US 11,858,197 B2
Additive manufacturing using thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer
Silvan Gantenbein, Zürich (CH); Kunal Masania, Oegstgeest (NL); Theo Tervoort, Zürich (CH); André R. Studart, Zürich (CH); Jens P. W. Sesseg, Gauting (DE); and Wilhelm Woigk, Zürich (CH)
Assigned to ETH Zürich, Zurich (CH)
Appl. No. 17/253,389
Filed by ETH Zürich, Zürich (CH)
PCT Filed Jun. 21, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/066473
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 17, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/243575, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 26, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 18179376 (EP), filed on Jun. 22, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0323219 A1, Oct. 21, 2021
Int. Cl. B29C 64/118 (2017.01); B29K 67/00 (2006.01); B29C 64/295 (2017.01); B29C 64/209 (2017.01); B29C 71/02 (2006.01); B33Y 10/00 (2015.01); B33Y 30/00 (2015.01); B33Y 70/00 (2020.01); B33Y 40/20 (2020.01)
CPC B29C 64/118 (2017.08) [B29C 64/209 (2017.08); B29C 64/295 (2017.08); B29C 71/02 (2013.01); B29C 2071/022 (2013.01); B29K 2067/00 (2013.01); B33Y 10/00 (2014.12); B33Y 30/00 (2014.12); B33Y 40/20 (2020.01); B33Y 70/00 (2014.12)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An additive manufacturing process for the manufacture of an object in an additive manufacturing apparatus, wherein the object is formed by one or several individual solid filamentous units, said additive manufacturing process comprising the steps of,
discharging a polymer composition in a molten state from a nozzle of a print head, thereby imparting an orienting flow on said polymer composition in a molten state being discharged from said nozzle of the print head and depositing the discharged polymer composition in a molten state along at least one predefined path and allowing the thus formed one or several filamentous units to solidify such as to form one or several solid filamentous units of the object to be manufactured;
optionally repeating the previous step until the object is formed;
wherein said polymer composition consists of a thermotropic liquid crystal polymer as the polymer component of the polymer composition or consists of a thermotropic liquid crystal polymer as the polymer component of the polymer composition and non-polymer additives or reinforcing fibres,
characterized in that the smallest thickness of the one or several filamentous units is equal or less than 0.2 mm.