3D printing system comprising solid build ink comprising colorant

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9676952-B2
Application number	US-201514630629-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2015
Priority date	Feb 24, 2015
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

A color three-dimensional (3D) printing system includes (1) a solid build ink for each of a plurality of colors, each solid build ink includes (a) a solid acrylate in an amount from about 40 to about 70 percent by weight, (b) a non-curable wax in an amount from about 10 to about 45 percent by weight, (c) a curable wax in an amount from about 1 to about 15 percent by weight, (d) a photoinitiator, and (e) a colorant; each solid build ink has a curing speed adjusted by a ratio of the non-curable wax to curable wax such that the initial curing speed and final hardness of each solid build ink is approximately the same for each of the plurality of colors, and (2) a support material includes the non-curable wax used in each build ink, the support material providing a scaffold for deposition of each build ink.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A color three-dimensional (3D) printing system comprising:
a solid build ink for each of a plurality of colors, each solid build ink comprising:
a solid acrylate in an amount from about 40 to about 70 percent by weight;
a non-curable wax in an amount from about 10 to about 45 percent by weight;
a curable wax in an amount from about 1 to about 15 percent by weight;
a photoinitiator; and
a colorant;
wherein each solid build ink has a curing speed adjusted by a ratio of the non-curable wax to curable wax such that the initial curing speed and final hardness of each solid build ink is approximately the same for each of the plurality of colors; and

a support material comprising the non-curable wax used in each build ink, the support material providing a scaffold for deposition of each build ink.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each solid build ink has a different initial hardness for each of the plurality of colors.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the curing speed of each build ink is partially independent of the selected photoinitiator for each build ink.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of colors comprises cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein when the color is cyan, the ratio of the non-curable wax to curable wax is in a range from about 2:1 to about 5:1.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein when the color is black, the ratio of the non-curable wax to curable wax is in a range from about 2:1 to about 5:1.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein when the color is yellow, the ratio of the non-curable wax to curable wax is in a range from about 0.5:1 to about 4:1.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein when the color is magenta, the ratio of the non-curable wax to curable wax is in a range from about 0.5:1 to about 4:1.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of a layer before curing is a maximum in a range from about 10 microns to about 5 mm.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of build ink has an initial hardness in a range from about 5 to about 60 units.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein each build ink has an initial slope, the slope corresponding to curing speed, in a range from about 25 to about 300.

12. A method of color 3D printing a three-dimensional article comprising:
providing a solid build ink for each of a plurality of colors, each solid build ink comprising:
a solid acrylate in an amount from about 40 to about 70 percent by weight;
a non-curable wax in an amount from about 10 to about 45 percent by weight;
a curable wax in an amount from about 1 to about 15 percent by weight;
a photoinitiator; and
a colorant;
wherein each solid build ink has a curing speed adjusted by a ratio of the non-curable wax to curable wax such that the curing speed and final hardness of each solid build ink is approximately the same for each of the plurality of colors;

providing a support material comprising the non-curable wax used in each build ink, the support material providing one or more scaffold layers for deposition of at least one solid build ink layer as dictated by the geometry of the three-dimensional article;
depositing one or more solid build inks in a plurality of build ink layers to form the three-dimensional article on a substrate, each deposited build ink layer of the plurality of build ink layers being disposed on (1) the substrate; (2) a portion of a previous solid build ink layer; (3) a portion of the one or more scaffold layers, or combinations thereof;
depositing the support material in the one or more scaffold layers, each deposited scaffold layer being disposed on (1) the substrate; (2) a portion of a previous solid build ink layer; (3) a portion of the one or more scaffold layers, or combinations thereof; and
curing each of the plurality of build ink layers to form the three-dimensional article.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein a thickness of one of the plurality of layers before curing is a maximum in a range from about 10 microns to about 5 mm.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising removing the support material after completing the three-dimensional article.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the removing step comprises washing, melting or physically removing the support material.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising blending two or more build inks to form a new color prior to depositing a layer using the blended build inks.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the depositing step employs an inkjet printer.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the curing step comprises UV irradiation.

19. A three-dimensional article made by the method of claim 12 , wherein the article comprises a support material comprising the non-curable wax used in each build ink, the support material providing one or more scaffold layers for deposition of at least one solid build ink layer as dictated by the geometry of the three-dimensional article and one or more build ink layers forming the three-dimensional article on a substrate, each deposited build ink layer of the plurality of build ink layers being disposed on (1) the substrate; (2) a portion of a previous solid build ink layer; (3) a portion of the one or more scaffold layers, or combinations thereof.

Assignees

• Xerox Corp

Inventors

• Breton Marcel P
• Belelie Jennifer L
• Chretien Michelle N
• Chopra Naveen
• Keoshkerian Barkev

Classifications

• B29C64/129

  characterised by the energy source therefor, e.g. by global irradiation combined with a mask · CPC title

• B29C64/112

  using individual droplets, e.g. from jetting heads · CPC title

• C09D11/107 Primary

  from unsaturated acids or derivatives thereof · CPC title

• C09D11/12

  based on waxes or bitumen · CPC title

• C09D11/101

  Inks specially adapted for printing processes involving curing by wave energy or particle radiation, e.g. with UV-curing following the printing · CPC title