Selective Hardness and Translucency in Ceramic Inkjet 3D Printing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for producing dental restorations using jet printing require a large number of different slips and print heads, which increases production complexity and effort, making it difficult to achieve the desired color, translucency, and mechanical properties.
Innovation Solution
A method and device for producing dental restorations by jet printing, where a single or few base slips are used, and the translucency or opacity is selectively adjusted by jet printing a translucency enhancer or opacity enhancer onto the layers, allowing for local control of these properties without increasing the number of print heads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If differently pre-colored slips with different translucency and mechanical properties are used, then the desired color, translucency, and mechanical properties can be achieved, but the number of print heads and production complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using a single base slip and selectively applying translucency modifiers (enhancers or opacity enhancers) to specific regions. This allows different parts of the dental restoration to have different translucency properties while using the same base material, thereby reducing the number of print heads needed while maintaining color and translucency variety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the translucency parameter of the base slip by selectively applying translucency modifiers. Instead of using different slips with fixed properties, the method modifies the translucency parameter of a single base slip locally through the jet printing of enhancers, achieving material property differentiation without increasing device complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If differently pre-colored slips are used to achieve various translucency levels, then the desired optical properties can be achieved, but the preparation and processing effort increases correspondingly
Solution Approach 1:
The method uses local quality by applying translucency modifiers only where needed on the base slip layers. This selective application reduces the overall preparation effort compared to maintaining multiple pre-colored slips with different translucency properties, while still achieving the desired translucency adjustment flexibility in specific regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The base slip serves multiple functions: it provides the base color, structural integrity, and serves as a substrate for translucency modification. The single base slip replaces multiple specialized slips, reducing preparation complexity while maintaining versatility through selective modification.
3Device complexity
If a single base slip is used, then the number of print heads can be reduced, but the ability to achieve different translucency and hardness levels is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by applying translucency modifiers locally to specific regions of the base slip. This allows the single print head system to achieve different translucency and hardness levels in different areas, maintaining adaptability while reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The method changes the physical and chemical parameters of the base slip by selectively applying translucency modifiers. This allows a single base slip to exhibit different translucency and hardness parameters in different regions, achieving material property diversity without needing multiple specialized slips or print heads.
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 approach reduces the number of print heads required while maintaining the flexibility to achieve various colors, translucencies, opacities, and hardness levels, enabling the production of lifelike dental restorations with reduced production complexity.
Implementation Method 1
jet printing one or more layers (117-1, ..., 117-n) of the dental restoration (100) using a ceramic slurry (109)
Implementation Method 2
jet printing a translucency enhancer (107) or opacity enhancer (107) onto the one or more layers (117-1, ..., 117-n)
Implementation Method 3
A translucency enhancer increases the translucency of the dental restoration during the sintering process
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for producing a dental restoration by jet printing, comprising the steps of jet printing (S101) one or more layers of the dental restoration using a ceramic slurry; and jet printing (S102) a translucency enhancer or opacity enhancer onto the one or more layers.