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US-12623401-B2 - Methods and apparatus for processing and dispensing material during additive manufacturing

US12623401B2US 12623401 B2US12623401 B2US 12623401B2US-12623401-B2

Abstract

An additive manufacturing method for delivering a flowable material from a nozzle of a programmable computer numeric control (CNC) machine, the nozzle being configured to translate along a first axis, a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, and a third axis orthogonal to the first and second axes. In one embodiment, the method includes actuating an extruder to form a flowable material, delivering the flowable material to a pump, sensing a pressure of the flowable material, and adjusting at least one of a speed of the extruder and a speed of the pump based on at least one of the sensed pressure and a rate of translation of the nozzle along one or more of the first, second, and third axes.

Inventors

  • Kenneth J. Susnjara
  • Nicolas Vote
  • Robert Gaesser
  • Scott G. VAAL

Assignees

  • THERMWOOD CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20250717

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . An additive manufacturing system, comprising: a gantry movable in a first horizontal direction; an extruder including a screw, the extruder being supported by the gantry, and wherein the extruder is configured to move with the gantry in the first horizontal direction; an applicator assembly including a nozzle, wherein the applicator assembly is connected downstream of the extruder; and a servomotor configured to change a position of the nozzle and cause the nozzle to extend at an angle relative to a vertical direction that is orthogonal to the first horizontal direction.
  2. 2 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , further including a first side wall and a second side wall, wherein the gantry is slidably mounted on the first side wall and on the second side wall.
  3. 3 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , further including a first side wall and a second side wall, the first side wall including a first rail and the second side wall including a second rail, wherein the gantry is movable in the first horizontal direction and along the first rail and the second rail.
  4. 4 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the gantry includes a rail, and wherein the extruder is movable in a second horizontal direction along the rail.
  5. 5 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , further including a carriage, wherein the extruder is slidably connected to the carriage, the carriage includes a rail, and wherein the extruder is movable along the rail in a vertical direction.
  6. 6 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the extruder is movable in a second horizontal direction while the gantry moves along the first horizontal direction.
  7. 7 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the extruder is movable in a vertical direction while the gantry moves along the first horizontal direction.
  8. 8 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the extruder and the applicator assembly movable along the first horizontal direction with the gantry.
  9. 9 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the gantry is movable with the extruder and the applicator assembly in the first horizontal direction.
  10. 10 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the servomotor is configured to place the servomotor at a first angle and a second angle relative to the vertical direction, wherein the first angle is different from the second angle.
  11. 11 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , further including a pressure sensor configured to measure a pressure at a location downstream of the extruder.
  12. 12 . An additive manufacturing system, comprising: an extruder configured to receive pellets of thermoplastic material, wherein the extruder includes a rotatable screw; a gear pump fluidly connected to the extruder, wherein the gear pump is configured to receive molten thermoplastic material from the extruder; an applicator assembly connected downstream of the gear pump, wherein the applicator assembly includes a nozzle; a first servomotor configured to change an inclination of the nozzle; and a second servomotor configured to cause the gear pump to pump the molten thermoplastic material to the nozzle.
  13. 13 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 12 , wherein a speed of operation of the gear pump being adjustable at a same time that a speed of the extruder is adjusted.
  14. 14 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 12 , further including a pressure sensor connected upstream of the gear pump.
  15. 15 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 12 , wherein the gear pump is connected downstream of the extruder and upstream of the applicator assembly.
  16. 16 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 12 , wherein the first servomotor is configured to place the nozzle at a first inclination and a second inclination different from the second inclination.
  17. 17 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 12 , further including a gantry movably connected to at least one support.
  18. 18 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 12 , further including a gantry being movably connected to at least one support, wherein the at least one support includes a rail, and the gantry is movable in a horizontal direction along the rail.
  19. 19 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 12 , further including a gantry movable in a horizontal direction, and wherein the extruder is connected to the gantry.
  20. 20 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 12 , further including a gantry movable in a horizontal direction, wherein the extruder is connected to the gantry, and wherein the extruder and the applicator assembly are movable along the horizontal direction with the gantry.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 19/028,875, filed on Jan. 17, 2025, which is a continuation of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/795,789, filed on Aug. 6, 2024, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/529,991, filed on Dec. 5, 2023, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,083,743, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/173,877, filed on Feb. 24, 2023, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,872,752, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/806,618, filed on Jun. 13, 2022, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,607,845, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/396,391, filed on Aug. 6, 2021, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,383,438, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/877,864, filed on May 19, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,104,072, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/455,877, filed on Jun. 28, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,688,719, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/253,290, filed on Aug. 31, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,377,124, the entireties of which are incorporated by reference herein. TECHNICAL FIELD Aspects of the present disclosure relate to apparatus and methods for fabricating components. In some instances, aspects of the present disclosure relate to apparatus and methods for fabricating components (such as, e.g., automobile parts, medical devices, machine components, consumer products, etc.) via additive manufacturing techniques or processes, such as, e.g., 3D printing manufacturing techniques or processes. BACKGROUND Additive manufacturing techniques and processes generally involve the buildup of one or more materials to make a net or near net shape (NNS) object, in contrast to subtractive manufacturing methods. Though “additive manufacturing” is an industry standard term (ASTM F2792), additive manufacturing encompasses various manufacturing and prototyping techniques known under a variety of names, including freeform fabrication, 3D printing, rapid prototyping/tooling, etc. Additive manufacturing techniques are capable of fabricating complex components from a wide variety of materials. Generally, a freestanding object can be fabricated from a computer-aided design (CAD) model. A particular type of additive manufacturing is more commonly known as 3D printing. One such process commonly referred to as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) comprises a process of melting a very thin layer of a flowable material (e.g., a thermoplastic material), and applying this material in layers to produce a final part. This is commonly accomplished by passing a continuous thin filament of thermoplastic material through a heated nozzle, which melts the thermoplastic material and applies it to the structure being printed. The heated material is applied to the existing structure in thin layers, melting and fusing with the existing material to produce a solid finished product. The filament used in the aforementioned process is generally produced using an extruder. In some instances, the extruder may include a specially designed screw rotating inside of a barrel. The barrel may be heated. Thermoplastic material in the form of small pellets is introduced into one end of the rotating screw. Friction from the rotating screw, combined with heat from the barrel softens the plastic, which then is forced under pressure through a small opening in a die attached to the front of the extruder barrel. This extrudes a string of material which is cooled and coiled up for use in the 3D printer as the aforementioned filament of thermoplastic material. Melting a thin filament of material in order to 3D print an item is a slow process, which is generally only suitable for producing relatively small items or limited number of items. As a result, the melted filament approach to 3D printing is too slow for the manufacture of large items or larger number of items. However, 3D printing using molten thermoplastic materials offers many benefits for the manufacture of large items or large numbers of items. A common method of additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, generally includes forming and extruding a bead of flowable material (e.g., molten thermoplastic), applying the bead of material in a strata of layers to form a facsimile of an article, and machining such facsimile to produce an end product. Such a process is generally achieved by means of an extruder mounted on a computer numeric controlled (CNC) machine with controlled motion along at least the X, Y, and Z-axes. In some cases, the flowable material, such as, e.g., molten thermoplastic material, may be infused with a reinforcing material (e.g., strands of fiber) to enhance the material's strength. The flowable material, while generally hot and pliable, may be deposited upon a substrate (e.g., a mold), pressed down or otherwise flattened to some extent, and leveled to a consistent thickness, pr