Apparatus and method for fabricating multi-polymer composite structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11731352-B2
Application number	US-201916370220-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 29, 2019
Priority date	Mar 29, 2019
Publication date	Aug 22, 2023
Grant date	Aug 22, 2023

Abstract

An additive manufacturing (AM) system manufactures composite structures having different materials in an integrated manner during a single processing process. For example, a first composite image is created on a substrate and then that image is stabilized by heat, pressure of chemical fusion not to the point of complete solid formation but enough to give the first composite image enough stability so that it is not disturbed by subsequent processing. A second image is then created on parts of the substrate not covered by the first composite image, a second powder is applied, and excess second powder that is not part of the second image is removed. The substrate may be cut into sheets that are stacked in register for consolidation and subsequent matrix removal resulting in a multi-polymer 3D object.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for fabricating multi-polymer additive manufactured composite structures, comprising:
a substrate material being forwarded through the apparatus in a process direction;
a first polymer additive manufacturing device adjacent to the substrate material, the first polymer additive manufacturing device including
an image forming device configured to selectively deposit an adhering agent in a desired first pattern onto portions of the substrate material,
a powder applicator configured to apply a first polymer powder onto the substrate material and the adhering agent, wherein the first polymer powder attaches to the substrate material via interaction with the adhering agent, and
a powder remover configured to remove any of the applied first polymer powder that does not attach to the substrate material resulting in a first polymer image on the substrate material;

a second polymer additive manufacturing device downstream the first additive manufacturing device in the process direction, the second polymer additive manufacturing device including
a second image forming device configured to selectively deposit a second adhering agent in a desired second pattern onto portions of the substrate material not covered by the first polymer image,
a second powder applicator configured to apply a second polymer powder onto the substrate material and the second adhering agent, the second polymer powder being different than the first polymer powder, wherein the second polymer powder attaches to the substrate material via interaction with the second adhering agent, and
a second powder remover configured to remove any of the applied second polymer powder that does not attach to the substrate material, resulting in a second polymer image on the substrate material at different portions of the substrate material than the first polymer image;

the substrate material being printed with the first polymer image and the second polymer image to form a multi-polymer image having the first and second polymer images at different locations thereof; and
a cutting device that cuts the substrate material into substrate sheets corresponding to a layer of a 3D object.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a fuser configured to at least partially cure the first polymer image and the second polymer image sufficient to stabilize the second polymer image with the first polymer image on the substrate material to form an at least partially cured multi-polymer image on the substrate material as a multi-polymer layer of a 3D object of a multi-polymer additive manufactured composite structure that includes the first and second polymer images in different areas of the multi-polymer layer.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a fuser positioned between the powder remover and the second image forming device in the process direction, the fuser configured to at least partially cure the first polymer image sufficient to stabilize the first polymer image on the substrate material so the at least partially cured first polymer image is not disturbed by further processing by the second polymer additive manufacturing device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a fuser positioned between the powder remover and the second image forming device in the process direction, the fuser configured to at least partially cure the first polymer image sufficient to stabilize the first polymer image on the substrate material so the at least partially cured first polymer image is not disturbed by further processing by the second polymer additive manufacturing device, and a second fuser downstream the second powder remover in the process direction, the second fuser configured to at least partially cure the second polymer image sufficient to stabilize the second polymer image with the first polymer image on the substrate material to form an at least partially cured multi-polymer image on the substrate material as a multi-polymer layer of a 3D object of a multi-polymer additive manufactured composite structure that includes the first and second polymer images in different areas of the multi-polymer layer.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a stacker subsystem configured for stacking the cut substrate sheets.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , the stacker subsystem including an alignment mechanism configured to accurately align the substrate sheets when stacked.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor that senses the presence of the first polymer image on the substrate material underneath.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a controller in communication with at least one of the first polymer additive manufacturing device, and the second polymer additive manufacturing device to output control signals to control an operation of the at least one of the first polymer additive manufacturing device, and the second polymer additive manufacturing device in communication therewith.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a transfer mechanism configured to forward the substrate material in the process direction.

10. A method for fabricating multi-polymer additive manufactured composite structures, comprising:
using the apparatus for fabricating multi-polymer additive manufactured composite structures of claim 1 :
forwarding a substrate material in a process direction;
selectively depositing an adhering agent in a desired first pattern onto portions of the substrate material with an image forming device;
applying a first polymer powder onto the substrate material via a powder applicator to attach the first polymer powder to the substrate material via interaction with the adhering agent;
removing any of the applied first polymer powder that does not attach to the substrate material with a powder remover, the removing resulting in a first polymer image on the substrate material;
selectively depositing a second adhering agent in a desired second pattern onto portions of the substrate material not covered by the first polymer image with a second image forming device downstream the powder remover in the process direction;
applying a second polymer powder onto the substrate material via a second powder applicator to attach the second polymer powder to the substrate material via interaction with the second adhering agent, the second polymer powder being different than the first polymer powder;
removing any of the applied second polymer powder that does not attach to the substrate material with a second powder remover, the removing resulting in a second polymer image on the substrate material at different portions of the substrate material than the first polymer image, the substrate material being printed with the first polymer image and the second polymer image to form a multi-polymer image having the first and second polymer images at different locations thereof; and
cutting the substrate material with a cutting device into substrate sheets corresponding to a layer of a 3D object.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising curing the first polymer image and the second polymer image with a fuser, the curing being sufficient to stabilize the second polymer image with the first polymer image on the substrate material to form an at least partially cured multi-polymer image on the substrate material as a multi-polymer layer of a 3D object of a multi-polymer additive manufactured composite structure that includes the first and second polymer images in different areas of the multi-polymer layer.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising curing the first polymer image on the substrate material before applying the second polymer powder to the s

Assignees

• Xerox Corp

Inventors

• Gibson George A
• Buchar Wayne A

Classifications

• B29C64/176 Primary

  Sequentially · CPC title

• B22F10/00

  Additive manufacturing of workpieces or articles from metallic powder (apparatus or devices therefor B22F12/00) · CPC title

• B22F10/85

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B22F12/00

  Apparatus or devices specially adapted for additive manufacturing; Auxiliary means for additive manufacturing; Combinations of additive manufacturing apparatus or devices with other processing apparatus or devices · CPC title

• B22F12/82

  Combination of additive manufacturing apparatus or devices with other processing apparatus or devices · CPC title