US-12623415-B2 - Processing systems with a plurality of supply reservoirs

US12623415B2US 12623415 B2US12623415 B2US 12623415B2US-12623415-B2

Abstract

An example processing system for processing a part includes: a processing chamber to hold the part to be processed; a plurality of supply reservoir to contain respective processing fluids; an injection system fluidly coupled to the plurality of supply reservoirs; and a controller operatively coupled to the injection system, the controller to: based on the part to be processed, select a processing sequence for processing the part; and control the injection system to execute the selected processing sequence; wherein the processing sequence is selected from: (i) injecting, sequentially, a first volume of a first processing fluid and a second volume of a second processing fluid; and (ii) combining a third volume of a third processing fluid and a fourth volume of a fourth processing fluid to form a combined processing fluid and injecting the combined processing fluid into the processing chamber.

Inventors

John Bradford Engel
Corwin David WHITEFIELD
Justin Michael ROMAN

Assignees

PERIDOT PRINT LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20200324

Claims (5)

1 . A post-processing system comprising: a processing chamber to hold a finished part to be post-processed after having been additively manufactured, the processing chamber being other than any chamber in which the finished part was additively manufactured; a first supply reservoir to contain a first processing fluid; a second supply reservoir to contain a second processing fluid; one or more injectors directly fluidly coupled to the first and second supply reservoirs to inject the first and second processing fluids from the first and second supply reservoirs into the processing chamber; a first recovery reservoir fluidly coupled to the processing chamber to recover the first processing fluid after injection into the processing chamber; and a controller to control the injectors in accordance with a post-processing sequence for post-processing the finished part after the finished part has been additively manufactured, wherein the post-processing sequence comprises: sequentially injecting a volume of the first processing fluid into the processing chamber from the first supply reservoir and then a volume of the second processing fluid into the processing chamber from the second supply reservoir; and in-between injecting the first and second processing fluids into the processing chamber, draining the first processing fluid from the processing chamber into the first recovery reservoir.
2 . The post-processing system of claim 1 , further comprising a second recovery reservoir fluidly coupled to the processing chamber to recover the second processing fluid after injection into the processing chamber.
3 . The post-processing system of claim 1 , further comprising a pump to create a vacuum to draw the first processing fluid from the first recovery reservoir.
4 . The post-processing system of claim 3 , wherein the first supply reservoir is removable.
5 . The post-processing system of claim 1 , wherein the first recovery reservoir is fluidly coupled to the first supply reservoir to return the first processing fluid from the first recovery reservoir to the first supply reservoir.

Description

BACKGROUND Chemical processing of manufactured parts, such as three-dimensionally printed parts, includes applying fluid compounds to such parts to modify the physical and chemical properties of the part. Different fluid compounds may be applied to modify different part properties. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example processing system with a plurality of supply reservoirs. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another example processing system with a plurality of supply reservoirs. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example method of processing parts in the system of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example processing sequence executed in the system of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another example processing sequence executed in the system of FIG. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In additive chemical processing, multiple different chemical or physical properties may be applied to manufactured parts by applying different fluid compounds. Often, the different fluid compounds are applied with different equipment, with each individual apparatus applying a single fluid compound. Thus, operators may intervene between stages to allow for multi-stage processing. One approach to multi-fluidic systems may include two storage containers containing different fluid compounds, such as solvents. A valve allows a pump to alternately draw from one of the storage containers to deliver fluid to a chamber for processing. The valve and pump allow for sequential delivery of the different fluids and do not allow the fluids to be combined prior to delivery. Recovered solvent may be delivered directly back to the source storage container from the chamber. Other systems may includes a reservoir with two compartments; one for virgin solvent and one for recovered solvent. However, such systems do not allow for combining or serially processing a part. An example multi-fluidic processing system may include a plurality of supply reservoirs and allow for selection of parallel or serial processing. Specifically, the processing system includes a processing chamber to hold a part to be processed, a first supply reservoir, a second supply reservoir, and an injection system. The injection system controls the injection of the first and second processing fluids from the first and second supply reservoirs into the processing chambers. The injection system may combine the first and second processing fluids or deliver the first and second processing fluids sequentially. In particular, the processing system may include a controller to select a processing sequence based on the part to be processed and to control the injection system to execute the selected processing sequence. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example processing system 100. The processing system 100 includes a processing chamber 102, a plurality of supply reservoirs, 104-1, 104-2, through to 104-n (referred to collectively as the supply reservoirs 104), an injection system 106, and a controller 108. The system 100 may be utilized to post process additive manufactured parts to modify physical and chemical properties of the parts. Specifically, a part 110 to be processed may be held in the processing chamber 102. The system 100 may inject processing fluids (e.g., to smooth the part 110, to polish the part 110, to apply coatings, such as metallic coating, or other coatings to the part 110, or the like) into the processing chamber 102 to be applied to the part 110 to change the physical and chemical properties of at least a portion of the part 110. Accordingly, the system 100 includes the plurality of supply reservoirs 104 to contain respective processing fluids. For example, the system 100 may include n processing fluids. For example, n may be 2, 5, 10, or a suitable number according to the desired number of various processing fluids and the physical space available in the system 100. The processing fluids, when applied to the part 110, modify the physical and/or chemical properties of at least a portion of the part. The supply reservoirs 104 are each fluidly coupled to the injection system 106. The injection system 106, in turn, is also fluidly coupled to the processing chamber 102. Specifically, the injection system 106 is to draw fluids from the appropriate supply reservoirs 104 and inject the processing fluids into the processing chamber 102 to be applied to the part 110. The injection system 106 may include pumps, chambers, boilers, nozzles, or other suitable components to draw the processing fluids from the supply reservoirs 104 and to inject the processing fluids into the processing chamber 102. The processing fluids may be injected into the processing chamber 102 in liquid form, sprayed into the processing chamber, heated to a vapor and injected into the processing chamber 102 in vapor form, or the like. The system 100 further includes the controller 108 operatively coupled with the injection system 106 to control the injection system 106. For exa