Method for three-dimensional manufacturing and high density articles produced thereby

• US 9,364,986 B1
• Filed: 05/22/2012
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rapid Prototype and Manufacturing LLC
• Original Assignee: Rapid Prototype and Manufacturing LLC
• Inventors: Patterson, Clark
• Primary Examiner(s): Rummel, Ian
• Application Number:
  US13/477,468
• Time in Patent Office: 1,484 Days
• Field of Search: 252/515
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/05 Filamentary, e.g. strands
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/92 Measuring, controlling or regulating
• 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 70/58 comprising fillers only , e.g. particles, powder, beads, flakes, spheres B29C70/025 takes precedence, agglomerating hollow spheres to produce synthetic foam B29C70/66; compounding ingredients per se C08K
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2995/0025 Opaque
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 10/00 Processes of additive manufacturing

Abstract

The present invention includes methods of three-dimensional printing as well as the high density and/or radiopaque three-dimensional articles produced thereby. Articles prepared in accordance with the method of the present invention may be used as production articles or as prototypes to be able to demonstrate the shielding characteristics of shaped articles in instances where production articles may later be produced by injection molding. The method of the present invention may be carried out using fused deposition modeling or selective laser sintering methods known and used in the art.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional object comprising:

sequentially depositing layers of a thermoplastic polymer composition mixture comprising a polymer phase and a particulate filler phase, said polymer phase comprising at least one thermoplastic polymer and said particulate filler phase being in sufficient quantity so as to render the three-dimensional object so formed to a specific gravity above 2.5;

wherein said particulate filler phase comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, stainless steel alloys, copper, bismuth oxides, bismuth subcarbonates, bismuth oxychlorides, barium sulfates, barium titanates, and mixtures thereof;

and wherein the method is a fused deposition modeling (FOM) additive process.

2. A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional object comprising:

sequentially depositing layers of a thermoplastic polymer composition mixture comprising a polymer phase and a particulate filler phase, said polymer phase comprising at least one thermoplastic polymer and said particulate filler phase being in sufficient quantity so as to render the three-dimensional object so formed to a specific gravity above 2.5;

wherein said particulate filler phase comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, stainless steel alloys, copper, bismuth oxides, bismuth subcarbonates, bismuth oxychlorides, barium sulfates, barium titanates, and mixtures thereof;

and wherein the thermoplastic polymer composition mixture is polymeric filament sequentially deposited in layers.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the polymer filament is a tungsten and polycarbonate blend.