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US 11,911,958 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for additive manufacturing with preheat
AssigneeStratasys, Inc.
InventorsArmando Armijo, Riley Reese
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A polymeric material used for 3D printing is preheated, at a first zone in a 3D printer, to a temperature in excess of its glass transition temperature prior to being melted, at a second zone, for incorporation into a build object. This enables the polymer to be processed more rapidly than in the prior art.
Claims14
A method for additive manufacturing, the method comprising:
- (a) delivering, by a feed motor, a filament comprising a polymer to a first zone, wherein the feed motor draws the filament;
- (b) preheating, by a first light beam and at the first zone, the filament to a preheat temperature that is (i) in excess of a glass transition temperature of the polymer, (ii) less than a melting point of the polymer, and (iii) dependent on stiffness of the polymer at the glass transition temperature of the polymer, to provide a pre-heated filament, wherein the filament is preheated, by the first light beam and at the first zone, from a temperature that is less than the glass transition temperature of the polymer;
- (c) depositing the pre-heated filament adjacent to a build surface to form a deposited filament;
- and
- (d) melting, by a second light beam, the deposited filament to provide a melted filament, wherein the second light beam is different from the first light beam.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.