Makerbot Industries, LLC

Andrey V Patrov

Joseph Sadusk

Filipp Gelman

Kevin C Rand

Justy E Alicea

Michael Vincent Zappitello

Gregory M Studer

Linear lengths of build material are initially deposited spaced apart from one another, with the resulting gaps or offsets filled in by subsequent deposition passes. In this manner, each straight length of material can cool independently before bonding to other adjacent lengths of material, thereby avoiding or mitigating non-axial stresses on each linear length of material as it cools.

Build patterns for surfaces of a three-dimensionally printed object

In an aspect, infilling includes one or more the following characteristics: (i) adjacent rows and columns, which may be overlapping or non-overlapping; (ii) no sharp angle turns, i.e., no turns of ninety degree or less; and (iii) intersecting between infill patterns occurs from layer to layer (i.e., at offset z-axis positions). An infilling technique may also or instead include rotating the infill pattern about ninety degrees in some alternating fashion from layer to layer.

Infill techniques in three-dimensional printing

A raft to support a three-dimensional object on a build platform of a three-dimensional printer can be fabricated with a controlled adhesion pattern to improve overall raft performance. For improved raft-to-build platform adhesion, an exterior portion around the perimeter of the raft may be fabricated with greater adhesion (per unit of surface area covered by the exterior portion) than an interior portion. This can be accomplished by varying the volume of build material, varying the printing height, or using different patterns of build material. At the same time, adhesion of the raft to a printed object built thereon can be controlled with a number of techniques such as using specific build patterns for the top layer of the raft or varying printing heights (e.g., z-axis position) between the top of the raft and the bottom of the object.

Raft technique in three-dimensional printing

Multi-material, three-dimensional fabrication is improved by the use of a purge wall adjacent to an object to absorb transitional artifacts of material changes. The structure of the purge wall may be selected to reduce build time, and to reduce certain printing artifacts such as warping and delaminating. For example, alternating layers of offset or mirrored zigzag patterns may be used to reduce and distribute the layer-to-layer adhesion surfaces throughout the purge wall while providing sufficient contact points to maintain the structural integrity of the purge wall.

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Andrey V Patrov