Additive Manufacturing Device with Interchangeable Troughs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing additive manufacturing devices face limitations in contour accuracy and material versatility, with the top-down method suffering from surface tension inaccuracies and the bottom-up method requiring frequent replacement of wearing parts and restricting the use of complex resins.
Innovation Solution
The device features interchangeable troughs for different polymerizable liquids, a temperature-controllable homogenization unit, and a flexible structural element arrangement, allowing for rapid material changes and processing of various materials, including those with fillers and high viscosities, with a separating membrane for precise layer detachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the top-down method is used with UV irradiation of resin surface, then no wearing parts are present, but contour accuracy is restricted due to surface tension
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional top-down approach by using bottom-up construction. Instead of building layers from the resin surface downward, the structural element is built from the bottom of the trough upward. This inversion allows the use of a separating layer on the trough bottom that provides both definition and release capability, resolving the contour accuracy issue while maintaining the wearing-parts-free advantage through proper material selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a separating layer as an intermediary between the resin and the structural element. This layer acts as a mediator that enables precise contour definition during construction while allowing easy detachment of completed layers. The separating layer can be made from materials like Teflon or silicone that provide both definition and release properties, thus improving contour accuracy without compromising reliability.
2Manufacturing precision
If the bottom-up method is used with separating layer, then contour accuracy is improved, but the separating layer becomes a wearing part requiring frequent replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by selecting separating layer materials with specific properties (low surface energy, chemical inertness, thermal stability) that resist wear and degradation. By changing the material parameters to include fluoropolymers or silicone-based materials, the separating layer achieves both high contour accuracy and extended durability, reducing replacement frequency while maintaining precision.
3Adaptability or versatility
If resins with fillers or increased viscosity are used, then material versatility is improved, but homogenization and processing become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-homogenizing resins with fillers or high viscosity in the trough before construction begins. This preliminary mixing ensures uniform distribution of fillers and consistent viscosity throughout the resin, making subsequent processing easier. The system may include mixing mechanisms that activate before construction to prepare the resin, thus enabling material versatility without compromising ease of manufacture.
4Device complexity
If a single trough design is used, then device simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different materials and objects is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing the trough and structural element system to serve multiple functions. The trough can accommodate different resin types (with or without fillers, varying viscosities), and the structural element can be configured for different object geometries. The separating layer can be exchanged for different materials based on the specific resin being used, making the single trough design adaptable to a wide range of materials and objects without requiring multiple specialized troughs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables high-accuracy, flexible, and efficient production of three-dimensional objects using a wide range of polymerizable liquids, including those with fillers, by allowing for rapid liquid exchange, temperature control, and adaptable structural configurations, overcoming the limitations of previous methods.
Implementation Method 1
The plate is subjected to radiation from above, which has the result that the liquid is cured to form a layer having defined outer contours directly at the underside of the plate
Implementation Method 2
The plate is set into vibrations with the aid of a shaking unit, whereby it may be detached from the cured layer of the three-dimensional object
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an additive manufacturing device for the layered production of three-dimensional objects from a polymerizable liquid. The device comprises a trough with a bottom for receiving the liquid, a support platform, on which the object is built up and which is height-adjustable relative to the trough, a structural element having a first and a second side, on which the liquid polymerizes on the first side to form an object layer, and a radiation source which irradiates the second side of the beam-permeable structural element. The structural element is disposed above the upper support platform.