US 11,969,934 B2
Method and apparatus for manufacturing an object by means of additive manufacturing
Mark Herman Else Vaes, Eindhoven (NL); and Adrie Boverhof, Eindhoven (NL)
Assigned to ADDITIVE INDUSTRIES B.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Filed by Additive Industries B.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Filed on Jul. 7, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/369,155.
Prior Publication US 2022/0009155 A1, Jan. 13, 2022
Int. Cl. B29C 64/10 (2017.01); B29C 64/205 (2017.01); B29C 64/255 (2017.01); B29C 64/393 (2017.01); B33Y 10/00 (2015.01); B33Y 50/02 (2015.01); B22F 10/38 (2021.01); B22F 12/70 (2021.01)
CPC B29C 64/10 (2017.08) [B29C 64/205 (2017.08); B29C 64/255 (2017.08); B29C 64/393 (2017.08); B33Y 10/00 (2014.12); B33Y 50/02 (2014.12)] 30 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
15. An apparatus for producing an object by additive manufacturing layer by layer in a layer sequence, the apparatus comprising:
a process chamber for receiving a bath of powdered material configured to be solidified;
a support for positioning the object in relation to a surface level of the bath of powdered material;
a solidifying device for solidifying a selective layer-part of the powdered material; and
a control unit configured for adjusting for individual layers in the layer sequence, a setting of at least one process parameter, during the manufacture of the object, wherein the at least one process parameter is chosen from the group consisting of:
a temperature of a gas present in the process chamber;
a flow rate and/or a flow speed of the gas present in the process chamber;
a relative humidity of the gas present in the process chamber;
a pressure in the process chamber;
an oxygen level in the process chamber;
a flow of a gas through the process chamber;
a temperature of the bath of powdered material;
a temperature of a build plate supporting the layer sequence at a lower side thereof;
a speed at which a surface level of an individual layer in the layer sequence is leveled;
a number of swipes for supplying an individual layer in the layer sequence;
a quantity of powdered material used for providing an individual layer in the layer sequence;
a number of successive layers after which a powdered material reservoir of the apparatus needs to be refilled with powdered material;
an extraction rate of extracting a mixture of the gas and waste particles from the process chamber;
a filtering rate of filtering the mixture of the gas and waste particles from the process chamber; and
an alignment accuracy of the solidifying device for solidifying the selective layer-part of the powdered material for manufacturing the object.