US 11,731,366 B2
Method and system for operating a metal drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer to form electrical circuits on substrates
David A. Mantell, Rochester, NY (US); Christopher T. Chungbin, Webster, NY (US); Daniel R. Cormier, Pittsford, NY (US); Denis Cormier, Pittsford, NY (US); Manoj Meda, Brighton, NY (US); and Dinesh Krishna Kumar Jayabal, Rochester, NY (US)
Assigned to Xerox Corporation, Norwalk, CT (US)
Filed by Xerox Corporation, Norwalk, CT (US)
Filed on Jul. 31, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/945,509.
Prior Publication US 2022/0032550 A1, Feb. 3, 2022
Int. Cl. B29C 64/393 (2017.01); B33Y 50/02 (2015.01); B33Y 70/00 (2020.01); B33Y 80/00 (2015.01); B29C 64/112 (2017.01); B29C 64/209 (2017.01); B22F 12/53 (2021.01); B22F 10/85 (2021.01); B22F 10/22 (2021.01)
CPC B29C 64/393 (2017.08) [B22F 10/22 (2021.01); B22F 10/85 (2021.01); B22F 12/53 (2021.01); B29C 64/112 (2017.08); B29C 64/209 (2017.08); B33Y 50/02 (2014.12); B33Y 70/00 (2014.12); B33Y 80/00 (2014.12)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A metal drop ejecting apparatus comprising:
a melter configured to receive and melt a bulk metal;
at least one ejector operatively connected to the melter to receive melted bulk metal from the melter;
a platform configured to support a substrate, the platform being positioned opposite the at least one ejector;
at least one actuator operatively connected to at least one of the platform and the at least one ejector, the at least one actuator being configured to move the at least one of the platform and the at least one ejector relative to one another;
a user interface configured to receive model data and user input data; and
a controller operatively connected to the melter, the at least one ejector, the user interface, and the at least one actuator, the controller being configured to:
identify a bulk metal material to be received by the melter using the model data and the user input data;
identify a substrate onto which the at least one ejector ejects melted bulk metal drops using the model data and the user input data;
identify operational parameters for operating the at least one ejector, the at least one actuator, and the melter using the identified bulk metal material and the identified substrate; and
operate the melter at a predetermined temperature corresponding to the identified bulk metal and the identified substrate;
operate the at least one ejector at a predetermined ejection frequency and a predetermined overlap percentage corresponding to the identified substrate and the identified bulk metal;
operate the at least one actuator to move the platform and the at least one ejector relative to one another to provide one of a plurality of predetermined drop spacings for melted metal drops ejected from the at least one ejector onto the identified substrate, the provided predetermined drop spacing corresponding to the identified bulk metal and the identified substrate, the predetermined drop spacing corresponds to a 0% percentage of overlap, and a separation between adjacent ejected melted metal drops is equal to or greater than one diameter of an ejected melted metal drop when the identified bulk metal is aluminum and the identified substrate is a semiconductor wafer or an oxide layer on a semiconductor wafer; and
operate the at least one ejector to eject at least one melted metal drop on each of the previously ejected separated metal drops with an overlap percentage of 100% before operating the at least one ejector to eject melted metal drops that freeze to at least one of the separated metal drops after the ejected melted metal drops reach the substrate to connect the separated metal drops to form metal traces on the identified substrate.