# US 12,109,754 B2 · Systems and methods for 3D printing with vacuum assisted laser printing machine > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,109,754 B2 - Document ID: US12109754B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/505,675 - Filed: 2023-11-09 - Published: 2024-03-07 - Granted: 2024-10-08 - Earliest claimed: 2020-08-05 - Assignees: IO Tech Group Ltd. - Applicants: IO Tech Group Ltd. - Inventors: Michael Zenou; Ziv Gilan; Guy Nesher - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12109754B2 ## CPC - B29C 64/112: using individual droplets, e.g. from jetting heads - B41J 2/475: for heating selectively {by radiation or ultrasonic waves} - B22F 7/06: of composite workpieces or articles from parts, e.g. to form tipped tools {(B22F7/002 takes precedence)} - B22F 10/10: Formation of a green body - B22F 10/50: Treatment of workpieces or articles during build-up, e.g. treatments applied to fused layers during build-up - B22F 12/41: characterised by the type, e.g. laser or electron beam - B22F 12/58: for changing the material composition, e.g. by mixing - B29C 64/147: using sheet material, e.g. laminated object manufacturing [LOM] or laminating sheet material precut to local cross sections of the 3D object - B29C 64/188: involving additional operations performed on the added layers, e.g. smoothing, grinding or thickness control (surface shaping B29C59/00; after-treatment of articles without altering their shape B29C71/00) - B29C 64/223: Foils or films, e.g. for transferring layers of building material from one working station to another - B29C 64/245: Platforms or substrates (support structures intended to be sacrificed after manufacture B29C64/40) - B29C 64/268: using laser beams; using electron beams [EB] - B29C 64/35: Cleaning - B29C 64/364: Conditioning of environment - B29C 64/386: Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing - B33Y 40/00: Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling - B41J 2/442: {using lasers} - B22F 2999/00: Aspects linked to processes or compositions used in powder metallurgy - B29L 2031/3425: {Printed circuits} - B33Y 10/00: Processes of additive manufacturing - B33Y 30/00: Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor - B33Y 40/20: Post-treatment, e.g. curing, coating or polishing - B33Y 50/00: Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing - B33Y 80/00: Products made by additive manufacturing - Y02P 10/25: Process efficiency - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS - 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 - B29L: INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES - Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS ## Abstract Systems and methods in which a material or materials (e.g., a viscous material) are printed or otherwise transferred onto an intermediate substrate at a printing unit(s). The intermediate substrate having an image of material printed thereon is subsequently transferred to a sample building unit, and the image of material is transferred from the intermediate substrate to a sample at the sample building unit. Optionally, the printing unit(s) includes a coating system that creates a uniform layer of the material on a donor substrate, and the material is transferred from the donor substrate onto the intermediate substrate at the printing unit(s). Each of the printing units may employ a variety of printing or other transfer technologies. The system may also include material curing, heating, sintering, ablating, material filling, imaging and cleaning units to aid in the overall process. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system, comprising: a printing unit configured to print an image of a material on an intermediate substrate; a sample building unit configured to receive the intermediate substrate having the image of the material printed thereon and to transfer the image from the intermediate substrate to a sample located in a vacuum chamber of the sample building unit; and a heater configured to dry portions of the image of the material printed on the intermediate substrate during movement of the intermediate substrate having the image of the material printed thereon from the printing unit to the sample building unit. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the printing unit includes a coating system configured to create a uniform layer of the material on a donor substrate, and the printing unit is further configured to transfer the image of the material from the donor substrate onto the intermediate substrate. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the coating system includes a syringe of the material and an air or mechanical pump arranged to drive the material from the syringe onto the donor substrate, and the coating system is further configured to transport the donor substrate with the material thereon towards and through a well-defined gap between rollers or knifes to create a uniform layer of the material on the donor substrate, the uniform layer of the material having a thickness that is defined by the well-defined gap. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the coating system includes a screen-printing module configured to coat a screen or stencil of film having well defined a plurality of holes with the material, and the coating system is further configured to transfer the material to the intermediate substrate from the screen or stencil of film using a blade or a squeegee. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the coating system is one of: a dispenser or an inkjet head configured to print the material onto the donor substrate, a gravure or micro-gravure system configured to coat the donor substrate with the uniform layer of material, a slot-die system configured to coat the donor substrate with the uniform layer of the material, or a roller coating system configured to coat the donor substrate with the uniform layer of the material. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, where the material is one of: a highly viscous material, a solder paste or other metal paste used for printed electronics, a metal paste, a ceramic paste, a wax material, a polymer material or a mix of a polymer and a monomer material, a low viscosity material, a material that can be cured by heating, or a material that can be dried. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the printing unit comprises a laser-based system that includes a high frequency laser configured to jet the image of the material from a respective donor substrate to the intermediate substrate. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the printing unit is a laser assisted deposition system or a laser dispensing system rotated by 0-90 degrees or 90-180 degrees from a main axis of a gravitational field within which the printing unit is located. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the printing unit is one of an inkjet head system, a dispenser head system, an offset printer module, or a gravure printing module, and wherein the printing unit is configured to print dot-like portions of the material directly to the intermediate substrate. ### Claim 10 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the printing unit is configured to maintain a well-defined gap between the donor substrate and the intermediate substrate. ### Claim 11 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the intermediate substrate is a continuous film substrate and the system includes rollers arranged to deliver the image of the material printed on the intermediate substrate from the printing unit to the sample building unit. ### Claim 12 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, wherein the intermediate substrate is a transparent solid substrate and the system includes a robotic arm configured to deliver the image of the material printed on the intermediate substrate from the printing unit to the sample building unit. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising an imaging system arranged to measure the image of the material printed on the intermediate substrate during movement of the intermediate substrate from the printing unit to the sample building unit. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the imaging system is configured to measure the image in two or three dimensions and to transfer data gathered by said measuring to a cleaning unit for cleaning the intermediate substrate in case of a defect in the image of the material or to other additional units for further processing of the image of the material before transfer of the image of the material to the sample in the sample building unit. ### Claim 15 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, further comprising a sintering and/or an ablation unit configured to further process the image of the material printed on the intermediate substrate. ### Claim 16 (depends on 2) The system of claim 2, further comprising a material filling unit configured to fill a molded cured layer with a non-curable or slow curing material. ### Claim 17 A method, comprising: printing by a printing unit an image of a material onto an intermediate substrate; transferring the image of the material printed on the intermediate substrate to a sample located in a vacuum chamber of a sample building unit configured to receive the intermediate substrate having the image of material printed thereon; and while the intermediate substrate having the image printed thereon is being transferred from the printing unit to the sample building unit, drying by a heater portions of the image of the material printed on the intermediate substrate. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein printing the material onto the intermediate substrate comprises: creating by a coating system of the printing unit a uniform layer of the material on a donor substrate; and transferring portions of the uniform layer of the material from the donor substrate onto the intermediate substrate. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein printing the material onto the intermediate substrate comprises: driving the material from a syringe of a coating system of the printing unit onto a donor substrate; transporting the donor substrate with the material thereon towards and through a well-defined gap between rollers or knifes to create a uniform layer of the material on the donor substrate, the uniform layer of the material having a thickness that is defined by the well-defined gap; and transferring portions of the uniform layer of the material from the donor substrate onto the intermediate substrate. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein printing the material onto the intermediate substrate comprises: coating, by a screen-printing module of a coating system of the printing unit, a screen or stencil of film having a plurality of holes with the material; and transferring the material from the screen or stencil of film to the intermediate substrate using a blade or a squeegee.