Soluble material and process for three-dimensional modeling

• US 8,227,540 B2
• Filed: 07/09/2010
• Issued: 07/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Stratasys Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Stratasys Incorporated
• Inventors: Priedeman, William R., Brosch, Andrea L.
• Primary Examiner(s): BERNSHTEYN, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US12/833,433
• Publication Number:
  US 20100270707A1
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• Field of Search: 524/556, 524/560, 526/317.1, 526/319, 264/442, 264/308, 264/317
• US Class Current: 524/556
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 41/08 Coating a former, core or other substrate by spraying or fluidisation, e.g. spraying powder spray-up of reinforcing fibres B29C70/305
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 41/36 Feeding the material on to the mould, core or other substrate
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 41/50 Shaping under special conditions, e.g. vacuum
• 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 64/40 Structures for supporting 3D objects during manufacture and intended to be sacrificed after completion thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2055/02 ABS polymers, i.e. acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymers
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2105/0008 Anti-static agents
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 70/00 Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 5/0016 Plasticisers
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 33/02 Homopolymers or copolymers of acids; Metal or ammonium salts thereof

Abstract

The present invention is a composition for making a three-dimensional object. The composition comprises a plasticizer and a base polymer, where the base polymer comprises a carboxylic acid, where the composition is soluble in an alkaline solution.

Claims

1. A support material feedstock for making a support structure for a three-dimensional object using an additive processing technique, the support material feedstock comprising:

a composition comprising;

at least one copolymer comprising;

a plurality of pendent carboxylic acid groups derived from monomers comprising methacrylic acid; and

a plurality of pendent ester groups derived from alkyl methacrylates; and

at least one plasticizer, wherein the composition is soluble in an alkaline aqueous solution; and

a filament geometry configured to be received by a filament-fed extrusion system configured to make the support structure in a layer-by-layer manner in coordination with the three-dimensional object using the additive processing technique.

2. The support material feedstock of claim 1, wherein the alkyl methacrylate comprises methyl methacrylate.

3. The support material feedstock of claim 1, wherein the composition consists essentially of the at least one copolymer and the at least one plasticizer.

4. The support material feedstock of claim 1, wherein the composition exhibits a melt flow index ranging from of about 1 gram/10 minutes to about 10 grams/10 minutes when tested pursuant to ASTM D1238 under a 1.2 kilogram load at 230°

C.

5. The support material feedstock of claim 1, wherein the at least one plasticizer constitutes from about 10% by weight to about 30% by weight of the composition, based on a total weight of the composition.

6. The support material feedstock of claim 1, wherein the at least one plasticizer comprises an aromatic plasticizer.

7. A method of forming the support material feedstock of claim 1 , the method comprising:

providing the at least one copolymer wherein the plurality of pendent carboxylic acid groups constitute from about 15.0% to about 60.0% by weight of pendent groups of the copolymer, based on a total weight of the pendent groups of the at least one copolymer;

combining the at least one copolymer with the at least one plasticizer to form a composition, the at least one plasticizer constituting from about 10% by weight to about 30% by weight of the composition, wherein the composition is soluble in an alkaline aqueous solution; and

forming the support material feedstock from the composition, the formed support material feedstock having a filament geometry that is configured to be received by a filament-fed extrusion system configured to make the support structure in a layer-by-layer manner in coordination with a three-dimensional object using an additive processing technique.

8. The method of claim 7, and further comprising drying the formed feedstock to remove moisture from the formed feedstock.

9. The method of claim 7, and further comprising winding successive portions of the formed feedstock onto a spool that is configured to supply the formed feedstock to the filament-fed extrusion system.

10. A method of building a three-dimensional object with an extrusion system, the method comprising:

heating a build envelope of the extrusion system to one or more elevated temperatures;

dispensing a thermoplastic material in the heated build envelope using an additive processing technique to form the three-dimensional object in a layer-by-layer manner, the three-dimensional object having at least one overhanging feature;

feeding the support material feedstock of claim 1 to an extrusion head of the extrusion system;

melting the support material feedstock in the extrusion head to a flowable state;

dispensing the melted support material in the heated build envelope in coordination with the dispensing of the thermoplastic material, using the additive processing technique to form a support structure in a layer-by-layer manner configured to support the at least one overhanging feature of the three-dimensional object; and

exposing the formed support structure to an alkaline aqueous solution to at least partially remove the formed support structure from the formed three-dimensional object.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the support material feedstock comprises a filament geometry.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one plasticizer constitutes from about 10% by weight to about 30% by weight of the composition of the support material, based on a total weight of the composition of the support material.