Kao Corporation

Jouji Hirai

Tadanori Yoshimura

Hiroki Sawada

Tomoya Tsuboi

Takuma Kimura

Akihiro Onoue

A method for manufacturing a thermoplastic resin composition enabling easy control of the weight average molecular weight of a thermoplastic resin used in a soluble three-dimensional modeling support material, the support material having sufficient strength even when used in the manufacture of a three-dimensional object by an FDM system 3D printer, being less colored with excellent appearance quality, and having a high dissolution speed in neutral water and quickly removable from a precursor of the three-dimensional object without using a strong alkaline aqueous solution; and the thermoplastic resin having dicarboxylic acid monomer units derived from a dicarboxylic acid component and having a proportion of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid monomer unit derived from a sulfonic acid group and/or sulfonate group-containing aromatic dicarboxylic acid component in the dicarboxylic acid monomer units of 10 mol % or more; the method including mixing an organic salt compound represented by formula (I):(R&#x2014;SO)X&#x2003;&#x2003;(I).

Method for manufacturing thermoplastic resin composition

The present invention is a soluble material for three-dimensional modeling that is used as a material of a support material for supporting a three-dimensional object when the three-dimensional object is manufactured by a 3D printer of a fused deposition modeling system and that contains a thermoplastic resin having a hydrophilic group and an organic salt compound represented by a general formula (I) below: (R&#x2014;SO)X(I). According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a soluble material for three-dimensional modeling that is used for a support material and that is capable of suppressing the degradation of the modeling accuracy of a three-dimensional object when the three-dimensional object is manufactured by a 3D printer of a fused deposition modeling system, and has a high rate of dissolution to neutral water to be removable speedily from a precursor of the three-dimensional object without use of a strong alkaline aqueous solution.

Soluble material for three-dimensional molding

The soluble material for three-dimensional modeling that is used as a material of a support material that supports a three-dimensional object when manufacturing the three-dimensional object with a fused deposition modeling type 3D printer. The soluble material for three-dimensional modeling includes at least one copolymer comprising a specific hydrophilic monomer unit and a specific hydrophobic monomer unit. The present invention has a glass transition temperature suitable for the FDM system, has a high dissolution rate in an alkaline aqueous solution, can be quickly removed from a precursor of a three-dimensional object, and makes it possible to suppress or reduce damage to a three-dimensional object.

A soluble material for three-dimensional modeling, which is used as a raw material of a support material for supporting a three-dimensional object when the three-dimensional object is produced, using a 3D printer of a FDM system, includes a polyester resin including one or more aromatic dicarboxylic acid monomer units A with a sulfonate group, one or more dicarboxylic acid monomer units B without a sulfonate group, and one or more diol monomer units. The proportion of the aromatic dicarboxylic acid monomer unit(s) A in the total of all dicarboxylic acid monomer units is from 10 to 70 mol %. The soluble material has hygroscopicity resistance while the material is large in dissolution rate into any neutral water and removable speedily from a precursor of the three-dimensional object without using any aqueous strong alkaline solution.

Growing community of inventors

Wakayama, Japan

Jouji Hirai