THREE DIMENSIONAL (3D) PRINTER SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRINTING 3D OBJECTS WITH USER-DEFINED MATERIAL PARAMETERS
First Claim
1. A system for fabricating a physical three dimensional (3D ) object, comprising:
- a 3D print assembly adapted for additively forming the 3D object;
a material supply providing print material to the 3D print assembly to form the 3D object;
memory storing a plurality of definitions of microstructures; and
a print controller running a control program, wherein the control program operates the 3D print assembly to form the 3D object based on a print file defining object elements of the 3D object and wherein the object elements are formed by fabricating a plurality of the microstructures.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A 3D printer system that allows a 3D object to be printed such that each portion or object element is constructed or designed to have a user-defined or user-selected material parameter such as varying elastic deformation. The 3D printer system stores a library of microstructures or cells that are each defined and designed to provide the desired material parameter and that can be combined during 3D printing to provide a portion or element of a printed 3D object having the material parameter. For example, a toy or figurine is printed using differing microstructures in its arms than its body to allow the arms to have a first elasticity (or softness) that differs from that of the body that is printed with microstructures providing a second elasticity. The use of microstructures allows the 3D printer system to operate to alter the effective deformation behavior of 3D objects printed using single-material.
94 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for fabricating a physical three dimensional (3D ) object, comprising:
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a 3D print assembly adapted for additively forming the 3D object; a material supply providing print material to the 3D print assembly to form the 3D object; memory storing a plurality of definitions of microstructures; and a print controller running a control program, wherein the control program operates the 3D print assembly to form the 3D object based on a print file defining object elements of the 3D object and wherein the object elements are formed by fabricating a plurality of the microstructures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6, 7)
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5. The system of 4, wherein the 3D print assembly comprises a fused filament fabrication (FFF) printer and the material supply comprises a spool of plastic filament.
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8. A method for forming a 3D object, comprising:
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providing a library of predefined microstructures each associated with a value range for a material parameter; receiving or retrieving a 3D model of an object with a region assigned a value of the material parameter; identifying one of the predefined microstructures having one of the value ranges for the material parameter that includes the value of the material parameter; and generating a print file for a 3D printer by processing the 3D model of the object to include a plurality of the identified one of the predefined microstructures in the region assigned the value of the material parameter. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A 3D printer, comprising:
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a print head with a print nozzle through which a print material is output onto a build plate to form a 3D object; and a print controller, during printing of the 3D object, defining print locations for the print nozzle in each of a plurality of print layers defined in a digital print model of the 3D object, wherein the digital print model includes a region associated with a range of values for a material parameter and wherein the region is defined by a plurality of tiled microstructures having a geometric shape. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification