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Archives · 2019 · 20190099945

Application (pre-grant publication)

COMPOSITE MATERIALS FOR THREE DIMENSIONAL (3D) PRINTING OBJECTS FOR CONSTRUCTION APPLICATIONS

Number
20190099945
Published
2019-04-04
Filed
2017-09-29
Assignee
DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
Inventors
HSING; ALEXANDER W., THOMAS; AMAN LORENZO
CPC
C04B28/02; B29C64/165; B29C70/12; B33Y10/00; C04B26/14; B33Y30/00; B33Y70/10; B29C64/194; B29C64/106; C04B26/14; C04B14/06; C04B26/14; C04B14/06; C04B14/106; C04B14/16; C04B14/386; C04B14/42; C04B14/465; C04B16/06; C04B18/08; C04B18/101; C04B18/146; C04B18/24; C04B22/064; C04B2103/0088; C04B28/02; C04B14/106; C04B14/16; C04B14/386; C04B14/42; C04B14/465; C04B16/06; C04B18/08; C04B18/101; C04B18/146; C04B18/24; C04B22/064; C04B2103/0088
Verdict
Medium Hardware
Source
Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Composite materials for 3D printing construction applications.

Abstract

A 3D printer material that includes one or more additives or additive materials mixed with a base material (e.g., a powder for use in binder jetting or a paste for use in extrusion). The additives may be fine powders (or spherical additives), fibers, aggregates, or a combination thereof with the particular additive material(s) and the ratio of additive to base being carefully chosen to achieve desired physical and/or chemical characteristics in the 3D object printed using the new 3D printer material. The addition of powders and/or fibers serves to strengthen the 3D printed material produced through binder jetting or extrusion. In particular, the new 3D printer materials address the issue of weak interfaces between printed horizontal layers since the additives either improve packing or bridge the layers of the 3D printed object.

Background

BACKGROUND1. Field of the Description

The present invention relates, in general, to fabrication of three dimensional (3D) objects, and, more particularly, to printing materials specially configured to print structural and/or larger 3D objects that may have appropriate strength and/or other characteristics for use in construction applications.2. Relevant Background

3D printing is an additive technology in which objects (or “printed 3D objects”) are created from a digital file. The digital file may be generated from software such as a computer aided design (CAD) program or another 3D modeling program or with a 3D scanner to copy an existing object that provides input to a 3D modeling program. To prepare the digital file for printing, software, provided on a printer-interfacing computer or running on the 3D printer itself, slices the 3D model into hundreds to thousands of horizontal layers. When the prepared digital file of the 3D object is uploaded into the 3D printer, the 3D printer creates the object layer-by-layer. The 3D printer reads every slice (or 2D image) from the 3D model and proceeds to create the 3D object by laying down (or printing) successive layers of material until the entire object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross section of the eventually completed or printed 3D object.

The uses for 3D printing technologies has rapidly expanded in recent years, but it has typically been limited to use in protot

Claims

1. A printer material for use as a print supply material for a three dimensional (3D) printer for printing 3D objects, comprising: a volume of a base material; and a volume of an additive material mixed with the base material, wherein the additive material fills gaps in the base material to increase the density of the printer material or enhances binding between layers of an object printed with the 3D printer. 11. A printer material for use as a print supply material for a three dimensional (3D) printer for printing 3D objects, comprising: a base material; and an additive comprising a plurality of fibers or fiber-like particles with a high aspect ratio. 17. A printer material for use as a print supply material for a three dimensional (3D) printer for printing 3D objects, comprising: a base material; and an additive comprising a plurality of spherical particles with a low aspect ratio, wherein the 3D printer is configured for binder jetting and the base material comprises a powder formed of a sand, a ceramic, a cement, a metal, or a plastic or for extrusion and the base material comprises a paste of wet cement or a mixture of sand and epoxy.