THERMAL MANAGEMENT METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING UNIFORM MATERIAL DEPOSITION AND CURING FOR HIGH SPEED THREE-DIMENSIONAL OBJECT PRINTING

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a three-dimensional object printing system that compensates for thermal effects that occur during high speed printing.;SOLUTION: A three-dimensional object printing system comprises ejectors configured to eject drops of material towards a platen, a heater, a sensor configured to sense temperature of the ejected material, a radiator configured to direct radiation to the ejected material, a cooler configured to cool the ejected material, and a controller operatively connected to the ejectors, heater, sensor, radiator and cooler. The controller is configured to control the ejectors to form layers of material for a three-dimensional object on the surface of the platen with reference to image data of the three-dimensional object, to operate the heater to heat the surface of the platen, to compare a temperature signal received from the sensor to a predetermined threshold, to operate the radiator to radiate the object layers, and to operate the cooler to attenuate heat produced by the radiated material in response to the signal from the sensor exceeding the predetermined threshold.;SELECTED DRAWING: None;COPYRIGHT: (C)2017,JPO&INPIT