Build material splash control
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsAndre Garcia, Michael A. Novick
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
According to an example, a three-dimensional (3D) printer may include a first delivery device to selectively deposit first liquid droplets onto a layer of build materials and a second delivery device to selectively deposit second liquid droplets onto the layer of build materials, in which the second delivery device is positioned in relatively close proximity to the first delivery device. The 3D printer may also include a controller to identify a density at which the second liquid droplets are to be selectively deposited to control splashing of the build materials upon which the second liquid droplets are deposited and to control the second delivery device to selectively deposit the second liquid droplets at the identified density.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- identifying, by a controller, a first number of liquid droplets of a first agent per unit area of a layer of build material powder to be deposited onto the layer of the build material powder by a first delivery device in a printhead to minimize splashing of the build material powder, wherein the first number of liquid droplets of the first agent is selected based on a type of the first agent;
- identifying, by the controller, a second number of liquid droplets of a second agent per unit area of the layer of the build material powder to be deposited onto the layer of the build material powder by a second delivery device in the printhead, wherein the second number of liquid droplets of the second agent is selected based on a type of the second agent;
- controlling, by the controller, the second delivery device in the printhead to deposit the second number of liquid droplets of the second agent onto the layer of the build material powder, wherein the second delivery device is positioned next to the first delivery device in the printhead;
- and
- after the second delivery device has deposited the second number of liquid droplets of the second agent onto the layer of the build material powder, controlling, by the controller, the first delivery device to deposit the first number of liquid droplets of the first agent onto the layer of the build material powder when the printhead is moved in a direction in which the first delivery device is trailing the second delivery device and not when the printhead is moved in an opposite direction.
A three-dimensional (3D) printer comprising:
- a printhead comprising a first delivery device to selectively deposit a first number of first liquid droplets of a first agent onto a layer of build material powder, and a second delivery device to selectively deposit a second number of second liquid droplets of a second agent onto the layer of the build material powder, wherein the second delivery device is positioned next to the first delivery device;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- identify a specific number of droplets of the second agent per unit area of the layer of the build material powder to be deposited onto the layer of the build material powder to minimize splashing of the build material powder, wherein the specific number of droplets of the second agent per unit area of the layer of the build material powder is identified based on a type of the second agent;
- control the first delivery device to deposit the first agent onto the layer of the build material powder;
- after the first delivery device has deposited the first agent onto the layer of the build material powder, control the second delivery device to deposit the identified specific number of droplets of the second agent onto the layer of the build material powder when the printhead is moved in a direction in which the second delivery device is trailing the first delivery device and not when the printhead is moved in an opposite direction.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine readable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
- identify a first number of liquid droplets of a first agent per unit area of a layer of build material powder to be deposited onto the layer of the build material powder by a first delivery device in a printhead to minimize splashing of the build material powder, wherein the first number of liquid droplets per unit area is selected based on a type of the first agent;
- control a second delivery device in the printhead to deposit a second number of liquid droplets of a second agent onto the layer of the build material powder, wherein the second delivery device is positioned next to the first delivery device in the printhead;
- and
- after the second delivery device has deposited the second number of liquid droplets of the second agent onto the layer of the build material powder, control the first delivery device to deposit the first number of liquid droplets of the first agent onto the layer of the build material powder when the printhead is moved in a direction in which the first delivery device is trailing the second delivery device and not when the printhead is moved in an opposite direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.