US 11,731,367 B2
Drive system for additive manufacturing
Zhen Liu, Niskayuna, NY (US); Trent William Muhlenkamp, Cincinnati, OH (US); and Christopher David Barnhill, Cincinnati, OH (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Filed on Jun. 23, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/355,461.
Prior Publication US 2022/0410486 A1, Dec. 29, 2022
Int. Cl. B29C 64/393 (2017.01); B33Y 10/00 (2015.01); B33Y 30/00 (2015.01); B33Y 50/02 (2015.01); B29C 64/321 (2017.01); B29C 64/245 (2017.01); B29C 64/227 (2017.01); B29C 64/218 (2017.01)
CPC B29C 64/393 (2017.08) [B29C 64/227 (2017.08); B29C 64/245 (2017.08); B29C 64/321 (2017.08); B33Y 10/00 (2014.12); B33Y 30/00 (2014.12); B33Y 50/02 (2014.12); B29C 64/218 (2017.08)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An additive manufacturing apparatus comprising:
a stage configured to hold a component;
a radiant energy device operable to generate and project radiant energy toward the stage;
an actuator configured to change a relative position of the stage relative to the radiant energy device;
a feed module configured to support a feed roll of a resin support upstream of the stage about a feed mandrel;
a first control device operably coupled with the feed mandrel;
a take-up module configured to support a take-up roll of the resin support downstream of the stage about a take-up mandrel;
a second control device operably coupled with the take-up mandrel; and
a computing system operably coupled with one or more sensors, the computing system configured to provide commands to at least one of the first control device or the second control device to respectively rotate the first control device or the second control device to obtain a target tension on the resin support, wherein the first control device is configured to apply a torque to the feed mandrel to obtain the target tension on the resin support and the second control device is configured to control a target linear translation distance of the resin support from the feed module to the take-up module by rotating the take-up mandrel by an amount of rotation.