the corresponding slices to form the informational prototype. A tab is preferably added to the contour information of each slice to facilitate manipulation of the individual layers as well as the completed informational prototype. A data file format is also disclosed for storing a representation of a rapid informational prototype in an information medium. The data file format generally comprises a file header for identifying the data file, a body segment for registering a plurality slice images with a plurality of slices taken through the object or system, and a plurality of slice segments for indicating an overall contour and a thickness for each of the slices.
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