WO2017058147A1 - Imprimante à jet d'encre nanocomposite à fabrique d'encre nanocomposite intégrée - Google Patents

Imprimante à jet d'encre nanocomposite à fabrique d'encre nanocomposite intégrée Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017058147A1
WO2017058147A1 PCT/US2015/052731 US2015052731W WO2017058147A1 WO 2017058147 A1 WO2017058147 A1 WO 2017058147A1 US 2015052731 W US2015052731 W US 2015052731W WO 2017058147 A1 WO2017058147 A1 WO 2017058147A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
nanocomposite
ink
printhead
factory
inkjet printer
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2015/052731
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English (en)
Inventor
George Williams
Original Assignee
Vadient Optics Llc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Vadient Optics Llc filed Critical Vadient Optics Llc
Priority to PCT/US2015/052731 priority Critical patent/WO2017058147A1/fr
Publication of WO2017058147A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017058147A1/fr

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/17—Ink jet characterised by ink handling
    • B41J2/175—Ink supply systems ; Circuit parts therefor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
    • B41J3/407—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for marking on special material
    • B41J3/4073—Printing on three-dimensional objects not being in sheet or web form, e.g. spherical or cubic objects
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/10—Processes of additive manufacturing
    • B29C64/106—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material
    • B29C64/112—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material using individual droplets, e.g. from jetting heads
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/20—Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
    • B29C64/205—Means for applying layers
    • B29C64/209—Heads; Nozzles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/30—Auxiliary operations or equipment
    • B29C64/307—Handling of material to be used in additive manufacturing
    • B29C64/321—Feeding

Definitions

  • the present invention relates in general to 3 -dimensional inkjet printers.
  • the invention relates in particular to nanocomposite inkjet printing with integrated nanocomposite -ink factory to provide nanocomposite-ink for printer deposition.
  • inkjet printers require replaceable cartridges.
  • the cartridges which contain the printable material in a reservoir are installed on a printhead, inside the printer, which dispense the printable material.
  • Some industrial printers have large ink-reservoirs that can be refilled, otherwise when the cartridge runs out of material, the cartridge must be replaced with a new cartridge and the old is either thrown away or recycled for future use. This application relates to another approach.
  • the present disclosure is directed to an apparatus for depositing nanocomposite material.
  • the apparatus in accordance with the present disclosure comprises of a nanocomposite-ink factory, the nanocomposite- ink factory producing nanocomposite-ink.
  • An inkjet printer, the inkjet printer having a printhead and a positioning mechanism.
  • the printhead having a nozzle to dispense nanocomposite-ink droplets, wherein the inkjet printer receives the nanocomposite-ink from the nanocomposite-ink factory.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective-view, schematically illustrating an apparatus for depositing nanocomposite material in accordance with the present disclosure, the apparatus comprising a nanocomposite-ink factory, the nanocomposite-ink factory producing nanocomposite-ink, and an inkjet printer, the inkjet printer having a printhead and a positioning mechanism, the printhead having a nozzle to dispense nanocomposite-ink droplets, wherein the inkjet printer receives the nanocomposite- ink from the factory.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of the
  • nanocomposite-ink factory and production of nanocomposite-ink production of nanocomposite-ink.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram, illustrating the operation of a continuous flow reactor which can be incorporated within the nanocomposite-ink factory.
  • FIG. 4 is a perspective view, schematically illustrating the apparatus for depositing nanocomposite-ink, wherein the printer receives the nanocomposite-ink from the nanocomposite-ink factory via a docking station.
  • FIG. 5 is a perspective view, schematically illustrating the apparatus for depositing nanocomposite-ink wherein the apparatus uses roll-to-roll processing.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in cross-section, illustrating an apparatus 10A for depositing nanocomposite-ink in accordance with the present disclosure.
  • Apparatus 10A comprises a nanocomposite-ink factory 12 and an inkjet printer 16.
  • Nanocomposite-ink factory 12 produces nanocomposite-ink and delivers the nanocomposite-ink to a printhead 18A, 18B, 18C, and 18D via a feedline 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D, respectively.
  • the feedlines are flexible and ultraviolet opaque.
  • the feedlines can be made out of plastic with inner diameters in the millimeter scale or smaller.
  • the feedlines can be capillary, sized with sufficient inner diameter to allow the nanocomposite-ink to flow, capillary sizes are preferable when the nanocomposite-ink supplied to the inkjet printer in the feedline changes characteristics, as will be described further hereinbelow.
  • Both the nanocomposite-ink factory and the printer are preferably mounted on a gantry type overhead with a factory supporting member 20 and a printhead supporting member 17 shown.
  • An exemplary nanocomposite-ink droplet 22, deposited from printhead 18A, is shown on a substrate 24. Substrate 24 is moved with respect to printheads 18A, 18B, 18C, and 18D with a positioning mechanism 26.
  • Nanocomposite-ink droplet 22 comprises of nanoparticles, or nanofillers, dispersed in a cured organic-matrix, or organic-matrix.
  • the Printheads each have at least one nozzle, but preferably have multiple nozzles, each independently actuated for nanocomposite-ink dispensing.
  • the printheads are preferably piezo actuated.
  • printheads can be thermally actuated, electrostatically actuated, or make use of interrupted continuous flow.
  • Piezo actuated printhead eject ink by a piezo element within the printhead changing shape via applied voltage. The shape change generates a pressure pulse, or acoustic wave, in the fluid, forcing ink from the nozzle in volumes of about 1 picoliter (pi) to about 10 pi for nanocomposite-inks with viscosities that are under about 10 centipoise (cP).
  • Thermally actuated printheads quickly heat and evaporate volatile liquid, often, water, in the ink such that a bubble forms causing displacement of the ink through the nozzle.
  • the nanocomposite-inks with about 10 cP or less, produce droplets of 0.1 pi to 100 pi.
  • Electrostatically actuated printheads use an electrostatically driven microeletromechanical (MEMs) mechanism to impart momentum to droplets of the same general size using the nanocomposite-inks of the same general viscosity.
  • MEMs microeletromechanical
  • Interrupted continuous flow heads break up a continuous ejection out a nozzle with resonant application of a force perpendicular to the flow resulting in a repeatable, predictable stream of droplets, which can range from about 1 pi to 100 pi making use of fluids with viscosities of 200 cP or less.
  • Droplets that are not required are deflected, using air impingement or electrostatic charge selectively applied, into a recycling channel alongside the trajectory of the droplets to be used.
  • the nozzles should be located in proximity to the substrate on which the
  • nanocomposite-ink is being printed, dependent on the deposition accuracy required.
  • the printhead should be within a centimeter or less of the substrate.
  • Substrate 24 can be, or be made from, the group comprising plastics, glasses, metals, ceramics, organic resins, optic glasses, electronic circuits, light sources, wafers, wafers with integrated electronics, and wafers with integrated MEMs devices.
  • the substrate can have features such as integrated cores and alignment features for precision mounting and alignment, free weights for addition of mass to the printed optic for dynamic resonance compensation, and wires to be captured within the optic for use as reticles and/or for heating and cooling.
  • Substrate 24 can become part of the finally printed object or alternatively the substrate can be removed. For applications in which the substrate becomes part of the object, the substrate may be chosen for specific properties.
  • the substrate material may be a transparent glass.
  • the substrate may be a mold material or coated with a releasable material, such as Teflon, with anti-sticking properties, allowing removal of the object from the mold.
  • the substrate may have wetting and non-wetting regions patterned on to the substrate to control position and edge of the printed optic.
  • the substrate may have a three dimensional pocket, either sticking or non-sticking, into which the optical ink is printed to precisely define the boundaries and surface shape.
  • substrate 24 can be positioned with respect to a radiation source 19A for selective- curing of the nanocomposite-ink.
  • Selective-curing refers to localized radiation about voxels, activating the organic-matrix. Activation of the organic-matrix solidifies the nanocomposite-ink thereby forming cured nanocomposite.
  • Selective-curing means zero-curing, partial-curing, or fully-curing, which respectively means not solidifying, partially solidifying, or fully solidifying the nanocomposite-ink.
  • Radiation source 19B flood cures the nanocomposite-ink on the substrate. Flood curing is desirable when the all the nanocomposite-ink needs to be partially or fully cured.
  • the nanocomposite-ink factory and the printer are controlled by a computer.
  • the computer preferably has an optimization algorithm that takes into account numerous factors, described further hereinbelow, synchronizing the production of the nanocomposite-ink based on the nanocomposite-ink required to print an article.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram describing a nanocomposite-ink factory 12.
  • Nanocomposite-ink factory 12 has a nanoparticle reservoir 32 and a organic-matrix reservoir 34.
  • the organic-matrix reservoir can store bulk organic-matrix material 33.
  • Nanoparticle reservoir 32 can store a bulk nanoparticles 31 loaded into the nanocomposite-ink factory or the nanocomposite-ink factory can have integrated nanoparticle production.
  • a continuous-flow reactor 30 produces the
  • nanoparticles to be held in reservoir 32 explained in further detail below. While only a single nanoparticle reservoir and a single organic-matrix reservoir are shown, the nanocomposite-ink factory can have multiple reservoirs of each.
  • the materials can be manually fed or alternatively, the organic-host material, nanoparticles, or any other chemicals required for manufacture of nanocomposite-ink can be delivered via a pump. Nanoparticles from reservoir 32 and organic-matrix material from reservoir 34 are combined in a homogenizer 36.
  • the organic-matrix can be any ink-jet printable material.
  • the organic-matrix material is preferable is ink-jet printable, optically clear, photo-curable resins and monomers.
  • printable organic-matrix material for are cyanoethyl pullulan (CYELP), polyacrylate, hexanediol diacrylate (HDODA), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), diethylene glycol diacrylate (DEGDA), Neopentyl glycol diacrylate, tricyclodecane dimethanol diacrylate (TCDDMDA), urea, cellulose, and epoxy resins such as the SU-8 series resists.
  • the nanoparticles are preferably sized sufficiently small with respect to light wavelengths, for those wavelengths intended for use, not to scatter the light.
  • the nanocomposite-inks can be different by the nanoparticle type, the organic-host matrix type, or concentration of the nanofillers and combinations thereof.
  • the nanoparticles can be oxides, fluorides, semiconductors, ceramics, or metals.
  • Nanofillers include beryllium oxide (BeO), aluminum nitride (A1N), silicon carbide (SiC), zinc oxide (ZnO), zinc sulfide (ZnS), zirconium oxide (ZrO), yttrium orthovanadate (YVO4), titanium oxide (T1O2), copper sulfide (CuS 2 ), cadmium selenide (CdSe), lead sulfide (PbS), molybdenum disulfide (M0S2), Tellurium dioxide (Te0 2 ) and silicon dioxide (S1O2) including those with core, hollow core, core-shell, and core-shell-ligand architectures.
  • BeO beryllium oxide
  • AlN aluminum nitride
  • SiC silicon carbide
  • ZnO zinc oxide
  • ZnS zinc sulfide
  • ZrO zirconium oxide
  • YVO4 yttrium orthovanadate
  • titanium oxide T1O2
  • the refractive- index of the nanocomposite-ink can be modified by the organic-matrix and nanoparticles composition.
  • the nanocomposite-ink can be tuned by the organic- matrix type, the nanofiller type, and the concentration of the nanofillers in the organic-matrix.
  • the refractive -index of a nanocomposite-ink will be the summation by percent volume of the optical properties of the organic-matrix, or organic-host, and the nanofillers. Concentration by volume of the nanoparticles to the organic-host can be about 0.25% to about 70% volume, depending on desired properties.
  • Various examples of nanoparticle and organic-matrix combinations and chemistries is described in U.S. Pat. Application No. US 14/036660, assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure and the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
  • Homogenizer 36 mixes the nanoparticles and organic-matrix material such that the nanoparticles are substantially dispersed in the organic-matrix, thereby creating the nanocomposite-ink. Any method or feature which introduces turbulence can help homogenize the nanocomposite-ink. Specific homogenization methods include using static members, shear mixing, or sonification. Static members include plate-type mixers, T-mixers, helical mixers, grids, blades and combinations thereof.
  • the nanoparticles and organic-matrix can be pneumatically pumped through a cylinder pipe section with the static mixing members incorporated within the cylinder, the members cause turbulence as the nanocomposite-ink pass by them, thereby mixing the nanoparticles and the organic-matrix.
  • static mixing solutions and design guides for mixing applications are available at Stamixco, LLC, located in the Brooklyn, New York, of the United States.
  • Shear mixing can be performed by active movement of mixing member or by high shear mixing.
  • High shear mixers are available at Ross High Shear Mixers located in Hauppauge, NY of the United States.
  • the homogenizer can be, or above methods assisted by, ultrasonic vibration, with in-line solutions available at Sonic & Materials, Inc. located in Newtown, Connecticut of the United States.
  • all the above homogenized techniques can be temperature controlled to allow chemical reaction, if appropriate, control vibrational energy, and temperature dependent liquid viscosity.
  • the nanocomposite can, optionally, be passed through a filter 38 to eliminate any agglomerated nanoparticles or otherwise pass through a cleaning process.
  • Cleaning processes include filtering, bubble removal, chemical cleaning, or evaporation of by-product. For example, if during
  • a bubble trap can be implemented to remove bubbles. If chemical by-product or solvent needs to be removed or neutralized, chemicals can be added, evaporative methods can be used.
  • the nanocomposite-ink can be passed through gas air flow, heating, and low pressure zones in a laminar flow or a cylindrical fluid sheath to maximize surface area.
  • the nanocomposite-ink can be, optionally, monitored by in- situ optical monitor 40.
  • the in- situ optical monitor can be either camera based or a flow-cell type.
  • the camera based monitor can image the nanocomposite-ink as it is being produced to monitor and capture gross defects in the nanocomposite-ink. Examples of such defects that are desirable to monitor with the camera based optical monitor include aeration, coloration, or large agglomeration of nanoparticles.
  • the flow-cell type optical monitor uses a scattering technique in which light impinges on the flow-cell as the nanocomposite-ink is passes through the flow cell. A photodetector captures the forward scattered light passing through the flow-cell.
  • Monochromatic light passing through the cell can be detected to determine the transmissive, reflective, or absorbing properties of the inks.
  • Broadband light with a dispersive element before the detecting element can be used determine the spectral properties of the inks.
  • optical stimulations can be used for Raman Spectroscopy, Spectral Luminescence, Pump-probe spectroscopy or other analytical technique that can be used to characterize the properties of the ink and its
  • implementation of an angled or prism shaped flow-cell allows determination of the refractive index of the nanocomposite-ink by measuring the angle of the exiting refracted beam.
  • the nanocomposite-ink that is undesirable can be rejected into ink-dump 41 or otherwise the desirable nanocomposite-ink pass via feedline 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D directly to one of the printheads or into the appropriate nanocomposite-ink reservoir 46.
  • the optical monitor and the various types of optical monitoring can be implemented at any point along the process and provide feedback.
  • nanocomposite-inks that are stored in the nanocomposite-ink reservoirs 46 can be fed to the printhead as desired via connection to one of the feedlines 14A, 14B, 14C, or 14D. Additionally if any mixtures of the
  • nanocomposite-inks are desired, then they can be sent into homogenizer 48 for mixture and delivery to the printheads. Further if the nanocomposite-ink in one of the reservoirs can be used in production of nanocomposite-ink, it can be sent to the homogenizer 36 in place of the organic-matrix material, or in addition to it. While the nanocomposite-ink factory is especially well suited for production of the nanocomposite-ink, it can also have reservoirs for traditional 3 -dimensional printing materials and composites.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram describing operation of the continuous flow reactor 30.
  • Continuous flow reactor 30 is an optional addition to the nanoparticle-ink factory which can provide on-demand custom nanoparticle production.
  • Continuous flow reactor 30 has a reagent reservoir 5 OA, 50B and 50C which contain precursors, additives, solvents and ionic liquids necessary for production of nanoparticles. While only three are shown, the continuous flow reactor can have as many reagent reservoirs as required nanoparticle production.
  • the necessary reagents used to produce nanoparticles and accompanying chemistry supplies can be found at Sigma- Aldrich in St. Louis Missouri of the United States.
  • Each of the reagent reservoirs are heat controlled maintained at pre-set temperatures.
  • the reagent are mixed in a mixed reagent zone 52 such that a Reynolds number range from about 150 to about 300 is achieved to ensure quality mixing within a reasonable volume.
  • Any mixing or homogenizing technique can be used dependent on the necessary flow rate. For instance standard static T-mixer is sufficient for flow rates up to 100 mL/min, such as low pressure T-mixer part number P-714, available at IDEX Health and Science in Oak Harbor, Washington of the United States. Increased flow can be obtained by utilizing parallel channels or different mixing techniques as previously described in the homogenization process.
  • plug flow is a preferable method.
  • "Plug flow” transport allows inert gas buffer “plugs" of the mixed reactant such that the reactant is segmented by the inert gas during transport. The “plug” self-mixes via friction with the tube walls.
  • Mixed reagent 52 enters a nucleation zone 54 in which an energy source 55 is uniformly applied to heat the mixed reagent and decompose the injected precursors and initiate nucleation reaction forming the nanoparticles.
  • the heat can be generated in a variety of ways such as convective heat (such as liquid metal, oil and water baths), radiant-heat, microwave, laser, or conductive heating (such as joule heating, chemical reaction, combustion, or nuclear decay).
  • the mixed reagent experiences a rapid temperature ramp such that the heat energy rapidly decomposes precursors and any barrier to nucleation thereby allowing a high rate of nucleation.
  • it is desirable to have a uniform nanoparticle size distribution it is important that the temperature be sufficiently short in duration to prevent nanocrystal growth after the initial nucleation. This ramping process ensures nanoparticles are the same size when a uniform size distribution is desired.
  • the nucleated particles, or the nanoparticles are transported to a nanoparticle growth zone 56.
  • the nanoparticles are heated by an energy source 57 at constant temperature, lower than that required for nucleation.
  • the heating allow the nanoparticles to grow in a controlled manner.
  • Convective heat such as liquid metal, oil and water baths
  • radiant-heat, microwave, laser, or conductive heating such as joule heating, chemical reaction and combustion, or nuclear decay
  • conductive heating such as joule heating, chemical reaction and combustion, or nuclear decay
  • a filter 59 is an optional purification stage to remove any non-reacted regents, secondary reaction products or solvents. Filter 59 can incorporate decanting, in-line centrifuge, membrane filters, and solvent evaporators as well as temperature control.
  • An optical monitor 60 which is preferably a flow-cell optical monitor, as described above, measures the nanoparticle characteristic and based on those characteristics provides feedback 62 for process control. The nanoparticle dispersion is then either held in an appropriate nanoparticle reservoir 32 or sent directly to homogenizer 36 for nanocomposite-ink production.
  • the continuous flow reactor in the printing apparatus may be a macro system with traditional tube flow design, use a microreactor, or combination of both.
  • Traditional flow design allows for larger scale nanoparticle production.
  • the microreactors use microfluidic channels with less output capacity but with modular design.
  • the microreactors can achieve greater output with multiple channels, each of the channels with its own microfluidic reaction chamber.
  • multiple continuous flow reactors of either, or combinations of the two designs can be utilized.
  • FIG. 4 is a perspective view of printing apparatus 10B in accordance with the present disclosure. Printing apparatus 10B is similar to printing apparatus 10A as shown in FIG. 1. Here in FIG.
  • 3 printing apparatus 10B has printheads 18 A, 18B, 18C, and 18D that dock to nanocomposite-ink factory 12 for periodic refill of the nanocomposite-ink, thereby eliminating the need to direct connection to the nanocomposite-ink factory.
  • Printheads 18A, 18B, 18C, and 18D each have a receiving interface 21A, 21B, 21C, and 21D, respectively, to receive nanocomposite- ink from a nanocomposite-ink dispensers 12A, 12B, 12C, or 12D which receive the nanocomposite-ink from factory 12 via respective feedlines 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D.
  • the feedlines are stationary and can be made from rigid material such as glass or metal tubes.
  • positioning mechanism 26 comprises of a linear stage 26C and an orthogonally gantry mounted linear stage 26D, which allows planar positioning of the printheads, the printheads mounted to linear stage 26 via member 17.
  • positioning mechanism 26 is preferably mounted to an overhead type gantry system, not shown.
  • Substrate 24 is mounted on stationary platform 25 via vacuum chuck suction to prevent movement of the substrate during printer operation.
  • a stationary platform 25 supports pedestal 20 which supports the nanocomposite-ink factory.
  • the nanocomposite-ink factory could be supported by a gantry type system.
  • FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a printing apparatus IOC.
  • Printing apparatus IOC is similar to printing apparatus 10A as shown in FIG. 1, except here in FIG. 5, printing apparatus IOC uses roll-to-roll processing or conveyor-belt processing.
  • substrates 24 move along a conveyor-belt 70, allowing for production processing.
  • the conveyor belt is supported by a caster mechanism 72.
  • the overhead positioning mechanism system is the same as shown in printing apparatus 10B in FIG. 4 allowing for continuous movement of the conveyor belt and backtracking of the printheads.
  • the conveyor belt could be utilized to position the substrate with respect to the printhead in at least one-axis.
  • Conveyor belt 70 can be used itself as the substrate in roll-to-roll manufacturing.
  • conveyor belt 70 surface can be a releasing surface or be treated by a releasing agent which allows for removal from the conveyor belt after printing and curing.
  • the conveyor belt can have divots, bumps, or other features that allow the printed material to conform and retain the shape or shapes on the conveyor belt.
  • the casters can be positioned such that the conveyor belt obtains a similar radius to the caster to allow for complex printing geometries.
  • the positioning mechanism in the printing apparatus can be such that the substrate moves under the printhead or the printheads moves over the substrate. Additionally, multi-axis degrees of freedom such as gimbal mounts and vertical axis movement can be provided to allow complex shapes to be printed. Small complex shapes or patterning, such as optical waveguides, can be made by
  • a machine-vision system can be added to monitor the deposition of the nanocomposite-ink and also provide spatial reference of the printed material.
  • a camera can detect the shape of the printed material or use reference marks to locate the printhead relative to the substrate.
  • a line-scanner can provide detailed 3 -dimensional models of printed material and features on the substrate.
  • the aforementioned computer must control and take into account the aforementioned variables and characteristics of the printing apparatus to appropriately produce and supply the nanocomposite-ink from the factory to the inkjet printer. Generally, the computer will take into account the particular requirement of the article to be printed, determine a recipe for the article based on the article
  • a positive GRIN lens can have either a predetermined recipe or the optimizer can generate a recipe based on characteristics such as focal length, diameter or shape, spectral properties, and required performance of such characteristic. Generation of the recipe and then nanocomposite-ink will depend on the types of nanoparticles, organic-host, and nanocomposite-ink currently available in the respective reservoirs.
  • nanocomposite-ink produced will depend on the refractive- gradient requirements and whether the gradient in any particular area will be formed primarily by diffusion, and intermixing of different concentrations of nanocomposite- ink upon deposition, as described in references, described further hereinbelow, or by production of intermediate nanocomposite-inks.
  • the computer For the continuous flow reactor, the computer must take into account the type of reagents utilized, the rate of chemical reactions, the temperature, and the flow through any tubing. The flow through the system in any particular area will in turn depend on viscosity, the diameter of the tube or apparatus, the temperature, and the material. The flow can be calculated, or preferably measured with an in-line flow meter. The computer will also take into account the nucleation temperature, the ramp cycle of the nucleation, the temperature during growth, the flow rate through the nanoparticle growth cycle, and then control and optimize the continuous flow reactor operation based on the in-situ optical monitoring. Likewise, during the factories homogenization process, the computer will control the amount of time spent in homogenization based on feedback from the optical-monitoring.
  • the rate of production of the nanocomposite-ink factory will depend on the deposition rate of the inkjet printer.
  • the deposition rate will depend on the number of printheads, the number of nozzles on the printheads, the velocity of ejected droplets, the temperature of the ink, the angle of deposition, the size of the droplets, the rate of the droplet deposition, the distance from the substrate to the printhead, the required location of the droplets, the curing process and curing intervals, and the speed of the positioning mechanism.
  • optical monitoring of the printhead deposition can provide the computer the necessary feedback to control the printhead deposition and in turn adjust and optimize production of the nanocomposite-ink.
  • the computer can also control the nanocomposite-ink that will be rejected.
  • the nanocomposite-ink can intermix when traveling through the feed- lines.
  • the feedline will a transition between the nanocomposite-inks, which may intermix. With larger inner diameters, more intermixing will result.
  • the recipe generated is optimized to use the intermixed nanocomposite-ink, if the intermixed nanocomposite-ink is unusable in the generated recipe, the computer will deposit the unusable nanocomposite-ink in the ink-dump.
  • the printing apparatus can be used to print nanocomposite 3 -dimensional objects. It is especially suited well for printing graded index refractive optics, optical system, and subsystems. For instance, the
  • nanocomposite-ink can be chosen and structured to create an optical-element that compensates chromatic aberration or increase chromatic dispersion, see U.S. Pat. Application No. US 14/278164, assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure and the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Further, electro-optic nanofillers can be utilized in the optical-device and

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Abstract

Appareil destiné à déposer un matériau nanocomposite comprenant une fabrique d'encre nanocomposite et une imprimante à jet d'encre. La fabrique d'encre nanocomposite produit de l'encre nanocomposite et l'imprimante à jet d'encre reçoit l'encre nanocomposite. L'imprimante à jet d'encre possède une tête d'impression et un mécanisme de positionnement. La tête d'impression comporte une ou plusieurs buses pour distribuer des gouttelettes d'encre nanocomposite.
PCT/US2015/052731 2015-09-28 2015-09-28 Imprimante à jet d'encre nanocomposite à fabrique d'encre nanocomposite intégrée WO2017058147A1 (fr)

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PCT/US2015/052731 WO2017058147A1 (fr) 2015-09-28 2015-09-28 Imprimante à jet d'encre nanocomposite à fabrique d'encre nanocomposite intégrée

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