Three-dimensional objects produced from materials having multiple mechanisms of hardening

Abstract

A three dimensional object includes (a) a light polymerized first component; and (b) a second solidified component different from the first component. The object is preferably of a polymer blend formed from the first component and the second component, with the polymer blend as an interpenetrating polymer network, a semi-interpenetrating polymer network, or a sequential interpenetrating polymer network. In some preferred embodiments, the second component does not contain a cationic polymerization photoinitiator. In some preferred embodiments, the three dimensional object is produced by the process of continuous liquid interface production.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) of PCT Application PCT / US2015 / 036924 (Attorney Docket No. 1151-16CWO), filed Jun. 22, 2015, which in turn claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. Nos. 62 / 133,642 filed Mar. 16, 2015, 62 / 129,187 filed Mar. 6, 2015, 62 / 111,961 filed Feb. 4, 2015, 62 / 101,671 filed Jan. 9, 2015, 62 / 036,161 filed Aug. 12, 2014, and 62 / 015,780 filed Jun. 23, 2014, the disclosure of each which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention concerns materials, methods and apparatus for the fabrication of solid three-dimensional objects from liquid materials, and objects so produced.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In conventional additive or three-dimensional fabrication techniques, construction of a three-dimensional object is performed in a step-wise or layer-by-layer manner. In particular, layer formation is performed through solidificat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0034]In some embodiments the method further comprises vertically reciprocating the carrier with respect to the build surface to enhance or speed the refilling of the build region with the polymerizable liquid.

[0049]In some embodiments, a Lewis acid or an oxidizable tin salt is included in the polymerizable liquid (e.g., in an amount of from 0.01 or 0.1 to 1 or 2 percent by weight, or more) in an amount effective to accelerate the formation of the three-dimensional intermediate object during the production thereof.

Problems solved by technology

A disadvantage of such “top down” techniques is the need to submerge the growing object in a (potentially deep) pool of liquid resin and reconstitute a precise overlayer of liquid resin.

While such “bottom up” techniques hold the potential to eliminate the need for a deep well in which the object is submerged by instead lifting the object out of a relatively shallow well or pool, a problem with such “bottom up” fabrication techniques, as commercially implemented, is that extreme care must be taken, and additional mechanical elements employed, when separating the solidified layer from the bottom plate due to physical and chemical interactions therebetween.

Such approaches introduce a mechanical step that may complicate the apparatus, slow the method, and / or potentially distort the end product.

Continuous processes for producing a three-dimensional object are suggested at some length with respect to “top down” techniques in U.S. Pat. No. 7,892,474, but this reference does not explain how they may be implemented in “bottom up” systems in a manner non-destructive to the article being produced, which limits the materials which can be used in the process, and in turn limits the structural properties of the objects so produced.

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