Sealed type light curing 3D printer
AssigneesXYZprinting, Inc., Kinpo Electronics, Inc.
InventorsMatthew Hodgson, Tsung-Hua Kuo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sealed type light curing 3D printer and a method using the same are provided. The 3D printer includes a reservoir; a microcontroller; a plunger for creating a sealed space between itself and a bottom of the reservoir by disposing in the reservoir; a printing platform releasably disposed on a bottom of the plunger wherein a bottom of the printing platform is flush with the bottom of the plunger; an illumination unit under the reservoir; a liquid material tank communicating with the reservoir; and a gas tank communicating with the reservoir. Both the plunger and the printing platform lift a first distance to draw liquid material into the reservoir. The plunger further lifts a second distance to draw gas into the reservoir.
Claims12
A sealed type light curing 3D printer, comprising:
- a reservoir;
- a microcontroller;
- a plunger electrically connected to the microcontroller and configured to create a sealed space between itself and a bottom of the reservoir by disposing in the reservoir;
- a printing platform electrically connected to the microcontroller and releasably disposed on a bottom of the plunger wherein a bottom of the printing platform is flush with the bottom of the plunger;
- an illumination unit electrically connected to the microcontroller and disposed under the reservoir;
- a liquid material tank for storing liquid material and configured to communicate with the reservoir;
- and
- a gas tank for storing gas and configured to communicate with the reservoir;
- wherein the microcontroller lifts both the plunger and the printing platform from the bottom of the reservoir a first distance along Z-axis, thereby drawing the liquid material into the reservoir;
- wherein the microcontroller further lifts the plunger a second distance along Z-axis, thereby drawing the gas into the reservoir;
- wherein the gas concentrates on a lower portion of the reservoir and the liquid material is floated on top of the gas;
- wherein a distance between the bottom of the printing platform and a bottom of the liquid material in the reservoir is equal to a thickness of a cured layer to be created;
- and
- wherein in a printing process, the microcontroller activates the illumination unit to emit light toward the bottom of the printing platform based on a plurality of records of slicing information of a 3D object to be created, and further lifts the printing platform a distance along Z-axis, the distance being equal to the thickness of the cured layer, thereby continuously curing a slicing object of a plurality of the cured layers of the 3D object.
A sealed type light curing 3D printer, comprising:
- a reservoir;
- a microcontroller;
- a plunger electrically connected to the microcontroller and configured to create a sealed space between itself and a top of the reservoir by disposing in the reservoir;
- a printing platform electrically connected to the microcontroller and releasably disposed on a top of the plunger wherein a top of the printing platform is flush with the top of the plunger;
- an illumination unit electrically connected to the microcontroller and disposed above the reservoir;
- a liquid material tank for storing liquid material and configured to communicate with the reservoir;
- and
- a gas tank for storing gas and configured to communicate with the reservoir;
- wherein the microcontroller lowers both the plunger and the printing platform from the top of the reservoir a first distance along Z-axis, thereby drawing the liquid material into the reservoir;
- wherein the microcontroller further lowers the plunger a second distance along Z-axis, thereby drawing the gas into the reservoir;
- wherein the gas concentrates on an upper portion of the reservoir and the liquid material is deposited below the gas;
- wherein a distance between the top of the printing platform and a top of the liquid material in the reservoir is equal to a thickness of a cured layer to be created;
- and
- wherein in a printing process, the microcontroller activates the illumination unit to emit light toward the top of the printing platform based on a plurality of records of slicing information of a 3D object to be created, and further lowers the printing platform a distance along Z-axis, the distance being equal to the thickness of the cured layer, thereby continuously curing a slicing object of a plurality of the cured layers of the 3D object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.