ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING WITH INTEGRATED MICROLITER RESIN DELIVERY

摘要

An additive manufacturing system utilizing an oxygen-permeable membrane to facilitate low-volume printing and high-speed resin change in a stereolithography-based 3D printer. The membrane is used to constrain the fluid surface at the focal plane of the stereolithography printer and a carrier fluid is used to hold the fluid against the membrane. The small amount of resin is quickly switched using integrated microfluidic channels.

主权项

1. An additive manufacturing apparatus for building a structure, comprising:
a reservoir; an immiscible fluid in said reservoir; a membrane operatively connected to said reservoir; a microliter amount of curable resin; a delivery system for delivering said microliter amount of curable resin to said reservoir in contact with said immiscible fluid in said reservoir; and an energy source adapted to deliver energy to said reservoir onto said microliter amount of curable resin for building the structure.