Granted Patent B2

US 12,447,670 · App. 17/513,312 · Granted Oct 21, 2025

Inventors: Joseph M. DeSimone (Monte Sereno, CA); Alexander Ermoshkin (Pittsboro, NC); Edward T. Samulski (Chapel Hill, NC)

Assignee: CARBON, INC.

B29C64/135A61F2/82A61M37/0015B29C35/0888B29C64/124B29C64/129B29C64/393B29C64/40B33Y10/00B33Y30/00B33Y50/02B33Y80/00G03F7/0037A61F2240/001B29C2033/0005B29C2035/0827B29K2067/00B29K2071/02B29K2105/0005B29K2105/0058B29K2827/12B29K2883/005B29K2995/0026B29K2995/006B29K2995/0065B29L2031/753B29L2031/7534G05B2219/00G05B2219/49016

Abstract

Claims (23)

1. A method of forming a three-dimensional object, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a carrier and a build plate, said build plate comprising a semipermeable member, said semipermeable member comprising a build surface with said build surface and said carrier defining a build region therebetween, and with said build surface in fluid communication by way of the semipermeable member with a source of polymerization inhibitor;

(b) filling said build region with a polymerizable liquid, said polymerizable liquid contacting said build surface,

(c) irradiating said build region through said build plate to produce a solid polymerized region in said build region, while forming or maintaining a liquid film release layer comprised of said polymerizable liquid formed between said solid polymerized region and said build surface, wherein the polymerization of which liquid film is inhibited by said polymerization inhibitor; and

(d) advancing said carrier with said polymerized region adhered thereto away from said build surface on said build plate to create a subsequent build region between said polymerized region and said build surface while concurrently filling said subsequent build region with polymerizable liquid as in step (b),

wherein said build plate is substantially fixed or stationary.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said polymerizable liquid comprises a free radical polymerizable liquid, said inhibitor comprises oxygen, and step (c) is carried out by irradiating said build region with light.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein steps (c) and (d) are carried out concurrently.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the source of polymerization inhibitor is a reservoir of polymerization inhibitor within the semipermeable member.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semipermeable member further comprises a feed surface separate from said build surface, and

wherein said polymerizable liquid comprises a free radical polymerizable liquid, said inhibitor comprises oxygen, and step (c) is carried out by irradiating said build region with light.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the feed surface is in fluid contact with a polymerization inhibitor so as to provide said source of polymerization inhibitor.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising heating said polymerizable liquid to reduce the viscosity thereof in said build region.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising cooling said polymerizable liquid in said build region to dissipate heat generated by polymerization reactions.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said advancing step or steps is/are carried out at a cumulative rate of at least 10 microns per second.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein excess polymerizable liquid is supplied to said build region, removed or drained therefrom to cool said build region, and then optionally recirculated back to said build region.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said carrier has a soluble sacrificial layer thereon, and said three-dimensional object is formed on said soluble sacrificial layer.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the total surface area of the build region occupies at least seventy percent of the total surface area of the build surface; and/or

wherein lateral movement of the carrier and object in any direction is not more than thirty percent of the width of said build region in the corresponding direction.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

continuing and/or repeating steps (c) and (d) to continuously produce in a layerless manner a subsequent polymerized region adhered to a previous polymerized region until the continued or repeated deposition of polymerized regions adhered to one another forms said three-dimensional object; and

heating or cooling said polymerizable liquid.

Continuity (9)

References Cited (302)