Xerox Corporation

Palo Alto Research Center Inc.

Other

David Allen Mantell

Peter Johan Nystrom

Jeffrey J Folkins

Christopher G Lynn

Barry Paul Mandel

Andrew Wayne Hays

Howard A Mizes

Christopher T Chungbin

Peter M Gulvin

Mark Anthony Cellura

Chu-Heng Liu

Stuart Alan Schweid

Paul J McConville

Jun Ma

James F O'Neill

Raja Bala

Erwin Ruiz

Palghat Srinivas Ramesh

Michael Jon Levy

Richard N Ellson

Gary Daniel Redding

Thomas A Tellier

Reiner Eschbach

Steven Jay Harrington

Linn C Hoover

Gary Alan Kneezel

Mandakini Kanungo

Roger Gaylord Leighton

David Jon Metcalfe

Ron Edward Dufort

David Clark Craig

Patrick Jun Howe

Jonathan Byron Hunter

Douglas E Proctor

Helen HaeKyung Shin

Eric Peeters

Pinyen Lin

Wencheng Wu

Anthony Salvatore Condello

Beilei Xu

R Victor Klassen

Joel A Kubby

James R Larson

Donald J Drake

R Enrique Viturro

Patricia Joanne Donaldson

James J Spence

Robert Alan Clark

Derek Albert Bryl

Jing Zhou

Juan J Becerra

Jack Gaynor Elliot

James Patrick Calamita

Jason Matthew LeFevre

Narayan V Deshpande

James Lawton Giacobbi

Rachel Lynn Tanchak

Brent Rodney Jones

Zhigang Fan

Peter Gordon Odell

Jason Mathew LeFevre

David Joseph Gervasi

Seemit Praharaj

Bing R Hsieh

Trevor James Snyder

Doron Kletter

Gaurav Sharma

Steven A Buhler

Ian D Morrison

Robert Paul Herloski

Santiago Faucher

Jule W Thomas, Jr

Daniel W Costanza

Cathie J Burke

Joseph C Sheflin

Martin Edward Hoover

Michael C Mongeon

Thomas N Taylor

Lingappa K Mestha

Charles Donahue Rizzolo

Kurt B Gundlach

William M Schwarz

Thyagarajan Balasubramanian

Donald M Bott

Kenneth Russell Ossman

Almon P Fisher

Constance J Thornton

Abu Saeed Islam

Stephen David White

Min-Hong Fu

Stephen Michael Kroon

Alexander J Fioravanti

Dale R Ims

Joseph J Wysocki

James M Casella

Emily Louise Moore

Raymond J Clark

Peter A Torpey

Clifford L George

Christopher R Morton

A three-dimensional object printer includes at least one ejector that is operated to form an uppermost layer of photopolymer material on a substrate. The ejected uppermost photopolymer layer is partially cured and a portion of mesh sheet is positioned on the partially cured layer before the at least one eject continues to eject photopolymer material onto the uppermost layer. The portion of the mesh sheet reinforces the layers of photopolymer material and adds strength and durability to the overall part being formed with the photopolymer material.

Additive manufacturing method for embedding fibers in a three-dimensional structure

A slicer in a material drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer identifies the positions and local densities for a plurality of infill lines within a perimeter to be formed within a layer of an object to be formed by the printer. The local density of each infill line is filtered and a control law is applied to the filtered local density to identify an error in the local density compared to a target density. This process is performed iteratively until the error is within a predetermined tolerance range about the target local density. The error is used to generate machine ready instructions to operate the 3D object printer to achieve the target density for the infill lines.

Method for improved infilling of part interiors in objects formed by additive manufacturing systems

A 3D printer includes a nozzle configured to jet a drop of liquid metal therethrough. The 3D printer also includes a light source configured to illuminate the drop with a pulse of light. A duration of the pulse of light is from about 0.0001 seconds to about 0.1 seconds. The 3D printer also includes a camera configured to capture an image, video, or both of the drop. The 3D printer also includes a computing system configured to detect the drop in the image, the video, or both. The computing system is also configured to characterize the drop after the drop is detected. Characterizing the drop includes determining a size of the drop, a location of the drop, or both in the image, the video, or both.

System and method for characterizing liquid metal drops jetted from a 3D printer using a strobe light

A metal object manufacturing apparatus is configured to eject melted metal drops to form a continuous metal line over a line of spatially separated pillars in a single pass. The ejection frequency for forming the continuous metal line is different than the frequency used to form the pillars. In one embodiment, the ejection frequency for forming the pillars is about 100 Hz and the frequency used to form the continuous metal line over the line of spatially separated pillars is about 300 Hz with a drop spacing of about 0.2 mm. Continuous metal lines are formed to extend the continuous metal lines over the pillars laterally to fill the gaps between the continuous metal lines over the pillars. These continuous metal lines that fill the gaps are formed while operating the ejection head at the 300 Hz frequency with a drop spacing of 0.28 mm.

Metal drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer and method of operation for forming support structures in 3D metal objects

A method operates a three-dimensional (3D) metal object manufacturing system to compensate for displacement errors that occur during object formation. In the method, image data of a metal object being formed by the 3D metal object manufacturing system is generated prior to completion of the metal object and compared to original 3D object design data of the object to identify one or more displacement errors. For the displacement errors outside a predetermined difference range, the method modifies machine-ready instructions for forming metal object layers not yet formed to compensate for the identified displacement errors and operates the 3D metal object manufacturing system using the modified machine-ready instructions.

Method and system for operating a metal drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer to compensate for drop size variations

A slicer in a material drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer determines the number of material drops to eject to form a perimeter in an object layer and distributes a quantization error over the layers forming the perimeter. The slicer also identifies the location for the first material drop ejected to form the perimeter using a blue noise generator.

System and method for operating a material drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer to prevent quantization error in perimeters of a three-dimensional printed object

A method of operating a multi-nozzle extruder in an additive manufacturing system enables support structure to be formed while an object is also being formed. The method includes opening more than one nozzle in the multi-nozzle extruder, and operating an actuator with a controller to move the multi-nozzle extruder along a path to form a first group of multiple parallel ribbons of support structure simultaneously with material extruded from the more than one open nozzle.

System and method for providing three-dimensional object structural support with a multi-nozzle extruder

A method includes illuminating a drop with a pulse of light from a light source. A duration of the pulse of light is from about 0.0001 seconds to about 0.1 seconds. The method also includes capturing an image, video, or both of the drop. The method also includes detecting the drop in the image, the video, or both. The method also includes characterizing the drop after the drop is detected. Characterizing the drop includes determining a size of the drop, a location of the drop, or both in the image, the video, or both.

A three-dimensional (3D) metal object manufacturing apparatus is operated to form sloping surfaces having a slope angle of more than 45&#xb0; from a line that is perpendicular to the structure on which the layer forming the slope surface is formed. The angle corresponds to a step-out distance from the perpendicular line and a maximum individual step-out distance determined from empirically derived data. Multiple passes of an ejection head of the apparatus can be performed within a layer to form a sloped edge and the mass of the sloped structure is distributed within the sloped edge so the edge is formed without defects.

Method and apparatus for forming overhang structures with a metal drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer

A method includes capturing a video of a plurality of drops being jetted through a nozzle of a printer. The method also includes measuring a signal proximate to the nozzle based at least partially upon the video. The method also includes determining one or more metrics that characterize a behavior of the drops based at least partially upon the signal.

Characterizing meniscus behavior in 3D liquid metal printing

A three-dimensional (3D) object printer operates a radiation source to direct radiation emitted by the radiation source through a porous substrate at a first intensity insufficient to cure a material contained in the porous substrate and at a second intensity sufficient to cure the material after the emitted radiation has passed through the porous substrate. The material is applied to the porous substrate by one or more wipers.

System and method for additive manufacture of three-dimensional (3D) printed objects with UV-curable material using a porous substrate

A three-dimensional (3D) metal object manufacturing apparatus selects operational parameters for operation of the printer to form conductive metal traces on substrates with dimensions within appropriate tolerances and with sufficient conductive material to carry electrical currents without burning up or becoming too hot. The apparatus identifies the material of the substrate and the bulk metal being melted for ejection and uses this identification data to select the operational parameters. Thus, the apparatus can form conductive traces and circuits on a wide range of substrate materials including polymeric substrates, semiconductor materials, oxide layers on semiconductor materials, glass, and other crystalline materials.

Method and system for operating a metal drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer to form electrical circuits on substrates

A 3D printer includes a nozzle and a camera configured to capture an image, a video, or both of a plurality of drops of liquid metal being jetted through the nozzle. The 3D printer also includes a computing system configured to measure a signal proximate to the nozzle based at least partially upon the image, the video, or both. The computing system is also configured to determine one or more metrics that characterize a behavior of the drops based at least partially upon the signal.

A slicer in a material drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer generates machine ready instructions that operate components of a printer, such as actuators and an ejector having at least one nozzle, to form features of an object more precisely than previously known. The instructions generated by the slicer control the actuators to move the ejector and a platform on which the object is formed relative to one another at a constant velocity to form edges of the feature.

System and method for reducing drop placement errors at perimeter features on an object in a three-dimensional (3D) object printer

A slicer in a material drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer generates machine ready instructions that operate components of a printer, such as actuators and an ejector having at least one nozzle, to form features of an object more precisely than previously known. The instructions generated by the slicer use positional data from an encoder to control the actuators to move the ejector and a platform on which the object is formed relative to one another to form edges of the feature.

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Rochester, NY, United States of America

David Allen Mantell