COLOR THREE DIMENSIONAL PRINTING

• US 20130328228A1
• Filed: 06/10/2013
• Published: 12/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MakerBot Industries, LLC (Ultimaker BV)
• Original Assignee: MakerBot Industries, LLC (Ultimaker BV)
• Inventors: Pettis, Nathaniel B., Steiner, Robert J., Schmehl, Peter Joseph, Pax, Charles E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,169,968 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 264/40.1
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/112 using individual droplets, e.g. from jetting heads
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/209 Heads; Nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/314 Preparation
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/393 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 30/00 Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 40/00 Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/00 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/02 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 11/12 in more than one direction
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 11/18 with mechanism for moving the apparatus relatively to the stand
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 13/022 repositionable
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4099 Surface or curve machining, making 3D objects, e.g. desktop manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35134 3-D cad-cam
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49007 Making, forming 3-D object, model, surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1224 Client or server resources management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/126 Job scheduling, e.g. queuing, determine appropriate device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/82 Elements for improving aerodynamics

Abstract

A variety of techniques for color mixing support a user-controllable palette of colors for use when fabricating three-dimensional objects.

Claims

1. An extruder for use in an additive manufacturing system, the extruder comprising:

a first port to receive a first filament of a first build material having a first color;

a second port to receive a second filament of a second build material having a second color;

an extrusion port; and

a cavity coupled in fluid communication with the first port, the second port, and the extrusion port, the cavity including one or more baffles to mix the first build material with the second build material while passing in a liquid state to the extrusion port, thereby producing a build material.

2. The extruder of claim 1, further comprising a first motor operable to drive the first filament into the first port and a second motor operable to drive the second filament into the second port.

3. The extruder of claim 2, further comprising a control system that is operable to control a first feed rate of the first motor and a second feed rate of the second motor, based on the first color and the second color, to obtain a build material of a pre-determined color.

4. The extruder of claim 3, further comprising a color source in fluid communication with the extruder, wherein the control system is further operable to inject a color additive from the color source into the extruder.

5. The extruder of claim 4, in which the color source is configured to inject the color additive into the cavity of the extruder.

6. The extruder of claim 4, in which the color source is configured to inject the color additive prior to the cavity of the extruder.

7. The extruder of claim 3, further comprising a color sensor in data communication with the controller, the color sensor configured to sense a color of the build material, wherein the controller is further operable to control the first feed rate and the second feed rate based further on the color of the build material.

8. The extruder of claim 1, further comprising a third port to receive a third filament of a third build material having a third color.

9. The extruder of claim 1, in which a first in-feed axis along which the first filament is fed into the cavity is skewed with respect to a second in-feed axis along which the second filament is fed into the cavity.

10. The extruder of claim 9, in which the first and second in-feed axes are skewed with respect to an extrusion axis.

11. The extruder of claim 1, in which a volume of the cavity is less than or equal to two times a diameter of the first filament times a cross sectional area of the first filament.

12. An additive fabrication system comprising:

an extruder configured to extrude a build material at a controlled volumetric rate in a liquid state;

an x-y-z positioning system configured to controllably position the extruder within a build volume;

a paint head having a controllable pose, the paint head configured to apply a controlled color of paint to a surface through a nozzle; and

a processor coupled in a communicating relationship with the extruder and the x-y-z positioning system and configured to fabricate a three-dimensional model in the build volume from the build material of the extruder, the processor further configured to position and orient the nozzle of the paint head toward a predetermined location on an exterior surface of the object during fabrication of the exterior surface and to apply paint having a computer controlled color at the predetermined location.

13. A system for additive fabrication with color control, the system comprising:

a filament of a build material;

a supply of one or more color additives;

an extruder having an port to receive the filament, an extrusion port, and a cavity coupling the port in fluid communication with the extrusion port; and

an injector fluidly coupled to the cavity, the injector configured to inject a controllable amount of the one or more color additives from the supply into the cavity.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a motor operable to drive the filament into the port.

15. The system of claim 13, in which a volume of the cavity is less than or equal to two times a diameter of the filament times a cross sectional area of the filament.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising one or more baffles in the cavity.

17. The system of claim 13, further comprising a color sensor configured to sense a color of a build material as the build material exits the extrusion port.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a control system that controls the injector to inject color additives based on a pre-determined desired color and the sensed color of the build material.

19. An additive fabrication system comprising:

a build material provided as a filament;

an extruder having an port to receive the filament, an extrusion port, and a cavity that couples the port in fluid communication with the extrusion port;

a motor configured to provide a force to drive the filament into the port;

a heater positioned to melt the filament within the cavity;

a color source adapted to deliver a color additive to the filament;

a sensor positioned to detect a color of a build material exiting the extrusion port; and

a controller programmed to receive data from the sensor and to control operation of the motor, the heater, and the color source to achieve a predetermined color for the build material exiting the extrusion port.

20. The system of claim 19, in which the predetermined color is a user-defined color.

21. The system of claim 19, in which the predetermined color is identified from a 3D model.

22. The system of claim 19, in which the sensor includes a video camera.

23. The system of claim 19, in which the color source delivers the color additive into the cavity.

24. The system of claim 19, in which the color source delivers the color additive prior to the cavity.

25. The system of claim 19, further comprising one or more baffles within the cavity.

26. A method comprising:

identifying a three-dimensional computer model of an object including at least one color on a surface thereof;

identifying an inventory of available build materials;

using a computer, automatically determining that the inventory of available build materials cannot be used to fabricate the object on a three-dimensional printer; and

automatically suggesting a modification of the three-dimensional model into a modified three-dimensional model to a user in which the modification allows the object to be fabricated with the inventory of available build materials and the three-dimensional printer.

27. The method of claim 26, in which the modification includes changing a color of at least part of the object.

28. The method of claim 26, in which the modification includes changing a size of at least part of the object.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising providing a design tool to the user, in which the design tool is operable to allow the user to manually make modifications to the three-dimensional model, and in which the design tool includes a color palette of available colors that can be fabricated using the available build materials.

30. The method of claim 29, in which the color palette includes colors corresponding to a convex hull of a collection of colors available in the inventory of build materials.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising fabricating the object using the modified three-dimensional model on the three-dimensional printer.