公开(公告)号：US20220105570A1

公开(公告)日：2022-04-07

申请号：US17487270

申请日：2021-09-28

Applicant: 3D Systems, Inc.

Inventor： Bryon Robert Hazlewood ,  Jose Julio Doval ,  Evan C. Freiburg

IPC: B22F12/57 ,  B33Y10/00 ,  B33Y30/00 ,  B33Y40/00 ,  B33Y50/02 ,  B22F10/28 ,  B22F10/85 ,  B22F12/70 ,  B23K26/342

Abstract: A 3D printing system includes a print engine, a powder dispenser, and a controller. The print engine includes a chassis defining an inner chamber with a docking chamber, a build box with a build plate, an energy beam system, and a powder track coater (PTC) coupled to a gantry. The controller is configured to: (A) operate the gantry and the PTC to selectively dispense a track of powder over the build plate, (B) operate the gantry to transport the PTC to the docking station, (C) operate the energy beam system to selectively fuse the track of powder, and (D) concurrent with operating the energy beam to (D1) measure a level of powder in the PTC and (D2) if the level of powder in the PTC is below a predetermined threshold, operate the powder dispenser to transfer a controlled volume of powder to the PTC.