Manufacturing system using topology optimization design software, novel three-dimensional printing mechanisms and structural composite materials

• US 9,789,652 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2015
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nathan Armstrong
• Original Assignee: Nathan Armstrong
• Inventors: Armstrong, Nathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Barnes-Bullock, Crystal J
• Application Number:
  US14/632,975
• Publication Number:
  US 20150239178A1
• Time in Patent Office: 964 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1679 characterised by the tasks executed
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/393 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/40 Structures for supporting 3D objects during manufacture and intended to be sacrificed after completion thereof
• 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 40/00 Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/02 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4099 Surface or curve machining, making 3D objects, e.g. desktop manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49007 Making, forming 3-D object, model, surface
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49023 3-D printing, layer of powder, add drops of binder in layer, new powder
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/06 Multi-objective optimisation, e.g. Pareto optimisation using simulated annealing [SA], ant colony algorithms or genetic algorithms [GA]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2113/10 Additive manufacturing, e.g. 3D printing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/17 Mechanical parametric or variational design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/18 Network design, e.g. design based on topological or interconnect aspects of utility systems, piping, heating ventilation air conditioning [HVAC] or cabling circuit design at the physical level G06F30/39; network planning tools for wireless communication networks H04W16/18
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 80/40 Minimising material used in manufacturing processes

Abstract

The invention disclosed herein integrates several technological concepts: novel three-dimensional accretive manufacturing mechanisms and processes; combinations of fiber materials with plastics, typically thermoplastics, in accretive manufacturing (three-dimensional printing, for example); position-awareness for manufacturing control systems; and computer-aided design optimization processes with novel feedbacks.

Claims

1. An apparatus for making a three-dimensional object, comprising:

a. a stage for supporting the object during operation, on which the object is made, to which the object may be attached or grasped during operation;

b. articulable positioning means adapted for engagement with the stage, the positioning means operative for holding and manipulating the location and orientation of the stage and object thereon in three-dimensional space during manufacture of the object;

c. deposition means having at one end a discharge outlet operative for releasing and laying material for forming the object onto the stage or onto the object during the accretive manufacture of the object;

d. a material source containing material used to form the object, the material source in fluid flow communication with the deposition means at another end of the deposition means remote from the discharge outlet;

e. articulable positioning means adapted for engagement with the deposition means, the positioning means operative for holding and manipulating the deposition means in three-dimensional space for controlling where the material is laid;

f. sensing means for sensing the location and orientation of one or more of the stage, the articulable positioning means for the stage, the object surfaces, the deposition means, the articulable positioning means for the deposition means, and the material laid, measured in real time; and

g. control systems for controlling one or more of;

i. location and orientation of the stage, and then the object surfaces during operation;

ii. location and orientation of the articulable positioning means for the stage and the articulable positioning means for the deposition means; and

iii. location and orientation of the deposition means and the material laid by the deposition means during operation, including the discharge of material by the deposition means and any subsequent change in the material laid by the deposition means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus further includes a platform coupled to the articulable positioning means for the stage and the articulable positioning means for the deposition means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the articulable positioning means for the deposition means further comprises flow-passage means therethrough for introducing the material from the source means to the deposition means, the flow-passage means in fluid flow communication with the deposition means at one end and the material source at another end.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the deposition means comprises a spinneret.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the material comprises a substrate material selected from the group consisting of adhesives, waxes, thermoplastic materials, thermoset materials, resins, metallic alloys, glasses, ceramics, silicon, and combinations thereof.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the thermoplastic material is selected from the group consisting of acetal polyoxymethylene, polylactide, polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyphenylene ether, ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer, polyether block amide, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyetherketone, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, polycyclohexylenemethylene terephthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polythalamide, polymethylmethacrylate, polysulfones, polyethersulfones, polyphenylsulfones, polyacrylonitrile, poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), polyamides, polycondensates of urea-formaldehyde, polystyrene, polyolefin, polyvinyl butyral, polycarbonate, polyvinyl chlorides, polyethylene terephthalate, ethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, cellulose acetate, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, hydroxybutylmethyl cellulose, hydroxyethylmethyl cellulose, ethylhydroxyethyl cellulose, cellulose xanthate, and combinations, and copolymers thereof;

the resin is selected from the group consisting of maltodextrin, polyvinyl alcohol, sulfonated polyester polymer, sulfonated polystyrene, octylacrylamide/acrylate/butylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer, acrylates/octylacrylamide copolymer, polyacrylic acid, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, styrenated polyacrylic acid, polyethylene oxide, sodium polyacrylate, sodium polyacrylate copolymer with maleic acid, polyvinyl pyrrolidone copolymer with vinyl acetate, butylated polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate, starch, modified starch, cationic starch, pregelatinized starch, pregelatinized modified starch, pregelatinized cationic starch, and combinations and copolymers thereof;

the adhesive is selected from the group consisting of plaster, bentonite, precipitated sodium silicate, amorphous precipitated silica, amorphous precipitated calcium silicate, amorphous precipitated magnesium silicate, amorphous precipitated lithium silicate, salt, portland cement, magnesium phosphate cement, magnesium oxychloride cement, magnesium oxysulfate cement, zinc phosphate cement, zinc oxide-eugenol cement, aluminum hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, calcium phosphate, sand, dolomite, amorphous precipitated silicates comprising at least two types of ions selected from the group consisting of sodium ions, lithium ions, magnesium ions, and calcium ions, and combinations thereof; and

the thermoset material is selected from the group consisting of polyester, polyolefin, epoxy, vinyl ester, alkyl polyester, melamine isocyanurate, polyurethane, polyurea, phenolic resin, phenylene-based resin, isophthalic unsaturated polyester, orthophthalic unsaturated polyester, and combinations thereof.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the material is a composite material comprised of the substrate material and an inclusion material.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the inclusion material is selected from the group consisting of:

structural fibres, transmissive fibres, sensing materials, magnetic materials, non-magnetic materials, shielding materials, bulking agent, colorants, and combinations thereof.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the inclusion material is introduced by a method selected from the group consisting of co-extrusion, wrapping, coating, mixing, precipitating, and combinations thereof.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the deposition means is operable to release the material at variable but controlled flow rates and filament dimensions.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a computer-aided design computing system operative for providing instructions to the control systems.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions are responsive to feedback from the sensing means of the apparatus.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the articulable positioning means for the stage is adapted for engagement and disengagement with the stage during operation.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the articulable positioning means for the stage comprises one or more articulated arms.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 adapted to enable a stage coupled to a first articulable positioning means to be passed to a second positioning means, the stage being disengaged from the first positioning means and subsequently engaged with the second positioning means during operation or between operations, for enabling a plurality of different angles for the deposition means to lay material.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 adapted to enable the stage to be successively passed to one or more additional articulable positioning means during operation.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of stages, each stage coupled to an articulable positioning means.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further adapted to enable an object supported on a stage to be successively passed to one or more additional stages for enabling a plurality of different angles for the deposition means to lay material.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the articulable positioning means for the deposition means is adapted for engagement and disengagement from the deposition means during operation.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the deposition means further comprises a separate energy source for permitting the continuous release of material by the deposition means during disengagement from the articulable positioning means during or between operations.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the energy source is a battery.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the deposition means further comprises a chamber to accommodate the material for permitting the continuous release of material by the deposition means, during disengagement from the articulable positioning means during or between operations.

23. The apparatus of claim 19, further adapted for enabling the deposition means to be successively passed to one or more articulable positioning means, the deposition means being disengaged from a first positioning means and subsequently engaged with a subsequent positioning means during operation or between operations of laying material, for enabling weaving, braiding or interweaving of laid down material when in strands, by removing topological constraints imposed by the deposition means when coupled to an articulable positioning means.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an articulable control means may be operable for either holding and manipulating the object or stage in three-dimensional space, or holding and manipulating a deposition means during operation in three-dimensional space.

25. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensing means is selected from the group consisting of:

optical, sonic, ultrasonic, RF interference, alternate location awareness or sensing technologies, and combinations thereof.

26. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising one or more articulated arms for the stage, wherein the one or more articulated arms include a rotational joint operative for rotating the object during filament winding operations.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the one or more articulated arms are adapted to have up to five degrees of freedom.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the one or more articulated arms further comprise actuator means for acceleration and changing direction.

29. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising one or more articulated arms for the deposition means, wherein the one or more articulated arms adapted to have up to nine degrees of freedom.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the one or more articulated arms further comprise actuator means located along the length of the one or more articulated arms.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the one or more articulated arms further comprise actuator means located proximate to the deposition means, operable for providing multiple directions of manipulation to provide control of material placement.

32. A process for making a three-dimensional object, comprising:

a. providing a deposition means for releasing and laying material for forming the object onto the stage or onto a object during the accretive manufacture of the object;

b. providing an articulable positioning means for holding and manipulating the location and orientation of the stage or the object thereon in three-dimensional space;

c. providing an articulable positioning means for holding and manipulating the location and orientation of the deposition means in three-dimensional space for controlling where the material is laid;

d. sensing the one or more of the location and orientation of the stage, the articulable positioning means for the stage, the object surfaces, the deposition means, the articulable positioning means for the deposition means, and the material laid, measured in realtime; and

e. controlling the location and orientation of;

the stage, and then the object surfaces;

the articulable positioning means for the stage and the articulable positioning means for the deposition means;

the deposition means and the material laid by the deposition means during operation, including the discharge of material by the deposition means; and

any subsequent change in the material laid by the deposition means during operation.

33. The process of claim 32, wherein the material laid down may be laid as a ribbon, filament, or 3d extruded shape.

34. The process of claim 32, wherein material is introduced from a source means through the articulable positioning means for the deposition means, wherein the articulable positioning means comprises flow-passage means therethrough.

35. The process of claim 32, wherein the deposition means for releasing and laying the material comprises a spinneret.

36. The process of claim 32, wherein the material for forming the object comprises a substrate material selected from the group consisting of adhesives, waxes, thermoplastic materials, thermoset materials, resins, metallic alloys, glasses, ceramics, silicon, and combinations thereof.

37. The process of claim 36, wherein the thermoplastic material is selected from the group consisting of acetal polyoxymethylene, polylactide, polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyphenylene ether, ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer, polyether block amide, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyetherketone, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, polycyclohexylenemethylene terephthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polythalamide, polymethylmethacrylate, polysulfones, polyethersulfones, polyphenylsulfones, polyacrylonitrile, poly(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), polyamides, polycondensates of urea-formaldehyde, polystyrene, polyolefin, polyvinyl butyral, polycarbonate, polyvinyl chlorides, polyethylene terephthalate, ethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, cellulose acetate, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, hydroxybutylmethyl cellulose, hydroxyethylmethyl cellulose, ethylhydroxyethyl cellulose, cellulose xanthate, and combinations, and copolymers thereof the resin is selected from the group consisting of maltodextrin, polyvinyl alcohol, sulfonated polyester polymer, sulfonated polystyrene, octylacrylamide/acrylate/butylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer, acrylates/octylacrylamide copolymer, polyacrylic acid, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, styrenated polyacrylic acid, polyethylene oxide, sodium polyacrylate, sodium polyacrylate copolymer with maleic acid, polyvinyl pyrrolidone copolymer with vinyl acetate, butylated polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate, starch, modified starch, cationic starch, pregelatinized starch, pregelatinized modified starch, pregelatinized cationic starch, and combinations and copolymers thereof and the thermoset material is selected from the group consisting of polyester, polyolefin, epoxy, vinyl ester, alkyl polyester, melamine isocyanurate, polyurethane, olyurea, phenolic resin, phenylene-based resin, isophthalic unsaturated polyester, orthophthalic unsaturated polyester, and combinations thereof.

38. The process of claim 32, wherein the material is a composite material comprised of the substrate material and an inclusion material.

39. The process of claim 38, wherein the inclusion material is selected from the group consisting of structural fibres, transmissive fibres, sensing materials, magnetic materials, non-magnetic materials, shielding materials, bulking agent, colorants, and combinations thereof.

40. The process of claim 38, wherein the inclusion material is introduced by a method selected from the group consisting of co-extrusion, wrapping, coating, mixing, precipitating, and combinations thereof.

41. The process of claim 32, wherein the deposition means is operable to release the material at variable but controlled flow rates and filament dimensions.

42. The process of claim 32, further wherein a computer-aided design computing system provides instructions to the control systems.

43. The process of claim 42, wherein the instructions are responsive to feedback from the sensing means.

44. The process of claim 32, including enabling a plurality of different angles for the deposition means to lay material by passing a first positioning means to a second articulable positioning means, the stage being disengaged from the first articulable positioning means and subsequently engaged with the second positioning means during operation or between operations.

45. The process of claim 44, wherein the stage is successively passed to one or more additional positioning means during operation.

46. The process of claim 32, wherein an object supported on a first stage is successively passed to one or more additional stages for enabling a plurality of different angles for the deposition means to lay material.

47. The process of claim 32, wherein a separate energy source is provided for permitting the continuous release of material by the deposition means during disengagement from the articulable positioning means during or between operations.

48. The process of claim 47, wherein the energy source is a battery, heat sink, spring, EM target for IR radiation, EM inductive or mechanical generative means.

49. The process of claim 32, wherein a chamber in the deposition means is provided for accommodating the short-term buffer storage for material for permitting the continuous release of the material by the deposition means during disengagement from the articulable positioning means during or between operations.

50. The process of claim 32, wherein the deposition means coupled to a first articulable positioning means is successively passed to a subsequent articulable positioning means, the deposition means being disengaged from the first positioning means and subsequently engaged with positioning means during operation or between operations of laying material, for enabling weaving, braiding or interweaving of laid down material when in strands by removing topological constraints imposed by the deposition means when coupled to an articulable positioning means.

51. The process of claim 32, wherein sensing means are provided selected from the group consisting of optical, sonic, ultrasonic, RF interference, alternate location awareness or sensing technologies, and combinations thereof.

52. The process of claim 32, wherein the articulable positioning means for the stage comprises one or more articulated arms, the one or more articulated arms including a rotational joint operative for rotating the object during filament winding operations.

53. The process of claim 52, wherein the one or more articulated arms are adapted to have up to five degrees of freedom.

54. The process of claim 53, wherein the one or more articulated arms further comprise actuator means for acceleration and changing direction.

55. The process of claim 32, wherein the articulable positioning means for the deposition means comprises one or more articulated arms, the one or more articulated arms adapted to have up to nine degrees of freedom.

56. The process of claim 55, wherein the one or more articulated arms further comprise actuator means located along the length of the one or more articulated arms.

57. The process of claim 56, wherein the one or more articulated arms further comprise actuator means located proximate to the deposition means, operable for providing multiple directions of manipulation to provide control of material placement.

58. The process of claim 32, wherein a first software program is provided for inputting properties of the material and initial defined load parameters to produce a model of material deposition for the object.

59. The process of claim 58, wherein a second software program is provided for determining whether the deposition of the material in accord with the model provided from the first software program is compatible with the physical capabilities of the articulable positioning means and deposition means wherein if the second software program determines that the placement of the material is compatible, then the material deposition model is translated into instructions to control the articulable positioning means and deposition means and placement of the material used to produce the object wherein if the second software program determines that the placement of the material is not compatible, then the second software program will instruct the first program to seek a model using a lowered optimization target, and to reiterate the functions of the first software program to provide a new, sub-optimized material deposition model.

60. An apparatus for making a three-dimensional object, comprising:

a. a stage for supporting the object during operation, on which the object is made, to which the object may be attached or grasped during operation;

b. articulable positioning means adapted for engagement with the stage, the positioning means operative for holding and manipulating the location and orientation of the stage and object thereon in three-dimensional space during manufacture of the object;

c. deposition means having at one end a discharge outlet operative for releasing and laying material for forming the object onto the stage or onto the object during the accretive manufacture of the object;

d. a material source containing material used to form the object, the material source in fluid flow communication with the deposition means at another end of the deposition means remote from the discharge outlet;

e. articulable positioning means adapted for engagement with the deposition means, the positioning means operative for holding and manipulating the deposition means in three-dimensional space for controlling where the material is laid;

f. sensing means for sensing the location and orientation of one or more of the stage, the articulable positioning means for the stage, the object surfaces, the deposition means, the articulable positioning means for the deposition means, and the material laid, measured in real time; and

g. control systems for controlling one or more of;

i. location and orientation of the stage, and then the object surfaces during operation;

ii. location and orientation of the articulable positioning means for the stage and the articulable positioning means for the deposition means; and

iii. location and orientation of the deposition means and the material laid by the deposition means during operation, including the discharge of material by the deposition means and any subsequent change in the material laid by the deposition means; and

h. a first software program operable for inputting properties of the material and initial defined load parameters, to provide a model of material deposition for accretive manufacturing.

61. The apparatus of claim 60, further comprising a second software program operable for determining whether the model for the deposition of the material provided from the first software program is compatible with the physical capabilities of the articulable positioning means and the deposition means.

62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein if the second software program determines that the placement of the material is compatible, then the material placement is translated into instructions used to control the articulable positioning means and the deposition means and placement of the material to produce the object wherein if the second software program determines that the placement of the material is not compatible, then the second software program will instruct the first software program to seek a model with a lowered optimization target and reiterate the process of the first software program to provide a new sub-optimal material deposition model.