INJECTION MOLDING TO FINISH PARTS PRINTED WITH THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT PRINTER

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for forming a three-dimensional object being able to obtain high speed and increased throughput available with injection molding techniques in manufacture of three-dimensional objects.SOLUTION: The method for forming a three-dimensional object uses a three-dimensional object printer 304 to form a printed part 104, and an injection molding system 320 is used to form a molded part that adjoins the printed part 104 and completes the three-dimensional object formation. The method includes: operating an ejector head 308 of a three-dimensional object printer 304 so as to eject drops of material onto a platen 312 to form the printed part 104; operating an actuator 356 to move the printed part from the platen to a cavity 332 of an injection mold of the injection molding system 320; and operating injectors 348 of the injection molding system 320 so as to inject material into the cavity 332 of the injection mold to form the molded part that adjoins the printed part 104 in order to form the three-dimensional object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3