Advancements in 3D Printing Multi-Color Objects
14 patents in this list
Updated:
A significant development in the industry, multi-color 3D printing allows manufacturers and designers to create realistic-looking and visually appealing goods. 3D printed models could only be produced in one or two colors previously.
But there are a few problems requiring innovative solutions. This page examines many methods to ensure that the multicolored three-dimensional components are of the highest caliber.
1. Selective Fusing Agents for Multi-Color 3D Printing
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., 2023
Printing multi-colored 3D objects using fusing agents to heat and fuse colored powder-build material selectively. The additive manufacturing system deposits colored fusing agents matching subtractive colorants like magenta, yellow, and cyan. It also deposits a colorless UV-absorbing agent. The system uses monochromatic light sources to fuse colored areas selectively. A controller adjusts irradiation to compensate for different color intensities.
2. Color and Transparency Accurate 3D Printing Method
STRATASYS LTD., 2023
Method for selecting a print head of a 3D printer for printing a 3D object with accurate colors and transparency. The method involves analyzing a 3D model to determine colorization values for each printing position based on the closest shell point color. It then converts the colorization to the printer's color space and selects a print head with the closest matching colors.
3. Full-Color 3D Printing by Diffusive Color Mapping Technique
Stratasys Ltd., 2023
Method to enable full-color 3D printing with additive manufacturing technologies like 3D inkjet printing. The method maps 2D color textures onto 3D objects in a way that diffuses the color transitions through the object depth, simulating subtractive mixing like in physical objects. It constructs a 3D color map assigning colors to internal voxels based on surrounding voxels and the color texture. This allows printing objects that appear colored throughout like traditionally manufactured objects rather than just on the surface.
4. Polymer-Assisted Photochemical Deposition for High-Resolution Multi-Color 3D Printing
Chao Wang, Shinhyuk Choi, Yu Yao, Jiawei Zuo, 2023
Color printing uses polymer-assisted photochemical deposition (PPD) to make structural color images with vivid, saturated colors using a low-cost, non-toxic additive manufacturing process. The PPD process uses UV radiation to reduce metal ions into nanoparticles that are coupled with polymers to form a nanocomposite film. When printed in Fabry-Perot cavities, these films produce bright, tunable colors across the visible spectrum. The technique enables direct printing of high-resolution, color-tunable images on a variety of substrates without cleanrooms or high temperatures.
5. Multi-Color 3D Printing with Smooth Color Transitions
MakerBot Industries, LLC, 2021
3D printer that prints objects with multiple colors. It uses transitional lengths of build material to achieve smooth color transitions when changing colors during fabrication. These transitional lengths of build material are positioned inside the object or outside where they won't impact desired colors on the surface.
6. Wavelength-Specific Beams for Multi-Color 3D Printing
Young Optics Inc., 2020
3D printing apparatus and method for multi-color 3D printing using different wavelength beams. The apparatus projects beams of different wavelengths to solidify layers of photosensitive resin. The solidified layers can have different colors by using beams with different wavelengths corresponding to specific colors. This allows the creation of 3D-printed objects with multicolor effects.
7. Color Interference Compensation in Multi-Color 3D Printing
Stratasys Ltd., 2019
Method for ensuring uniform color appearance in multi-colored 3D printed objects by compensating for color variation due to interference between neighboring surfaces. The method uses the 3D geometry to identify regions where using the defined colors would cause errors. Corrections are applied to the color distribution to mitigate interference and ensure uniform appearance.
8. Enhanced Color Mixing Method for Multi-Color 3D Printing
INVENTEC APPLIANCES (PUDONG) CORPORATION, INVENTEC APPLIANCES CORP., Inventec Appliances (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., 2017
Method and apparatus for printing a multi-color three-dimensional object with improved color mixing compared to existing multi-color 3D printing methods. The method involves layering the object into multiple layer-printing documents with different colors and then integrating them into a model printing document that specifies the full object. This enables printing the 3D object with a multi-nozzle printer in a way that layers with different colors and heights are stacked, increasing color mixing compared to gradual color changes within a layer.
9. Optimized Multi-Color Extrusion System for Full Color 3D Printing
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, 2016
Enabling full-color 3D printing using multi-color extrusion systems. It involves optimizing the printing process to slice a full-color 3D model into layers with color information preserved and generate toolpaths that minimize color switching on the exterior, smooth transitions inside the object, and deposit transitional material for infill areas when switching colors. This allows fabricating full-color 3D objects by applying colored material for all polygons of the same color before switching colors, switching colors at internal vertices, and using transitional material for infills. The optimized toolpath reduces bubbles and waste compared to arbitrary color switching.
10. Automated Color Matching and Conversion for Multi-Color 3D Printing
SAMSUNG SDS CO., LTD., 2016
This method controls multi-color 3D printing without requiring additional software or manual color selection. It involves generating specific color data for each entity in a 3D object based on its modeling information. This entity-specific color data is then converted to the closest color that can be printed by the 3D printer. An output file is created using the original modeling info and converted colors. This allows the generating of a customized file for each printer that outputs the model in the closest supported colors.
11. Single-Nozzle Multi-Color 3D Printing Method
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD., 2016
3D printing method that enables printing multi-colored objects in one pass without needing to clean excess powder or use multiple nozzles. The method involves using a single nozzle to deposit a base material layer-by-layer to build the object. This material contains colorants that provide the desired colors. The nozzle also has a separate channel to deliver a separate colored ink, which is applied on top of the base material during printing. This allows adding dynamic colors or details on top of the base color during the printing process.
12. Temperature-Controlled Color Changing Filament for Single-Extruder Multi-Color 3D Printing
Inventec Appliances (Pudong) Corporation, Inventec Appliances Corp., Inventec Appliances (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 2015
A device and method for 3D printing color objects using a single thermoplastic filament that changes color based on temperature. The printer heats the filament to different temperatures to control the color as it is extruded. A temperature/color table maps colors to temperatures. The printer reads color data for each point in a 3D model, then moves the print head to that location and heats the filament to the corresponding temperature to print in that color at that point. This allows 3D printing objects with complex color patterns without using multiple filaments or post-processing.
13. Multi-Printhead 3D Printing System for Precise Color Mixing in Three-Dimensional Objects
David B. Russell, Walter Henry Zengerle, III, Peter Charles Conway, James F. Bredt, Benjamin Daniel Sweet-Block, Robert Anthony Phillips, 2006
Printing a colored three-dimensional object using a 3D printer that includes multiple printheads for printing binder onto a bed of build material. Each printhead is coupled with a different colorant source (cyan, yellow, magenta, black) and a colorless binder source. The system determines the total binder amount needed to solidify the build material at a location and the amount of each colorant needed to produce the desired color. It then calculates the additional colorless binder needed to reach the total amount. This allows precise color mixing without oversaturation.
14. Retrofitting Single Printhead 3D Printers for Multi-Color Printing
Dorsey D. Coe, 2003
A method to colorize 3D printed models during construction in a single color 3D printer by retrofitting existing printers. It involves modifying the printing process, printhead, substrate, and software to enable multi-color printing using a single printhead. The key steps are: using a single printhead but multiple colored substrates, retrofitting the printer with additional reservoirs and heating components, modifying the software to separate the model into colored sub-models, and printing each sub-model layer with the corresponding colored substrate. The order of printing the colored layers is based on color density.
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A number of techniques used in the patents shown here reveal how to get over these challenges and enable multi-color 3D printing. Full-color mapping, the best toolpaths for color transitions, selective fusing agents, and color and transparency analysis for print head selection are a few of these advanced methods.