Additive Manufacturing of Extended Structures

摘要

An extended structure additive manufacturing device and method are provided. The device includes a movable material bonding component and a movement mechanism which enable the device to create parts outside the conventional additive manufacturing device print volumes defined by the device and its print-head. Methods of making parts involve creating a portion of a part and moving the extended structure additive manufacturing device relative to the part and printing a second portion of the part. Parts incapable of being formed using a conventional additive manufacturing device may be made using the extended structure additive manufacturing device and/or methods disclosed herein.

主权项

1. An extended structure additive manufacturing device for producing large continuous objects, the extended structure additive manufacturing device comprising:
a frame; a movable material bonding component connected for to the frame, the material bonding component configured to receive portions of a material, the material bonding component configured to create a part from the received material via positioning and bonding each of the portions of the received material at a part creation area; and a movement mechanism configured to move the extended structure additive manufacturing device relative to the part.