Three dimensional printing materials system
AssigneeZ Corporation
InventorsJames F. Bredt, Timothy C. Anderson, David B. Russell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a Three Dimensional Printing materials systems and method that satisfies the need for a quick, reliable, safe, and inexpensive method for producing both appearance models and small numbers of functional parts in an office environment. The method of the present invention includes building cross-sectional portions of a three-dimensional article, and assembling the individual cross-sectional areas in a layer-wise fashion to form a final article. The individual cross-sectional areas are built by using an ink-jet printhead to deliver an aqueous solvent to an adhesive particulate mixture, causing the particles of the mixture to adhere together, and to previous cross-sectional areas.
Claims88
An article, comprising;
- a product of a mixture of a plurality of particles comprising;
- an adhesive;
- and
- a filler;
- wherein said mixture of a plurality of particles further comprises a first fibrous component and a fluid that activates said adhesive to form an essentially solid article composed of said plurality of particles;
- said adhesive substantially soluble in, and said filler sparingly soluble in, said fluid;
- the article further comprising adjacent layers, each layer comprising the product of the mixture of particles and having a contour with an edge, and a final shape of the article being defined by the edge of each of the layers, wherein either a portion of the edge of a first layer is offset from a portion of the edge of an adjacent layer to form an article having an undercut and/or overhang, or a continuous first layer is provided with a discontinuous adjacent layer to form an article having a cavity.
An article, comprising;
- a product of a mixture of a plurality of particles comprising;
- an adhesive;
- a filler;
- and
- an aqueous fluid that activates said adhesive to form an essentially solid article composed of said plurality of particles;
- said adhesive substantially soluble in, and said filler sparingly soluble in, said aqueous fluid;
- the article further comprising adjacent layers, each layer comprising the product of the mixture of particles and having a contour with an edge, and a final shape of the article being defined by the edge of each of the layers, wherein either a portion of the edge of a first layer is offset from a portion of the edge of an adjacent layer to form an article having an undercut and/or overhang, or a continuous first layer is provided with a discontinuous adjacent layer to form an article having a cavity.
An article, comprising;
- a product of a mixture of a plurality of particles comprising;
- an adhesive;
- a filler;
- a first fibrous component;
- and
- an aqueous fluid that activates said adhesive to form an essentially solid article composed of said plurality of particles;
- said adhesive substantially soluble in, and said fiber sparingly soluble in, said aqueous fluid;
- the article further comprising adjacent layers, each layer comprising the product of the mixture of particles and having a contour with an edge, and a final shape of the article being defined by the edge of each of the layers, wherein either a portion of the edge of a first layer is offset from a portion of the edge of an adjacent layer to form an article having an undercut and/or overhang, or a continuous first layer is provided with a discontinuous adjacent layer to form an article having a cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.