Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Edward Dale Davis

Alejandro Manuel De Pena

Fernando Juan

Hou Tee Ng

Ali Emamjomeh

Esteve Comas

Esteve Comas Cespedes

Fernando Juan Jover

Sivapackia Ganapathiappan

Sanket Naik

Megha Jaiswal

Rishi Sharma

According to examples, a build module may include a housing, a build material chamber, and a build chamber. The build material chamber may be positioned beneath the build chamber in the housing and may include a moveable support member, in which a build material distributor is to supply successive layers of build material onto the moveable support member from the build material chamber. The build module may be removably insertable into a build receiver of an additive manufacturing system to allow the additive manufacturing system to solidify a portion of the successive layers received onto the moveable support member during the solidification process of the build material. The moveable support member may separate the build material chamber from the build chamber to block build material from the above the build material chamber from being received into the build material chamber during a solidification process of the build material.

Generating three-dimensional objects

In an example of a three-dimensional (3D) printing method, a build material (consisting of an inorganic particle and a polymer attached thereto) is applied. The polymer is a continuous coating having a thickness from about 3 nm to about 1500 nm, or nano-beads having an average diameter from about 3 nm to about 1500 nm. The build material is heated to a temperature from about 5&#xb0; C. to about 50&#xb0; C. below the polymer's melting point. A coalescent dispersion (including a coalescent agent and inorganic nanoparticles) is selectively applied on a portion of the build material, and the applied build material and coalescent dispersion are exposed to electromagnetic radiation. The coalescent dispersion absorbs the electromagnetic radiation and heats up the portion of the build material in contact therewith to fuse the portion of the build material in contact with the coalescent dispersion and to form a layer of a 3D object.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing method

According to one example, there is provided apparatus for generating a three-dimensional object. The apparatus comprises a build material distributor movable bi-directionally in a first axis to deposit successive layers of a build material on a support, and an agent distributor movable bi-directionally in a second axis different to the first axis to deliver an agent onto selected portions of successive layers of build material.

Generating a three-dimensional object

A build module is provided. The build module may include a housing and a build material chamber in the housing to hold build material. The build module may include a build chamber in the housing. The build material chamber may be beneath the build chamber or next to the build chamber. The build chamber may include a moveable support member to receive successive layers of the build material from a build material distributor. The build module may be removably insertable into a build receiver of an additive manufacturing system to allow the additive manufacturing system to solidify a portion the successive layers to be received onto the movable support member.

A printing system may be provided. The printing system may include an agent distributor to selectively deliver at least one printing agent onto a substrate on a first type of supply module and a layer of build material on a second type of supply module. The printing system may include a controller to control the agent distributor to selectively deliver the at least one printing agent in patterns derived from data representing a slice of a three-dimensional object to be generated and representing an image to be generated on the substrate.

Generating three-dimensional objects and generating images on substrates

Provided in one example herein is a three-dimensional printing method, comprising: (A) forming a layer comprising particles comprising a polymer and cavities between the particles, wherein the particles have an average diameter of between about 5 &#x3bc;m and about 250 &#x3bc;m; (B) disposing a liquid suspension over at least a portion of the layer such that the liquid suspension infiltrates into the cavities, wherein the liquid suspension comprises a radiation-absorbing coalescent agent and nanoparticles having an average diameter of less than or equal to about 500 nm; (C) forming an object slice by exposing the infiltrated layer to a radiant energy, wherein the object slice comprises a polymeric matrix comprising the polymeric particles, at least some of which are fused to one another, and the nanoparticles within the polymeric matrix; and (D) repeating (A) to (C) to form the three-dimensional object comprising multiple object slices bound depth-wise to one another.

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Poway, CA, United States of America

Edward Dale Davis