System and method for on-demand colorization for extrusion-based additive construction
AssigneeR3 Printing, Inc.
InventorsPaul Sieradzki, Daniel Downs
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A color 3D printer and its method of use are disclosed. The color 3D printer uses a number of chambers to dye a filament to a given color. This colored filament is then extruded, pursuant to an associated 3D model of an object, to produce varying colored physical objects, on demand, with the use of a single filament and a single print head. Further, the color 3D printer features a waste management apparatus which provides a number of ways to dispose of waste fluid.
Claims19
A method of constructing objects out of a completely colored filament, by an extrusion-based 3D printer having a tank system having a plurality of puncture mechanisms, a plurality of dyes, a corresponding number of subchambers and a corresponding number of pumps, each pump being in fluid communication with one subchamber, wherein each subchamber has an interior chamber equipped with a single opening and at least partially filled with one of the plurality of dyes, the single opening being sealed by a penetrable membrane, a mixing chamber having an interior volume, a filament input, a filament output, and a waste outlet, wherein the mixing chamber is in fluid communication with the plurality of pumps, wherein the plurality of pumps are configured to independently pump fluid from the corresponding subchamber, a material dispenser configured to dispense uncolored filament to the filament input, a waste management system in fluid communication with the waste outlet, a print head having an extruder configured to receive completely colored filament through the filament output, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) accessing, by a user, a software application;
- (b) selecting, by the user within the software application, a file representing an object to be printed by the 3D printer;
- (c) obtaining, by the software application, at least one color related to the object;
- (d) referencing the at least one color with a color chart;
- (e) determining a predetermined amount of each of the plurality of dyes needed to create the color from the previous step;
- (f) sending, by the software application, instructions of how to create the object to the 3d printer;
- (g) feeding, by the material dispenser, a portion of uncolored filament into the mixing chamber;
- (h) pumping, by the plurality of pumps, an amount of each of the plurality of dyes needed to create the desired color into the mixing chamber;
- (i) allowing the portion of uncolored filament to be completely dyed by the dyes contained in the mixing chamber, for a predetermined amount of time;
- (j) extruding, by the print head, the completely colored portion of filament to create the object;
- and
- (k) repeating steps h-j until the object is completed.
An extrusion-based 3D printer, for constructing objects out of a completely colored filament, the extrusion-based 3D printer comprising:
- a tank system having a plurality of puncture mechanisms, a corresponding number of subchambers and a corresponding number of pumps, each pump being in fluid communication with one subchamber,
- wherein each subchamber has an interior chamber equipped with a single opening, the opening being sealed by a penetrable membrane,
- wherein one of the subchambers is filled with a solvent;
- a mixing chamber having an interior volume, a filament input, a filament output, and a waste outlet,
- wherein the mixing chamber is in fluid communication with the plurality of pumps,
- wherein the plurality of pumps are configured to independently pump fluid from the corresponding subchamber;
- a material dispenser configured to dispense uncolored filament to the filament input;
- a waste management system in fluid communication with the waste outlet;
- and
- a print head having an extruder configured to receive the completely colored filament through the filament output and to dispense the completely colored filament.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.