Method for operating a metal drop ejecting three-dimensional (3d) object printer to form vias in printed circuit boards with conductive metal
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsDenis Cormier, Santokh S. Badesha, Varun Sambhy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for operating a three-dimensional (3D) metal object manufacturing apparatus selects operational parameters for operation of the printer to form vias in substrates. The method identifies the bulk metal being melted for ejection and uses this identification data to select the operational parameters. The method identifies the via holes in the substrate and operates an actuator to position an ejector opposite the via holes to eject drops of melted bulk metal toward the via holes to fill the via holes.
Claims20
A method for operating a metal drop ejecting apparatus comprising:
- using a digital data model of a substrate to identify a bulk metal to be received and melted in a printhead of the metal drop ejecting apparatus;
- identifying locations of via holes in the substrate using the digital data model;
- generating machine ready instructions for moving and operating at least one ejector in the printhead to fill the via holes at the identified locations;
- and
- executing the generated machine ready instructions to operate the ejector, at least one actuator, and the printhead to melt the bulk metal in the printhead, position the ejector opposite the identified locations for the via holes in the substrate and eject drops of the melted bulk metal toward the via holes at the identified locations.
A method for operating a metal drop ejecting apparatus comprising:
- identifying a bulk metal to be received and melted by a printhead using a digital data model of a substrate having a plurality of via holes;
- identifying locations of each via hole in the substrate using the digital data model;
- generating machine ready instructions for moving and operating an ejector operatively connected to the melter to fill the via holes at the identified locations;
- operating the printhead to melt the bulk metal identified by the digital data model;
- operating at least one actuator to move the printhead relative to a platform to position at least one ejector in the printhead opposite the identified locations for the via holes in the substrate;
- and
- operating the at least one ejector in the printhead to eject drops of the melted bulk metal toward the via holes at the identified locations until each via hole is filled.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.