Electrophotography-based additive manufacturing with support structure and boundary

• Main Authors: Batchelder, J. Samuel, Crump, S. Scott
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 09.06.2020
• Subjects: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY; ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OFTHREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVEAGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING,STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAPHY; PHYSICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; TRANSPORTING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL

A method of printing a part in an additive manufacturing system includes printing a support structure for the part, printing a boundary surrounding the support structure, and printing the part on the support structure. An additive manufacturing system for printing a three-dimensional part includes a transfer medium configured to receive and transfer imaged layers of a thermoplastic-based powder for a boundary, a thermoplastic-based powder for a support, and a thermoplastic-based powder for the part from at least two imaging engines, a heater configured to heat the imaged layers on the transfer medium to at least a fusion temperature of the thermoplastic-based powder, and a layer transfusion assembly including a build platform, the layer transfusion assembly being configured to transfuse the heated layers in a layer-by-layer manner onto the build platform to print the three-dimensional part.