US 12,330,376 B2
Method for additive manufacturing with partial curing
Mariana Pokrass, Rehovot (IL); Lev Kuno, Tzur-Hadassah (IL); Eviatar Golan, Mazkeret-Batya (IL); and Oren Zoran, Rehovot (IL)
Assigned to Stratasys Ltd., Rehovot (IL)
Filed by Stratasys Ltd., Rehovot (IL)
Filed on Jun. 22, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/846,061.
Application 17/846,061 is a continuation of application No. 17/280,324, granted, now 11,376,799, previously published as PCT/IL2019/051069, filed on Sep. 27, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/738,041, filed on Sep. 28, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0324179 A1, Oct. 13, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B33Y 10/00 (2015.01); B29C 35/08 (2006.01); B29C 64/106 (2017.01); B29C 64/40 (2017.01); B29K 105/00 (2006.01)
CPC B29C 64/40 (2017.08) [B29C 35/0805 (2013.01); B29C 64/106 (2017.08); B33Y 10/00 (2014.12); B29C 2035/0827 (2013.01); B29K 2105/0094 (2013.01); B29K 2995/0012 (2013.01); B29K 2995/0026 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional object via additive manufacturing (AM), the method comprising:
dispensing a first building material formulation to form an outer region, and dispensing a second building material formulation to form an inner region, the outer region surrounding the inner region, the inner and outer regions being shaped to form a layer of the object;
exposing the layer to a first curing condition, wherein the first and the second building material formulations and the first curing condition are selected such that upon the exposing to said first curing condition, the first building material formulation is polymerized to a higher degree than the second building formulation,
repeating the dispensing and the exposing to the first curing condition to sequentially form a plurality of layers of the object, wherein the outer regions form a hardened coating that at least partially encapsulates the inner regions; and
collectively exposing the plurality of layers to a second curing condition, wherein the second curing condition is other than the first curing condition and wherein the second curing condition is selected to increase a degree that the inner region is hardened by polymerization and/or cross-linking,
wherein the first building material formulation comprises a first curable material which is a UV curable material, and a photo-initiator in an amount that ranges from 1 to 3 weight percent of the total weight of the first building material formulation, and the second building material formulation comprises a second curable material which is a UV curable material, and a photo-initiator in an amount that is less than 50% of said amount of the photo-initiator in the first building material formulation,
wherein each of the first and second building material formulations provides a transparent hardened material, and
wherein said first curing condition comprises UV-irradiation.