Material deposition system for additive manufacturing
First Claim
1. A material deposition system for additive manufacturing comprising:
- an extruder having;
two or more input ports for receiving two or more feed materials,a mixing chamber for receiving the two or more feed materials supplied from the two or more input ports,a mixing device for mixing the two or more feed materials in the mixing chamber to create a blended deposition material, andan extrusion port for extruding the blended deposition material;
two or more actuators, each of the two or more actuators being configured to independently feed a respective one of the two or more feed materials at a feed rate toward the mixing chamber;
a measuring device configured to measure the viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber; and
a controller operatively coupled to the measuring device and operatively coupled to the two or more actuators;
wherein the controller is configured to receive information from the measuring device corresponding to the measured viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber; and
wherein the controller is configured to adjust the respective feed rates of the two or more actuators independently of one another in response to the information received from the measuring device corresponding to the measured viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A material deposition system for additive manufacturing including an extruder and a measuring device for measuring the viscosity and/or other rheological properties of a build material contained within the extruder. The measuring device may provide feedback to a controller for controlling one or more parameters depending on the measured viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the build material within the extruder. Two or more feed materials may be supplied to the extruder and a mixing device may be configured to mix the feed materials within the extruder to create a blended deposition material. The mixing device may be operatively coupled to the measuring device for simultaneously measuring the viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the materials during mixing. The controller may be configured to independently control one or more parameters associated with the materials depending on the viscosity and/or other rheological properties measured by the measuring device.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A material deposition system for additive manufacturing comprising:
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an extruder having; two or more input ports for receiving two or more feed materials, a mixing chamber for receiving the two or more feed materials supplied from the two or more input ports, a mixing device for mixing the two or more feed materials in the mixing chamber to create a blended deposition material, and an extrusion port for extruding the blended deposition material; two or more actuators, each of the two or more actuators being configured to independently feed a respective one of the two or more feed materials at a feed rate toward the mixing chamber; a measuring device configured to measure the viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber; and a controller operatively coupled to the measuring device and operatively coupled to the two or more actuators; wherein the controller is configured to receive information from the measuring device corresponding to the measured viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber; and wherein the controller is configured to adjust the respective feed rates of the two or more actuators independently of one another in response to the information received from the measuring device corresponding to the measured viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A material deposition system for additive manufacturing comprising:
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an extruder having; two or more input ports for receiving two or more feed materials, two or more liquefication passages, each of the two or more liquefication passages being associated with a respective one of the two or more input ports for receiving a respective one of the two or more feed materials, a mixing chamber downstream of the two or more liquefication passages for receiving the two or more feed materials from the two or more liquefication passages, a mixing device for mixing the two or more feed materials in the mixing chamber to create a blended deposition material, and an extrusion port for extruding the blended deposition material; two or more heating elements, each of the two or more heating elements being in thermal communication with a corresponding one of the two or more liquefication passages, the two or more heating elements each being configured to independently heat and liquefy the respective feed material upstream of the mixing chamber to thereby deliver the respective liquefied feed material downstream toward the mixing chamber for mixing thereof; a measuring device configured to measure the viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber; and a controller operatively coupled to the measuring device and operatively coupled to the two or more heating elements; wherein the controller is configured to receive information from the measuring device corresponding to the measured viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber; and wherein the controller is configured to adjust temperatures of the two or more heating elements independently of one another in response to the information received from the measuring device corresponding to the measured viscosity and/or other rheological properties of the blended deposition material in the mixing chamber.
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Specification