Projection material processing system and associated method of use
AssigneeUniversity of South Florida
InventorsNathan Brad Crane, Justin Troy Nussbaum
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A material processing and associated additive manufacturing system and method that utilizes high intensity light to fuse an entire layer of material, at one time, to create a three-dimensional component. The system and method of the present invention allows for each layer to be created in a fraction of the time, thereby reducing the overall time for a three-dimensional component to be created, thereby increasing control over the properties achieved.
Claims20
A material processing system, the system comprising:
- a platform for supporting a layer of material;
- at least one image projector, the at least one image projector comprising;
- a light source;
- a digital light switch to modulate the light source based upon a digital signal to produce at least one image;
- and
- at least one lens coupled to the digital light switch;
- and
- the at least one image projector to project the at least one image through the at least one lens and onto a surface area of the layer of material, wherein an intensity of the at least one image induces a temperature change in the layer of material that is sufficient to cause a change in one or more physical properties of the material.
An additive manufacturing system, the system comprising:
- a platform for supporting a plurality of layers of material;
- a material depositing mechanism for depositing the plurality of layers of material, one layer at a time, onto the platform;
- at least one image projector, the at least one image projector comprising;
- a light source;
- a digital light switch to modulate the light source based upon a digital signal to produce at least one image;
- at least one lens coupled to the digital light switch;
- and
- the at least one image projector to project the at least one image through the at least one lens and onto a surface area of the layer of material, one layer at a time, wherein an intensity of the at least one image induces a temperature change in the layer of material that is sufficient to cause a change in one or more physical properties of the material.
A method for processing a layer of material;
- the method comprising:
- providing a layer of material on a platform;
- and
- projecting at least one image from an image projector onto a surface area of the layer of material, wherein an intensity of the at least one image induces a temperature change in the layer of material that is sufficient to cause a change in one or more physical properties of the material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.