MULTILAYER FIBER REINFORCEMENT DESIGN FOR 3D PRINTING

• US 20160067928A1
• Filed: 11/17/2015
• Published: 03/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MarkForged, Inc
• Original Assignee: MarkForged, Inc
• Inventors: Mark, Gregory Thomas, Woodruff, Rick Bryan, Benhaim, David Steven, Parangi, Abraham Lawrence, Sklaroff, Benjamin Tsu
• Granted Patent: US 9,688,028 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/106 using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/118 using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM]
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/209 Heads; Nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/227 Driving means
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/393 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 70/16 using fibres of substantial or continuous length non-woven fabrics per se D04H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2025/08 Copolymers of styrene, e.g. AS or SAN, i.e. acrylonitrile styrene B29K2055/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2063/00 Use of EP, i.e. epoxy resins or derivatives thereof, as moulding material
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2071/00 Use of polyethers , e.g. PEEK, i.e. polyether-etherketone or PEK, i.e. polyetherketone or derivatives thereof, as moulding material
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2077/00 Use of PA, i.e. polyamides, e.g. polyesteramides or derivatives thereof, as moulding material
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2079/085 Thermoplastic polyimides, e.g. polyesterimides, PEI, i.e. polyetherimides, or polyamideimides; Derivatives thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2009/00 Layered products
• 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 three-dimensional geometry is received, and sliced into layers. A first anisotropic fill tool path for controlling a three dimensional printer to deposit a substantially anisotropic fill material is generated defining at least part of an interior of a first layer. A second anisotropic fill tool path for controlling a three dimensional printer to deposit the substantially anisotropic fill material defines at least part of an interior of a second layer. A generated isotropic fill material tool path defines at least part of a perimeter and at least part of an interior of a third layer intervening between the first and second layers.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method for generating three-dimensional toolpath instructions for a three dimensional printer, the method comprising:

receiving a three-dimensional geometry sliced into shells or layers;

generating, for each of a set of shells or layers defining a portion of a 3D printed part, first isotropic fill tool paths for controlling an isotropic solidifying head to solidify, along the isotropic fill tool paths, a substantially isotropic fill material;

generating, for each of an anisotropic fill subset of the set of shells or layers defining the portion of the 3D printed part, first anisotropic fill tool paths for controlling an anisotropic solidifying head to solidify, along the anisotropic tool paths, a substantially anisotropic fill material having an anisotropic characteristic oriented relative to a trajectory of the anisotropic fill tool path;

receiving a selection, from among the set of shells or layers defining the portion of the 3D printed part, of an editing subset of shells or layers, the editing subset including at least part of the anisotropic fill subset; and

regenerating, for each shell or layer of the editing subset, one of second isotropic fill toolpaths different from the first isotropic fill toolpaths and second anisotropic fill toolpaths different from the first anisotropic fill toolpaths.

2. The machine implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

regenerating, for each shell or layer of the editing subset, both second isotropic fill toolpaths different from the first isotropic fill toolpaths and second anisotropic fill toolpaths different from the first anisotropic fill toolpaths.

3. The machine implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying a first generation rule defining the first isotropic fill tool paths for controlling the isotropic solidifying head to solidify, along the isotropic fill tool paths, the substantially isotropic fill material; and

applying a second generation rule defining the first anisotropic fill tool paths for controlling the anisotropic solidifying head to solidify, along the anisotropic tool paths, the substantially anisotropic fill material,

wherein the first and second generation rules govern mutually exclusive regions within each shell or layer of the set of shells or layers defining a portion of a 3D printed part.

4. The machine implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying a first generation rule defining the first isotropic fill tool paths for controlling the isotropic solidifying head to solidify, along the isotropic fill tool paths, the substantially isotropic fill material; and

applying a second generation rule defining the first anisotropic fill tool paths for controlling the anisotropic solidifying head to solidify, along the anisotropic tool paths, the substantially anisotropic fill material,

wherein a priority is defined between the first and second generation rules to determine, when the first and second generation rules govern conflicting regions within a shell or layer of the set of shells or layers defining a portion of a 3D printed part, which of the first or second generation rule shall apply.

5. The machine implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

within a sequential set of three or more parallel shells or layers,

applying a wall generation rule defining first isotropic fill tool paths for controlling the isotropic solidifying head to solidify the substantially isotropic fill material as a contour wall of the part; and

applying a quasi-isotropic generation rule defining anisotropic fill tool paths for controlling the anisotropic solidifying head to solidify the substantially anisotropic fill material as a quasi-isotropic set of anisotropic fill tool paths forming a laminate among the three or more shells or layers and having a partially isotropic in-shell behavior among the three or more shells or layers.

6. The machine implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

within the sequential set of three or more parallel shells or layers,

applying at least one of;

a volume infill generation rule defining second isotropic fill tool paths for controlling the isotropic solidifying head to solidify the substantially isotropic fill material as a volume infill of the part, and

an outer concentric generation rule defining anisotropic fill tool paths for controlling the anisotropic solidifying head to solidify the substantially anisotropic fill material as concentric fill tool paths located adjacent and parallel to outer contour and/or outer perimeter of the part and at least partially radially outward from a centroid of the 3D printed part.

7. The machine implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

within the sequential set of three or more parallel shells or layers,

applying an inner concentric generation rule defining anisotropic fill tool paths for controlling the anisotropic solidifying head to solidify the substantially anisotropic fill material as concentric fill tool paths located adjacent and parallel to inner contour and/or through-hole perimeters of the part.

27. The method according to claim 3, further comprising:

in response to a predetermined condition being met, ceasing to display at least one of, while continuing to display at least one remaining one of, the representation of the distribution of a substantially isotropic fill material, the representation of the distribution of substantially anisotropic fill material, or the indicia indicating the span of the first generation rule common to the first range of shells or layers of the three-dimensional geometry of the part to be 3D printed.

8. A 3D printer for additive manufacturing of a part, comprising:

an anisotropic solidifying head that solidifies, along anisotropic fill toolpaths, fiber swaths from a supply of anisotropic fiber reinforced material including a plurality of fiber strands extending continuously within a matrix material, the fiber swaths having an anisotropic characteristic oriented relative to a trajectory of the anisotropic fill tool paths;

an isotropic solidifying head that solidifies, along isotropic fill toolpaths, a substantially isotropic material from a supply of solidifiable isotropic material;

a motorized drive for relatively moving at least the anisotropic deposition head and a build plate supporting a 3D printed part in at least three degrees of freedom, and

a controller, wherein the controller is configured to control the motorized drive, the anisotropic deposition head and the isotropic solidifying head, to which the controller is operatively connected, to build the 3D printed part by;

solidifying the isotropic material along the isotropic fill tool paths,

solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking a non-concentric

set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least a first sequence of parallel shells,

solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking an outer concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least a second sequence of parallel shells,

each of the non-concentric set and the outer concentric set of anisotropic tool paths being located at least partially radially outward from the centroid of the 3D printed part.

9. The 3D printer according to claim 8, wherein the non-concentric set of anisotropic tool-paths includes a quasi-isotropic set of anisotropic fill tool paths forming a laminate having a partially isotropic in-shell behavior among three or more shells, and wherein the controller is further configured to control the motorized drive, the anisotropic deposition head and the isotropic solidifying head to build the 3D printed part by solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking a quasi-isotropic set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least the first sequence of parallel shells.

10. The 3D printer according to claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to control the motorized drive, the anisotropic deposition head and the isotropic solidifying head to build the 3D printed part by solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking a quasi-isotropic set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least an additional sequence of parallel shells separated from the first sequence of parallel shells by a plurality of shells each including isotropic fill material.

11. The 3D printer according to claim 8, wherein the non-concentric set of anisotropic tool-paths includes a set of complementary anisotropic fill tool paths of substantially similar areal distribution, the complementary anisotropic fill tool paths forming a laminate having a combined in-shell behavior among two or more shells, wherein the controller is further configured to control the motorized drive, the anisotropic deposition head and the isotropic solidifying head to build the 3D printed part by solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking the set of complementary anisotropic fill tool paths for at least the first sequence of parallel shells.

12. The 3D printer according to claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to control the motorized drive, the anisotropic deposition head and the isotropic solidifying head to build the 3D printed part by solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking an inner concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least one of the first or second sequence of parallel shells, the inner concentric set of anisotropic tool paths being located surrounding one or more negative contours or through hole within the 3D printed part.

13. The 3D printer according to claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to control the motorized drive, the anisotropic deposition head and the isotropic solidifying head to build the 3D printed part by solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking an inner concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least one of the first or second sequence of parallel shells, the inner concentric set of anisotropic tool paths being located looping an envelope shape including at least two or more negative contours or through holes within the 3D printed part.

14. The 3D printer according to claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to control the motorized drive, the anisotropic deposition head and the isotropic solidifying head to build the 3D printed part by solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking a cellular infill pattern of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least one of the first or second sequence of parallel shells, the cellular infill pattern of anisotropic tool paths forming repeating and cellular walls of anisotropic fill material within the 3D printed part.

15. The 3D printer according to claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to control the motorized drive, the anisotropic deposition head and the isotropic solidifying head to build the 3D printed part by solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking a self-crossing pattern of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least one of the first or second sequence of parallel shells, the self-crossing pattern of anisotropic tool paths overlapping anisotropic solidification of fiber swaths within a same shell or layer.

16. A machine implemented method for generating three-dimensional toolpath instructions for a three dimensional printer, the method comprising:

receiving a three-dimensional geometry sliced into shells or layers;

generating isotropic fill tool paths for controlling an isotropic solidifying head to solidify, along the isotropic tool paths, a substantially isotropic fill material ;

generating anisotropic fill tool paths for controlling a anisotropic solidifying head to solidify, along the anisotropic fill tool paths, a substantially anisotropic fill material having an anisotropic characteristic oriented relative to a trajectory of the anisotropic fill tool path, including;

generating a non-concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least a first sequence of parallel shells, the non-concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths being located at least partially radially outward from the centroid of the three-dimensional geometry, and

generating an outer concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths at least a second sequence of parallel shells, the concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths being located at least partially radially outward from the centroid of the three-dimensional geometry; and

combining the isotropic fill tool paths and the anisotropic fill toolpaths into a sequence of tool paths defining a 3D printed part.

17. The machine implemented method according to claim 16, wherein the non-concentric set of anisotropic tool paths includes a quasi-isotropic set of anisotropic fill tool paths forming a laminate having a partially isotropic in-shell behavior among three or more nested or parallel shells, further comprising generating a quasi-isotropic set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least a first sequence of three or more nested or parallel shells, the quasi-isotropic set of anisotropic fill tool paths being located at least partially radially outward from the centroid of the three-dimensional geometry

18. The machine implemented method according to claim 17, further comprising solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking a quasi-isotropic set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least an additional sequence of parallel shells separated from the first sequence of parallel shells by a plurality of shells each including isotropic fill material.

19. The machine implemented method according to claim 16, wherein the non-concentric set of anisotropic tool-paths includes a set of complementary anisotropic fill tool paths of substantially similar areal distribution, the complementary anisotropic fill tool paths forming a laminate having a combined in-shell behavior among two or more shells, further comprising solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking the set of complementary anisotropic fill tool paths for at least the first sequence of parallel shells.

20. The machine implemented method according to claim 16, further comprising:

solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking an inner concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least one of the first or second sequence of parallel shells, the inner concentric set of anisotropic tool paths being located surrounding one or more negative contours or through hole within the 3D printed part.

21. The machine implemented method according to claim 16, further comprising:

solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking an inner concentric set of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least one of the first or second sequence of parallel shells, the inner concentric set of anisotropic tool paths being located looping an envelope shape including at least two or more negative contours or through holes within the 3D printed part.

22. The machine implemented method according to claim 16, further comprising:

solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking a cellular infill pattern of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least one of the first or second sequence of parallel shells, the cellular infill pattern of anisotropic tool paths forming repeating and cellular walls of anisotropic fill material within the 3D printed part.

23. The machine implemented method according to claim 16, further comprising:

solidifying the anisotropic fill material in fiber swaths tracking a self-crossing pattern of anisotropic fill tool paths for at least one of the first or second sequence of parallel shells, the self-crossing pattern of anisotropic tool paths overlapping anisotropic solidification of fiber swaths within a same shell or layer.

24. A machine implemented method for displaying a three-dimensional geometry of a part to be 3D printed on a display, comprising:

receiving the three-dimensional geometry of a part to be 3D printed sliced into shells or layers;

displaying the shells or layers of the three-dimensional geometry of the part to be 3D printed on a display;

displaying, for a shell or layer, a representation of a distribution of a substantially isotropic fill material;

displaying, for an anisotropic fill subset of the set of shells or layers, a representation of a distribution of a substantially anisotropic fill material having an anisotropic characteristic oriented relative to a trajectory of an anisotropic fill tool path;

receiving a selection, from among the displayed shells or layers defining the portion of the 3D printed part, of an editing subset of shells or layers, the editing subset including at least part of the anisotropic fill subset; and

regenerating, for a shell or layer of the editing subset, one of a second representation of a distribution of isotropic fill material different from the first representation of a distribution of isotropic fill material and a second representation of a distribution of anisotropic fill material different from the first representation of a distribution of anisotropic fill material.

25. The machine implemented method according to claim 24, further comprising:

displaying an orthogonal bar together with the displayed shell, the orthogonal bar displayed parallel to an edge of the display, the orthogonal bar including the representation of a distribution of a substantially isotropic fill material and the representation of a distribution of the substantially anisotropic fill material.

26. The machine implemented method according to claim 24, further comprising

displaying indicia indicating the span of a first generation rule common to a first range of shells or layers of the three-dimensional geometry of the part to be 3D printed.

28. The machine implemented method according to claim 26, further comprising:

wherein multiple indicia indicating the extents of a plurality of generation rules are displayed in a mutually exclusive manner without overlapping.

29. The machine implemented method according to claim 26, wherein the multiple indicia include adjustment handles indicating the extents of the plurality of generation rules.

30. The machine implemented method according to claim 26, further comprising:

detecting a movement of a pointer in a direction relative to the display and/or an actuation of the pointer; and

at least one of;

in response to detecting the movement and/or the actuation of the pointer, changing the first generation rule common to the first range of shells or layers to a different, second generation rule common to the first range of shells or layers, and

in response to detecting the movement and/or the actuation of the pointer, changing the displayed indicia indicating the extent of the first generation rule so that change in the extent of the first range is one of highlighted or displayed.