The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and apparatuses for supplying powder to a powder bed during an additive manufacturing process. A recoater apparatus includes a powder reservoir and a powder distribution system for conveying powder from the powder reservoir to the powder bed. The recoater apparatus further includes at least two sweep strips, wherein at least one exit of the powder distribution system is located between the two sweep strips so as to shield the exit of the powder distribution system.

An additive manufacturing apparatus and method having a flexible delivery system for delivering pellets from a stationary material receiving area to a movable discharge pump. The flexible delivery system includes a flexible tube, an air compressor and an air-material separator. The air compressor is connected to an end of the flexible tube to direct controlled compressed air through the flexible tube. The air-material separator has a material receiving chamber which receives the pellets from the flexible tube through a material receiving opening. The material receiving chamber extends to a nozzle feeding opening and a nozzle feeding tube. The material receiving chamber has an exhaust opening through which the compressed air is vented out of the air-material separator.

A build material container for use in 3D printing includes a reservoir to hold build material and a build material outlet structure. The container also includes a throughput structure to allow air to enter into the reservoir through the throughput opening, wherein said throughput opening provides access to build material in and out of the reservoir.

A build material container for use in 3D printing includes a reservoir to hold build material and a build material outlet structure. The container also includes a throughput structure to allow air to enter into the reservoir through the throughput opening, wherein said throughput opening provides access to build material in and out of the reservoir.

A material dispensing unit (1; 10) for a three dimensional printing apparatus (100; 200) has a nozzle (3) for depositing particulate material (5; 220a, 220b; 224; 226) on a build surface (7), where the nozzle defines a through passage (9) for the material. The through passage has an inlet end (11) for receiving the material and an outlet end (15) for dispensing the material. A valve (21) is provided at least one of at, within or in fluid communication with the through passage for controlling flow of the material via the through passage, the valve being operable between open and closed positions. Flow of said material into the through passage is blocked when in the closed position and, when in the open position, flow of the material into the through passage is allowed. A method of forming a three dimensional object (31) is also disclosed, as is a three dimensional printing apparatus (200) comprising one or more dispensing units (la; b) for dispensing particulate material (220a, 220b; 224; 226), an enclosure (137) for containing the material dispensed by the one or more dispensing units and one or more heating elements (210, 212) for heating the material contained in the enclosure to a first predetermined temperature.

Provided is a thermal melting three-dimensional printer capable of preventing molding defects. According to the present invention, there is provided a thermal melting three-dimensional printer comprising an extruder, and a push-in mechanism, wherein the extruder includes a hopper, a cylinder, and a nozzle, the hopper is configured to feed pellets into the cylinder through a raw material feed port provided in the cylinder, the extruder is configured to melt and knead, in the cylinder, the pellets fed into the cylinder to form a molten resin and to extrude the molten resin through the nozzle to form a strand, and the push-in mechanism is configured to push pellets loaded on a loading surface of the hopper into the cylinder through the raw material feed port.

A device 1 for producing three-dimensional objects 2 by the successive solidifying of layers of a powdery, structural material 3 that is solidifiable by means of radiation, in particular electromagnetic radiation or particle radiation, at the points corresponding to the respective cross section of the object, in particular an SLM device or an SLS device having a housing 7, in which a process chamber 8 and at least one building chamber 5, 6 are disposed, having a supporting means 9 for supporting the object 2 inside the building chamber 5, 6, a metering chamber 4 for storing the structural material 3, a coating device 10 for applying the structural material 3 and an irradiation device 11 for irradiating the applied layers of the structural material 3.

The present invention relates to a process for the manufacturing of composite materials from natural fibers and thermoplastic polymers. Examples of fibers are wood fibers originating from pulping processes known as refiner pulp (RMP), thermomechanical pulp (TMP) or chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP), but the process can also be applied to other kinds of natural fiber containing raw materials. In the process according to the present invention, fibers are introduced from the blowline or the housing of a refiner into a flash tube dryer, separated from humid air in a cyclone, introduced into a compounder and mixed with at least one thermoplastic polymer and the product is subsequently pelletized. The process according to the present invention is advantageously run as a continuous process.

The present invention relates to a method and system of vacuum loading powder used in rotational molding. A loader has a hopper with a tangential inlet at the top and a discharge assembly at the bottom. A vacuum source generates a vacuum at the center of the hopper drawing air and raw material into the tangential inlet. A filter assembly between the tangential inlet and the vacuum source partially separating the air from the raw material. One or more load cells between the hopper and a platform measures an amount of raw material present within the hopper.

The present invention relates to a method and system of vacuum loading powder used in rotational molding. A loader has a hopper with a tangential inlet at the top and a discharge assembly at the bottom. A vacuum source generates a vacuum at the center of the hopper drawing air and raw material into the tangential inlet. A filter assembly between the tangential inlet and the vacuum source partially separating the air from the raw material. One or more load cells between the hopper and a platform measures an amount of raw material present within the hopper.