Flexure mounting and alignment within a three-dimensional printer
OwnerMichael E. Jones, Kasey Coussensinventors
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Abstract
A three-dimensional (3D) printing system includes a printhead, a printhead carriage, a horizontal movement mechanism, a printhead mount, a plurality of flexures, and an adjustable actuator. The printhead mount is configured to receive the printhead. The plurality of flexures couple the printhead mount to the printhead carriage. The adjustable actuator is configured to engage and position the printhead mount with a range of motion over which the plurality of flexures are under continuous bending stress to a fixed geometric configuration.
Claims18
A three-dimensional (3D) printing system defined in mutually orthogonal axes including an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis, comprising:
- a printhead having an array of nozzles arranged along the Y-axis and configured to eject material droplets along the Z-axis to form layers of a 3D article;
- a printhead carriage;
- a horizontal movement mechanism configured to impart relative scanning motion between the printhead carriage and the 3D article along the X-axis;
- a printhead mount configured to receive and mount the printhead;
- a plurality of flexures coupling the printhead mount to the printhead carriage;
- an adjustable actuator configured to engage and position the printhead mount with a range of motion over which the plurality of flexures are under continuous bending stress to a fixed geometric configuration.
A three-dimensional (3D) printing system defined in mutually perpendicular axes including an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis, the three-dimensional (3D) printing system configured to manufacture a 3D article comprising:
- a printhead carriage;
- a horizontal movement mechanism configured to impart relative scanning motion between the printhead carriage and the 3D article along the X-axis;
- a first printhead mount supporting a first printhead having a first array of nozzles arranged along the Y-axis;
- a first pair of flexures coupling the first printhead mount to the printhead carriage, the first pair of flexures under bending stress throughout a first range of rotational positioning about Z-axis;
- a first adjustable actuator configured adjust the rotational positioning;
- a second printhead mount supporting a second printhead having a second array of nozzles arranged along the Y-axis;
- a second pair of flexures coupling the second printhead mount to the printhead carriage, the second pair of flexures under bending stress throughout a second range of positioning along the Y-axis;
- and
- a second adjustable actuator configured to adjust the positioning along the Y-axis.
A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional (3D) article comprising:
- configuring a three-dimensional (3D) printing system including:
- a printhead having an array of nozzles arranged primarily along a horizontal Y-axis and configured to eject material droplets along a vertical Z-axis to form layers of a 3D article;
- a printhead carriage;
- a horizontal movement mechanism;
- a printhead mount configured to receive and mount the printhead;
- a plurality of flexures coupling the printhead mount to the printhead carriage;
- an adjustable actuator configured to engage and position the printhead mount with a range of motion over which the plurality of flexures are under continuous bending stress to a fixed geometric configuration;
- operating a vertical movement mechanism to position a top surface of the 3D article at a build plane;
- operating the horizontal movement mechanism to impart relative scanning motion between the printhead receiving receptacle and the 3D article along a horizontal X-axis that is perpendicular to the Y-axis;
- and
- concurrent with operating the horizontal movement mechanism, operating the printhead to eject droplets to form a dot matrix pattern over the build plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.