57 results about "Fused filament fabrication" patented technology

A fused filament fabrication printer uses a plurality of fixed printing heads mounted to a structure over a build platform on which the model is built by constructing each layer of the model as the build platform is indexed through a multiplicity of successive print planes. The build platform may be in the form of a circular disk mounted for rotation about a z-axis and for linear motion along the z-axis between successive print planes, and for linear motion along a y-axis which is a selected radial direction perpendicular to the z-axis. Because the printheads are fixed, multiple printheads are easily affixed with respect to the build platform along the same radial line defining the y-axis transverse to the selected radial direction along which the build platform moves.

A method for forming a blended material for use as a deposition material in a fused filament fabrication (FFF) printer is provided. A semi-crystalline material and an amorphous material are physically mixed at an appropriate ratio. The mixed material is then heated to a temperature that is above the melting point of the semi-crystalline material and above the glass transition temperature of the amorphous material to form a blended material. The blended material is then extruded through an extruder die for use in the FFF printer.

A FFF-based 3D printer includes a thermal management system that incorporates liquid cooling for the cooling block. In the illustrative embodiment, the thermal management system includes a coolant block that couples to the surface of the existing cooling block, a liquid-coolant reservoir, a fan for cooling the reservoir, a pump for pumping the coolant, and conduits for conducting the coolant to and from the coolant block. Embodiments of the invention provide a way to prevent or substantially reduce the incidence of clogging as otherwise occurs when attempting to print high-temperature, high-viscosity materials using FFF-based 3d printers.

A material for use in a fused filament fabrication (FFF) printer comprises a polyaryletherketone (PAEK) having an amorphous morphology. In some embodiments, the material also includes a PAEK having a semi-crystalline morphology.

Methods to fabricate objects by 3D printing of poly-4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB) and copolymers thereof have been developed. In one method, these objects are produced by continuous fused filament fabrication using an apparatus and conditions that overcome the problems of poor feeding of the filament resulting from the low softening temperature of the filament and heat creep along the fed filament. Methods using an apparatus including a heat sink, a melt tube, a heating block and nozzle, and a transition zone between the heat sink and heating block, with the melt tube extending through the heat sink, transition zone, and heat block to the nozzle are disclosed. 3D objects are also printed by fused pellet deposition (FPD), melt extrusion deposition (MED), selective laser melting (SLM), printing of slurries and solutions using a coagulation bath, and printing using a binding solution and polymer granules.

A process uses a starting material including recycled post-consumer and industrial “scrap” thermoplastics based on polyester and polyamide, where a supply is obtained suitable for 3D printing/additive manufacturing/rapid prototyping with “Fused Deposition Model” (FDM), “Fused Filament Fabrication” (FFF) and similar technologies. The supply can have the form of a solid filament suitable to be used by “3D” printers, or it can form a pulverulent material to be used in more sophisticated printers, such as those with SLS technology. This method includes a series of first stages that consist of: a) Selecting the starting material which was originally produced by one of the processes of transformation; b) starting material is duly cleaned; c) once it is cleaned, the material is dried at temperatures greater than 100° C. but less than 240° C.; d) the material obtained thereof is driven into an extruder machine where it is subject to temperatures between 200° C. and 350° C. from the head to the dosing zone to be pelletized; e) the addition of additives to the material may occur in the feed zone in order to grant distinctive physicochemical properties to the end product, such as color, hardness, erosion strength, etc. f) from the material resulting from the previous stage either a plastic filament is created by using a single screw extruder and is placed in a spool, or a pulverulent material is created. The supply obtained from the previous stages is subject to an additional heat treatment by varying the process temperature between 100° C. and 240° C., during a processing time varying between 1 minute and 24 hours. The starting material consists of plastic post-consumer items or industrial scrap made of polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) and polyamide (PA). The additional heat treatment varies the process temperature between 100° C. and 180° C. in the case of polyamides (PA) and between 100° C. and 240° C. in the case of polyethylene-terephthalate (PET).

3D Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is improved by heating the deposition nozzle with one or more non-contact heat sources. 3D FFF is also improved by cooling the deposition nozzle with one or more active cooling elements. Temperature control of the deposition nozzle is improved due to the reduction in mass of the nozzle by eliminating conductive heat elements and their associated devices, such as thermal transfer blocks. Responsiveness of the nozzle is improved by using lasers as non-contact heating sources, allow for rapid changes in temperature when necessary.

A feedstock for a 3D manufacturing process, in particular a Fused Filament Fabrication process. The feedstock includes (P) sinterable particles made of a metal, metal alloy, glass, ceramic material, or a mixture thereof; and (B) a binder composition including (b1) 5-15% by weight, relative to the total weight of the binder composition, of a polymeric compatibilizer, and (b2) 85-95% by weight, relative to the total weight of the binder composition, of a polymeric binder component, the polymeric binder component being selected from the group consisting of (b2-1) a polymer mixture or polymer alloy, the mixture or alloy including at least a first and a second polymer; (b2-2) one, two or more block copolymers, including at least a first polymer block and second polymer block; and (b2-3) mixtures of (b2-1) and (b2-2), wherein the amount of sinterable particles P is 40 Vol % or more of the composition.

The present disclosure utilises 3D printing technology, particularly fused filament fabrication, FFF, 3D printing, in conjunction with solid and/or liquid dispensers to produce solid dosage forms, such as pharmaceutical capsules. Such solid dosage forms have a shell, which is 3D printed, and a core, which is dispensed.

In an aspect, a printer fabricates an object from a computerized model using a fused filament fabrication process and a metallic build material. An ultrasonic vibrator is incorporated into the printerto improve the printing process, e.g., by disrupting a passivation layer on the deposited material to improve interlayer bonding, and to prevent adhesion of the metallic build material to a nozzle and other printer components.

A low printing temperature thermoplastic filament composition for fused filament fabrication 3D printing is described. The filament includes polycaprolactone in an amount from 70 to 90 wt %, at least one thermoplastic polymer having a melting temperature between approximately 60° C. and approximately 90° C. in an amount from approximately 10 to 30 wt %, at least one antioxidant, and at least one plasticizing agent. This 3D printing filament can be printed out at temperatures below 100° C. and no heated print bed is needed, which saves energy and minimizes the complexity of 3D printer. Besides the low printing temperature, this 3D printing material is bio-friendly which makes it safe for household use.

The present invention provides a system and method for quickly removing and installing a filament tube and nozzle in an FFF extrusion system. The system utilizes a primary manifold that includes a cooling block, a heating block and a quick-change mechanism. This primary manifold is adapted to mate a filament tube/nozzle assembly. The quick-change mechanism, which in a particular embodiment utilizes a recessed biased-bearing arrangement, enables the filament/nozzle assembly to be removed and inserted without the use of any tools, and without causing any significant downtime for the FFF extrusion system. Once removed, the filament tube/nozzle assembly can be refurbished by a technician, trained so as not to over torque the tube/nozzle threaded interface. This refurbishment (typically consisting of a cleaning and the installation of a new nozzle) could be accomplished “off-line”, without any impact on the continued use of FFF extrusion system.

3D printing is an increasingly popular production method to quickly and inexpensively produce specialized components. Designs can be easily shared online and customized to the needs of the end user. One exciting aspect of 3D printing is the potential for printing with electrically conductive materials. Conductive filaments for fused filament fabrication are typically a mixture of polymer and conductive carbon powder. Printing with these should allow for development of unique electrochemical devices. However, commercial conductive filaments are difficult to print with and are not conductive enough for some electrochemical applications. Here we present several post print procedures to increase the conductivity of these filaments. By using and understanding how these strategies enhance the conductivity, the possibilities for performing complicated electrochemical experiments increases, opening up new paths of discovery in electrochemistry and material science.

In various embodiments the invention is directed to a structured filament for use in fused filament fabrication comprising an inner core comprising an first polymer or polymer blend; and an outer shell surrounding said inner core comprising a second polymer or polymer blend having ionic or crystalline functionality; wherein said first polymer or polymer blend has a higher solidification temperature than said second polymer or polymer blend. The ionic or crystalline functionality of the outer shell material strengthen the interface between the printed layers. This structured filament leads to printed 3D structures having improved dimensional fidelity and impact resistance in comparison to the individual components. The impact resistance of structures printed from these is greatly increased as energy is dissipated by delamination of the shell from the core near the crack tip, while the core remains intact to provide stability to the part after impact.

The present invention provides an integral cooling system within an FFF nozzle manifold. The system includes a cooling reservoir formed within the body of the nozzle manifold, adapted to circulate a cooling liquid around the filament chamber and nozzle orifice. The coolant channel is situated to be in close physical proximity to the chamber and orifice, and to be thermally coupled to both via the body of the nozzle manifold. In addition, the interior of the cooling chamber is constructed so as to maximize the available surface area within a given cross-sectional geometry, thereby promoting increase heat transfer between the nozzle manifold and the cooling liquid.

The disclosure generally relates to 3D printed articles prepared from filaments comprising an ionomer (A) prepared from a base resin (B); wherein: base resin (B) is prepared from ethylene and at least one C₃ to C₈ α,β ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer; the carboxylic acid moieties of base resin (B) are 10 to 99.5 percent neutralized by zinc or lithium; the at least one C₃ to C₈ α,β ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid is present from about 2 weight percent to about 30 weight percent, based on the weight of base resin (B).

A method of fused filament fabrication (FFF) additive manufacturing comprises employing an olefin block copolymer. The method allows for the additive manufacturing article that retains the desirable mechanical properties of polyolefins such as polyethylene or polypropylene without experiencing the problems inherent in FFF printing of polyethylene or polypropylene particularly in the absence of solid fillers. In a particular embodiment, the additive manufactured article is comprised of the olefin block copolymer is comprised of block composite or crystalline block composite polymer or mixture thereof comprising the olefin block copolymer, wherein the olefin block copolymer is comprised of an isotactic propylene block and a polyethylene rich block.

A method of recycling post-consumer plastic waste into mono filament for use in fused filament fabrication, injection molding, or other plastic manufacturing processes. Contaminated curbside plastic waste is sorted and granulated to uniform sized flakes. The plastic regrind is cleaned in a closed-loop wash cycle and dried at 160° F. and −70 dew point to reduce the moisture content to less than 0.03%. The effluent water is purified to be reused in the system. The flake plastic is extruded to a molten state and passes through additional melt filtration. A laser micrometer measures extrudate metrics like diameter and ovality to dynamically control feed and flow rates of the extruder to maintain diameter uniformity within 0.018 mm of target diameter.