Process and device for producing a three-dimensional object

• US 20090020901A1
• Filed: 07/02/2008
• Published: 01/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Envisiontec GmbH
• Original Assignee: Envisiontec GmbH
• Inventors: El-Siblani, Ali, Schillen, Volker
• Granted Patent: US 8,845,316 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 264/31
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/135 the energy source being concentrated, e.g. scanning lasers or focused light sources
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/153 using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/393 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 70/88 characterised primarily by possessing specific properties, e.g. electrically conductive or locally reinforced
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2105/24 crosslinked or vulcanised
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 10/00 Processes of additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 30/00 Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/02 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes

Abstract

A process for producing at least one three-dimensional object by solidifying a solidifyable material, comprising the steps of:

• • providing an object carrier capable of carrying the object to be produced;
  • providing a material capable of solidifying when subjected to energy supply;
  • bringing a solidifyable material carrier/provider in a position to carry/provide solidifyable material at least in a building region where solidifyable material is to be solidified;
  • supplying, to the building region, energy capable of solidifying the solidifyable material; and
  • sensing, measuring and/or controlling a condition selected from the group consisting of pressure and/or strain. Alternatively or in combination, contact pressure, fluid pressure and/or material flowability can be sensed and/or adjusted.

Claims

1. A process for producing at least one three-dimensional object by solidifying a solidifyable material, comprising the steps of:

providing an object carrier capable of carrying the object to be produced;

providing a material capable of solidifying when subjected to energy supply;

bringing a solidifyable material carrier/provider in a position to carry/provide solidifyable material at least in a building region where solidifyable material is to be solidified;

supplying, to the building region, energy capable of solidifying the solidifyable material; and

sensing, measuring and/or adjusting a condition selected from one or more of (i) pressure, (ii) strain (iii) contact pressure, (iv) fluid pressure and (v) material flowability in a status of said building region going to be formed or being located between

said object carrier or previously solidified material carried thereon, and

said solidifyable material carrier/provider.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said condition, alone or in combination, is sensed, measured or adjusted at a location indicative for the pressure and/or strain at the building region.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein pressure and/or strain is sensed or measured, or wherein fluid pressure and/or material flowability is adjusted or controlled.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein the pressure and/or strain is sensed or measured at least at a region selected from:

in or at the building region, in or at the object carrier, in or at the solidifyable material carrier/provider, in or at the frame carrying the object, and in or at the frame carrying the solidifyable material carrier/provider.

5. The process according to claim 4, wherein the pressure and/or strain is sensed or measured in or at the frame carrying the object.

6. The process according to claim 1, wherein said condition (i) to (iv), alone or in combination, is sensed, measured and/or adjusted during the building process, preferably when contacting fresh solidifyable material with the object carrier or with previously solidified material formed thereon, when energy is supplied, and/or when solidified material is separated from the building region or from the solidifyable material carrier/provider.

7. The process according to claim 1, wherein said solidifyable material carrier/provider is a film/foil carrier or a separation film/foil, or it is a vat or a container.

8. The process according to claim 1, wherein sensing, measuring and/or adjusting said condition is used to control at least one of the following process parameters, respectively alone or in combination:

(a) distance between the object carrier and the building region, or between the object carrier and a surface of said solidifyable material carrier/provider;

(b) pressure force of either the object carrier or the solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, towards the building region;

(c) degree of insertion of object carrier, optionally having previously solidified material thereon, into solidifyable material provided;

(d) separation force of either the object carrier or the solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, from the building region;

(e) fluid pressure in or at the building region;

(f) moving speed of said object carrier or said solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, in a direction towards, or in a direction away from the building region;

(g) tensile load of a solidifyable material carrier/provider;

(h) coplanarity or tilt angle between a surface of said object carrier and a surface of said solidifyable material carrier/provider; and

(i) rolling away or gliding away of the solidifyable material carrier/provider from a build area.

9. The process according to claim 1, wherein sensing or measuring said condition is used to determine whether a building process is disturbed.

10. A preparation process for preparing a production process of at least one three-dimensional object by solidifying a solidifyable material, said prepared production process being of a type comprising:

providing an object carrier capable of carrying the object to be produced;

bringing a solidifyable material carrier/provider in a position to provide solidifyable material at least in a building region where solidifyable material is to be solidified; and

supplying, to the building region, energy capable of solidifying the solidifyable material;

wherein said preparation process includes the step of;

providing build data which, when executed, allow to produce the at least one three-dimensional object; and

nominally setting process parameters on the basis of said build data,

wherein said process parameters are nominally set, depending on at least one of;

a structure of said at least one three-dimensional object to be produced;

a presence or absence or a structure of an auxiliary support;

type of solidifyable material and composition of solidifyable material;

adhesion of solidifyable material to solidifayable material carrier/provider; and

adhesion of solidifyable material to a previously solidified layer and/or cross-section and/or voxel matrix of previously solidified material;

to control at least one of the following parameters;

(a) moving distance between the object carrier and the building region, or between the object carrier and a surface of said solidifyable material carrier/provider, before providing energy for solidification;

(b) pressure force of either the object carrier or the solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, towards the building region;

(c) degree of insertion of object carrier, optionally having previously solidified material thereon, into solidifyable material provided;

(d) separation force of either the object carrier or the solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, from the building region;

(e) fluid pressure in or at the building region;

(f) moving speed of said object carrier or said solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, in a direction towards or in a direction away from the building region;

(g) tensile load of said solidifyable material carrier/provider;

(h) coplanarity or tilt angle between a surface of said object carrier and a surface of said solidifyable material carrier/provider; and

(i) rolling away or gliding away of the solidifyable material carrier/provider from a build area.

11. The preparation process according to claim 10, wherein said process parameters are nominally set depending on area size or shape or cross-section or layer to be solidified at a time, or depending on the presence or absence of an auxiliary support.

12. The preparation process according to claim 10, wherein said process parameters are nominally set depending on any one of properties of the material to be solidified selected from viscosity, presence of particulate matter or powder, and melting properties, adhesion of solidifyable material to solidifayable material carrier/provider, and adhesion of solidifyable material to layer and/or cross-section and/or voxel matrix of previously solidified material.

13. A production process involving the preparation process according to claim 10, further comprising supplying said nominally set process parameters to a three-dimensional object producing device or a component thereof, such as a control unit, for execution, thereby producing the three-dimensional object.

14. The process according to claim 13, wherein nominally set process parameters, or controlled real process parameters during execution of a build process, are varied during at least one period of a build process, which period is defined by providing solidifyable material into the building region, or by separating solidified material from or at the building region or form or at the solidifyable material carrier/provider.

15. The process according to claim 13, further comprising a step of comparing said nominally set process parameters, and corresponding real values of process parameters determined by a measurement of pressure, strain, contact pressure and/or material flowability existing in or at the building region, and optionally further comprising a real-time adjustment of said process parameter depending on the result of said comparison step.

16. A process for producing at least one three-dimensional object by solidifying a solidifyable material, comprising the steps of:

providing an object carrier capable of carrying the object to be produced;

providing a material capable of solidifying when subjected to energy supply;

bringing a solidifyable material carrier/provider in a position to carry/provide solidifyable material at least in a building region where solidifyable material is to be solidified;

supplying, to the building region, energy capable of solidifying the solidifyable material;

wherein a contact pressure of said object carrier, or of solidified material formed thereon through previous solidification, towards a surface of said solidifyable material or said solidifyable material carrier/provider occurring in or at the building region is sensed and/or adjusted.

17. The process according to claim 16, wherein the contact pressure occurring in or at the building region or in or at the solidifyable material carrier/provider is sensed or adjusted during the building process, preferably when contacting fresh solidifyable material with the object carrier or with previously solidified material formed thereon, when energy is supplied, and/or when solidified material is separated from the building region or from the solidifyable material carrier/provider.

18. The process according to claim 16, wherein the contact pressure occurring in or at the building region is changed during the building process, preferably when contacting fresh solififyable material with the object carrier or with previously solidified material formed thereon, when energy is supplied, and/or when solidified material is separated from the building region.

19. The process according to claim 16, wherein the contact pressure occurring in or at the building region or in or at the solidifyable material carrier/provider is adjusted or changed by any one of process parameters (a) to (i) referred to in claim 8.

20. The process according to claim 16, wherein the contact pressure occurring in or at the building region is adjusted by a controlled injection of fluid solidifyable material into a vat or container as the solidifyable material provider, or by a controlled efflux of fluid solidifyable material out of the vat or container.

21. The process according to claim 16, wherein the contact pressure is adjusted by a heating treatment of solidifyable material.

22. A process for producing at least one three-dimensional object by solidifying a solidifyable material, comprising the steps of:

providing an object carrier capable of carrying the object to be produced;

providing a material capable of solidifying when subjected to proper amount of energy;

bringing a solidifyable material carrier/provider in a position to carry/provide solidifyable material at least in a building region where solidifyable material is to be solidified;

supplying, to the building region, energy capable of solidifying the solidifyable material;

wherein a fluid pressure and/or a flowability of solidifyable material occurring in or at the building region or in or at the solidifyable material carrier/provider is sensed and/or adjusted.

23. The process according to claim 22, wherein the fluid pressure and/or the flowability of solidifyable material occurring in or at the building region or in or at the solidifyable material carrier/provider is sensed or adjusted during the building process, preferably when contacting fresh solidifyable material with the object carrier or with previously solidified material formed thereon, when energy is supplied, and/or when solidified material is separated from the building region or from the solidifyable material carrier/provider.

24. The process according to claim 22, wherein the fluid pressure and/or the flowability of solidifyable material occurring in or at the building region is changed during the building process, preferably when contacting fresh solififyable material with the object carrier or with previously solidified material formed thereon, when energy is supplied, and/or when solidified material is separated from the building region.

25. The process according to claim 22, wherein the fluid pressure and/or the flowability of solidifyable material occurring in or at the building region or in or at the solidifyable material carrier/provider is adjusted or changed by any one of process parameters (a) to (i) referred to in claim 8.

26. The process according to claim 22, wherein the fluid pressure and/or the flowability of solidifyable material occurring in or at the building region is adjusted by a controlled injection of fluid solidifyable material into a vat or container as the solidifyable material provider, or by a controlled efflux of fluid solidifyable material out of the vat or container, to thereby increase or decrease fluid pressure, respectively.

27. The process according to claim 22, wherein the fluid pressure and/or the flowability of solidifyable material is adjusted by a heating treatment of solidifyable material.

28. The process according to claim 22, wherein a solid, a semi-solid or a relatively highly viscous solidifyable material is used, which upon heating will be converted into a corresponding, relatively more flowable material.

29. The process according to claim 28, wherein a photosensitive wax material or wax-like material is used.

30. A device for producing at least one three-dimensional object by solidifying a solidifyable material, comprising:

a device for supply of energy to a building region, the energy supply device being capable of solidifying the solidifyable material;

an object carrier capable of carrying the object to be produced;

a solidifyable material carrier/provider being arranged to provide solidifyable material at least in the building region; and

a sensor and/or a controller arranged to sense or measure and/or to adjust a condition selected from one or more of (i) pressure, (ii) strain (iii) contact pressure, (iv) fluid pressure and (v) material flowability at a location indicative for, or effective for the respective condition at the building region.

31. The device according to claim 30, wherein said sensor is a single sensor, a group of sensors or a sensor array for sensing or measuring (i) pressure and/or (ii) strain, and is arranged at least at a region selected from:

in or at the building region, in or at the object carrier, in or at the solidifyable material carrier/provider, in or at the frame carrying the solidifyable material carrier/provider, and preferably in or at the frame carrying the object carrier.

32. The device according to claim 30, wherein said solidifyable material carrier/provider is a film/foil carrier or a separation film/foil, or it is a vat or a container.

33. The device according to claim 30, comprising a controller arranged to control, as a result of the sensing or the measurement of the sensor, at least one other condition selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a distance between the object carrier and the building region, or between the object carrier and a surface of said solidifyable material carrier/provider;

(b) pressure force of either the object carrier, or the solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, towards the building region;

(c) degree of insertion of object carrier, optionally having previously solidified material thereon, into solidifyable material provided;

(d) separation force of either the object carrier or the solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, from the building region;

(e) fluid pressure in or at the building region;

(f) moving speed of said object carrier or said solidifyable material carrier/provider, respectively, in a direction towards, or in a direction away from the building region;

(g) tensile load of a solidifyable material carrier/provider;

(h) coplanarity or tilt angle between a surface of the object carrier and a surface of said solidifyable material carrier/provider; and

(i) rolling away or gliding away of the solidifyable material carrier/provider from a build area.

34. The device according to claim 30, wherein a controller is arranged to determine, as a result of the sensing or the measurement of the sensor, whether a building process is disturbed.

35. The device according to claim 30, further comprising a control system arranged to compare nominal values set by a build program with respect to any one of said conditions referred to in claim 30 or 33, and real values measured or sensed during operation by said sensor.