Three dimensional additive manufacturing of metal objects by stereo-electrochemical deposition
AssigneeFabric8Labs, Inc.
InventorsDavid Morgan Wirth, David Forest Pain, Jeffrey William Herman
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Abstract
An apparatus for stereo-electrochemical deposition of metal layers consisting of an array of anodes, a cathode, a positioning system, a fluid handling system for an electrolytic solution, communications circuitry, control circuitry and software control. The anodes are electrically operated to promote deposition of metal layers in any combination on the cathode to fabricate a structure.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a reaction chamber configured to retain an ionic solution that can be decomposed by electrolysis;
- an anode array containing a plurality of anodes stationary with respect to one another, the anode array disposed in the reaction chamber and configured to be immersed in the ionic solution such that the plurality of anodes are in fluid contact with one another through the ionic solution, and such that the plurality of anodes cause a deposition of a unitary layer structure or a series of unitary layer structures;
- a cathode disposed in the reaction chamber and configured to be immersed in the ionic solution such that the cathode is in fluid contact with the plurality of anodes through the ionic solution;
- a system for electro-mechanically positioning either the anode array, the cathode, or both to control the distance between the anode array and the cathode;
- at least one sensor for measuring an electrical current flowing through the plurality of anodes, the cathode or both;
- and,
- a microcontroller, coupled to the system for electro-mechanically positioning either the anode array, the cathode, or both, coupled to the at least one sensor, and coupled to a source of layer slice information, programmed with instructions that when executed by the microcontroller cause the microcontroller to:
- (i) control the current applied to each anode of the plurality of anodes;
- and
- (ii) using the sensor current measurement, control the electro-mechanical positioning of the anode array, or the cathode, or both to control the distance between the anode array and the cathode during an electrolytic decomposition of the ionic solution to cause the deposition of the unitary layer structure or the series of unitary layer structures.
In a reaction chamber configured to retain an ionic solution that can be decomposed by electrolysis, the reaction chamber having an anode array containing a plurality of anodes stationary with respect to one another, and a cathode disposed in the reaction chamber such that the plurality of anodes and the cathode are all in fluid contact through the ionic solution, a method comprising:
- a) at a microcontroller programmed with instructions that when executed by the microcontroller cause the microcontroller to control the current applied to each anode of the plurality of anodes, receiving layer slice information about a structure to be fabricated in the reaction chamber layer by layer by electrolytic decomposition of the ionic solution;
- b) under the control of the microcontroller, providing to the reaction chamber the ionic solution containing metal ions to be deposited on the cathode according to the received layer slice information for the layer to be fabricated;
- c) under the control of the microcontroller, processing the layer slice information for the layer to be fabricated causing the adjusting of the distance between the anode array and the cathode;
- d) under the control of the microcontroller, further adjusting the distance between the plurality of anodes and the cathode at a rate proportional to measured values of the electrical current flowing through the plurality of anodes, the cathode or both, the rate of adjusting the distance resulting in a substantially constant distance between the growing layer being deposited on the cathode and the anode array;
- (e) under the control of the microcontroller, processing the layer slice information for the layer to be fabricated, depositing the layer to be fabricated on the cathode by providing individualized current to each of the plurality of anodes thereby causing an electrochemical reaction at the cathode to cause the deposition of a unitary layer structure or a series of unitary layer structures;
- and,
- (f) repeating steps (a) through (e) for each layer of the structure to be fabricated until all layers are deposited.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.