# US 11,998,981 B2 · Forming apparatus and method for producing formed body

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- Number: US 11,998,981 B2
- Document ID: US11998981B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/053,001
- Filed: 2019-10-01
- Published: 2021-08-12
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2018-10-02
- Assignees: LG Chem, Ltd.
- Applicants: LG Chem, Ltd.
- Inventors: Yoshihiro Kinoshita; Eiichiro Narimatsu
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11998981B2

## CPC

- B22F 12/41: characterised by the type, e.g. laser or electron beam
- B22F 1/102: Metallic powder coated with organic material
- B22F 1/107: containing organic material comprising solvents, e.g. for slip casting
- B22F 3/1021: {Removal of binder or filler (removal of binder from ceramics C04B35/638)}
- B22F 10/16: by embedding the binder within the powder bed
- B22F 10/36: of energy beam parameters
- B22F 10/50: Treatment of workpieces or articles during build-up, e.g. treatments applied to fused layers during build-up
- B22F 10/85: for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
- B22F 12/10: Auxiliary heating means
- B22F 12/42: Light-emitting diodes [LED]
- B33Y 30/00: Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
- B33Y 70/00: Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing
- B22F 12/226: {for rotary motion}
- B22F 12/45: Two or more
- B22F 12/47: parallel to the deposition plane
- B22F 12/90: Means for process control, e.g. cameras or sensors
- B22F 2998/00: Supplementary information concerning processes or compositions relating to powder metallurgy
- B22F 2998/10: Processes characterised by the sequence of their steps
- B22F 2999/00: Aspects linked to processes or compositions used in powder metallurgy
- B33Y 10/00: Processes of additive manufacturing
- B33Y 50/02: for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
- B33Y 70/10: Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials
- B22F: WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER (making alloys by powder metallurgy C22C); APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
- B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING

## Abstract

A forming apparatus capable of producing an inorganic material-containing formed body having improved quality and a method of making the same are provided herein. In some embodiments, a forming apparatus includes a stage, a supply unit configured to intermittently or continuously supply a precursor including an inorganic material onto the stage, a heat source unit including a heat source for thermal solidification to perform thermal solidification of the precursor supplied to the stage from the supply unit, and a control unit configured to control the supply unit and the heat source unit such that the heat source for thermal solidification performs thermal solidification of the precursor on the stage, during a period ranging from the start of the supply of the precursor by the supply unit to the stop of the supply of the precursor, to form a formed body.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A forming apparatus, comprising:
a stage;
a supply unit configured to intermittently or continuously supply a precursor containing an inorganic material onto the stage, the precursor comprising an organic binder in which the inorganic material has been dispersed or an organic coating surrounding the inorganic material;
a heat source unit comprising a thermal solidification heat source and a degreasing heat source, the thermal solidification heat source configured to perform thermal solidification of the inorganic material of the precursor supplied from the supply unit to the stage, the degreasing heat source configured to degrease the organic binder or the organic coating by applying heat to the precursor, the degreasing heat source being different than the thermal solidification heat source; and
a control unit configured to control the supply unit and the heat source unit so that the heat source for thermal solidification performs thermal solidification of the precursor on the stage, during a period ranging from the start of the supply of the precursor by the supply unit to the stop of the supply of the precursor, to form a formed body, the control unit being configured to control the degreasing heat source so that degreasing of the precursor is performed before thermal solidification of the precursor by the thermal solidification heat source,
wherein at least one of the height and direction of the supply unit is changeable, and thereby a height of the next supply position by the supply unit can be selected to be the height or a different height from the current supply position without performing a forming process layer-by-layer, and
wherein at least one of the height and direction of the heat source unit is changeable, and thereby a height of the next irradiating position by the heat source unit can be selected to be the height or a different height from the current irradiation position without performing a forming process layer-by-layer.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the supply unit and the heat source unit such that supply of the precursor from the supply unit and the thermal solidification of the precursor from the heat source unit are repeated a plurality of times during a period ranging from the start of the supply of the precursor by the supply unit to the stop of the supply of the precursor.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an immobilization unit configured to immobilize the precursor on the stage.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The forming apparatus of claim 3, wherein
the precursor comprises an organic binder comprising a photocurable composition, and
the immobilization unit comprises a light source configured to cure the photocurable composition in the precursor before thermal solidification of the precursor by the heat source unit.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The forming apparatus of claim 3, wherein
the precursor comprises inorganic particles coated with an organic coating, and
the immobilization unit comprises a heat source for melting configured to melt the organic coating of the precursor before thermal solidification of the precursor by the heat source unit.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a monitoring unit configured to monitor the precursor on the stage,
wherein the control unit is configured to determine at least one of a position on the stage to which the precursor is supplied, and a position on the stage at which the thermal solidification is performed, based on information from the monitoring unit.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to control the supply unit and the heat source unit such that the inorganic material is formed into the formed body having a three-dimensional shape, based on inputted three-dimensional shape data of the formed body provided to the control unit.

### Claim 8

A method of producing a formed body from a precursor comprising an inorganic material, the method comprising:
(a) supplying the precursor intermittently or continuously from a supply unit onto a stage, the precursor comprising an organic binder in which the inorganic material has been dispersed or an organic coating surrounding the inorganic material;
(b) thermally solidifying the inorganic material of the precursor that has been supplied to the stage using a thermal solidification heat source, during a period ranging from the start of the supply of the precursor by the supply unit to the stop of the supply of the precursor; and
degreasing the organic binder or the organic coating by applying heat to the precursor using a degreasing heat source, the degreasing heat source being different than the thermal solidification heat source,
wherein the supplying includes selecting a height of the next supply position to be the same height as or different height from the current supply position without performing a forming process layer-by-layer, and
wherein the thermally solidifying and degreasing includes selecting a height of the next irradiating position to be the same height as or different height from the current irradiating position without performing a forming process layer-by-layer.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of producing the formed body according to claim 8, further comprising:
(c) repeating steps (a) and (b) to produce the formed body.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The method of producing the formed body according to claim 8, wherein
the method further comprises:
(d) moving the stage downward in a vertical direction,
wherein the formed body having a three-dimensional shape is formed by repeating steps (a), (b), and (d).

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The method of producing the formed body according to claim 8, wherein step (b) further comprises locally irradiating the precursor with a laser or electron beam.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method of producing the formed body according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:
(e) curing a photocurable composition in the organic binder of the supplied precursor before step (b).

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of producing the formed body according to claim 12, wherein the degreasing of the organic binder or the organic coating is performed after step (e) and before step (b).

### Claim 14 (depends on 8)

The method of producing the formed body according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:
(g) determining at least one of a position on the stage to which the precursor is supplied in the step (a), and a position on the stage at which the thermal solidification is performed in step (b), based on arrangement of the precursor on the stage.