Additive manufacturing using polymer materials

Abstract

An additive manufacturing system is disclosed. The system comprises at least one feeder configured to feed, continuously, at least two solid polymer strands, at least one heating element, configured to simultaneously heat at least a part of adjacent surfaces of the at least two solid polymer strands, an attachment unit configured to simultaneously attach the liquified surfaces to yield attached strands; and a pressing unit configured to press the at least two solid polymer strands against each other to ensure attachment.

1 . An additive manufacturing system comprising:
 at least one feeder configured to feed, continuously, at least two solid polymer strands,   at least one heating element, configured to simultaneously heat at least a part of adjacent surfaces of the at least two solid polymer strands,   an attachment unit configured to simultaneously attach the liquified surfaces to yield attached strands; and   a pressing unit configured to press the at least two solid polymer strands against each other to ensure attachment.   
     
     
         2 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one tip configured to receive, continuously, the at least two solid polymer strands from the at least one feeder. 
     
     
         3 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a positioning unit configured to position the at least one tip according to a specified product design, and   a routing head coupled to the positioning unit and configured to perform on-line processing of the attached at least two solid polymer strands.   
     
     
         4 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one heating element is selected from, a convective heater, a radiative heater, an inductive heater, and a laser heater. 
     
     
         5 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 1 , wherein the attachment unit comprises a guiding roller. 
     
     
         6 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 1 , wherein the pressing unit comprises at least one of, side rollers, and an attachment roller. 
     
     
         7 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 1 , further comprising a cutting unit configured to cut the at least two solid polymer strands. 
     
     
         8 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 1 , further comprising a control module configured to modify the operational parameters of at least one of: the at least one feeder, the at least one heating unit, the attachment unit and the pressing unit. 
     
     
         9 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 8 , wherein modifying the operational parameters is based on measurements received from one or more sensors included in the control module. 
     
     
         10 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more sensors are selected from, laser scanners, cameras, IR sensors, inductive and capacitance sensors, acoustic sensors, and temperature sensors. 
     
     
         11 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one heating element is further configured to simultaneously heat at least a part of adjacent surfaces of the pressed at least two solid polymer strands and a substrate to which the pressed at least two solid polymer strands is to be attached. 
     
     
         12 . An additive manufacturing system comprising:
 at least one feeder configured to feed, continuously, at least one solid polymer strand,   at least one heating element, configured to simultaneously heat at least a part of adjacent surfaces of the at least one solid polymer strand and at least one additional solid polymer strand,   an attachment unit configured to simultaneously attach the at least one solid polymer strand with the liquified surfaces to yield attached strands; and   a press configured to press the at least one solid polymer strand and the at least one additional solid polymer strand against each other to ensure attachment.   
     
     
         13 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 12 , further comprising at least one tip configured to receive, continuously, the at least one solid polymer strand from the feeder, 
     
     
         14 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one feeder is configured to feed also the at least one additional solid polymer strand, previously to feeding the at least one solid polymer strand. 
     
     
         15 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one heating element is further configured to simultaneously heat at least a part of adjacent surfaces of the at least one solid polymer strand and a substrate to which the at least one solid polymer strand is to be attached. 
     
     
         16 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one heating element is selected from, a convective heater, a radiative heater, an inductive heater, and a laser heater. 
     
     
         17 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 12 , wherein the attachment unit comprises a guiding roller. 
     
     
         18 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 12 , wherein the pressing unit comprises at least one of, side rollers, and an attachment roller. 
     
     
         19 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 12 , further comprising a cutting unit configured to cut the at least one solid polymer strand. 
     
     
         20 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 12 , further comprising a control module configured to modify the operational parameters of at least one of: the at least on feeder, the at least one heating unit, the attachment unit and the pressing unit. 
     
     
         21 . The additive manufacturing system of  claim 20 , wherein modifying the operational parameters is based on measurements received from one or more sensors included in the control module.