Leveling system for 3D printer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10919224-B2
Application number	US-201916509121-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2019
Priority date	Jul 17, 2018
Publication date	Feb 16, 2021
Grant date	Feb 16, 2021

Abstract

A leveling system for a 3D printing system for laser dispensing includes inner and outer frames, each supported at its corners by respective actuators of first and second sets of actuators. The outer frame supports an optical plane within which material to be dispensed by laser irradiation is disposed. The inner frame supports a receiving medium plane within which a substrate on which said material to be dispensed by laser irradiation is disposed. Each actuator operates independently to displace a respective frame corner in the vertical direction. The inner and outer frames each is attached at their respective corners to a respective actuator by a rod, thus allowing the inner and outer frames to freely rotate with respect to one another. An additional frame may support sensors for monitoring the 3D printing system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A leveling system for a 3D printing system for laser dispensing, said leveling system comprising:
a first frame supported at its corners by respective actuators of a first set of actuators, said first frame supporting an optical plane within which material dispensed by laser irradiation is disposed; and
a second frame supported at its corners by respective actuators of a second set of actuators and by said respective actuators of said first set of actuators so as to passively maintain a fixed gap between said optical plane and a receiving medium plane and supporting said receiving medium plane within which a substrate on which said material dispensed by laser irradiation is disposed;
wherein each of the actuators of the first and second sets is configured to be operated independently under the control of a controller to displace a respective corner of one of said first or second frame in a direction orthogonal to a reference frame on which the leveling system rests and maintain parallelism of the optical and receiving medium planes.

2. The leveling system of claim 1 , wherein each of the first frame and the second frame has three corners, spaced 120° from one another.

3. The leveling system of claim 1 , wherein each of the first frame and the second frame is attached at its corners to one of the respective actuators by a respective one of a plurality of rods, whereby the first and second frames are free to rotate with respect to one another around axes defined by said rods attaching respective corners of the first and second frames to respective ones of the actuators.

4. The leveling system of claim 1 , further comprising an additional frame supported at its corners by respective actuators of a third set of actuators, said additional frame supporting one or more sensors for monitoring said 3D printing system.

5. A method of orienting components of a 3D printing system for laser dispensing, said method comprising:
positioning corners of a first frame of a leveling system using respective actuators of a first set of actuators, said first frame supporting an optical plane within which material dispensed by laser irradiation is disposed;
positioning corners of a second frame of the leveling system using respective actuators of a second set of actuators, said second frame supporting a receiving medium plane within which a substrate on which said material dispensed by laser irradiation is disposed; and
operating each of the actuators of the first and second sets of actuators independently of one another by a controller so as to displace a respective corner of one of said first or second frame in a direction orthogonal to a reference frame on which the leveling system rests and maintain parallelism of the optical and receiving medium planes, wherein during said operating of the actuators, the first frame is supported at its corners by the respective actuators of the first set of actuators and the second frame is supported at its corners by the respective actuators of the second set of actuators and by said respective actuators of said first set of actuators so as to passively maintain a fixed gap between the optical and receiving medium planes.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein each of the first frame and the second frame is attached at its corners to one of the respective actuators by a respective one of a plurality of rods, and the method further includes operating the actuators of the first and second sets of actuators by the controller so as to rotate the first and second frames with respect to one another around one or more axes defined by said rods attaching respective corners of the first and second frames to respective one of the first and second sets of actuators.

Assignees

• Io Tech Group Ltd

Inventors

• Gilan Ziv
• Liptz Daniel
• Zenou Michael

Classifications

• B29C64/141 Primary

  using only solid materials · CPC title

• B29C64/245 Primary

  Platforms or substrates (support structures intended to be sacrificed after manufacture B29C64/40) · CPC title

• B33Y40/00

  Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling · CPC title

• B29C64/379

  Handling of additively manufactured objects, e.g. using robots · CPC title

• B33Y30/00

  Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title