摘要:
A pump system (10) comprising a delivery assembly (22) configured to feed a solid material under operational power of a first drive motor (16), and a screw pump (24) comprising a housing (84) that at least partially defines a barrel (106) of the screw pump (10), an extrusion tip (82) secured to the housing (84) at a first end of the barrel (106), a liquefier (85, 342) secured to the housing (84) and intersecting with the barrel (106), and an impeller (94) extending at least partially through the barrel (106). The liquefier (85, 342) is configured to receive the solid material fed from the delivery assembly (22), to at least partially melt the received solid material, and to direct the at least partially melted material to the barrel (106), and the impeller (94) is configured to drive the at least partially melted material that is directed to the barrel (106) toward the extrusion tip (82) under operational power of a second drive motor (18).
摘要:
A method to form laterally supported features of a three-dimensional object by sequentially extruding the adjacent beads of a flowable and thermally solidifiable material. The feature comprises a series of adjacent and laterally offset beads, with at least a part of the laterally supported feature covering a vertically unsupported region. The method comprising the steps of vertically laminating a hub bead (34) over the vertically supported region (90), allowing the hub bead (34) to cool, laterally laminating a shelf bead (92) to the solidified hub bead (34), and repeatedly laminating additional shelf beads (94, 96, etc.) until the laterally supported feature is complete.
摘要:
Data corresponding to a desired shape of a prototype is transmitted to a rapid prototyping system. The system calculates (110) a sequence for extruding flowable material that thermally solidifies so as to create a desired geometric shape. A heated flowable modeling material is then sequentially extruded (112) at its deposition temperature into a build environment that maintains the volume in the vicinity of the newly deposited material in a deposition temperature window between the material's solidification temperature and its creep temperature. Subsequently the newly extruded material is gradually cooled (114) below its solidification temperature, while maintaining temperature gradients in the geometric shape below a maximum value set by the desired part's geometric accuracy.
摘要:
A method to form laterally supported features of a three-dimensional object by sequentially extruding the adjacent beads of a flowable and thermally solidifiable material. The feature comprises a series of adjacent and laterally offset beads, with at least a part of the laterally supported feature covering a vertically unsupported region. The method comprising the steps of vertically laminating a hub bead (34) over the vertically supported region (90), allowing the hub bead (34) to cool, laterally laminating a shelf bead (92) to the solidified hub bead (34), and repeatedly laminating additional shelf beads (94, 96, etc.) until the laterally supported feature is complete.
摘要:
An improved extrusion-based manufacturing system includes one or more extruders, with each extruder containing at least two stages of increasing pressurization. In one of preferred embodiments, a first stage of pressurization is created by the motion of a solid wafer (314) of thermoplastic through an orifice (316) into a heater chamber (318), and a second stage of pressurization is provided by a conical viscosity pump (330), with extrusion material from the first stage pressurization maintaining a flow of thermoplastic fluid (320) through a communication channel (322) and fits into a rotary impeller (332) which a variable speed motor (336) rotates in a female collet (334) to drive the fluid extrusion material towards and out of a removable nozzle (338) and orifice (340) and all expected pump rates.
摘要:
The present invention is a method (10) for manufacturing a three-dimensional object. The method (10) includes receiving (14) digital information of the three-dimensional object over a communication line and building (30) the three-dimensional object based at least in part on the received digital information, where at least part of the three-dimensional object is built by rapid manufacturing, and where the three-dimensional object comprises an exterior surface. The method also includes vapor smoothing (32) at least a portion of the exterior surface of the three-dimensional object.