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WO2024134666A1 - System and process for additive fabrication and manufacturing - Google Patents

System and process for additive fabrication and manufacturing Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2024134666A1
WO2024134666A1 PCT/IN2023/051004 IN2023051004W WO2024134666A1 WO 2024134666 A1 WO2024134666 A1 WO 2024134666A1 IN 2023051004 W IN2023051004 W IN 2023051004W WO 2024134666 A1 WO2024134666 A1 WO 2024134666A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
layer
fiber
printable material
fibers
tank
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IN2023/051004
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Vivek Khatua
Gondi Kondaiah Ananthasuresh
Balan Gurumurthy
Original Assignee
Indian Institute Of Science
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Indian Institute Of Science filed Critical Indian Institute Of Science
Publication of WO2024134666A1 publication Critical patent/WO2024134666A1/en

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Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29CSHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/10Processes of additive manufacturing
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29CSHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/10Processes of additive manufacturing
    • B29C64/188Processes of additive manufacturing involving additional operations performed on the added layers, e.g. smoothing, grinding or thickness control
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33YADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y10/00Processes of additive manufacturing
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33YADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y30/00Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33YADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y70/00Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing
    • B33Y70/10Composites of different types of material, e.g. mixtures of ceramics and polymers or mixtures of metals and biomaterials

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates generally to a system and process for additive fabrication and manufacturing and, more particularly, to a process and system for additively fabricating and manufacturing a composite structure and for embedding one or more fibers in a three-dimensionally formed composite structure.
  • additive fabrication and manufacturing with rapid prototyping which popularly referred to as three-dimensional printing (herein after referred to as 3D printing), preferably is a layer-by-layer deposition of printable material, for example of a resin, through computer generated slices (layers) to fabricate and form a composite structure.
  • 3D printing three-dimensional printing
  • a resin for example of a resin
  • computer generated slices layers
  • 3D printing several different processes of additive fabrication and manufacturing are commonly used to produce components, and specially produce machine components including completed structures such as buildings. These processes may include, among others, continuous fiber 3D printing.
  • continuous fiber 3D printing uses strings of continuous fibers that may be embedded within material that are being discharged from a moveable print head.
  • a matrix also referred to as a structure
  • the print head is configured to discharge the material to form the given matrix, for example, extruded and/or pul traded, along with one or more continuous fibers also passing through the same head at the same time.
  • Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a hybrid additive fabrication and manufacturing technique or methodology, wherein an amalgamation of layered and non-layered three-dimensional (3D) printing process is designed and devised to form a composite structure, and the methodology being used for printing multiple fibers that are multi-oriented and thoroughly embedded in 3D space with customized fiber patterns and/or specific fiber patterns that may be designed, which may be embedded with strings of continuous or discontinuous fibers in a structure.
  • 3D three-dimensional
  • Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system for fabricating and manufacturing an additive composite structure in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the system in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment the printing by the system in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the projection system in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a part of the system in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary microscopy image of fibers embedded inside a matrix.
  • Figure 7A illustrates an exemplary method of forming the printed 3D matrix in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 7B illustrates an exemplary method of forming the printed 3D matrix in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 7C illustrates an exemplary method of forming the printed 3D matrix in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 7D illustrates an exemplary method of forming the printed 3D matrix in accordance with the present subject matter.
  • Figure 8A illustrates an exemplary concept of a helical fiber track embedded inside a cylindrical shaped matrix.
  • Figure 8B illustrates an exemplary part of the concept of Figure 8 A as printed using the system of Figure 1.
  • Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a hybrid additive fabrication and manufacturing technique or methodology wherein an amalgamation of layered and non-layered 3D producing may be designed and used for producing multi-oriented and multi-fiber embedded composite in 3D that may be having customized patterns or specific patterns are required or designed.
  • the method of producing in accordance with the present disclosure may be 3D printing.
  • additive fabrication and manufacturing and rapid prototyping may be popularly referred to as “3D printing”.
  • Such 3D printing techniques may be predominantly a layer-by-layer deposition of a chosen material, for example printable material, which may be performed via computer generated slices or layers.
  • a design of a matrix may be chosen to be printed.
  • materials such as a traditional thermoplastic, a powdered metal, a liquid resin, for example a UV curable and/or two-part resin, or a combination of any of these may be used for printing the design of the matrix.
  • the material upon exiting the print head or present in a vat container needs to be cured and a cure enhancer, for example, a UV light, an ultrasonic emitter, a heat source, a catalyst supply, etc. may be generally activated to initiate and/or complete curing of the printed matrix.
  • curing of the printed layers occurs almost instantaneously, allowing for a variety of unsupported structures to be fabricated in free space.
  • the fibers when fibers are used in the printing process, in particular continuous fibers, the fibers may be embedded within the structure or the matrix, and a strength associated with the structure or matrix may be multiplied beyond that of a plain printed matrix strength.
  • techniques for printing such fiber deposition may require to ensure that there is complete fiber reinforcement throughout the part of a printed matrix or printed structure.
  • Generally available techniques that enable fiber reinforcement in layered slices of a printed matrix cannot continue these fiber tracks along the direction of construction of a three- dimensional (3D) object.
  • Such printing techniques may be performed in a variety of methods in which a material is deposited, joined, or solidified under a controlled process, with the material being added layer-by-layer to form the complete structure.
  • Such techniques that may be used to print fibers forming a 3D printed object cannot presently selectively deposit the fibers along desired geometry, i.e., locations and orientation, (coordinates within the 3D structure).
  • desired geometry i.e., locations and orientation, (coordinates within the 3D structure).
  • nonlayered additive fabrication and manufacturing processes for forming 3D composite structures and/or matrix with reinforced fibers have not been fully explored for selective placement of fibers in 3D printing of the composite structure and/or matrix.
  • Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure advocate a 3D printing technique or an additive fabrication and manufacturing process that may be advantageously used to selectively place/deposit and/or embed a single continuous fiber and/or selectively embed multiple continuous fibers at desired coordinates (orientation and/or location) within a chosen 3D matrix/structure, and/or multiple fiber tracks having multiple fibers at desired coordinates (orientations and locations) within a chosen structure of a 3D matrix.
  • the fiber(s) may be continuous or discontinuous and may be embedded inside a 3D printed structure at a desired or preselected coordinate in all three dimensions (generally associated with an orientation and/or a location) within a 3D matrix.
  • a 3D cylindrical matrix (hereinafter also generally referred to as a structure and interchangeably used) may be printed with a fiber having a fixed helical orientation within the 3D cylindrical structure along a desired coordinates or orientation, i.e., the geometry of the continuous fiber being fixed within the structure, wherein the fiber may be either clockwise or anti-clockwise and in 3D or as a combination thereof, and in a part of the structure the fiber may be in a clockwise direction and in another part the fiber may be oriented in an anti-clockwise direction.
  • a 3D leaf shaped structure may be printed that may be provided with multiple fibers oriented as veins within the 3D leaf shaped structure.
  • the system allows for designing any desired 3D structure by embedding either a single fiber and/or multiple fibers into the 3D structure to obtain a desired design and shape i.e., a final 3D structure with fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure at desired orientation forming a required shape and design of the structure.
  • a circuit may be designed with transistors and the fibers may form connections between the transistors on the circuit, wherein the fibers may be chosen to be conducting materials, the transistors formed by printing conducting and insulating layers as required. It should be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that several other design and shapes may be possibly made depending on the materials used for printing and the materials used as the fiber, and all such formation may be covered and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
  • the present disclosure relates to an exemplary hybrid additive fabrication and manufacturing technique and a system for performing a hybrid additive fabrication and manufacturing process for printing 3D structures (also referred to as a 3D matrix or 3D composites and may be interchangeably used in the application).
  • the system and manufacturing and fabrication technique of the present disclosure allows to perform an amalgamation of layered and non-layered 3D production for various designs and structures that may be pre-determined. As disclosed herein reference to 3D production would in this application refer to 3D printing.
  • the 3D production performed in accordance with the present disclosure may be classified as a multi-orientation and/or multi-fiber deposition technique that may have customized fiber patterns and/or shapes and may also have customized and/or specific designs.
  • fiber(s) may be placed selectively at a controller unit, and the controller unit in turn is configured to place the fiber at a desired coordinate within a structure to be formed/printed, and the controller unit may be further configured to perform a layered deposition of the printable material by performing a layer-by-layer deposition of the printable material, and deposition of the fiber(s) at desired coordinates with the layer-by- layer printing so as to form the 3D structure of a desired shape.
  • the controller unit may be configured to continuously track the fiber(s) along the multiple layers that are being printed to ensure that the track of the fiber(s) is (are) along a desired coordinate (location and/or orientation) within the printed 3D structure.
  • layers may also be broadly referred to as a slice.
  • a platform for example a motorized platform, along with a projector, for example a DLP projector, which is coupled to the controller unit.
  • the motorized platform may be controlled by the controller unit to move in specific direction for the purpose of printing the 3D structure and move in specific direction for drying the newly printed layer.
  • the projector which may be a light source, which may be used to cure the printed layer (printable material) and form a solid part around the fibers in each layer of the 3D structure before the platform moves for the next layer or next slice to be printed.
  • a UV light source or a LASER source may be used to cure the printed layer.
  • the fiber(s) may be placed at a required or pre-determined coordinates (geometrical location and/or orientation) along a chosen geometry in a three-dimensional space, which may be performed manually or by a robotic arm or a mechanism controlled by the controller unit.
  • the fiber(s) may be bent along predetermined paths in a 3D space.
  • these pre-determined coordinates may be input to the controller unit and the controller unit may be configured to automatically perform the placement at the desired orientation and perform printing of the 3D matrix within the fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure, which includes curing the printed layer, and ensuring the tension in the fiber(s) changes dynamically so that the fiber(s) do not snap.
  • the controller unit may be configured to be manually operated to complete the 3D structure with the fiber(s) embedded at the desired coordinates.
  • initially the fiber(s) are fixed on a substrate and then the production of the 3D structure begins.
  • the controller unit may be configured to identify that the fiber is at the desired coordinates of the structure, i.e., the fiber(s) is placed at the pre-determined coordinates, the controller unit is configured to form a first layer, by printing the layer, and the fiber is embedded within the printed layer.
  • forming of the layer may be essentially by 3D printing the layer or depositing a first layer of a printable material with the fiber embedded within it, cure the printed layer and then print the next layer, thereby printing the 3D structure layer by layer.
  • the material used for printing may be a thermoplastic, a metal, a thermoset resin, or any other material that may be used in 3D printing.
  • the 3D structure may be printed layer-by-layer by layer by first placing the fiber at the required coordinates, then forming or depositing the printable material and subsequently curing the layer that is printed. Once the layer is cured, the fiber is embedded firmly into the printed layer at the desired (predetermined) coordinates.
  • the printable material may be an organic material or an inorganic material such as a resin, a thermoplastic, metals or any other material that may be suitable for printing a structure in a 3D printer.
  • the fiber may be an organic material or inorganic material and may be a conducting material or a non-conducting material.
  • the printed layer is cured before forming or printing the next layer.
  • a tension is maintained for the fiber(s) by the controller unit such that the fiber(s) do not snap or break causing any discontinuities in the required 3D structure.
  • the controller unit may be pre-programmed to know the exact coordinates (location, orientation and/or position) of the fiber(s) to be embedded within the printed 3D structure.
  • the controller unit may be configured to move the platform where the structure is being printed and dry(cure) the printed layer, such that the next layer is printed on a previously dried layer, such that the new printed layer is not formed on a wet layer, as if the previous printed layer is wet and the next layer is printed on top of the wet layer, the structure may be distorted and the intended shape may not be achieved.
  • printing on a wet layer may create bubbles within the structure, and thickness of the printed layers may vary because of the wetness of a previous layer.
  • the controller unit may be configured to place the fiber(s) at the next desired coordinates for the structure and the next layer may be printed with the fiber(s) at the new coordinates.
  • the coordinates, i.e., the position and/or the orientation and/or the location, of the fiber(s) to be embedded within the 3D structure may be pre-programmed at the controller unit and/or the controller unit may be interfaced with an external computer which may be programmed to achieve the desired structure and/or a user may be allowed to manually control the coordinates of the fiber(s) to be embedded within the 3D structure.
  • the system and method (process) of the present disclosure allows or enables fiber(s) to be reinforced in layers while building a 3D structure, where these fiber(s) within the layers of the 3D structure may be either continuous fiber tracks or may be disjoint fiber tracks or even crosslinked fiber tracks.
  • the fiber(s) are embedded within the 3D structure along a desired build direction, and in an exemplary case the build direction may be chosen by a user manually or may be input to the controller unit by a user.
  • the system and method in accordance with the present disclosure may be configured to print 3D structures by selectively depositing the fiber(s) along a desired coordinate or desired geometry and then depositing the printable material, for example resin, thermoplastic, metals or any other form of material that is printable, layer-by-layer thereby forming the desired 3D structure.
  • the present disclosure relates to a nonlayered additive fabrication and manufacturing processes for selective placement of fiber(s) in a 3D structure and also further relates to a method for selectively depositing a single fiber along a single designed track or multiple fibers along multiple tracks inside the 3D structure, wherein the fiber(s) are placed along desired coordinates as required or as pre-determined thereby forming the desired 3D structure.
  • multiple fiber(s) each comprising a metal track may be formed and held at pre-determined coordinates while the 3D structure such as a printed circuit board is being formed.
  • exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a 3D printing technique forming 3D structure with fiber material(s) reinforced within a 3D structure to form a complete 3D composite structure.
  • the complete 3D composite structure thus formed need not be a laminated composite or a taped composite, where a laminated composite or a taped composite structure have either periodic patterns or exterior taped fibers as opposed to the fiber tracks in the 3D structure printed in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • a non-periodic, custom, and specific arrangement may be obtained for a 3D composite structure fabricated and manufactured by 3D printing.
  • the fiber tracks that are embedded in the 3D printed structure in accordance with the present disclosure may exist in specific patterns that may be pre-determined or placed manually at desired coordinates and then then printing the 3D structure with the fiber(s) embedded layer-by-layer, thereby embedding the fiber(s) into the 3D composite structure as required or as designed.
  • the 3D composite structure printing setup may first include, a 2D projection of each layer for a matrix/structure that has been designed to be cured on a top-down moving platform, i.e., moving down from the already printed layer for the 3D structure towards the top of the 3D structure for each layer, layer-by-layer.
  • the 3D structure is formed by printing or depositing the printable material (resin, thermoplastic, metal etc.,) with the fiber(s) embedded at the required or pre-determined coordinates.
  • the printing is performed layer-by-layer based on the input design and/or the desired shape required for the 3D structure.
  • the process includes curing each of the printed layers, i.e. layer-by-layer printing and curing.
  • the wet layer or freshly printed layer is cured (dried) to ensure that the 3D structure is correctly formed and may be as per the requirement specified.
  • the printed layers are not properly cured and further printing is performed, it may result in air bubbles being trapped inside the 3D structure, which may then lead to other unforeseen issues, especially in the field where of semiconductor printing where electrical connectivity plays an important role.
  • the curing may be deliberately done in a way to introduce air bubbles within the 3D structure so as to achieve other types of specific designs.
  • the system and method may be a non-layered fiber depositing system that may have a fiber dispensing unit coupled to the controller unit, where the fiber dispensing unit may be configured to dispense the fiber(s) in a particular format or orientation or coordinates as per the required design that may be normally pre-decide and pre-programmed into the system, and the fiber dispending unit may be controlled by the controller unit. In an alternatively exemplary embodiment this may be done manually by a user who may be controlling the dispensing of the fiber(s) from the fiber dispensing unit or may be manually controlling the controlling unit which in turn controls the fiber dispending unit.
  • the design and/or layout i.e. the coordinates for the fiber(s) within the 3D structure (3D composite structure) is first determined.
  • the layout or design may be programmed or provided to a controller unit and/or an external systems coupled to the controller unit, which is configured to control the printer, which may advantageously use the input of the design and/or layout of the 3D structure desired with the coordinates of the fiber(s), and print the complete 3D structure with the fiber(s) embedded within it.
  • realtime changes may be made to the design and/or layout of the fiber(s) to be embedded and such real-time changes made to the design and/or layout of the 3D structure and the fiber(s) to be embedded within the 3D structure may be incorporated ensuring that the overall integrity of the process is still maintained.
  • the 3D structure may be a cylindrical shape object and the fiber may be embedded in a clockwise direction, and in real-time after half the object has been printed, the direction of the fiber may be changed to be anti-clockwise, whence the controller unit may be configured to perform real-time changes and incorporate those changes while printing the 3D structure.
  • the tension provided to the fiber(s) by the controller unit may be constantly monitored and maintained such that the fiber(s) do not snap during the printing process, which includes printing and curing, in order to obtain a continuous track of fiber(s) within the 3D structure.
  • breaks or discontinuities in the fiber(s) coordinates may be designed as required for the fiber(s) within the 3D composite structure and implemented by providing the details to the controller unit.
  • the system and method in accordance with the present disclosure includes performing a 2D projection of each layer as per the design required.
  • the 2D projection may be performed by a DLP projector with screens/layers fabricated digitally using Stereolithography. It should be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that other techniques may be used instead of stereolithography to achieve the 2D projection, and all such techniques or methods fall within the scope of the present subject matter.
  • the layers are projected onto a platform with liquid UV-curable vat/tank, that contains the printable material, such as resins, thermoplastics, metals or any other printable material, and a new layer of liquid (printable material) is deposited after curing the layer already printed by moving down the cured printed layer.
  • the layer formed may be illuminated or projected with bright light only at specific regions of interest.
  • the solidification of the printed layer may be actuated by a 405nm light which are easily absorbed by the UV-curable resin.
  • the 2D projection system may be coupled with a multi-axis controller robot, that may be allowed to control the coordinates (direction and/or location and/or orientation) of the fiber(s) within the 3D structure, and may also provide a necessary tension to hold the fiber(s), thereby ensuring that the fiber(s) do not snap at any given point in time during the process of printing or drying the printed layers forming the 3D structure, which is performed layer-by-layer until the complete 3D structure is obtained.
  • the controller robot or the controller unit further allows deposition of a single fiber or multiple fibers with the help of a changeable fiber end-effector that may be coupled to it or may be part of the controller unit itself.
  • the end-effector coupled to the system may have a local UV-curing source of illumination for placing and curing the fiber(s) for each printed layer of the 3D structure.
  • the end-effectors are changeable and may be replaced or reused.
  • each fiber(s) dispensed from the fiber dispensing unit may have an end-effector attached to it, which advantageously enables handling multiple fiber material and fiber track to be embedded in the printed 3D structure.
  • the fiber dispensing unit has a tension unit (which may also be built into the controller unit and be part of the controller unit) which may be configured to monitor and maintain tension of the fiber(s) while the fiber(s) are being embedded with the printable material and cured after the layer is printed.
  • the tension must be adjusted for the fiber to maintain the coordinates and the orientation (wherein the orientation is key for printing the fiber within the matrix), which ensures that the fibers and the printed part does not get detached from build platform due to the tension.
  • the tension unit also ensures that the fibers do not snap during the printing process and/or the fibers do not peel out from the previous layers and further that the tension on the fiber doesn't distort the previously cured layer or distort the layer during the curing process.
  • the tension may be adjusted so as to ensure that the fiber(s) may be held in place at the desired coordinates, thereby ensuring that the fiber does not snap during the process of printing the 3D structure and curing the 3D structure.
  • the process of printing and curing needs to be performed layer-by-layer until the complete 3D composite structure is obtained.
  • maintaining tension of the fiber(s) and the correct length of the fiber may be a crucial factor in printing the 3D composite structures in order to minimize slack such that the deposition on the layers is uniform or even.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary 3D structure printing system (hereinafter broadly referred to as system) in accordance with the present disclosure.
  • system an exemplary 3D structure printing system
  • the regions in a solid part of the 3D structure also referred to as a 3D composite structure
  • fibers are not present
  • DLP Digital Light Processing
  • any other 3D printing technique may be used for printing the solid part of the 3D structure and all such techniques fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
  • a controller system or controller unit 110 wherein the controller system 110 may be a computing system having a processor and a memory to which the input design of a required 3D structure may be provided.
  • the controller unit 110 essentially controls the entire system 100 to achieve the 3D printed structure with fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure.
  • System 100 may include a robotic arm 120 that is controlled by the controller unit 110.
  • a bend of the robotic arm 130 (part of the robotic arm 120) is attached to a vertical moving device or device 135 that controls the movement of the robotic arm 120 or a part of the robotic arm 120 itself may be responsible for an upward and downward movement and the other part may be fixed, allowing movement of the robotic arm 120 in an upward and downward direction during the printing process.
  • the vertical moving device 135 moves into a tank 140 containing the printable material to form the printed structure 160, which is a 3D printed structure that is embedded with fiber(s). After a layer of printable material is solidified, the vertical moving device 135 moves in an upward direction outside the tank for preparing the next layer for printing. Once the printed layer is cured, the structure is moved back into the tank for the next layer to be disposed with the controller unit arranging the fibers at the pre-determined locations.
  • One part of the robotic arm 120 may be attached to the vertical moving device 135 and the other part of the robotic arm may be attached to the controller unit 110.
  • the printed structure 160 is placed on a printing surface 170, wherein the fiber(s) embedded into the printed structure 160 is provided via a controller unit head 150, which also has a laser source for curing the printed structure 160.
  • the controller unit head 150 may be configured to dispose the fiber layer-by-layer and may be controlled by the controller unit 110.
  • the controller unit head 150 is also provided with a light source, for example a laser light that may be used to cure the printable material with the fiber and also the printed layer, wherein the controller unit 110 is configured to switch ON the laser light when fiber needs to be embedded in 160 and switching OFF the laser light when the printed structure 160 is ready to be printed again, and moved back towards and into the tank until the entire 3D structure is obtained.
  • the controller unit 110 also ensures that the laser light source in the dispensing unit 150 is OFF when the controller unit head 150 is placed above the tank such that the laser light does not harden the printable material.
  • the system 100 as illustrated in Figure 1 in accordance with the present disclosure is only exemplary in nature and there may be other methods and systems to perform the same task of placing a fiber within desired coordinates within a 3D printed structure and all such system that perform such a task fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
  • the system 100 may be configured to deposit the fiber(s) along a desired coordinate (region or location or orientation), which may be provided as an input to the controller unit 110 or an external system or device (not shown in the Figure) coupled to the controller unit 110 configured to operate the controller unit 110.
  • a desired coordinate region or location or orientation
  • an external system or device may include any device comprising a processor and a memory including and not limited to a computer system, a laptop, a mobile phone etc.
  • the controller unit head 150 along with the controller unit 110 may be configured to ensure that a correct tension is maintained and monitored for the fiber(s) during the entire printing process, wherein the fiber(s) are embedded into the 3D structure.
  • the tension of the fiber(s) during the printing of the 3D structure needs to be maintained because the 3D structure in accordance with the present disclosure is printed layer- by-layer and then cured layer-by-layer, herein meaning printing one layer over the next layer and curing the freshly printed layer, until the printed 3D structure is obtained.
  • the controller unit head 150 may have the laser light source that provides the necessary heat or energy to cure the printed layer, and after each layer is printed, the controller unit is configured to move the vertical moving device 135.
  • the controller unit head 150 first vertically upwards from the tank (for example the z-axis), such that the printed layer of not inside the tank of printable material, and then in a horizontal direction away from the tank along the plane, for example the XY plane), and then the controller unit is configured to switch ON the laser light on the printed layer to cure the printed layer that is wet. Once the printed layer is cured, the laser light is switched OFF and the printed structure 160 is moved back in the XY plane to its original position and then lowered into the tank along the z-axis for printing the next layer. This process is repeated until the complete 3D structure is obtained with the fiber(s) embedded at the required coordinates within the structure.
  • the fiber(s) may snap or slack during printing process and/or curing process and may result in the desired 3D composite structure not being obtained as per the design requirements or as required by the user.
  • the 3D composite structure is a printed circuit board and the fiber(s) representing track layout in the PCB, then in case the fiber(s) snaps during the printing and/or curing process, then entire PCB board would be deemed useless as a continuous track required for current flow is broken.
  • the controller unit 110 along with the controller unit head 150 ensure that proper tension is maintained for the fiber(s) during the printing process.
  • the fiber(s) may include a conducting material or a non-conducting material, which may further include organic materials and/or inorganic materials in the form of strings having different dimensions and shapes.
  • the fiber may be cylindrical or square or triangular in shape and may be in the range of a few milli meters to a few nano meters.
  • the system 100 illustrates an exemplary platform 170 and vat tank 140, wherein the printable material for printing the 3D composite structure is stored in the tank.
  • the platform assembly or the vertical moving device 135 may be provided with a motor (not shown in Figure) coupled to hold the platform 170 on which the 3D printed structure 160 is formed.
  • the motor may be controlled by the controller unit 110 and be configured to move the platform 170 in a fixed direction after every layer of the 3D structure 160 is printed.
  • the platform may move in a vertical direction out of the tank after printing a layer for curing the printed layer, and after completion of curing of the wet printed layer move in a vertical direction into the tank for printing a new layer.
  • the platform may move in a horizontal direction to bring the platform with the wet printed layer below an illuminating source for curing, for example a laser light, to cure the wet printed layer. All movements of the platform 170 may be controlled by the controller unit 110, which may also be an external system of device coupled to the controller unit 110.
  • the regions of the printed 3D structure 160 which has the fiber(s) embedded within it may be handled by a robot (robotic arm) 120 or any other automated means, which may be advantageously used for placing the fiber(s) at predetermined coordinates which is also referred to as region of interest) within the printed 3D structure.
  • the printed 3D structure 160 may be selectively cured, wherein the fiber(s) in the region of interest at multiple layer intersections with the fiber track that are embedded within the 3D structure are dried before the next layer is printed.
  • the thickness of the printed layer may be pre-determined and provided to the controller unit 110.
  • An exemplary controller unit 110 as illustrated controls a controller unit head 150 for reaching and/or placing the fiber(s) at the desired region of interest within the 3D printed structure, where the fiber(s) may eventually be performed by embedding the fiber(s) with the printable material forming the 3D structure.
  • Figure 2 illustrates another exemplary controller unit head 150 in accordance with the present disclosure.
  • Exemplary Figure 2 illustrates a schematic of an end-effector 152 coupled to controller unit head 150.
  • An exemplary representation of the attachment 154 that goes on to the end-effector is illustrated, which contains an exemplary representation of a system 154 (for example cavities) that the feeds the fiber(s) as the controller unit continues embedding the fiber(s) into the 3D structure.
  • FIG. 1 An exemplary illustration of a local curing source 158 which is used to cure the 3D structure after the fiber(s) has been fixed at the predetermined coordinates.
  • the fiber(s) is affixed at the initial coordinates on a substrate and then a first layer is printed and cured, after which the fiber(s) is moved to the next coordinates and the next layers are printed and cured, layer-by-layer, until the complete 3D structure is obtained.
  • the initial fixing of the fiber(s) is not done by the projector, and instead a powerful laser may be used to perform the initial fixing of the fiber(s) at the desired coordinates on a substrate.
  • a powerful laser may be used to perform the initial fixing of the fiber(s) at the desired coordinates on a substrate.
  • other techniques may be used to do the initial fixing of the fiber(s) on the substrate, and all such techniques should fall within the scope of the present subject matter.
  • the system 154 continuously feeds the fiber(s) for the 3D structure at the pre-determined coordinates and after the fiber(s) has been placed at the required coordinates and printed, the printed structure which is wet is moved away from the printable material tank and cured by the local curing source 158, which for example may be a laser source.
  • the local curing source 158 which for example may be a laser source.
  • the tension in the fiber(s) is monitored and maintained by the controller unit 110 such that the fiber(s) do not snap at any point in time creating a discontinuity.
  • a cavity 158 includes a local illumination source(s), for example a laser source, that may be placed in the system 200.
  • the local illumination source(s) 158 may be configured to cure (dry) the wet printed layer with the fiber(s) embedded at the desired coordinates (location and/or orientation) within the 3D structure by illuminating the wet printed layer with the fiber(s) track(s) immediately after deposition of the printable material forming the wet printed layer.
  • other form of curing may be used such as for example heat treatment, which fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Illustrated here is only an exemplary method of curing the printed layer using illumination by light source.
  • the end-effector 152 of the controller unit 110 holds a detachable attachment 154 of the controller unit 110.
  • the end-effector 152 may be present as each fiber stand may be dispensed from the fiber dispensing unit 156 of the system or the controller unit 100. In an exemplary embodiment, this enables multiple fiber(s) with different fiber materials and multi-continuous fiber tracks to be handled throughout the 3D structure. In a further example, the fiber(s) may be fed through a channel in 156 of exemplary Figure 2.
  • the controller unit 110 operates by placing layers of fiber(s) at a desired coordinates (locations and/or orientation) via the dispensing unit in the required 3D composite structure.
  • the controller unit 110 may be configured to move out of the projection region while a new layer of the 3D structure is being formed or printed.
  • the continuous fiber track(s) that may be carried onto another (next) layer may be made to point in an outward direction while the printed layer is being cured via the illumination source, as the freshly printed layer is wet, and then the controller unit may be configured to come back to its original position to deposit the fiber(s) via the deposition unit at the next pre-determined coordinates continuing the previous fiber track(s) into a new layer that is deposited/printed.
  • This process of printing a layer and curing the layer is repeated layer-by-layer until the complete 3D structure is completely printed with the fiber(s) embedded at the desired coordinates (location and/or orientations) within the 3D structure.
  • FIG 3 illustrates an exemplary system of depositing the fiber at a given coordinated during the printing process of the 3D structure by the system in accordance with the present disclosure.
  • an end-effector attachment 152 that may be used for guiding the fiber(s) to the required coordinated in the 3D structure to be printed and also provides the necessary tension to the fiber(s) to hold the fiber at the pre-determined coordinates during the process of printing the 3D structure layer-by-layer (one layer upon the next layer) and the process of curing the printed layer by moving the layer away from the printing tank 140 ( Figure 1).
  • This attachment 152 may be interchangeable depending on the number of fiber tracks that are required in the 3D structure, and the attachment 152 moves such that multiple fiber tracks may continue to be formed along the build direction of the 3D structure.
  • Build direction herein refers to the vertical direction (z axis as mentioned previously) along which the 3D structure is constructed starting at the bottom of the structure to the top of the structure.
  • Each fiber track, that comes from the dispensing unit (not shown in the Figures.) may have this attachment 152, and these attachments 152 are controlled by the controller unit.
  • the printed part 160 (layers) of the 3D structure are formed layer-by-layer and the fiber 162 is dispensed via attachment 152 to the required pre-determined co-ordinates within the 3D printed structure, which is done layer-by-layer.
  • the fiber(s) 162 after being dispensed to the required predetermined coordinated is then printed upon along that layer thereby embedding the fiber(s) 162 inside the 3D structure at the desired coordinates.
  • An exemplary fiber track 162 is illustrated that is dispensed into the 3D printed structure 160 via the dispensing unit 152, wherein the layers are also illustrated and this illustration of dispensing the fiber(s) ensures continuous printing of fibers that continue in the build direction above the tank 140 and the printing surface 170 illustrated in Figure 1.
  • the fiber(s) 162 that is deposited in a 3D structure 160 may be configured to be guided to the selected pre-determined coordinates and placed at the selected pre-determined coordinates by the controller unit, thereby embedding the fiber(s) with the layer of the 3D structure. If discontinuous fiber(s) need to be placed in the 3D structure, the dispensing unit may cut the fiber at the selected coordinates and then again reintroduce the fiber(s) at the required coordinates within the 3D structure.
  • the attachment 152 may be present on all fiber dispensing channels on the fiber dispensing unit.
  • the fiber dispending unit may be in-built into the controller unit.
  • the dry fiber(s) 162 without resin may pass through layers of the 3D structure.
  • the fiber deposition is continued over multiple layers to form the desired 3D structure, wherein the fiber(s) are placed at the desired or selected pre-determined coordinates and then printed layer-by-layer.
  • the fiber(s) may be cut either manually or automatically and then the finished parts may be raised to drain all the remaining printable material from the platform.
  • employing the methodology described thus far a 3D structure may be printed with a single fiber or multiple fibers embedded within it at selected coordinates forming the 3D composite structure.
  • the projection system comprises a vat tank 140 that may be part of the printing system, which may be configured to hold the printable material, such as a resin, thermoplastic, metals or any other printable material.
  • the printable material in the vat tank 140 may be used to print the desired 3D structure also referred to as the 3D composite structure, essentially by depositing the printable material layer-after-layer, by selecting a pre-defined thickness of the layer of printable material to be deposited.
  • Printing of the 3D structure is performed layer-by-layer with the fiber(s) embedded into the 3D structure at pre-determined coordinates and a layer of printable material is deposited, and the wet printed layer is cured, and the fiber is placed at the next pre-determined coordinates and the next layer printed on the cured/dried printed previous layer.
  • the process of placing the fiber(s) at the desired or pre-determined coordinates, printing the layer and curing the wet printed layer is repeated layer-by-layer until the completed 3D structure is obtained. Once the fiber(s) is placed at the desired coordinates, the structure is printed by depositing the printable material from the vat tank 140.
  • a first layer (printed layer) is printed with the fiber(s) embedded therein at the pre-determined coordinates, wherein the printing essentially includes depositing a layer of printable material of a given or predetermined thickness to form the printed layer
  • the first layer that is printed is wet. Therefore, before moving the fiber(s) to the next coordinates of the 3D structure and printing the next layer, the first printed layer which is wet is dried (cured) before the next layer is printed on the the previously printed layer.
  • the disposing unit in conjunction with the controller unit may be configured to place the fiber(s) at the next pre-determined coordinates and the next new layer is printed and cured like the previous layers.
  • the printed part 162 is printed layer-by-layer with the fiber(s) embedded at the pre-determined or selected coordinated.
  • the printed part 162 is built on the build platform 166 on which the substrate with the fiber affixed at the initial coordinates is placed and then the printing process of printing the 3D structure layer-by-layer is performed.
  • a motor 510 may be configured to move the platform 170 on which the 3D structure is printed in a chosen direction, i.e., in the vertical direction (z-axis), i.e., wherein the platform 170 is configured to move either in an up direction or down direction along the vertical axis (for example the z-axis of a three-dimensional plane) or in a horizontal place (XY plane).
  • a chosen direction i.e., in the vertical direction (z-axis)
  • the platform 170 is configured to move either in an up direction or down direction along the vertical axis (for example the z-axis of a three-dimensional plane) or in a horizontal place (XY plane).
  • XY plane horizontal place
  • the platform 170 is moved upwards out of the vat tank 140.
  • the wet printed layer once out of the tank is moved in a horizontal plane (for example the x axis of an XY plane) out of the tank to ensure that the curing light does not fall on the vat tank and the wet printed layer is cured.
  • the cured printed layer i.e., the cured layer
  • a lead screw 520 attached to the printing system that may be configured to perform incremental motion of the platform 170 that is used to build/print the desired 3D structure, which may be done manually or by the controller unit.
  • the exemplary build platform 170 in this specific illustrated design has an L-angled projection that may be configured to enable the platform 170 to be submersed into the vat tank 140 without the lead screw and/or the linear guides being immersed inside the vat tank 140. It should be obvious to one skilled in the art that other types of projection systems may be used to immerse the platform into the vat tank for the purpose of printing and all such fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
  • the 3D printed part of the structure 162 formed layer-by-layer is illustrated inside the vat tank, which after complete printing of the structure is removed, cleaned and post-processed to obtain the final usable 3D structure, wherein the completed 3D structure has fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure at the pre-determined coordinates.
  • the motor 510 and the lead screw 520 may be configured to convert rotational motion into linear motion of the platform 170.
  • a first layer is printed by single pattern illumination on the platform 170, and the illumination selectively cures the printable material that has been deposited/printed to form the printed layer of the 3D structure.
  • the printable material as disclosed previously is stored in the vat tank and can be changed when a particular part has been printed completely and a second part needs to be printed with a different printable material or can be interchanged as required.
  • a first part of the 3D structure may be printed with a first material and a second part may be printed with a second material, and different combination may be possible based on the 3D structure required and the materials used for printing.
  • a multilayers 3D structure with fiber(s) may be obtained.
  • the first part may be printed with a transparent material and the second part may be printed with an opaque material with the fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure at the pre-determined coordinates.
  • black light or no light does not cure the printed layer, whereas the part of the printed layer that is exposed to white light or the illuminated area is cured. This illumination may be preferably performed using a DLP projector as has been discussed previously. It should be obvious to one skilled in the art that various other techniques may be used to cure the material and the 3D printed structure or layers of the 3D printed structure, and all such techniques fall within the scope of the present subject matter.
  • FIG. 6A illustrates microscopy images of a cross section of the printed 3D structure with a single fiber embedded inside the printed 3D structure at a resolution of 100 micrometers.
  • the single fiber 162 is placed embedded inside the 3D structure made of a printable material 160, which in this exemplary case the printable material used was resin.
  • the fiber(s) adhesion to the structure (matrix) on a layer is clearly visible.
  • Figure 6B illustrates another microscopy illustrating a cross section of the printed 3D structure with multiple fibers embedded inside the printed 3D structure at a resolution of 100 micrometers.
  • the multiple fibers 162 are placed at pre-determined coordinates with the 3D structure and are thus embedded inside the 3D structure made of a printable material 160, which again in this exemplary case is a resin.
  • the fiber(s) adhesion to structure on a layer is clearly visible.
  • Figures 6A and 6B illustrates the fiber(s) and printable material, which has been cured, after finishing the process of 3D printing, i.e., a cross section of the fiber(s) and the 3D structure is from a microscope image at a resolution of 100 micrometers.
  • FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary method of preparing the 3D structure.
  • the required 3D structure is designed, in an exemplary case the structure may be a cylindrical shaped object.
  • the coordinates of the position for the fiber(s) within the structure are determined.
  • the design of the structure and the pre-determined coordinates of the fibers within the structure are input to the controller unit.
  • the structure may be designed in step 710, in step 714 the position /coordinates of the fiber(s) within the structure are determined, such that the entire trace of the fiber(s) within the structure is known.
  • step 714 the structure and the trace route for the fiber(s) in the structure are input to the controller unit or the trace for the fiber(s) may be manually controlled by an operator.
  • the tension for the fiber(s) is maintained by the controller unit such that the fiber(s) do not snap during the process of fabricating and printing the 3D structure.
  • Step 720 a substrate is chosen and prepared for the 3D structure printing, wherein the substrate forms the base of the 3D structure, mainly for the purpose of printing, after which the substrate may be removed and discarded.
  • the fiber(s) are routed via the dispending unit and affixed on the substrate at pre-determined coordinates depending on the position of the coordinates of the fiber(s) in the structure.
  • the substrate may be glass or any other suitable material.
  • any material may be used as the substrate which is used to initially fix the fiber(s) and then the printing of the 3D structure may be performed, and the substrate may be removed after the printing process and discarded.
  • the substrate is placed on the platform and attached to the vertical moving device, wherein the substrate is printed and cured layer-by-layer until the complete 3D structure is formed.
  • FIG. 7C illustrates an exemplary method of preparing the 3D structure.
  • the substrate with the fiber(s) are affixed at the predetermined coordinates and placed on the platform.
  • the platform along with the substrate is immersed into a vet tank that contains the printable material.
  • the printable material is deposited on the substrate by dipping the substrate into the tank of printable material.
  • the fiber(s) are affixed to the substrate by using a laser light source.
  • the fiber(s) may be any conducting or non-conducting material and the thickness of the fiber(s) can vary and multiple fibers can have multiple thickness and the thickness of the printable material deposited may also vary.
  • step 732 the substrate and the first layer on the substrate, with the fiber(s) are embedded into the printed layer are removed out of the tank, wherein the printed layer is wet, and wet printed layer is cured by illuminating the printed layer with a light source, for example a laser light source.
  • a light source for example a laser light source.
  • FIG. 7D illustrates an exemplary method of preparing the 3D structure.
  • the wet layer of deposited printable material is cured, in step 740 the substrate with the cured or dried printed layer moved into the vat tank.
  • the printable material is deposited on the substrate having the previously printed and dried printed layer to form the next layer with the fibers at the pre-determined coordinated.
  • the fiber(s) may be manually controlled to be in the pre-determined position or may be input to the controller unit to be placed at the pre-determined position.
  • the fiber(s) are disposed by the disposing unit and a required tension is monitored and maintained with the fiber(s) is in the tank as the printable material is being deposited and the printed layer is being cured.
  • the substrate with the printable material is moved out of the tank and the printable material deposited is cured, preferably using a light source. It should be obvious that other techniques may be used to cure the printable material and all such techniques used to cure the printable material fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
  • the substrate with the printed layers is moved back into the tank to print the next layer, before which the fiber(s) are placed at the pre-determined coordinates.
  • the steps 740 to 746 are repeated until the complete 3D structure is printed and in Step 748, the 3D structure when completed is removed, the fiber(s) are cut and the substrate is removed, providing the desired 3D structure.
  • some of the steps required to form the composite substrate (3D printed structure) with the embedded fiber(s), may include a desired design for the 3D composite structure or 3D structure and the pre- determined co-ordinates of the fiber(s) to be embedded in the 3D structure.
  • the design and the pre-determined co-ordinates may be provided as input to the controller unit or to a system coupled to the controller unit or may be controlled manually by the user or may be controlled manually by a user by means of the controller unit.
  • the fiber(s) may be dispensed and held the particular pre-determined coordinates with a required tension provided to the fiber(s) which may be adjustable such that the fiber(s) do not break or snap during the printing process.
  • the controller unit may be configured to also provide a desired tension to the fiber(s) in conjunction with the dispensing unit or the tension may be monitored manually to ensure the fiber(s) do not snap while printing and curing as the fiber(s) move in the vertical and horizontal direction.
  • the fiber(s) is first fixed on the substrate, for example using a powerful light or laser source at the pre-determined coordinates.
  • the substrate with the fiber(s) affixed is positioned on a platform (also referred to as a build platform) and deposited with the printable material by moving the platform into a tank of printable material.
  • the printable material may be an organic or inorganic material, such as a resin, a thermoplastic, metals etc.
  • the printable material is stored in the tank, for example a vat tank, that is coupled to the build platform, and the platform is configured to move into the vat tank for depositing the printable material and move out of the vat tank after each layer of the 3D matrix is deposited for curing the layer of printable material that is deposited.
  • a first layer of the 3D structure is formed by depositing the printable material on the substrate which is placed on the build platform and moved into the tank of printable material, which ensure that the build of the 3D structure may begin.
  • the substrate with the first wet printed layer is moved out of the tank of printable material and cured (dried) using a light source, for example a laser light. This forms the first layer of the 3D structure.
  • a light source for example a laser light.
  • the 3D structure is built layer by layer, by first depositing a layer of printable material by moving the build 3D structure into the tank of printable material, then moving the printed layer pout of the tank for curing the printable layer and repeating the process of deposition and curing of each layer printed until the complete 3D structure is formed with the fiber(s) embedded therein as per the required design, shape or configuration specified.
  • FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary helical fiber track embedded inside a cylindrical shaped 3D structure in accordance with the present disclosure.
  • Each layer 810 of the structure is visible illustrating that the layer is built layer by layer, and different densities of the printable material may be used to show the layers.
  • a helix is formed inside by a fiber 820 which is placed at pre-determined coordinates and each layer of the 3D structure is printed.
  • Figure 8B illustrates an exemplary helical fiber track embedded inside a cylindrical shaped 3D structure in accordance with the present disclosure.
  • Exemplary Figure 8B illustrates an actual part or crosssection of the printed 3D structure of exemplary Figure 8A as printed using the exemplary system and exemplary method disclosed above, wherein the printed layer 840 are printed layer by layer and the second fiber 840 is embedded within the 3D structure at pre-determined coordinated and is printed in an anti-clockwise direction from bottom to top.
  • Figure 8B shows that the fiber 840 is in the clockwise direction, and in an exemplary embodiment, the fiber may be in a clockwise direction in the first few layers, changed to the anticlockwise direction in the next few layers from bottom to top.
  • the fiber(s) within the exemplary 3D structure may be continuous and does not display any discontinuities or gaps.
  • the fiber(s) are laid (embedded) in both 2D and out-of-plane within the 3D structure by moving the build platform in a desired direction by controlling the controller unit and/or the disposing unit.
  • the fiber(s) orientation is maintained as per the design specified using a controller unit and as per the input provided to the controller unit or may be maintained manually by a user.
  • the present disclosure allows multiple fiber tracks that may be deposited in a layer that may be out-of-plane.
  • the fiber material can be different in different parts of the matrix, enabling multi-fiber material deposition composite structures.

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Abstract

The present subject matter is related to a hybrid additive manufacturing technique or a methodology where an amalgamation of layered and non-layered 3D print is designed and used for printing multi-oriented and multi-fiber deposition in a 3D space with customized patterns or specific patterns designed.

Description

SYSTEM AND PROCESS FOR ADDITIVE FABRICATION AND
MANUFACTURING
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority from the provisional application numbered 202241074956 filed with Indian Patent Office, on 23 December 2022 entitled “Additive manufacturing process and system,” the contents of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to a system and process for additive fabrication and manufacturing and, more particularly, to a process and system for additively fabricating and manufacturing a composite structure and for embedding one or more fibers in a three-dimensionally formed composite structure.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In general, additive fabrication and manufacturing with rapid prototyping, which popularly referred to as three-dimensional printing (herein after referred to as 3D printing), preferably is a layer-by-layer deposition of printable material, for example of a resin, through computer generated slices (layers) to fabricate and form a composite structure. Generally, several different processes of additive fabrication and manufacturing are commonly used to produce components, and specially produce machine components including completed structures such as buildings. These processes may include, among others, continuous fiber 3D printing.
[0004] Typically, continuous fiber 3D printing uses strings of continuous fibers that may be embedded within material that are being discharged from a moveable print head. Usually, a matrix (also referred to as a structure) to be printed is supplied to the printer and the print head is configured to discharge the material to form the given matrix, for example, extruded and/or pul traded, along with one or more continuous fibers also passing through the same head at the same time. SUMMARY
[0005] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a hybrid additive fabrication and manufacturing technique or methodology, wherein an amalgamation of layered and non-layered three-dimensional (3D) printing process is designed and devised to form a composite structure, and the methodology being used for printing multiple fibers that are multi-oriented and thoroughly embedded in 3D space with customized fiber patterns and/or specific fiber patterns that may be designed, which may be embedded with strings of continuous or discontinuous fibers in a structure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. Features, aspects, and advantages of the present subject matter will be better understood with regard to the following description and the accompanying drawings. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to reference features and components.
[0007] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system for fabricating and manufacturing an additive composite structure in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0008] Figure 2 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the system in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0009] Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment the printing by the system in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0010] Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the projection system in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0011] Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a part of the system in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0012] Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary microscopy image of fibers embedded inside a matrix.
[0013] Figure 7A illustrates an exemplary method of forming the printed 3D matrix in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0014] Figure 7B illustrates an exemplary method of forming the printed 3D matrix in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0015] Figure 7C illustrates an exemplary method of forming the printed 3D matrix in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0016] Figure 7D illustrates an exemplary method of forming the printed 3D matrix in accordance with the present subject matter.
[0017] Figure 8A illustrates an exemplary concept of a helical fiber track embedded inside a cylindrical shaped matrix.
[0018] Figure 8B illustrates an exemplary part of the concept of Figure 8 A as printed using the system of Figure 1.
[0019] Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a hybrid additive fabrication and manufacturing technique or methodology wherein an amalgamation of layered and non-layered 3D producing may be designed and used for producing multi-oriented and multi-fiber embedded composite in 3D that may be having customized patterns or specific patterns are required or designed. In an exemplary embodiment, the method of producing in accordance with the present disclosure may be 3D printing. As understood by a person skilled in the art, in an exemplary case, additive fabrication and manufacturing and rapid prototyping may be popularly referred to as “3D printing”. Such 3D printing techniques may be predominantly a layer-by-layer deposition of a chosen material, for example printable material, which may be performed via computer generated slices or layers.
[0021] In an exemplary embodiment, a design of a matrix (a structure) may be chosen to be printed. In an exemplary embodiment, materials such as a traditional thermoplastic, a powdered metal, a liquid resin, for example a UV curable and/or two-part resin, or a combination of any of these may be used for printing the design of the matrix. In an exemplary case, the material upon exiting the print head or present in a vat container needs to be cured and a cure enhancer, for example, a UV light, an ultrasonic emitter, a heat source, a catalyst supply, etc. may be generally activated to initiate and/or complete curing of the printed matrix. In an exemplary embodiment, curing of the printed layers occurs almost instantaneously, allowing for a variety of unsupported structures to be fabricated in free space. Advantageously, when fibers are used in the printing process, in particular continuous fibers, the fibers may be embedded within the structure or the matrix, and a strength associated with the structure or matrix may be multiplied beyond that of a plain printed matrix strength.
[0022] In an exemplary embodiment, techniques for printing such fiber deposition may require to ensure that there is complete fiber reinforcement throughout the part of a printed matrix or printed structure. Generally available techniques that enable fiber reinforcement in layered slices of a printed matrix cannot continue these fiber tracks along the direction of construction of a three- dimensional (3D) object. Such printing techniques may be performed in a variety of methods in which a material is deposited, joined, or solidified under a controlled process, with the material being added layer-by-layer to form the complete structure. Such techniques that may be used to print fibers forming a 3D printed object cannot presently selectively deposit the fibers along desired geometry, i.e., locations and orientation, (coordinates within the 3D structure). Further, nonlayered additive fabrication and manufacturing processes for forming 3D composite structures and/or matrix with reinforced fibers have not been fully explored for selective placement of fibers in 3D printing of the composite structure and/or matrix.
[0023] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure advocate a 3D printing technique or an additive fabrication and manufacturing process that may be advantageously used to selectively place/deposit and/or embed a single continuous fiber and/or selectively embed multiple continuous fibers at desired coordinates (orientation and/or location) within a chosen 3D matrix/structure, and/or multiple fiber tracks having multiple fibers at desired coordinates (orientations and locations) within a chosen structure of a 3D matrix. In accordance with the subject matter of the present disclosure, the fiber(s) may be continuous or discontinuous and may be embedded inside a 3D printed structure at a desired or preselected coordinate in all three dimensions (generally associated with an orientation and/or a location) within a 3D matrix. In an exemplary embodiment, a 3D cylindrical matrix (hereinafter also generally referred to as a structure and interchangeably used) may be printed with a fiber having a fixed helical orientation within the 3D cylindrical structure along a desired coordinates or orientation, i.e., the geometry of the continuous fiber being fixed within the structure, wherein the fiber may be either clockwise or anti-clockwise and in 3D or as a combination thereof, and in a part of the structure the fiber may be in a clockwise direction and in another part the fiber may be oriented in an anti-clockwise direction. In another exemplary embodiment, a 3D leaf shaped structure may be printed that may be provided with multiple fibers oriented as veins within the 3D leaf shaped structure. In general, in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure the system allows for designing any desired 3D structure by embedding either a single fiber and/or multiple fibers into the 3D structure to obtain a desired design and shape i.e., a final 3D structure with fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure at desired orientation forming a required shape and design of the structure. In an exemplary embodiment, a circuit may be designed with transistors and the fibers may form connections between the transistors on the circuit, wherein the fibers may be chosen to be conducting materials, the transistors formed by printing conducting and insulating layers as required. It should be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that several other design and shapes may be possibly made depending on the materials used for printing and the materials used as the fiber, and all such formation may be covered and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
[0024] The present disclosure relates to an exemplary hybrid additive fabrication and manufacturing technique and a system for performing a hybrid additive fabrication and manufacturing process for printing 3D structures (also referred to as a 3D matrix or 3D composites and may be interchangeably used in the application). The system and manufacturing and fabrication technique of the present disclosure allows to perform an amalgamation of layered and non-layered 3D production for various designs and structures that may be pre-determined. As disclosed herein reference to 3D production would in this application refer to 3D printing. The 3D production performed in accordance with the present disclosure may be classified as a multi-orientation and/or multi-fiber deposition technique that may have customized fiber patterns and/or shapes and may also have customized and/or specific designs. In accordance with the system and process (refers to the fabrication and manufacturing techniques) of the present disclosure, fiber(s) may be placed selectively at a controller unit, and the controller unit in turn is configured to place the fiber at a desired coordinate within a structure to be formed/printed, and the controller unit may be further configured to perform a layered deposition of the printable material by performing a layer-by-layer deposition of the printable material, and deposition of the fiber(s) at desired coordinates with the layer-by- layer printing so as to form the 3D structure of a desired shape. The controller unit may be configured to continuously track the fiber(s) along the multiple layers that are being printed to ensure that the track of the fiber(s) is (are) along a desired coordinate (location and/or orientation) within the printed 3D structure. In the present application, layers may also be broadly referred to as a slice. In accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, there exists a platform, for example a motorized platform, along with a projector, for example a DLP projector, which is coupled to the controller unit. The motorized platform may be controlled by the controller unit to move in specific direction for the purpose of printing the 3D structure and move in specific direction for drying the newly printed layer. The projector, which may be a light source, which may be used to cure the printed layer (printable material) and form a solid part around the fibers in each layer of the 3D structure before the platform moves for the next layer or next slice to be printed. In an exemplary case, a UV light source or a LASER source may be used to cure the printed layer. It should be obvious that various other techniques or methods may be used to create such a 3D structure following the same methodology of placing a fiber(s) at desired coordinates and printing a printable material layer by layer and all these falls within the scope of the present disclosure.
[0025] In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber(s) may be placed at a required or pre-determined coordinates (geometrical location and/or orientation) along a chosen geometry in a three-dimensional space, which may be performed manually or by a robotic arm or a mechanism controlled by the controller unit. In a further embodiment, the fiber(s) may be bent along predetermined paths in a 3D space. In an exemplary embodiment, these pre-determined coordinates may be input to the controller unit and the controller unit may be configured to automatically perform the placement at the desired orientation and perform printing of the 3D matrix within the fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure, which includes curing the printed layer, and ensuring the tension in the fiber(s) changes dynamically so that the fiber(s) do not snap. In an alternatively exemplary embodiment, the controller unit may be configured to be manually operated to complete the 3D structure with the fiber(s) embedded at the desired coordinates. In an exemplary embodiment, initially the fiber(s) are fixed on a substrate and then the production of the 3D structure begins. In an exemplary embodiment, the controller unit may be configured to identify that the fiber is at the desired coordinates of the structure, i.e., the fiber(s) is placed at the pre-determined coordinates, the controller unit is configured to form a first layer, by printing the layer, and the fiber is embedded within the printed layer. In an exemplary embodiment, forming of the layer may be essentially by 3D printing the layer or depositing a first layer of a printable material with the fiber embedded within it, cure the printed layer and then print the next layer, thereby printing the 3D structure layer by layer. In an exemplary embodiment, the material used for printing may be a thermoplastic, a metal, a thermoset resin, or any other material that may be used in 3D printing. In this way the 3D structure may be printed layer-by-layer by layer by first placing the fiber at the required coordinates, then forming or depositing the printable material and subsequently curing the layer that is printed. Once the layer is cured, the fiber is embedded firmly into the printed layer at the desired (predetermined) coordinates. In an exemplary case, the printable material may be an organic material or an inorganic material such as a resin, a thermoplastic, metals or any other material that may be suitable for printing a structure in a 3D printer. In an exemplary case, the fiber may be an organic material or inorganic material and may be a conducting material or a non-conducting material.
[0026] In an exemplary embodiment, on completion of the forming the layer, i.e. printing of the layer, the printed layer is cured before forming or printing the next layer. In an exemplary embodiment, during the process of forming the structure by printing layer by layer, a tension is maintained for the fiber(s) by the controller unit such that the fiber(s) do not snap or break causing any discontinuities in the required 3D structure. The controller unit may be pre-programmed to know the exact coordinates (location, orientation and/or position) of the fiber(s) to be embedded within the printed 3D structure.
[0027] In an exemplary embodiment, once a first layer is printed with the fiber(s) embedded at the desired coordinates, then the controller unit may be configured to move the platform where the structure is being printed and dry(cure) the printed layer, such that the next layer is printed on a previously dried layer, such that the new printed layer is not formed on a wet layer, as if the previous printed layer is wet and the next layer is printed on top of the wet layer, the structure may be distorted and the intended shape may not be achieved. In an exemplary case, printing on a wet layer may create bubbles within the structure, and thickness of the printed layers may vary because of the wetness of a previous layer. In an exemplary embodiment, after the printed layer is dried (cured), the controller unit may be configured to place the fiber(s) at the next desired coordinates for the structure and the next layer may be printed with the fiber(s) at the new coordinates. These steps of printing the layer, drying the layer and printing on the dried layer are repeated continuously for printing the 3D structure layer by layer until the desired 3D structure is obtained, which has the fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure at desired coordinates. In an exemplary case, the coordinates, i.e., the position and/or the orientation and/or the location, of the fiber(s) to be embedded within the 3D structure may be pre-programmed at the controller unit and/or the controller unit may be interfaced with an external computer which may be programmed to achieve the desired structure and/or a user may be allowed to manually control the coordinates of the fiber(s) to be embedded within the 3D structure.
[0028] In an exemplary embodiment, the system and method (process) of the present disclosure allows or enables fiber(s) to be reinforced in layers while building a 3D structure, where these fiber(s) within the layers of the 3D structure may be either continuous fiber tracks or may be disjoint fiber tracks or even crosslinked fiber tracks. In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber(s) are embedded within the 3D structure along a desired build direction, and in an exemplary case the build direction may be chosen by a user manually or may be input to the controller unit by a user. In an exemplary embodiment, the system and method in accordance with the present disclosure may be configured to print 3D structures by selectively depositing the fiber(s) along a desired coordinate or desired geometry and then depositing the printable material, for example resin, thermoplastic, metals or any other form of material that is printable, layer-by-layer thereby forming the desired 3D structure. In an exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a nonlayered additive fabrication and manufacturing processes for selective placement of fiber(s) in a 3D structure and also further relates to a method for selectively depositing a single fiber along a single designed track or multiple fibers along multiple tracks inside the 3D structure, wherein the fiber(s) are placed along desired coordinates as required or as pre-determined thereby forming the desired 3D structure. In an exemplary case, multiple fiber(s) each comprising a metal track may be formed and held at pre-determined coordinates while the 3D structure such as a printed circuit board is being formed. [0029] As discussed previously, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a 3D printing technique forming 3D structure with fiber material(s) reinforced within a 3D structure to form a complete 3D composite structure. The complete 3D composite structure thus formed need not be a laminated composite or a taped composite, where a laminated composite or a taped composite structure have either periodic patterns or exterior taped fibers as opposed to the fiber tracks in the 3D structure printed in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure a non-periodic, custom, and specific arrangement may be obtained for a 3D composite structure fabricated and manufactured by 3D printing. In the exemplary embodiment, the fiber tracks that are embedded in the 3D printed structure in accordance with the present disclosure may exist in specific patterns that may be pre-determined or placed manually at desired coordinates and then then printing the 3D structure with the fiber(s) embedded layer-by-layer, thereby embedding the fiber(s) into the 3D composite structure as required or as designed.
[0030] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the 3D composite structure printing setup may first include, a 2D projection of each layer for a matrix/structure that has been designed to be cured on a top-down moving platform, i.e., moving down from the already printed layer for the 3D structure towards the top of the 3D structure for each layer, layer-by-layer. The 3D structure is formed by printing or depositing the printable material (resin, thermoplastic, metal etc.,) with the fiber(s) embedded at the required or pre-determined coordinates. In an exemplary embodiment, the printing is performed layer-by-layer based on the input design and/or the desired shape required for the 3D structure. In an exemplary embodiment, once each layer is printed, the process includes curing each of the printed layers, i.e. layer-by-layer printing and curing. In an exemplary embodiment, after each layer is printed before proceeding to print the next layer of the 3D structure, the wet layer or freshly printed layer is cured (dried) to ensure that the 3D structure is correctly formed and may be as per the requirement specified. In an exemplary case, if the printed layers are not properly cured and further printing is performed, it may result in air bubbles being trapped inside the 3D structure, which may then lead to other unforeseen issues, especially in the field where of semiconductor printing where electrical connectivity plays an important role. In another exemplary embodiment, the curing may be deliberately done in a way to introduce air bubbles within the 3D structure so as to achieve other types of specific designs. In an exemplary embodiment, the system and method may be a non-layered fiber depositing system that may have a fiber dispensing unit coupled to the controller unit, where the fiber dispensing unit may be configured to dispense the fiber(s) in a particular format or orientation or coordinates as per the required design that may be normally pre-decide and pre-programmed into the system, and the fiber dispending unit may be controlled by the controller unit. In an alternatively exemplary embodiment this may be done manually by a user who may be controlling the dispensing of the fiber(s) from the fiber dispensing unit or may be manually controlling the controlling unit which in turn controls the fiber dispending unit.
[0031] In an exemplary embodiment, the design and/or layout, i.e. the coordinates for the fiber(s) within the 3D structure (3D composite structure) is first determined. Once the design and the process plan (layout) is made, the layout or design may be programmed or provided to a controller unit and/or an external systems coupled to the controller unit, which is configured to control the printer, which may advantageously use the input of the design and/or layout of the 3D structure desired with the coordinates of the fiber(s), and print the complete 3D structure with the fiber(s) embedded within it. In an exemplary embodiment, realtime changes may be made to the design and/or layout of the fiber(s) to be embedded and such real-time changes made to the design and/or layout of the 3D structure and the fiber(s) to be embedded within the 3D structure may be incorporated ensuring that the overall integrity of the process is still maintained. In an exemplary case, the 3D structure may be a cylindrical shape object and the fiber may be embedded in a clockwise direction, and in real-time after half the object has been printed, the direction of the fiber may be changed to be anti-clockwise, whence the controller unit may be configured to perform real-time changes and incorporate those changes while printing the 3D structure. In an exemplary embodiment, whether there are real-time changes made to the 3D structure to be printed or to the fiber(s) to be embedded within the 3D structure, or if there are no changes from the initial design provided to the controller unit, the tension provided to the fiber(s) by the controller unit may be constantly monitored and maintained such that the fiber(s) do not snap during the printing process, which includes printing and curing, in order to obtain a continuous track of fiber(s) within the 3D structure. In a further exemplary embodiment, breaks or discontinuities in the fiber(s) coordinates may be designed as required for the fiber(s) within the 3D composite structure and implemented by providing the details to the controller unit.
[0032] In an exemplary embodiment, the system and method in accordance with the present disclosure includes performing a 2D projection of each layer as per the design required. In an exemplary embodiment, the 2D projection may be performed by a DLP projector with screens/layers fabricated digitally using Stereolithography. It should be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that other techniques may be used instead of stereolithography to achieve the 2D projection, and all such techniques or methods fall within the scope of the present subject matter.
[0033] In an exemplary embodiment, the layers are projected onto a platform with liquid UV-curable vat/tank, that contains the printable material, such as resins, thermoplastics, metals or any other printable material, and a new layer of liquid (printable material) is deposited after curing the layer already printed by moving down the cured printed layer. In an exemplary embodiment, for solidification of the liquid, the layer formed may be illuminated or projected with bright light only at specific regions of interest. In an exemplary case, the solidification of the printed layer may be actuated by a 405nm light which are easily absorbed by the UV-curable resin.
[0034] In an exemplary embodiment, the 2D projection system may be coupled with a multi-axis controller robot, that may be allowed to control the coordinates (direction and/or location and/or orientation) of the fiber(s) within the 3D structure, and may also provide a necessary tension to hold the fiber(s), thereby ensuring that the fiber(s) do not snap at any given point in time during the process of printing or drying the printed layers forming the 3D structure, which is performed layer-by-layer until the complete 3D structure is obtained. In an exemplary embodiment, the controller robot or the controller unit further allows deposition of a single fiber or multiple fibers with the help of a changeable fiber end-effector that may be coupled to it or may be part of the controller unit itself. In an exemplary embodiment, the end-effector coupled to the system may have a local UV-curing source of illumination for placing and curing the fiber(s) for each printed layer of the 3D structure. In an exemplary embodiment, the end-effectors are changeable and may be replaced or reused. In an exemplary embodiment, each fiber(s) dispensed from the fiber dispensing unit may have an end-effector attached to it, which advantageously enables handling multiple fiber material and fiber track to be embedded in the printed 3D structure.
[0035] In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber dispensing unit has a tension unit (which may also be built into the controller unit and be part of the controller unit) which may be configured to monitor and maintain tension of the fiber(s) while the fiber(s) are being embedded with the printable material and cured after the layer is printed. In an exemplary embodiment, the tension must be adjusted for the fiber to maintain the coordinates and the orientation (wherein the orientation is key for printing the fiber within the matrix), which ensures that the fibers and the printed part does not get detached from build platform due to the tension. In an exemplary embodiment, the tension unit also ensures that the fibers do not snap during the printing process and/or the fibers do not peel out from the previous layers and further that the tension on the fiber doesn't distort the previously cured layer or distort the layer during the curing process. In an exemplary embodiment, the tension may be adjusted so as to ensure that the fiber(s) may be held in place at the desired coordinates, thereby ensuring that the fiber does not snap during the process of printing the 3D structure and curing the 3D structure. In an exemplary embodiment, the process of printing and curing needs to be performed layer-by-layer until the complete 3D composite structure is obtained. In an exemplary embodiment, maintaining tension of the fiber(s) and the correct length of the fiber may be a crucial factor in printing the 3D composite structures in order to minimize slack such that the deposition on the layers is uniform or even.
[0036] Reference is now made to Figure 1, which illustrates an exemplary 3D structure printing system (hereinafter broadly referred to as system) in accordance with the present disclosure. In an exemplary embodiment, the regions in a solid part of the 3D structure (also referred to as a 3D composite structure) where fibers are not present may be printed using the layered Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D printing process. It should be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that any other 3D printing technique may be used for printing the solid part of the 3D structure and all such techniques fall within the scope of the present disclosure. In exemplary Figure 1, illustrated is a controller system or controller unit 110, wherein the controller system 110 may be a computing system having a processor and a memory to which the input design of a required 3D structure may be provided. The controller unit 110 essentially controls the entire system 100 to achieve the 3D printed structure with fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure. System 100 may include a robotic arm 120 that is controlled by the controller unit 110. A bend of the robotic arm 130 (part of the robotic arm 120) is attached to a vertical moving device or device 135 that controls the movement of the robotic arm 120 or a part of the robotic arm 120 itself may be responsible for an upward and downward movement and the other part may be fixed, allowing movement of the robotic arm 120 in an upward and downward direction during the printing process. For the printing process the vertical moving device 135 moves into a tank 140 containing the printable material to form the printed structure 160, which is a 3D printed structure that is embedded with fiber(s). After a layer of printable material is solidified, the vertical moving device 135 moves in an upward direction outside the tank for preparing the next layer for printing. Once the printed layer is cured, the structure is moved back into the tank for the next layer to be disposed with the controller unit arranging the fibers at the pre-determined locations. One part of the robotic arm 120 may be attached to the vertical moving device 135 and the other part of the robotic arm may be attached to the controller unit 110. The printed structure 160 is placed on a printing surface 170, wherein the fiber(s) embedded into the printed structure 160 is provided via a controller unit head 150, which also has a laser source for curing the printed structure 160.
[0037] The controller unit head 150 may be configured to dispose the fiber layer-by-layer and may be controlled by the controller unit 110. The controller unit head 150 is also provided with a light source, for example a laser light that may be used to cure the printable material with the fiber and also the printed layer, wherein the controller unit 110 is configured to switch ON the laser light when fiber needs to be embedded in 160 and switching OFF the laser light when the printed structure 160 is ready to be printed again, and moved back towards and into the tank until the entire 3D structure is obtained. The controller unit 110 also ensures that the laser light source in the dispensing unit 150 is OFF when the controller unit head 150 is placed above the tank such that the laser light does not harden the printable material.
[0038] The system 100 as illustrated in Figure 1 in accordance with the present disclosure is only exemplary in nature and there may be other methods and systems to perform the same task of placing a fiber within desired coordinates within a 3D printed structure and all such system that perform such a task fall within the scope of the present disclosure. The system 100 may be configured to deposit the fiber(s) along a desired coordinate (region or location or orientation), which may be provided as an input to the controller unit 110 or an external system or device (not shown in the Figure) coupled to the controller unit 110 configured to operate the controller unit 110. In an exemplary case, such an external system or device may include any device comprising a processor and a memory including and not limited to a computer system, a laptop, a mobile phone etc. The controller unit head 150 along with the controller unit 110 may be configured to ensure that a correct tension is maintained and monitored for the fiber(s) during the entire printing process, wherein the fiber(s) are embedded into the 3D structure. The tension of the fiber(s) during the printing of the 3D structure needs to be maintained because the 3D structure in accordance with the present disclosure is printed layer- by-layer and then cured layer-by-layer, herein meaning printing one layer over the next layer and curing the freshly printed layer, until the printed 3D structure is obtained. This is because the controller unit head 150 may have the laser light source that provides the necessary heat or energy to cure the printed layer, and after each layer is printed, the controller unit is configured to move the vertical moving device 135. The controller unit head 150 first vertically upwards from the tank (for example the z-axis), such that the printed layer of not inside the tank of printable material, and then in a horizontal direction away from the tank along the plane, for example the XY plane), and then the controller unit is configured to switch ON the laser light on the printed layer to cure the printed layer that is wet. Once the printed layer is cured, the laser light is switched OFF and the printed structure 160 is moved back in the XY plane to its original position and then lowered into the tank along the z-axis for printing the next layer. This process is repeated until the complete 3D structure is obtained with the fiber(s) embedded at the required coordinates within the structure.
[0039] In an exemplary embodiment, if the tension to the fiber(s) which are to be embedded into the 3D structure is not properly maintained during the printing and curing process, the fiber(s) may snap or slack during printing process and/or curing process and may result in the desired 3D composite structure not being obtained as per the design requirements or as required by the user. In an exemplary embodiment, if the 3D composite structure is a printed circuit board and the fiber(s) representing track layout in the PCB, then in case the fiber(s) snaps during the printing and/or curing process, then entire PCB board would be deemed useless as a continuous track required for current flow is broken. Therefore, the controller unit 110 along with the controller unit head 150 ensure that proper tension is maintained for the fiber(s) during the printing process. In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber(s) may include a conducting material or a non-conducting material, which may further include organic materials and/or inorganic materials in the form of strings having different dimensions and shapes. In an exemplary embodiment the fiber may be cylindrical or square or triangular in shape and may be in the range of a few milli meters to a few nano meters. [0040] In an exemplary embodiment, the system 100 illustrates an exemplary platform 170 and vat tank 140, wherein the printable material for printing the 3D composite structure is stored in the tank. In an exemplary embodiment, the platform assembly or the vertical moving device 135 may be provided with a motor (not shown in Figure) coupled to hold the platform 170 on which the 3D printed structure 160 is formed. In an exemplary embodiment, the motor may be controlled by the controller unit 110 and be configured to move the platform 170 in a fixed direction after every layer of the 3D structure 160 is printed. In an exemplary embodiment, the platform may move in a vertical direction out of the tank after printing a layer for curing the printed layer, and after completion of curing of the wet printed layer move in a vertical direction into the tank for printing a new layer. In an example embodiment, after each layer is printed and moved out of the tank in the vertical direction, the platform may move in a horizontal direction to bring the platform with the wet printed layer below an illuminating source for curing, for example a laser light, to cure the wet printed layer. All movements of the platform 170 may be controlled by the controller unit 110, which may also be an external system of device coupled to the controller unit 110.
[0041] In an exemplary embodiment, the regions of the printed 3D structure 160 which has the fiber(s) embedded within it may be handled by a robot (robotic arm) 120 or any other automated means, which may be advantageously used for placing the fiber(s) at predetermined coordinates which is also referred to as region of interest) within the printed 3D structure. The printed 3D structure 160 may be selectively cured, wherein the fiber(s) in the region of interest at multiple layer intersections with the fiber track that are embedded within the 3D structure are dried before the next layer is printed. In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the printed layer may be pre-determined and provided to the controller unit 110. An exemplary controller unit 110 as illustrated controls a controller unit head 150 for reaching and/or placing the fiber(s) at the desired region of interest within the 3D printed structure, where the fiber(s) may eventually be performed by embedding the fiber(s) with the printable material forming the 3D structure. [0042] Reference is now made to Figure 2, which illustrates another exemplary controller unit head 150 in accordance with the present disclosure. Exemplary Figure 2 illustrates a schematic of an end-effector 152 coupled to controller unit head 150. An exemplary representation of the attachment 154 that goes on to the end-effector is illustrated, which contains an exemplary representation of a system 154 (for example cavities) that the feeds the fiber(s) as the controller unit continues embedding the fiber(s) into the 3D structure. An exemplary illustration of a local curing source 158 which is used to cure the 3D structure after the fiber(s) has been fixed at the predetermined coordinates. Initially, to begin the printing of the 3D structure, the fiber(s) is affixed at the initial coordinates on a substrate and then a first layer is printed and cured, after which the fiber(s) is moved to the next coordinates and the next layers are printed and cured, layer-by-layer, until the complete 3D structure is obtained. It should be noted that the initial fixing of the fiber(s) is not done by the projector, and instead a powerful laser may be used to perform the initial fixing of the fiber(s) at the desired coordinates on a substrate. It should be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that other techniques may be used to do the initial fixing of the fiber(s) on the substrate, and all such techniques should fall within the scope of the present subject matter.
[0043] The system 154 continuously feeds the fiber(s) for the 3D structure at the pre-determined coordinates and after the fiber(s) has been placed at the required coordinates and printed, the printed structure which is wet is moved away from the printable material tank and cured by the local curing source 158, which for example may be a laser source. During the entire process of fixing the fiber(s) at the coordinates, printing the layer and curing the printed layer and then repeating these steps, the tension in the fiber(s) is monitored and maintained by the controller unit 110 such that the fiber(s) do not snap at any point in time creating a discontinuity.
[0044] As illustrated in exemplary Figure 2, a cavity 158 includes a local illumination source(s), for example a laser source, that may be placed in the system 200. The local illumination source(s) 158 may be configured to cure (dry) the wet printed layer with the fiber(s) embedded at the desired coordinates (location and/or orientation) within the 3D structure by illuminating the wet printed layer with the fiber(s) track(s) immediately after deposition of the printable material forming the wet printed layer. It should be obvious that other form of curing may be used such as for example heat treatment, which fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Illustrated here is only an exemplary method of curing the printed layer using illumination by light source. The end-effector 152 of the controller unit 110 holds a detachable attachment 154 of the controller unit 110. The end-effector 152 may be present as each fiber stand may be dispensed from the fiber dispensing unit 156 of the system or the controller unit 100. In an exemplary embodiment, this enables multiple fiber(s) with different fiber materials and multi-continuous fiber tracks to be handled throughout the 3D structure. In a further example, the fiber(s) may be fed through a channel in 156 of exemplary Figure 2.
[0045] The controller unit 110 operates by placing layers of fiber(s) at a desired coordinates (locations and/or orientation) via the dispensing unit in the required 3D composite structure. The controller unit 110 may be configured to move out of the projection region while a new layer of the 3D structure is being formed or printed. The continuous fiber track(s) that may be carried onto another (next) layer may be made to point in an outward direction while the printed layer is being cured via the illumination source, as the freshly printed layer is wet, and then the controller unit may be configured to come back to its original position to deposit the fiber(s) via the deposition unit at the next pre-determined coordinates continuing the previous fiber track(s) into a new layer that is deposited/printed. This process of printing a layer and curing the layer is repeated layer-by-layer until the complete 3D structure is completely printed with the fiber(s) embedded at the desired coordinates (location and/or orientations) within the 3D structure.
[0046] Reference is now made to Figure 3, which illustrates an exemplary system of depositing the fiber at a given coordinated during the printing process of the 3D structure by the system in accordance with the present disclosure. In exemplary Figure 3 an end-effector attachment 152 that may be used for guiding the fiber(s) to the required coordinated in the 3D structure to be printed and also provides the necessary tension to the fiber(s) to hold the fiber at the pre-determined coordinates during the process of printing the 3D structure layer-by-layer (one layer upon the next layer) and the process of curing the printed layer by moving the layer away from the printing tank 140 (Figure 1). This attachment 152 may be interchangeable depending on the number of fiber tracks that are required in the 3D structure, and the attachment 152 moves such that multiple fiber tracks may continue to be formed along the build direction of the 3D structure. Build direction herein refers to the vertical direction (z axis as mentioned previously) along which the 3D structure is constructed starting at the bottom of the structure to the top of the structure. Each fiber track, that comes from the dispensing unit (not shown in the Figures.) may have this attachment 152, and these attachments 152 are controlled by the controller unit. The printed part 160 (layers) of the 3D structure are formed layer-by-layer and the fiber 162 is dispensed via attachment 152 to the required pre-determined co-ordinates within the 3D printed structure, which is done layer-by-layer. The fiber(s) 162 after being dispensed to the required predetermined coordinated is then printed upon along that layer thereby embedding the fiber(s) 162 inside the 3D structure at the desired coordinates. An exemplary fiber track 162 is illustrated that is dispensed into the 3D printed structure 160 via the dispensing unit 152, wherein the layers are also illustrated and this illustration of dispensing the fiber(s) ensures continuous printing of fibers that continue in the build direction above the tank 140 and the printing surface 170 illustrated in Figure 1.
[0047] In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber(s) 162 that is deposited in a 3D structure 160, may be configured to be guided to the selected pre-determined coordinates and placed at the selected pre-determined coordinates by the controller unit, thereby embedding the fiber(s) with the layer of the 3D structure. If discontinuous fiber(s) need to be placed in the 3D structure, the dispensing unit may cut the fiber at the selected coordinates and then again reintroduce the fiber(s) at the required coordinates within the 3D structure. The attachment 152 may be present on all fiber dispensing channels on the fiber dispensing unit. In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber dispending unit may be in-built into the controller unit. In an exemplary embodiment, the dry fiber(s) 162 without resin may pass through layers of the 3D structure. In an exemplary case, the fiber deposition is continued over multiple layers to form the desired 3D structure, wherein the fiber(s) are placed at the desired or selected pre-determined coordinates and then printed layer-by-layer. In the exemplary case, after all the layers are printed, layer-by-layer, the fiber(s) may be cut either manually or automatically and then the finished parts may be raised to drain all the remaining printable material from the platform. In an exemplary embodiment, employing the methodology described thus far a 3D structure may be printed with a single fiber or multiple fibers embedded within it at selected coordinates forming the 3D composite structure.
[0048] Reference is now made to Figure 4, which illustrates an exemplary projection system used for printing the 3D structure in accordance with the present disclosure. In the exemplary case the projection system comprises a vat tank 140 that may be part of the printing system, which may be configured to hold the printable material, such as a resin, thermoplastic, metals or any other printable material. The printable material in the vat tank 140 may be used to print the desired 3D structure also referred to as the 3D composite structure, essentially by depositing the printable material layer-after-layer, by selecting a pre-defined thickness of the layer of printable material to be deposited. Printing of the 3D structure is performed layer-by-layer with the fiber(s) embedded into the 3D structure at pre-determined coordinates and a layer of printable material is deposited, and the wet printed layer is cured, and the fiber is placed at the next pre-determined coordinates and the next layer printed on the cured/dried printed previous layer. The process of placing the fiber(s) at the desired or pre-determined coordinates, printing the layer and curing the wet printed layer is repeated layer-by-layer until the completed 3D structure is obtained. Once the fiber(s) is placed at the desired coordinates, the structure is printed by depositing the printable material from the vat tank 140.
[0049] Once a first layer (printed layer) is printed with the fiber(s) embedded therein at the pre-determined coordinates, wherein the printing essentially includes depositing a layer of printable material of a given or predetermined thickness to form the printed layer, the first layer that is printed is wet. Therefore, before moving the fiber(s) to the next coordinates of the 3D structure and printing the next layer, the first printed layer which is wet is dried (cured) before the next layer is printed on the the previously printed layer. Once the first layer is dried, the disposing unit in conjunction with the controller unit may be configured to place the fiber(s) at the next pre-determined coordinates and the next new layer is printed and cured like the previous layers. This way the complete 3D structure is printed and at the end the fiber(s) are cut once the printing of the 3D structure is completed. An exemplary case the printed part 162 is printed layer-by-layer with the fiber(s) embedded at the pre-determined or selected coordinated. The printed part 162 is built on the build platform 166 on which the substrate with the fiber affixed at the initial coordinates is placed and then the printing process of printing the 3D structure layer-by-layer is performed.
[0050] Reference is now made to Figure 5, which illustrates an exemplary part of the printing system in accordance with the present disclosure. In an example, a motor 510 may be configured to move the platform 170 on which the 3D structure is printed in a chosen direction, i.e., in the vertical direction (z-axis), i.e., wherein the platform 170 is configured to move either in an up direction or down direction along the vertical axis (for example the z-axis of a three-dimensional plane) or in a horizontal place (XY plane). For printing the layer, i.e., depositing the layer of printable material, platform 170 is lowered into the vat tank 140. After the layer of printable material is deposited with the fiber(s) embedded at the pre-determined coordinated, the platform 170 is moved upwards out of the vat tank 140. The wet printed layer once out of the tank is moved in a horizontal plane (for example the x axis of an XY plane) out of the tank to ensure that the curing light does not fall on the vat tank and the wet printed layer is cured. After curing the cured printed layer, i.e., the cured layer, is now moved back along the horizontal axis to be positioned above the vat tank 140, and then fiber(s) is placed at the selected pre-determined or coordinates and then lowered into the vat tank 140 for depositing the next layer of the printable material.
[0051] A lead screw 520 attached to the printing system that may be configured to perform incremental motion of the platform 170 that is used to build/print the desired 3D structure, which may be done manually or by the controller unit. The exemplary build platform 170 in this specific illustrated design has an L-angled projection that may be configured to enable the platform 170 to be submersed into the vat tank 140 without the lead screw and/or the linear guides being immersed inside the vat tank 140. It should be obvious to one skilled in the art that other types of projection systems may be used to immerse the platform into the vat tank for the purpose of printing and all such fall within the scope of the present disclosure. The 3D printed part of the structure 162 formed layer-by-layer is illustrated inside the vat tank, which after complete printing of the structure is removed, cleaned and post-processed to obtain the final usable 3D structure, wherein the completed 3D structure has fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure at the pre-determined coordinates.
[0052] In the exemplary case illustrated in Figure 5, the motor 510 and the lead screw 520 may be configured to convert rotational motion into linear motion of the platform 170. Using the platform 170, a first layer is printed by single pattern illumination on the platform 170, and the illumination selectively cures the printable material that has been deposited/printed to form the printed layer of the 3D structure. The printable material as disclosed previously is stored in the vat tank and can be changed when a particular part has been printed completely and a second part needs to be printed with a different printable material or can be interchanged as required. In an exemplary a first part of the 3D structure may be printed with a first material and a second part may be printed with a second material, and different combination may be possible based on the 3D structure required and the materials used for printing. In an exemplary case, a multilayers 3D structure with fiber(s) may be obtained. In an exemplary case, the first part may be printed with a transparent material and the second part may be printed with an opaque material with the fiber(s) embedded within the 3D structure at the pre-determined coordinates. It should be noted that black light or no light does not cure the printed layer, whereas the part of the printed layer that is exposed to white light or the illuminated area is cured. This illumination may be preferably performed using a DLP projector as has been discussed previously. It should be obvious to one skilled in the art that various other techniques may be used to cure the material and the 3D printed structure or layers of the 3D printed structure, and all such techniques fall within the scope of the present subject matter.
[0053] Reference is now made to Figure 6A, which illustrates microscopy images of a cross section of the printed 3D structure with a single fiber embedded inside the printed 3D structure at a resolution of 100 micrometers. The single fiber 162 is placed embedded inside the 3D structure made of a printable material 160, which in this exemplary case the printable material used was resin. In the example illustrated, the fiber(s) adhesion to the structure (matrix) on a layer is clearly visible.
[0054] Reference is now made to Figure 6B which illustrates another microscopy illustrating a cross section of the printed 3D structure with multiple fibers embedded inside the printed 3D structure at a resolution of 100 micrometers. The multiple fibers 162 are placed at pre-determined coordinates with the 3D structure and are thus embedded inside the 3D structure made of a printable material 160, which again in this exemplary case is a resin. In the example illustrated, the fiber(s) adhesion to structure on a layer is clearly visible. In an exemplary embodiment, Figures 6A and 6B illustrates the fiber(s) and printable material, which has been cured, after finishing the process of 3D printing, i.e., a cross section of the fiber(s) and the 3D structure is from a microscope image at a resolution of 100 micrometers.
[0055] Reference is now made to Figure 7A, which illustrates an exemplary method of preparing the 3D structure. In step 710, the required 3D structure is designed, in an exemplary case the structure may be a cylindrical shaped object. In step 712, the coordinates of the position for the fiber(s) within the structure are determined. In Step 714, the design of the structure and the pre-determined coordinates of the fibers within the structure are input to the controller unit. In an alternate embodiment, the structure may be designed in step 710, in step 714 the position /coordinates of the fiber(s) within the structure are determined, such that the entire trace of the fiber(s) within the structure is known. In step 714, the structure and the trace route for the fiber(s) in the structure are input to the controller unit or the trace for the fiber(s) may be manually controlled by an operator. The tension for the fiber(s) is maintained by the controller unit such that the fiber(s) do not snap during the process of fabricating and printing the 3D structure.
[0056] Reference is now made to Figure 7B, which illustrates an exemplary method of preparing the 3D structure. In Step 720, a substrate is chosen and prepared for the 3D structure printing, wherein the substrate forms the base of the 3D structure, mainly for the purpose of printing, after which the substrate may be removed and discarded. In step 722, the fiber(s) are routed via the dispending unit and affixed on the substrate at pre-determined coordinates depending on the position of the coordinates of the fiber(s) in the structure. In an exemplary embodiment, the substrate may be glass or any other suitable material. It should be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that any material may be used as the substrate which is used to initially fix the fiber(s) and then the printing of the 3D structure may be performed, and the substrate may be removed after the printing process and discarded. In step 724, the substrate is placed on the platform and attached to the vertical moving device, wherein the substrate is printed and cured layer-by-layer until the complete 3D structure is formed.
[0057] Reference is now made to Figure 7C, which illustrates an exemplary method of preparing the 3D structure. The substrate with the fiber(s) are affixed at the predetermined coordinates and placed on the platform. In step 730, the platform along with the substrate is immersed into a vet tank that contains the printable material. The printable material is deposited on the substrate by dipping the substrate into the tank of printable material. In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber(s) are affixed to the substrate by using a laser light source. In an exemplary embodiment the fiber(s) may be any conducting or non-conducting material and the thickness of the fiber(s) can vary and multiple fibers can have multiple thickness and the thickness of the printable material deposited may also vary. Once the printable material is deposited on the substrate, in step 732, the substrate and the first layer on the substrate, with the fiber(s) are embedded into the printed layer are removed out of the tank, wherein the printed layer is wet, and wet printed layer is cured by illuminating the printed layer with a light source, for example a laser light source.
[0058] Reference is now made to Figure 7D, which illustrates an exemplary method of preparing the 3D structure. Once the first layer has been deposited on the substrate, the wet layer of deposited printable material is cured, in step 740 the substrate with the cured or dried printed layer moved into the vat tank. In step 742, the printable material is deposited on the substrate having the previously printed and dried printed layer to form the next layer with the fibers at the pre-determined coordinated. The fiber(s) may be manually controlled to be in the pre-determined position or may be input to the controller unit to be placed at the pre-determined position. The fiber(s) are disposed by the disposing unit and a required tension is monitored and maintained with the fiber(s) is in the tank as the printable material is being deposited and the printed layer is being cured. Once the printable material is deposited, in step 744, the substrate with the printable material is moved out of the tank and the printable material deposited is cured, preferably using a light source. It should be obvious that other techniques may be used to cure the printable material and all such techniques used to cure the printable material fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Once the printed layer has been cured, in step 746, the substrate with the printed layers is moved back into the tank to print the next layer, before which the fiber(s) are placed at the pre-determined coordinates. The steps 740 to 746 are repeated until the complete 3D structure is printed and in Step 748, the 3D structure when completed is removed, the fiber(s) are cut and the substrate is removed, providing the desired 3D structure.
[0059] In an exemplary embodiment, some of the steps required to form the composite substrate (3D printed structure) with the embedded fiber(s), may include a desired design for the 3D composite structure or 3D structure and the pre- determined co-ordinates of the fiber(s) to be embedded in the 3D structure. In an exemplary embodiment, the design and the pre-determined co-ordinates may be provided as input to the controller unit or to a system coupled to the controller unit or may be controlled manually by the user or may be controlled manually by a user by means of the controller unit. The fiber(s) may be dispensed and held the particular pre-determined coordinates with a required tension provided to the fiber(s) which may be adjustable such that the fiber(s) do not break or snap during the printing process. The controller unit may be configured to also provide a desired tension to the fiber(s) in conjunction with the dispensing unit or the tension may be monitored manually to ensure the fiber(s) do not snap while printing and curing as the fiber(s) move in the vertical and horizontal direction. In an exemplary embodiment, the fiber(s) is first fixed on the substrate, for example using a powerful light or laser source at the pre-determined coordinates. In an exemplary embodiment, the substrate with the fiber(s) affixed is positioned on a platform (also referred to as a build platform) and deposited with the printable material by moving the platform into a tank of printable material. In an example the printable material may be an organic or inorganic material, such as a resin, a thermoplastic, metals etc., the printable material is stored in the tank, for example a vat tank, that is coupled to the build platform, and the platform is configured to move into the vat tank for depositing the printable material and move out of the vat tank after each layer of the 3D matrix is deposited for curing the layer of printable material that is deposited. In an exemplary embodiment, once the fiber(s) are affixed on the substrate, a first layer of the 3D structure is formed by depositing the printable material on the substrate which is placed on the build platform and moved into the tank of printable material, which ensure that the build of the 3D structure may begin. Once the printable material is deposited, the substrate with the first wet printed layer is moved out of the tank of printable material and cured (dried) using a light source, for example a laser light. This forms the first layer of the 3D structure. Once the first layer of the 3D structure is formed, the 3D structure is built layer by layer, by first depositing a layer of printable material by moving the build 3D structure into the tank of printable material, then moving the printed layer pout of the tank for curing the printable layer and repeating the process of deposition and curing of each layer printed until the complete 3D structure is formed with the fiber(s) embedded therein as per the required design, shape or configuration specified.
[0060] Reference is now made to Figure 8A which illustrates an exemplary helical fiber track embedded inside a cylindrical shaped 3D structure in accordance with the present disclosure. Each layer 810 of the structure is visible illustrating that the layer is built layer by layer, and different densities of the printable material may be used to show the layers. A helix is formed inside by a fiber 820 which is placed at pre-determined coordinates and each layer of the 3D structure is printed.
[0061] Reference is now made to Figure 8B which illustrates an exemplary helical fiber track embedded inside a cylindrical shaped 3D structure in accordance with the present disclosure. Exemplary Figure 8B illustrates an actual part or crosssection of the printed 3D structure of exemplary Figure 8A as printed using the exemplary system and exemplary method disclosed above, wherein the printed layer 840 are printed layer by layer and the second fiber 840 is embedded within the 3D structure at pre-determined coordinated and is printed in an anti-clockwise direction from bottom to top. In an exemplary embodiment, Figure 8B shows that the fiber 840 is in the clockwise direction, and in an exemplary embodiment, the fiber may be in a clockwise direction in the first few layers, changed to the anticlockwise direction in the next few layers from bottom to top. Various other designs and shapes may be formed by the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the fiber(s) within the exemplary 3D structure may be continuous and does not display any discontinuities or gaps. In the process according to the present disclosure, the fiber(s) are laid (embedded) in both 2D and out-of-plane within the 3D structure by moving the build platform in a desired direction by controlling the controller unit and/or the disposing unit. The fiber(s) orientation is maintained as per the design specified using a controller unit and as per the input provided to the controller unit or may be maintained manually by a user. Advantageously, the present disclosure allows multiple fiber tracks that may be deposited in a layer that may be out-of-plane. The fiber material can be different in different parts of the matrix, enabling multi-fiber material deposition composite structures.
[0062] Although the foregoing disclosure has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. Examples of the present disclosure have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the process and apparatus of the present invention. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims. It should be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed and explained as examples of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for forming a three-dimensional (3D) structure with and without continuous fibers embedded, the method comprising: placing a plurality of fibers that continue in 3D with pre-determined location in a 3D structure to be formed; depositing a layer of printable material thereby embedding the plurality of fibers in the deposited layer of printable material; curing the layer of printable material deposited; and repeating the steps of placing the plurality of fibers and depositing a layer of printable material and curing the layer of printable material, layer-by-layer until the 3D structure is formed.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of fibers is initially affixed on a substrate prior to depositing the printable material to form the 3D structure.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printable material for deposition for forming the 3D structure is placed in a tank.
4. The method as claimed in claim 3, comprises: placing, the substrate with the plurality of fibers affixed initially, on a platform, and moving the platform in a vertical direction into the tank for depositing the printable material, and on deposition of the layer of printable material moving the platform with the layer of printable material deposited in a vertical direction out of a tank for curing the layer of printable material deposited; and/or moving the platform in a horizontal direction away from the tank for curing the layer of printable material deposited.
5. The method as claimed in claim 3, comprises: exposing the layer of printable material deposited for a pre-determined time to heat and/or light and/or cold and/or wind for curing the printed layer, wherein curing includes hardening the layer of printable material deposited.
6. The method as claimed in claim 2, comprises: providing a tension to the plurality of fibers during the deposition of the printable material and curing of the printable layer thereby ensuring the plurality of fibers do not snap and/or collapse when the platform is moved into the tank for depositing the layer of printable material and out of a tank for curing the layer of printable material deposited.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the tension provided to the plurality of fibers is controlled manually and/or automatically by a processing device or controller unit.
8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the processing device and/or the controller unit is configured to receive: input on the 3D structure to be formed, and/or the pre-determined coordinates for the plurality of fibers to be placed within the 3D structure and/or the predetermined paths in a 3D space along which the fiber(s) are bent.
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printable material and/or the plurality of fibers comprises: an organic material and/or an inorganic material and/or an admixture and/or an alloy.
10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the printable material and/or the plurality of fibers comprises a resin and/or a thermoplastic and/or a metal and/or an insulating material and/or a conducting material and/or a con-conducting material and/or a combination thereof.
11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of fibers comprises: a continuous string to be placed at the pre-determined coordinates and bent along predetermined paths within the 3D structure and/or space, and/or wherein the string is of a predetermined shape and/or size and/or length.
12. A three-dimensional (3D) printing system comprising: a tank or a vat configured to hold a printable material; a controller unit and/or a processing device configured to move a platform in a vertical direction (z-axis) into the tank and out of the tank, and in a horizontal direction (along an XY plane) outside the tank; the controller unit and/or the processing device configured to receive as input a design of a 3D structure to be formed and coordinates of a plurality of fibers to be embedded into a 3D structure; the controller unit and/or the processing device configured to repeat the steps layer-by-layer until the 3D structure with the plurality of continuous fibers embedded is formed: place a plurality of continuous fibers at a pre-determined location of within the 3D structure; depositing a layer of printable material by moving the platform in a vertical direction into the tank of printable material thereby embedding the plurality of fibers in the deposited layer of printable material; moving the deposited layer of printable material in a vertical direction out of the tank of printable material; and curing the deposited layer of printable material.
13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the plurality of fibers is initially affixed on a substrate prior to depositing the printable material to form the 3D structure, and the substrate with the plurality of fibers affixed is placed on the platform.
14. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the printable material for deposition to form the 3D structure is placed in a tank.
15. The system as claimed in claim 14, comprises the substrate with the plurality of fibers affixed initially to be placed on the platform; and a controller unit and/or a processing device configured to move the platform with the substrate in a vertical direction into the tank for depositing the printable material; on deposition of the layer of printable material, move the platform with the layer of printable material deposited in a vertical direction out of a tank for curing the layer of printable material deposited.
16. The system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the controller unit and/or a processing device is configured to move the platform in a horizontal direction away from the tank for curing the layer of printable material deposited. 17. The system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the controller unit and/or the processing device configured to expose the layer of printable material deposited for a pre-determined time to heat and/or light and/or cold and/or wind for curing the printed layer, wherein curing includes hardening the layer of printable material deposited.
18. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the controller unit and/or a processing device configured to provide a tension to the plurality of fibers during the deposition of the printable material and curing of the printable layer thereby ensuring the plurality of fibers do not snap and/or collapse when the platform is moved into the tank for depositing the layer of printable material and out of a tank for curing the layer of printable material deposited.
19. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the tension provided to the plurality of fibers is controlled manually and/or automatically by a processing device or controller unit.
20. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the processing device and/or the controller unit is configured to receive: input on the 3D structure to be formed, and/or the pre-determined coordinates for the plurality of fibers to be placed within the 3D structure and/or a path along which the fiber(s) may be bent in a 3D space.
21. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the printable material and/or the plurality of fibers comprises: an organic material and/or an inorganic material and/or an admixture and/or an alloy.
22. The system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the printable material and/or the plurality of fibers comprises a resin and/or a thermoplastic and/or a metal and/or an insulating material and/or a conducting material and/or a con-conducting material and/or a combination thereof.
24. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the plurality of fibers comprises: a continuous string to be placed or bent along the pre-determined coordinates within the 3D structure and/or space, and/or wherein the string is of a predetermined shape and/or size and/or length.
25. A 3D structure formed with embedded fiber by the method of claims 1 to 11.
26. A 3D structure formed with embedded fiber by the system as claimed in claims 12 to 24.
PCT/IN2023/051004 2022-12-23 2023-11-01 System and process for additive fabrication and manufacturing WO2024134666A1 (en)

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20140061974A1 (en) * 2012-08-29 2014-03-06 Kenneth Tyler Method and apparatus for continuous composite three-dimensional printing
EP3232351A1 (en) * 2016-04-12 2017-10-18 Sergei F. Burlatsky System and process for evaluating and validating additive manufacturing operations

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20140061974A1 (en) * 2012-08-29 2014-03-06 Kenneth Tyler Method and apparatus for continuous composite three-dimensional printing
EP3232351A1 (en) * 2016-04-12 2017-10-18 Sergei F. Burlatsky System and process for evaluating and validating additive manufacturing operations

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