Electrochemical three-dimensional printing and soldering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11214884-B2
Application number	US-201816032901-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2018
Priority date	Jul 11, 2017
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

A hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle includes a nozzle tip configured to interface with a portion of a substructure. The nozzle also includes an inner coaxial tube connected to a reservoir containing an electrolyte and an anode, the inner coaxial tube configured to dispense the electrolyte through the nozzle tip onto the portion of the substructure. The nozzle also includes an outer coaxial tube encompassing the inner coaxial tube, the outer coaxial tube configured to extract the electrolyte from the portion of the substructure. The nozzle also includes at least one contact pin configured to make electrical contact with a conductive track on the substrate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hydrogen evolution assisted electroplating nozzle, the nozzle comprising:
a reservoir at a proximal end of the nozzle, the reservoir containing an electrolyte, the reservoir further containing an anode in contact with the electrolyte in the reservoir;
a nozzle tip at a distal end of the nozzle opposite the reservoir, the nozzle tip configured to interface with a portion of a substructure, the nozzle tip defined by distal ends of two coaxially aligned tubes comprising an inner coaxial tube within an outer coaxial tube, the distal end of the inner coaxial tube extending beyond the distal end of the outer coaxial tube;
the inner coaxial tube connected at a proximal end to the reservoir and extending through the nozzle to the distal end defining the nozzle tip, the inner coaxial tube configured to dispense the electrolyte through the nozzle tip onto the portion of the substructure;
the outer coaxial tube encompassing the inner coaxial tube, the outer coaxial tube configured to extract the electrolyte from the portion of the substructure; and
at least one contact pin connected to the nozzle and adjacent to and spaced apart from the nozzle tip, the at least one contact pin configured to make slidable electrical contact with a conductive track on the substructure when interfacing with the nozzle tip.

2. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the inner coaxial tube and the outer coaxial tube circulate the electrolyte at the nozzle tip to remove hydrogen bubbles forming at the portion of the substructure.

3. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one contact pin is connected to the nozzle via a spring positioned within a tube guide.

4. The nozzle of claim 3 , wherein the spring is axially aligned with a contact pin of the at least one contact pin.

5. The nozzle of claim 3 , wherein the at least one contact pin comprises a carbon pin.

6. The nozzle of claim 5 , wherein the carbon pin is a soft graphite pin.

7. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the nozzle further comprises a sensing mechanism, the sensing mechanism configured to detect a quality of an electroplated area formed via the nozzle.

8. The nozzle of claim 7 , wherein the sensing mechanism is an ammeter electrically coupled to the at least one contact pin, wherein the ammeter monitors a current along the conductive track and through the at least one contact pin.

9. The nozzle of claim 8 , wherein the at least one contact pin includes a first contact pin and a second contact pin configured to make electrical contact with the conductive track, and wherein the ammeter measures the current along the conductive track between the first contact pin and the second contact pin.

10. The nozzle of claim 7 , wherein the quality of the electroplated area is based on a resistance between two contact pins of the at least one contact pin.

11. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one contact pin includes a first contact pin spaced apart from the nozzle tip on a first side of the nozzle tip and a second contact pin spaced apart from the nozzle tip on a second side of the nozzle tip opposite the first contact pin.

12. The nozzle of claim 1 , further comprising a pump in fluid communication with the outer coaxial tube to draw the electrolyte from the second coaxial tube.

13. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one contact pin includes a cathode.

14. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one contact pin is configured to position the nozzle tip at a predefined distance over the substructure.

15. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the conductive track is a carbon based track.

16. The nozzle of claim 15 , wherein the carbon based track is printed on the substructure.

17. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the conductive track is a copper track.

18. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the outer coaxial tube encompasses the reservoir.

19. The nozzle of claim 1 , wherein the at least one contact pin comprises a plurality of contact pins equally distributed about the nozzle tip.

20. The nozzle of claim 19 , wherein each of the plurality of contact pins is connected to the nozzle via a spring positioned within a tube guide.

Assignees

• Univ South Florida

Inventors

• Takshi Arash
• Rosa-Ortiz Sabrina Marie

Classifications

• C25D5/003

  Electroplating using gases, e.g. pressure influence · CPC title

• B33Y70/10

  Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials · CPC title

• C25D17/06

  Suspending or supporting devices for articles to be coated · CPC title

• C25D5/54

  Electroplating of non-metallic surfaces (C25D7/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title