The Ex One Company

Lawrence Joseph Voss

Anthony S Dugan

Daniel T Brunermer

Michael John McCoy

Joseph J Bolt

Travis Maxwell Inks

Thomas Lizzi

Andrew P Klein

Paul P Knor

Patrick Stack

Michael R Orner

The present invention relates to apparatuses for distributing build powder in powder-layer three-dimensional printers () and for the collection of particulates of the build powder that have become suspended in the gaseous atmosphere in the vicinity of the build platform of the three-dimensional printer. These apparatuses include recoaters () that are particularly useful in providing uniform distribution of fine build powder across the width of the build platform or powder bed. The present invention also includes powder-layer three-dimensional printers () which comprise such apparatuses for distributing build powder and/or apparatuses for collecting such suspended particulates. The improved fine powder recoater () uses an ultrasonic transducer () to move powder through a sheet screen (). The sheet screen () may be presented to the powder fed onto it in a narrow dispensing slot to limit the flow rate of powder from the dispenser and to provide control over the amount of powder dispensed. The width of the slot may extend to cover the entire build box fill zone. The ultrasonic transducer () is preferably adapted to periodically sweep through a range of frequencies during operation. The ultrasonic vibration system may be augmented with a low frequency vibration system. The dust collection system () draws air from the perimeter of the build box () down through the deck plate () of the printer () and out of the printer's housing () to an external dust collector ().

Powder distribution system for three-dimensional printer

Recoaters are described which are adapted for use in powder-layer three-dimensional printers. The recoaters comprise a mesh discharge device that is adapted to be selectively activated by the application of an agitation, e.g. a vibration. Such mesh discharge devices include a planar mesh, i.e. a screen or sieve, which is adapted to support a quantity of powder when the quantity of powder and the mesh are static and to dispense at least a portion of the quantity of powder when at least one of the quantity of powder and the mesh is agitated. Preferably, the mesh is disposed substantially horizontally, but may be disposed at an angle to the horizontal. Also described are powder-layer three-dimensional printers comprising such recoaters. In some embodiments, the powder-layer three-dimensional printers are adapted to space the mesh no more than about two to ten powder layer thicknesses from the top surface of the powder bed or substrate upon which a powder layer is to be deposited.

Selectively activated mesh discharge powder recoater for three-dimensional printing

Methods are provided for solid free-form fabrication of an article without using a slice stack file quickly and efficiently&#x2014;in terms of computational resources&#x2014;converting STL files representing an article or articles to be built by SFFF without the use of a conventional slicing program. An application program interface ('API') is used to generate a bitmap corresponding to each particular layer of the article that is to be printed directly from the article's STL file. This conversion may done essentially in real time immediately before the particular layer is to be printed. The bitmap is used in configuring the printing instructions for the SFFF printing mechanism to print that particular layer.

Three-dimensional printing using fast STL file conversion

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Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America

Lawrence Joseph Voss