Porous body, additive manufacturing method for the body and apparatus for supporting and/or bearing a person

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10398236-B2
Application number	US-201715701950-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2017
Priority date	Sep 13, 2016
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

It is a feature of a porous body comprising a three-dimensional network of node points joined to one another by struts, and a void volume present between the struts, that the struts have an average length of ≥200 μm to ≤50 mm, the struts have an average thickness of ≥100 μm to ≤5 mm, and that the porous body has a compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1: 2010-09) in at least one spatial direction of ≥10 to ≤100 kPa. The porous body according to the invention combines the advantages of a conventional mattress or cushion with ventilatability which results from its porous structure and is not achievable in conventional foams. The invention further relates to a method of producing such a porous body and to an apparatus comprising said body for supporting and/or bearing a person.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A porous body comprising a three-dimensional network of node points joined to one another by struts, and a void volume present between the struts, wherein
the struts have an average length of ≥200 μm to ≤50 mm,
the struts have an average thickness of ≥100 μm to ≤5 mm, and in that
the body has a compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1: 2010-09) in at least one spatial direction of ≥10 to ≤100 kPa wherein the spatial density of the node points in a first region of the body is different from the spatial density of the node points in a second region of the body, wherein the spatial density of the node points in the first region of the body is from ≥5 node points/cm 3 to ≤200 node points/cm 3 , and the spatial density of the node points in a second region of the body is, with the proviso that the spatial density of the node points is different from the density in the first region, from ≥5 node points/cm 3 to ≤200 node points/cm 3 , wherein the first region of the body and the second region of the body consist of a different material, and wherein the material for each of the first and second region is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polycarbonate (PC), polyamide (PA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), cycloolefinic copolyesters (COC), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyether amide ketone (PEAK), polyetherimide (PEI), polyimide (PI), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polylactate (PLA), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyoxymethylene (POM), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyacrylate and celluloid.

2. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the body has a compression set after 40% compression (DIN ISO 815-1) of ≤5%.

3. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the body has a tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) in at least one spatial direction of ≥0.1 to ≤1.5 and/or the body has a maximum tan δ value (DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) in at least one spatial direction at ≥−10° C. to ≤40° C.

4. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1:2010-09) of the body in a selected spatial direction differs by ≥10% from the compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1:2010-09) of the body in a spatial direction at right angles to the spatial direction selected,
and/or

the tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) of the body in a selected spatial direction differs by ≥10% from the tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) of the body in a spatial direction at right angles to the spatial direction selected.

5. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1:2010-09) of the body in a selected spatial direction differs by <10% from the compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1:2010-09) of the body in other spatial directions and/or the tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) of the body in a selected spatial direction differs by <10% from the tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) of the body in other spatial directions.

6. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the body is at least partly formed from a material having one or more of the following properties:
a tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) of ≥0.1 to ≤1.5
a maximum tan δ value (DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) at ≥−10° C. to ≤40° C.
a modulus of elasticity (DIN EN ISO 604:2003-12) of ≥1 MPa to ≤800 MPa
a Shore hardness (DIN ISO 7619-1:2012-02) of ≥40 A to ≤70 D
a melting point (DIN EN ISO 11357-3:2013-04) of ≤220° C.
a glass transition temperature T g (DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) of ≤40° C.

7. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the void volume makes up ≥50% to ≤99% of the volume of the body.

8. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the node points are distributed in a periodically repeating manner in at least part of the volume of the body.

9. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the void volume is formed in the form of mutually penetrating first, second and third groups of channels, wherein a multitude of individual channels within each respective group of channels run parallel to one another and the first group of channels, the second group of channels and the third group of channels extend in different spatial directions.

10. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the average minimum angle between adjacent struts is ≥30° to ≤140°.

11. The porous body according to claim 1 , wherein the body is produced in an additive manufacturing method.

12. An apparatus for supporting and/or bearing a person, comprising a porous body comprising a three-dimensional network of node points joined to one another by struts, and a void volume present between the struts, wherein the struts have an average length of ≥200 μm to ≤50 mm, wherein the struts have an average thickness of ≥100 μm to ≤5 mm, and wherein the body has a compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1: 2010-09) in at least one spatial direction of ≥10 to ≤100 kPa; and a ventilator for passing air through at least a portion of the porous body, wherein the spatial density of the node points in a first region of the body is different from the spatial density of the node points in a second region of the body, wherein the spatial density of the node points in the first region of the body is from ≥5 node points/cm 3 to ≤200 node points/cm 3 , and the spatial density of the node points in the second region of the body is with the proviso that the spatial density of the node points is different from the density in the first region, from ≥5 node points/cm 3 to ≤200 node points/cm 3 , wherein the first region of the body and the second region of the body consist of a different material, and wherein the material for each of the first and the second region is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polycarbonate (PC), polyamide (PA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), cycloolefinic copolyesters (COC), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyether amide ketone (PEAK), polyetherimide (PEI, polyamide (PI), polyproylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polylactate (PLA), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyoxymethylene (POM), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyacrylate and celluloid.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the porous body has a compression set after 40% compression (DIN ISO 815-1) of ≤5%.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the porous body has a tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) in at least one spatial direction of ≥0.1 to ≤1.5 and/or the body has a maximum tan δ value (DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) in at least one spatial direction at ≥−10° C. to ≤40° C.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1:2010-09) of the body in a selected spatial direction differs by ≥10% from the compression hardness (40% compression, DIN EN ISO 3386-1:2010-09) of the body in a spatial direction at right angles to the spatial direction selected, and/or the tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) of the body in a selected spatial direction differs by ≥10% from the tan δ value (20° C., DMA, DIN EN ISO 6721) of the body in a spatial direction at right angles to the spatial direction selected.

16. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the

Assignees

• Covestro Deutschland Ag

Inventors

• Achten Dirk
• Busgen Thomas
• Dijkstra Dirk
• Degiorgio Nicolas
• Wagner Roland
• Akbas Levent
• Reichert Peter
• Hattig Jurgen

Classifications

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29C64/118

  using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM] · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29L2031/751

  Mattresses, cushions (upholstery B29L2031/58) · CPC title

• A47C23/002 Primary

  with separate resilient support elements, e.g. elastomeric springs arranged in a two-dimensional matrix pattern · CPC title