Patent Application
20170252980
This invention relates generally to an engineered, multi-layer sheet used in the process of three-dimensional printing (also known as “additive manufacturing”). More particularly, the present invention relates to a multi-layer sheet for use with 3D printers of the type utilizing polylactic acid (PLA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as the filament or extrudate. Specifically, the invention provides a multi-layer sheet having two functional surfaces, one surface for holding the sheet in place on the 3D printer, and the other surface for temporarily retaining and holding in position the 3D product while it is being produced by the 3D printer. Notably, the multi-layer sheet can then be removed cleanly from the product and the printer at the end of the printing process.
The current state of the art in additive manufacturing/3D printing involves the non-specific use of commercially available tape products that are capable of acting as covers for the bed/platen/gantry/receiving surface of 3D printers, but simply are not developed for that use. In fact, there is currently no common knowledge or standard in the industry as to what type of tape or sheet product works best for retaining and holding an extrudate of a 3D product being printed. Nevertheless, this is a serious problem for 3D printers.
Heretofore, essentially any typical commercially available retail tape designed for purposes and uses wholly unrelated to retaining 3D printed products on the bed, platen, gantry or receiving surface of the printer have been used. The tape or any other sheet product is used primarily to maintain the bed or receiving surface as clean as possible for subsequent uses. One common example is the blue-colored “painter's tape” manufactured by and commercially available from 3M and others. However, simply by its name, it will be understood that this tape is designed for painters, not printers. Furthermore, such tape is commonly not sold at a wide enough width to cover the entire platen/gantry of a 3D printer. Accordingly, oftentimes, multiple strips of tape are used side-by-side to provide the width necessary to cover the platen/gantry. Alternatively, some consumers buy several meters of wide rolls of similar tape products and then have to cut the tape product to a size that will cover the platen/gantry of their particular 3D printer. However, this coverage issue still does not address the problem of adhesion of the extrudate.
As the problem of adhesion of 3D printed products to the bed/platen/gantry of a 3D printers has become more common, many people have searched for a solution. At present, there simply are no solutions that provide, on the one side or surface of the sheet, the capability of holding the covering itself in place on the 3D printer, while simultaneously, on the other side or surface, the capability of at least temporarily retaining and holding the 3D printing product in place during printing.
Various solutions for retaining the 3D printed product on the presently available commercial tapes include adjusting the bed temperature of the 3D printer, leveling the bed/platen/gantry of the 3D printer, adjusting the height and/or width of the first layer of printed product onto the bed/plate/gantry, cleaning the bed or the tape or re-taping the bed prior to use, slowing down the speed of the printing, adding a brim, or using a high grade plastic or polymer. Unfortunately, each of these solutions is inadequate for various reasons. It is often not possible to change the bed temperature or completely level the bed/platen/gantry of the 3D printer prior to or during printing. It is often undesirable to adjust the height and/or width of the first layer of the printed product or add a brim, and much more costly to use high grade polymers. Further, re-taping or adding a new cover is time consuming and must be done with care so as not to contaminate the surface. Also, not many tapes can be removed easily from the bed/platen/gantry of the 3D printer without a residue, making cleaning the surface necessary.
Thus, the need exists for a sheet that is both capable of maintaining its position on the bed/plate/gantry of the 3D printer, while also being capable of at least temporarily retaining and holding the product being printed on the 3D printer.
At present, Applicants are unaware of any patents related to the use of consumables in 3D printing and additive manufacturing that specifically address the problems noted above. Furthermore, the prior art in the industry provides no chemical, mechanical, or structural composition or performance product that meets the needs of the 3D printing industry.
For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0138019 discloses sticking a film to a transparent sheet by removable glue and printing the 3D image on an inner surface of the film, the film then being molded into a 3D shape. The present invention does not use a film to be molded in accordance with the 3D image. Rather, the present invention is a consumable (i.e., throw-away after use) product sheet used to ensure consistent position and removability of the 3D printed product.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,008 discloses a flexible sheet substrate for mounting on the top surface of the modeling table in a 3D printer assembly, and also describes some characteristics of this sheet, such as that it can be made of polymeric material, or acrylic, and made with a thickness of approximately 0.06 inches. The patent also describes a “hold-down force” to keep the sheet retained on the modeling table. However, the patent does not describe a multiple-layered surface or constructed sheet with multiple individual components. Nor does it specify any hold-down force that is intrinsic to the sheet construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,309 is commonly cited by other patents in this area. This patent discloses multiple variations of a 3D printing machine with an interlocking modeling platform surface. This surface has a substrate which receives the filaments for producing the 3D printed product. Generally, the patent is directed to a reusable, modeling platform surface that includes a receiving substrate material comprised of “a substantially rigid, non-dusting tray providing a modeling surface.” The patent goes into detail on the qualities of the modeling surface, indicating that it is comprised of plastic and particularly molded plastic, that it has a surface texture, which may be rough or smooth, and that the surface texture may have a medium-coarse EDM finish. It will be appreciated that this patent provides a tray for the modeling surface, not a consumable product constructed to adhere to the tray.
Various other patents and published patent applications have noted the general use of flexible polymer films, coating, liner, tapes and trays or other substrates for adhering deposited material onto the platen or onto the build substrate of 3D printers. However, none of the patents or published patent applications suggest the use of a consumable sheet having the technical performance requirements that would not only hold the sheet itself to the platen, tray, or bed, but would also hold the 3D printed product at least temporarily, and then be capable of having the 3D printed product removed from it as well has being capable of removing it from the platen or tray.
It will, therefore, be appreciated that the invention advantageously offers superior functional performance and differentiated structure to commonly used solutions to the issue of temporarily fixing the position of additive manufacturing products being produced. Specifically, when compared to tape products, which are not specifically designed for additive manufacturing surface platforms, such as, for example, the polyimide (Kapton®) tape commercially available from DuPont, or the blue “painter's tape” commercially available from 3M and others, the construction of the present invention provides superior capture of 3D printed objects, as shown in test data provided herein. This is due to the incorporation of textured materials such as woven and non-woven fabrics, flocked materials, and paper substrates, as well the coating of these substrates with polymer materials providing the optimal heat-mediated adhesion to 3D printed materials. Additionally, the present invention offers increased flexibility and accommodation of leveling 3D printers by nature of incorporating compressible (e.g., foam) layers which allow 3D printers to accurately deposit layers of viscous substrate materials even when base platform leveling is less than perfectly precise.
Compared to the generic “film,” “paper,” “polymer,” or otherwise-noted “sheets” in other prior art, the present invention is superior due to the incorporation of multiple different functional materials in the final construction. Specifically, the incorporation of textured materials (woven or nonwoven fabric, paper, or flocked materials) with foam padding provide greater functional capabilities than any singular construction discussed in prior art, and allows a wider functional range for 3D printers than is provided by singular sheets, polymer layers, or films. Additionally, the materials of the present invention are thicker than the constructions listed in prior art, with final thicknesses in the 0.09398 to 5.1054 mm range.
One aspect of the present invention is to provide a multi-layer sheet for use with a three-dimensional printer platform, comprising an intermediate layer, a polymer receptive coating disposed on one side of the intermediate layer, and a pressure sensitive adhesive disposed on an opposite side of the intermediate layer.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide three-dimensional printer comprising a platform, a printer head that deposits material to form a product while at least one of the platform and the printer head are moved, and a multi-layer sheet disposed on the platform upon which the product is formed, the multi-layer sheet comprising an intermediate layer, a polymer receptive coating disposed on one side of the intermediate layer, wherein the product is formed on the polymer receptive coating, and a pressure sensitive adhesive disposed on an opposite side of the intermediate layer, wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive contacts the platform.
In one or more embodiments, yet another aspect of the present invention may be achieved by providing a precision-manufactured laminated sheet for use in additive manufacturing/3D printing to retain and hold the 3D printed product in position throughout the additive manufacturing process.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings wherein:
The present invention is directed to a precision-manufactured laminated sheet for use in additive manufacturing/3D (three-dimensional) printing to retain and hold a 3D printed product in position throughout the additive manufacturing process. The additive manufacturing process is conducted by using a 3D printer generally of the type utilizing polylactic acid (PLA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as the filament or extrudate resin. The sheets of the present invention have two functional surfaces, one surface for holding the sheet in place on the 3D printer, and the other surface for temporarily retaining and holding in position the 3D product while it is being produced on the 3D printer. Notably, the multi-layer sheet can then be removed cleanly with no residue at the end of the printing process.
One representative embodiment of such a 3D printer, denoted generally by the numeral 20, is shown in
As noted above, the present invention is directed to the multi-layered sheet 44 that is used to cover the platform 42 to at least temporarily maintain the printed product 26 in place. The present invention provides for a sheet construction that prevents movement of the sheet on the platform 42, as well as prevents the printed product 26 from moving on the sheet.
With reference to
With reference to
As noted above and as seen in
Alternatively, in either sheet 44 or 144, the coated substrate 32 may be flat paper. The sheet 44 or 144 may or may not also be combined with a compressible padding layer 36 adjacent to the pressure-sensitive adhesive coating 38, as described above. In either embodiment above, the PSA 38 may be applied as a spray adhesive, as liquid glue or as a double-faced tape. Further, in either embodiment above, a release liner may be applied to the PSA 38.
With reference to
In another embodiment and as shown in
The non-woven or woven fusible material 46 may be selected from EVA, polyamide, polyester, polyethylene, polyolefin, polyurethane, urethane, PVA and any other thermoplastic, heat-sealable coating. In some embodiments, the non-woven or woven material is polyester.
Where there is a layer of padding material 36 between the pressure-sensitive adhesive 38 and the non-woven fusible material 46, it is used to provide cushion and accommodation for the 3D printer nozzle 40 in the additive manufacturing process. The compressible padding layer 36 may be constructed from closed cell polyolefin foam, electrostatically flocked fabric, film, paper, or other web substrate, felt, non-woven or woven fabric or other compressible foam materials. As in the prior embodiments, the PSA 38 in these embodiments may be applied as a spray adhesive, as liquid glue or as a double-faced tape.
With reference to
The fiber flocking material 48 may be selected from cotton fibers, acrylic, polyamide fibers, polymeric microfibers, rayon fibers, and wool fibers. The flocked substrate can be a web material selected from EAA, EMA, EVA or other olefin, LDPE, MDPE or HDPE, non-woven fabrics, paper, PET, PVC, and woven fabrics.
In another embodiment shown in
In one or more embodiments, the flocking material 48 comprises flocked microfiber and flock adhesive cement (which may hold the flock material together). The material 48 may be water dissolvable. As with the other embodiments, the PSA 38 in these embodiments may also be a spray adhesive, liquid glue, or a double-faced tape. These embodiments may also include a release liner 30 that is applied to the PSA 38 which is to be removed upon application to the 3D printer 20.
It will be appreciated that the sheets of the present invention are manufactured specifically to the working surface of the platform, platen or gantry of the 3D printer being used in the additive manufacturing process. Thus, there is no cutting or multiple tape lines necessary for these sheets. Common platen sizes on retail 3D printer machines range from a common low-end of about 6 inches by 9 inches (15.24 cm by 22.86 cm) to a common higher end size of about 9 inches by 12 inches (22.86 cm by 30.48 cm). However, there are also very large commercially available build volumes having platforms of a size of about 24 inches by 24 inches (60.96 cm by 60.96 cm) as well. Beyond these very large size printers are industrial 3D printers, which now can print entire houses. But it will be appreciated that such industrial 3D printers ‘print’ with different materials than those set forth for this invention, including metals and other alloys. Thus, the present invention is typically used with the general retail and commercial 3D printers that employ well known types of resin filament, such as, but not limited to, PLA and ABS.
In order to demonstrate practice of the invention, sheets of the various embodiments of the present invention were prepared and tested against tapes currently used in the industry. The resultant tests demonstrate that the sheets of the present invention provide unique and superior performance.
To begin, sample patterns were acquired from an industrial 3D printer and were printed repeatedly with a common 3D printer machine commercially available to the public to minimize variable changes across multiple printings of similar patterns. Commonly-utilized workarounds in additive manufacturing (such as consumer painter's tape and film) were tested against the constructions/sheets in this disclosure, and the completeness and precision of 3D printed products were recorded.
The machinery used for all testing was an Imaginator 3D printing machine (sold by Halcraft USA, Mt. Vernon N.Y., and RNK Distributing, Knoxville, Tenn.). A standard 3D printer quality test—a 50 MM octopus print (available at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:113158)—was used as a print which tests both fine application of resin and application of resin in small-scale curved patterns. To test printing performance against prints that involve rapid movement of the 3D printer head, a set of train tracks was also used as a test design.
To produce each 3D print test, the following steps were taken. The sheet construct was designed as a laboratory sample (involving laminating the substrate and backing layers, and applying any coating layers to produce the final test construct). After drying, the test sheet was applied by hand to the printer platen, which then levelled to within 1 mm of the test surface. The 3D printer was loaded with software to produce the test prints, and was allowed to start running the program from a cooled starting point. If the print showed complete breakage or failure, it was stopped. If the print was completed, the print was retained and labelled for records. After each print, the outcome of the process was recorded.
Table I provided below sets forth the results of each test.
As can be seen from TABLE I, all of the sample sheets of the present invention provide suitable printed products. However, almost all of the conventionally, non-specific use tapes, cloths and sheets currently used with commercial 3D printers failed even the octopus standard test. It is noted that a sheet of nylon non-woven did print the octopus successfully. However, when the same sheet was used to print the train tracks, it failed. Notably, the train tracks are harder to print, given that the computer program used to make the train tracks causes the printer head to move quickly and violently, which causes significantly more mechanical stress on the resin feed. Accordingly, if the sheet moves at all, it is likely to fail the test with the train tracks.
Thus it should be evident that a sheet of the present invention is highly effective in providing consistent prints by self-adhering the lower surface of the sheet to the platen/gantry of the 3D printer, while simultaneously holding the printed product or the resin filament that makes the printed product to its upper surface during the printed process. Further, the resultant 3D printed product can easily be removed from the sheet when completed, and the sheet is completely and cleanly removable from the 3D printer when desired. The sheet is consumable and easily replaceable.
In the embodiments presented, the total thickness of the sheets (not including the release liner) may vary between .0940 millimeter and 5.1054 millimeters, although other thicknesses may be used depending upon print materials and other printing parameters. As will be appreciated, the thicknesses of the various layers used in the different sheet embodiments may also vary depending upon the end use requirements. All embodiments use the PSA 38, which may have a thickness ranging from about 0.0254 to 0.0762 millimeters (mm), and the polymer receptive coating 34, which may have a thickness ranging from about 0.0051 to 0.0254 mm. None of the sheet thickness dimensions for the sheets described below include the release liner 30 which may have a thickness of about 0.0635 mm to 0.1785 mm.
For sheets 44 and 144 the substrate 32 may be various types of paper which have a thickness ranging from about 0.0635 to 0.2545 mm or various types of cloth which may have a thickness range of about 0.1524 to .3815 mm. As a result, the thickness of the sheet 44 may range from about 0.0940 mm to 0.4826 mm. When the compressible padding layer 36, which may have a thickness range from about 0.2540 mm to 1.5875 mm, is included in sheet 144, the thickness of the sheet may range from about 0.3480 mm to about 2.0701 mm.
For sheets 244 and 344, the substrate 46 may be various types of polymeric material which has a thickness ranging from about 0.0508 mm to 0.3810 mm. As a result, the thickness of the sheet 244 may range from about 0.0813 mm to 0.4826 mm. As such, when the compressible padding layer 36 is included in sheet 344, the total thickness may range from about 0.3353 mm to 2.070 mm.
For sheets 444 and 544 the flock material 48 may have a thickness ranging from about 0.3810 mm to 1.5875 mm. Accordingly, the thickness of sheet 444 may range from about 0.4115 mm to 1.6891 mm. When the compressible padding layer 36 is included in sheet 544, the thickness of the sheet may range from about 0.6655 mm to 3.2766 mm.
Again, the invention is particularly suited for use in 3D printers of the type utilizing PLA or ABS or other commonly used resins for additive manufacturing. Based upon the foregoing disclosure, it should now be apparent that the use of a sheet described herein will carry out the objects set forth hereinabove. Indeed, the various layers in any combination may be referred to as a sheet assembly and the positional relationship of the layers to one another may be switched or adjusted as needed. It is, therefore, to be understood that any variations evident fall within the scope of the claimed invention and thus, the selection of specific 3D printer, its operating conditions and the like, can be determined without departing from the spirit of the invention herein disclosed and described. Thus, the scope of the invention shall include all modifications and variations that may fall within the scope of the attached claims.
This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/303,026 filed Mar. 3, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62303026 | Mar 2016 | US |
