Color three dimensional printing
First Claim
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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, wherein the baffles include one or more torsion inducing elements to alter flow of build material through the cavity and promote mixing.
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Abstract
A variety of techniques for color mixing support a user-controllable palette of colors for use when fabricating three-dimensional objects.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An extruder for use in an additive manufacturing system, the extruder comprising:
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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, wherein the baffles include one or more torsion inducing elements to alter flow of build material through the cavity and promote mixing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An additive fabrication system comprising:
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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 of the build material as the build material exits the extruder; 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.
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13. A system for additive fabrication with color control, the system comprising:
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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; 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; a color sensor configured to sense a color of a build material as the build material exits the extrusion port; and 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. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. An additive fabrication system comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification