Electrophotography-based additive manufacturing with pre-sintering
AssigneeStratasys, Inc.
InventorsJames W. Comb, J. Samuel Batchelder
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and system for printing a three-dimensional part, which includes producing a developed layer of a part material with one or more electrophotography engines of an additive manufacturing system, transferring the developed layer from the one or more electrophotography engines to a transfer assembly of the additive manufacturing system sintering the developed layer at the transfer assembly to produce a sintered contiguous film, cooling the sintered contiguous film down to a transfer temperature, and pressing the cooled sintered contiguous film into contact with an intermediate build surface of the three-dimensional part with a low applied pressure.
Claims20
An additive manufacturing system for printing a three-dimensional part, the additive manufacturing system comprising:
- one or more electrophotography engines configured to develop the layers of the three-dimensional part from a part material;
- a transfer belt configured to receive the developed layers from the one or more electrophotography engines;
- a pre-sintering heater configured to heat and press the developed layers to a sintering temperature and to sinter the developed layers on the transfer belt to provide sintered contiguous films;
- a build platform;
- a pressing element configured to engage with the transfer belt downstream of the pre-sintering heater to press the sintered contiguous films into contact with an intermediate build surface of the three-dimensional part on the build platform in a layer-by-layer manner;
- wherein the pre-sintering heater is located upstream along the transfer assembly a distance from the pressing element such that the sintered contiguous films cool down to a transfer temperature, which is about 50° C. to 120° C. less than the sintering temperature, prior to reaching the pressing element.
An additive manufacturing system for printing a three-dimensional part, the additive manufacturing system comprising:
- one or more electrophotography engines configured to develop a layer of the three-dimensional part from a part material comprising an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer;
- a transfer belt configured to receive the developed layer from the one or more electrophotography engines;
- a pre-sintering heater configured to sinter the developed layer on the transfer belt to provide sintered contiguous films;
- a nip roller engaged with the transfer belt at a location downstream from the pre-sintering heater such that the sintered contiguous film cools down to a temperature ranging from about 100° C. to about 130° C. prior to reaching the nip roller.
A method for printing a three-dimensional part with an additive manufacturing system, the method comprising:
- producing a developed layer of a part material with one or more electrophotography engines of the additive manufacturing system;
- transferring the developed layer from the one or more electrophotography engines to a transfer assembly of the additive manufacturing system;
- sintering the developed layer at the transfer assembly to produce a sintered contiguous film including heating the developed layer to a sintering temperature;
- actively cooling the sintered contiguous film down to a transfer temperature, which is about 50° C. to 120° C. less than the sintering temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.