Systems and methods for additive manufacturing
OwnerKun Fu, Hao Wu +1inventors
InventorsKun Fu, Hao Wu, Danning Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A 3D printing system for continuous fiber reinforced composite materials is provided. The 3D printing system does not require the fiber and resin to be premixed before they are used in 3D printing. Instead, the 3D printing system includes a guiding device that deposits fiber preform onto a build plate to form a predetermined shape, a preparation module that processes the fiber preform, a dispenser that dispenses a resin material on the fiber preform, a heater that applies heat to the mixture of the fiber preform and the resin materials to form a composite material, and a curing module that applies pressure and heat to cure the composite material.
Claims13
An additive manufacturing system, comprising:
- a guiding module configured to deposit a fiber preform on a build plate;
- a preparation module configured to perform plasma surface grafting or plasma etching to activate a surface of the fiber preform after the fiber preform is deposited on the build plate and before a resin material is deposited on the fiber preform;
- a dispenser configured to deposit the resin material on the fiber preform, wherein the dispenser is configured to spray the resin material in a liquid state on the fiber preform via a nozzle after the fiber preform is deposited on the build plate;
- and
- a heating module configured to apply heat to at least a portion of the fiber preform and the resin material after the fiber preform and the resin material are deposited on the build plate, thereby causing the fiber preform and the resin material to form a composite material;
- wherein the guiding module, the preparation module, the dispenser, and the heating module are enclosed in a single movable housing and configured to operate simultaneously as the guiding module, the preparation module, the dispenser, and the heating module move with the movable housing along a printing direction determined by a predetermined shape of a printing target;
- and
- wherein along the printing direction the preparation module is positioned behind the guiding module, the dispenser is positioned behind the preparation module, and the heating module is positioned behind the dispenser.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.