Coater apparatus and method for additive manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10328525-B2
Application number	US-201514834517-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2015
Priority date	Aug 25, 2015
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

An additive manufacturing apparatus includes: a coater including: at least one trough including a plurality of side-by-side deposition valves.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An additive manufacturing apparatus, comprising:
a coater comprising:
a plurality of troughs disposed in a side-by-side configuration, wherein each trough of the plurality of troughs includes a plurality of side-by-side deposition valves, and
at least one reservoir communicating with at least one trough of the plurality of troughs, wherein the at least one reservoir includes a feed valve operable to selectively block or permit flow of a powder from the at least one reservoir to the at least one trough.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the feed valve is configured to meter powder at a constant flow rate.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of reservoirs are grouped into a column, each of the reservoirs of the column communicating with a funnel-shaped collector.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein a plurality of the columns are grouped together in a side-by-side fashion, the reservoirs of each column communicating with a funnel-shaped collector, wherein each collector communicates with one of the troughs.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the coater is mounted for movement along at least one axis above a build platform defining a worksurface.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising:
an excess powder container disposed adjacent the build platform.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising:
a directed energy source operable to selectively fuse powder deposited on the worksurface.

8. An additive manufacturing method, comprising:
positioning a coater adjacent a worksurface, the coater comprising a trough including a plurality of side-by-side deposition valves;
depositing powder from the trough onto the build platform through at least one of the deposition valves; and
using radiant energy to fuse the powder.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of depositing powder includes:
depositing powder from the through onto the build platform through at least one of the deposition valves while the coater is in a first position;
moving the coater to a new position; and
repeating the steps of depositing powder and moving the coater to build up a layer of powder on the build platform.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising vibrating the deposited powder to level it before fusing.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the coater includes a plurality of troughs in a side-by-side arrangement, each trough including a plurality of side-by-side deposition valves, and the step of depositing powder includes:
moving the coater to position a selected one of the troughs in a first position;
depositing powder from the selected trough onto the build platform through at least one of the deposition valves thereof; and
repeating the steps of moving the coater and depositing powder, using two or more of the troughs, such that the deposits of the powders from each of the troughs lie in a single row.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of depositing powder further comprises repeating the steps of moving the coater and depositing powder to build up a layer of powder on the build platform.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the powder deposited by each trough differs from the powder deposited by the other troughs in at least one of its composition or particle size.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein the coater comprises a reservoir communicating with the at least one trough, the reservoir including a feed valve operable to selectively block or permit flow of a powder from the reservoir to the trough, the method further comprising using the feed valve to flow a controlled quantity of powder from the reservoir to the trough.

15. The method of claim 8 wherein the coater comprises a reservoir communicating with the at least one trough, the reservoir including a feed valve operable to selectively block or permit flow of a powder from the reservoir to the trough, the method further comprising using the feed valve to flow a powder from the reservoir to the trough at a controlled rate.

16. The method of claim 8 wherein:
the coater comprises two or more troughs each including a plurality of side-by-side deposition valves;
the coater comprises two or more reservoirs communicating with each trough, each reservoir including a feed valve operable to selectively block or permit flow of a powder from the reservoir to the corresponding trough; and
wherein the method further comprises using the feed valves to flow a mixture of powders from the reservoir to the trough, wherein each of the powders of the mixture differs from the other powders of the mixture in at least one of its composition or particle size.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein a plurality of the reservoirs are grouped into a column, each of the reservoirs of the column communicating with a funnel-shaped collector, wherein each collector communicates with one of the troughs.

18. An additive manufacturing apparatus, comprising:
a coater comprising:
at least one trough disposed in a side-by-side configuration, wherein the at least one trough includes a plurality of side-by-side deposition valves, and
a group of reservoirs arranged in a side-by-side configuration extending parallel to the width W of the dispenser, wherein at least one reservoir of the group of reservoirs includes a feed valve operable to selectively block or permit flow of a powder from the reservoir to the trough.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Gillespie Shane Matthew
• Stevenson Christian Xavier
• Kenney Patrick Michael
• Wang Ping

Classifications

• B22F12/57

  Metering means · CPC title

• B22F12/55

  Two or more means for feeding material · CPC title

• B22F12/50

  Means for feeding of material, e.g. heads · CPC title

• B22F10/73

  of powder · CPC title

• B22F10/28

  Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] · CPC title