Apparatus and method for supporting and extracting a build part formed in an additive manufacturing process

An apparatus for supporting a build part produced in an additive manufacturing process, the apparatus comprising:

• a pin array including;
• at least one support plate defining a plurality of parallel holes therethrough;
• and a like plurality of rigid elongated pins, each extending through a corresponding one of said plurality of parallel holes and slidable in a vertical direction relative to said corresponding one of said holes, and each including a tip at one end configured to contact a surface of the build part and an opposite end adjacent a surface of the support plate, each of the pins movable relative to said support plate by a force acting on the tip, as the pin array is moved toward the build part, to move the opposite end in the vertical direction away from said surface of the support plate;
• and a locking component for engaging each of the plurality of elongated pins to lock the pins against movement in the vertical direction relative to the support plate;
• said at least one support plate includes a pair of support plates offset from each other, each plate defining said plurality of parallel holes to receive the like plurality of pins therethrough;
• and said locking component includes;
• a compressible elastomeric composition disposed between said pair of plates, said elastomeric composition defining a like plurality of parallel holes to receive the plurality of pins therethrough;
• and a mechanism for moving one or both of said pair of plates toward the other of the pair of plates to compress said elastomeric composition so that the Poisson effect causes the elastomeric composition to press against said pins within said like plurality of holes in the composition, whereby the pins are locked by friction between the pins and the compressed elastomeric composition.