Thermal Control in 3D Printers

Manual temperature controller for 3D printers with continuous fiber materials to improve print quality and accuracy by providing localized heating and cooling around the print head. The controller attaches externally to the print head and has a heating element and cooling fans inside. It also has a temperature sensor to monitor conditions. This allows controlling temperatures specifically around the print area, mitigating uneven heating issues that arise with open or semi-open print systems.

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3D printer temperature control system that allows real-time adjustment of printer head and platform temperatures during printing, and supports high-temperature materials like PEEK, TPI, PI, metallic zinc, and aluminum. The system separates the temperature control circuits for the head and platform from the main control panel, with independent temperature sensors and solid-state relays for the heaters. This allows higher currents through the heaters and enables higher temperatures.

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A 3D printer with adjustable printing chamber temperature for optimal printing quality and material performance. The printer has a temperature sensor, heating mechanism, and air-cooled heat dissipation mechanism. The heating mechanism uses an electric heating tube, support frame, anti-ash net, and heating plate. The air-cooled heat dissipation mechanism has a cover, fan, ventilation holes, grid, and anti-dust net to control temperature. This allows precise temperature control inside the printing chamber to prevent material deformation, gaps, cracks, and solidification issues while preventing excessive heat damage to the material.

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Thermal cycling device for a high-temperature chamber of a high-temperature 3D printer to improve thermal uniformity and reduce energy waste. The device has a base, support platform, heat collection box, tubes, and pump. Heat generated at the top of the chamber flows through tubes to the base, then is evenly exhausted. This transfers heat from the top to bottom, cycling the temperature throughout the chamber.

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3D printer designed to maintain consistent internal temperature for improved printing quality and reliability. The printer has a temperature sensor in the upper section that extends into the print chamber. The outer side of the upper section is connected to a temperature control component that has multiple air pipes, valves, fans, and filters. This component allows controlled cooling or heating of the outer section to match the internal temperature. Exhaust fans on the sides help with airflow. By regulating the outer temperature, it prevents external factors from affecting the print chamber temperature.

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High-performance 3D printer constant temperature device to maintain optimal printing conditions by using a sealed insulated enclosure, internal heating plates, a heat exchanger, ventilation, and a cleaning mechanism. The device has a 3D printer inside an insulated box with fixed heating plates. An enclosed fixed box on top has a heat exchanger, ventilation fan, and cleaning mechanism. The heating plates increase temperature. When insulated box gets too hot, the fan removes heat. The heat exchanger transfers heat to external liquids. The cleaning mechanism cleans the heat exchanger. The enclosed box maintains pressure. The sealing cover moves up/down to open the vent.

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Optimizing cavity temperature control in 3D printers to prevent warping and improve print quality. The method involves sensing the actual cavity temperature and adjusting the heating component power limit based on safe temperature thresholds. This prevents excessive cavity temperatures that can damage the printer while maintaining sufficient temperature for good print quality. By monitoring the cavity temperature and adjusting the heating power limit, the cavity temperature can be precisely controlled.

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A 3D printer head with multiple filament feeders for printing with different materials simultaneously. The head has a movable frame with a first transmission mechanism inside. The middle part of this mechanism connects to a fixed frame. The fixed frame has a feeding mechanism inside, where the feeders for the different materials are located. This allows independent feeding of three different filaments. The head also has a heat dissipation mechanism, water-cooled heat sink, and a discharge head assembly at the bottom. This improves heat dissipation and ensures even heating for smooth feeding. The movable frame can move up and down with a second transmission mechanism and liftable printing base.

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Controlling the preheating of a build plate in additive manufacturing allows the production of high-quality parts with consistent properties. The preheating is carried out with an energy beam and involves controlling the power distribution over the build plate. This is done by measuring the temperature at the center and edges of the plate and adjusting the beam power to achieve a target temperature difference.

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Temperature control system for additive manufacturing to improve properties of printed parts. It involves fusing material with an energy source and then forging it. A detector measures an internal effect parameter at the forging location. A control module calculates the temperature at that location based on the parameter. If the temperature is outside a desired range, it adjusts the energy source and forging device to bring it into range.

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A thermally decomposable build plate for additive manufacturing that enables easy release of 3D printed metal parts without damaging the parts or build plate. The build plate is an open frame with a recessed section that is filled with a lower-temperature melting metal or alloy insert. After printing, the insert can be melted and drained to release the 3D printed part without mechanical cutting. The lower melting insert protects the build plate, allows separation without damage, and reuses the plate.

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Additive manufacturing of polymeric materials with controlled properties using variable 3D printer temperature zones. The process involves selectively heating or cooling regions of a resin during polymerization to control the properties of the printed object. This enables the formation of multi-region objects with distinct physical characteristics from a single resin formulation. The ability to 3D print polymers with tunable properties could have applications in areas like customized orthodontics, where dental aligners can be made with different regions having tailored flexibility or stiffness.

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A method to control the cooling of a build table in an additive manufacturing apparatus to cool the build table to a desired temperature in an efficient manner. The method involves heating the build table to a predetermined set temperature and then adjusting the supply refrigerant temperature based on the set temperature. The refrigerant is circulated between the refrigerant circulation device and a cooler that cools the build table. Adjusting the refrigerant temperature based on the set temperature allows the build table to be cooled efficiently and precisely to avoid excessive cooling time or overheating issues.

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3D metal printing method that uses sequential near-infrared (NIR) radiation heating to reduce stress and cracking when locally melting and fusing metal powder layers. The method involves preheating and post-heating specific areas of each powder layer using NIR radiation before and after selective melting to join layers. This allows localized control of temperatures to minimize thermal stresses.

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Selective laser melting (SLM) 3D printing method that uses thermographic monitoring to optimize laser scanning. The method involves acquiring thermographic data from previous layers and then using that data to guide the laser scanning of the current layer to minimize temperature gradients and avoid overheating. This improves quality by reducing defects like cracking and burrs. The thermographic data can be acquired using a movable detector that scans the layer after irradiation.

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An apparatus for cooling an LCD panel in a 3D printer to improve print quality. The cooling is achieved by installing a sealed case between the light source and LCD panel, with a cooling module that cools the air inside the case. This prevents the LCD panel from overheating and blackening during printing, which can degrade image quality.

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A heat exchanger that leverages additive manufacturing (AM) to improve performance and manufacturability compared to conventional heat exchangers. The heat exchanger is built using layer-by-layer AM, such as powder bed fusion. The AM process allows complex geometries with internal passages that are difficult or impossible to produce with conventional manufacturing. The heat exchanger has an annular body with an integrated heat exchanger core. It also has an axially extending spar and connection region that expands and contracts with the core. This prevents stress and strain concentration that could lead to failure. The manufacturing process involves forming annular layers, then growing the body and core upwards from one end. This allows trapped powder to be removed from the other end.

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Metal jetting using a 3D printer to create a 3D part from liquid metal drops. It involves pulsing the printer's magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pump coil at sub-threshold levels that provide supplemental induction heating to the pump without ejecting drops. This helps maintain consistent drop temperatures during warm-up, standby, and other non-printing modes.

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A plate-fin heat exchanger with flexible manifold that enhances thermal robustness and reliability by reducing thermal stresses compared to conventional exchangers. The exchanger has a flexible manifold with multiple individual layers joined to the heat exchanger core layers. The compliant flexible manifold allows thermal expansion and contraction without creating significant stress concentrations. It is metallurgically joined to the core layers, enabling thermal expansion continuity. This reduces thermal stress compared to rigid manifolds bolted or welded to the core. The flexible manifold has ports at each end to connect fluids and vanes dividing layers.

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Heat-aware toolpath generation for 3D printing of physical objects. The toolpath is generated with criteria that optimize the path to minimize heat accumulation and deformation during the print. The toolpath design accounts for factors like the amount of heat generated in a zone, the proximity to previously printed zones, and the time between printing zones to strategically plan the order and placement of printed paths. This reduces heat-related deformations and improves the quality of printed objects.

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