Three dimensional printer for fiber reinforced composite filament fabrication
AssigneeMarkforged, Inc.
InventorsGregory Thomas Mark, Antoni S. Gozdz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various embodiments related to three dimensional printers, and reinforced filaments, and their methods of use are described. In one embodiment, a void free reinforced filament is fed into an conduit nozzle. The reinforced filament includes a core, which may be continuous or semi-continuous, and a matrix material surrounding the core. The reinforced filament is heated to a temperature greater than a melting temperature of the matrix material and less than a melting temperature of the core prior to applying the filament from the conduit nozzle.
Claims30
A three dimensional printer for additive manufacturing of a part comprising:
- a supply of a fiber reinforced composite filament including a plurality of axial fiber strands extending substantially continuously within a matrix material of the fiber reinforced composite filament;
- a deposition head including a conduit therethrough, a chamfer smoothly and continuously transitioning the conduit orthogonally to a substantially rounded outlet tipped with an ironing lip,
- a deposition head drive driving the ironing lip to spread the plurality of axial fiber strands and flatten the fiber reinforced composite filament against previously deposited portions of the part, as the matrix material is flowed interstitially among the axial fiber strands spread by the ironing lip;
- a cutter arranged along a path of the fiber reinforced composite filament to cut the fiber reinforced composite filament to form an unattached terminal end;
- a filament drive pushing an upstream portion of the solidified fiber reinforced composite filament to force the unattached terminal end of the fiber through the conduit to exit the conduit at the ironing lip;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to the filament drive and the deposition head drive.
A three-dimensional printer for additive manufacturing of a part, the three dimensional printer comprising:
- a supply of unmelted fiber reinforced composite filament including one or more axial fiber strands extending within a matrix material of the fiber reinforced composite filament, the axial fiber strands formed of a stranded material having an elastic modulus of approximately 5-1000 GPa;
- a movable build platen for supporting the part;
- a print head opposing the build platen and including a composite filament ironing tip and a heater that heats the composite filament ironing tip to a temperature at which the matrix material may flow;
- a plurality of actuators that move the print head and the build platen relative to one another in three degrees of freedom;
- a filament drive that drives the unmelted fiber reinforced composite filament, and the inelastic fiber strands embedded within, into the print head at a linear feed rate;
- a cold feed zone positioned between the filament drive and the ironing tip, maintained at a temperature in which the matrix material is in an unmelted state;
- and
- a controller operatively connected to the heater, the filament drive and the plurality of actuators, wherein the controller is configured to control the filament drive to hold an unattached terminal end of the composite filament in a position within the cold feed zone between the filament drive and the ironing tip.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.