Method of making fasteners by three-dimensional printing

1. A method of making a fastener, the method comprising:

(a) creating a first layer of material to define a first section of a fastener;

(b) emitting light onto the first layer after the prior step to cure, harden or bond the layer;

(c) creating a second layer of the material upon the first layer to define a second section of the fastener after the prior step;

(d) emitting light onto the second layer after the prior step to cure, harden or bond the second layer;

(e) creating at least a third layer of the material upon the second layer to define at least a third section of the fastener after the prior step;

(f) emitting light onto the third layer after the prior step to cure, harden or bond the third layer;

(g) creating a flexible member from the material which is a printed polymeric material, the member being at least one of: (i) an umbrella or (ii) a work-piece engaging leg; and

(h) removing the finished fastener from a machine which performs the creating and emitting steps, with the layers all being integrally connected to their adjacent layers;

the finished fastener being functional and made by the machine in less than ninety minutes.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising depositing the first layer of the material from a printing head onto a support surface of the machine in an ambient and unpressurized air environment.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the material is a light curable polymer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the light is ultraviolet light which is immediately passed over each layer of the fastener after it is deposited.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising making the flexible workpiece-securing leg, an elongated shaft and a laterally enlarged flange, as part of the creating steps, the head being layered before the leg is layered in the machine.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising making a threaded shaft with sharply angled thread intersections for at least one of: a peak and a valley, by the creating steps.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising making a flexible section of the fastener by creating another layer of a different material, the first section being of a more rigid material than the flexible section.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating the fastener in an additive manner as a quarter-turn fastener including inwardly projecting flanges, upstanding walls and the flexible workpiece-engaging legs.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating a first threaded component and a mating second threaded component of the fastener, with the components being additively built-up in an assembled state with their threads engaged, the components being adapted for disassembly from each other after manufacturing in at least one condition.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising depositing a second and different material integrally connected to the first material during the same machine head pass above the fastener being created.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising making a predetermined space entirely encapsulated within a section of the fastener.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising making a spiral thread on the fastener by depositing and light curing the material.

13. A method of using a three-dimensional printing machine, the method comprising:

emitting material from an ink jet printing head of the three-dimensional printing machine, and building up a fastener by placing the material to create workpiece-retention legs laterally extending from a stem; and

creating an enlarged fastener head with the building up step;

wherein the workpiece-retention legs include at least one of: (a) moveable legs adapted to expand on the opposite end of the fastener from the fastener head, or (b) moveable barbs which are tapered toward a longitudinal centerline opposite the fastener head.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising using the three-dimensional printing machine to create a threaded receptacle of the fastener, including internal threads adapted to retain an elongated threaded shaft at least after the curing.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising using the three-dimensional printing machine to create a resilient segment from the material which is flexible.

16. A method of using a three-dimensional printing machine, the method comprising:

emitting material from an ink jet printing head of the three-dimensional printing machine, and building up a fastener by placing the material to create at least one of: (i) a threaded receptacle, (ii) a resilient segment, or (iii) workpiece-retention legs laterally extending from a stem; and

creating a preassembled shaft located partially within a bore of the fastener during the building up step, the bore being located within a body, the body including workpiece-engaging surfaces, and the shaft being further insertable into the bore after the fastener is manufactured.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising creating an enlarged head with the building up step, wherein the workpiece-retention legs are created and include at least one of: (a) moveable legs adapted to expand on the opposite end of the fastener from the head, or (b) moveable barbs which are tapered toward a longitudinal centerline opposite the head.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising building up the fastener on a layer-by-layer basis, the machine further comprising a support surface upon which the material is built up located in a gaseous environment, and at least one of the printing head and the support surface moving relative to the other to create each layer with a movement pass.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the material is a three-dimensionally printable polymer, further comprising curing the fastener with light as the fastener is being built up.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the building-up of the fastener further comprises creating a grommet with the bore therein and creating the legs extended from the grommet by additively depositing multiple layers of the material upon each other in a gaseous environment inside the machine, the legs being flexible and including barbed structures.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising creating a laterally enlarged flange and an enlarged tapered end with the shaft between, by additively depositing multiple layers of the material upon each other in a gaseous environment inside the machine.

22. The method of claim 16 , wherein the emitting step is conducted in air within the machine and the material is a liquid polymer.

23. The method of claim 16 , further comprising creating a flexible umbrella between a laterally enlarged head and the shaft by additively depositing multiple layers of the material upon each other.

24. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating a flexible weatherstrip integrally attached to the fastener, as part of the depositing steps.

25. The method of claim 1 , further comprising flowing the material from a machine head positioned above a surface of the machine, which is a three-dimensional printing machine, supporting the first layer, at least one of the machine head and the support surface automatically moving relative to the other according to computer instructions in order to create identical multiples of the fastener in the same machine cycle, free of contraction or expansion due to manufacture thereof.

26. The method of claim 1 , wherein the material is a polymeric string emitted from a moveable machine head in a continuous manner from a spool which supplies the string to the head.

27. The method of claim 1 , further comprising making a predetermined hollow space entirely encapsulated within a section of the fastener.

28. The method of claim 13 , further comprising making a predetermined hollow space entirely encapsulated within a section of the fastener.

29. The method of claim 13 , wherein at least ten of the fasteners are substantially simultaneously manufactured in a single machine cycle in less than ninety minutes.

30. The method of claim 13 , wherein the emitting the material from the ink jet printing head includes flowing the material from openings arranged in an array such that multiple material flows are simultaneously occurring for each layer of the fastener.

31. The method of claim 13 , further comprising three-dimensional printing a second member substantially simultaneously with the creation of the fastener in an assembled state such that post-curing assembly is not required, and the second member being moveable relative to a remainder of the fastener after removal of the fastener from the machine.

32. The method of claim 13 , further comprising simultaneously creating a resilient segment integral with the fastener head by depositing a layer of a second and more flexible material adjacent a more rigid material defining the fastener head.