An apparatus for making an object is disclosed. The apparatus has a flexible element having an upwardly facing surface for disposing thereon a material used to make the object, and a member connected to an actuator that can move the member. A controller is in communication the actuator. A method which may be executed using the apparatus is also disclosed.

The present disclosure generally relates to additive manufacturing of an object using both a digital light processing (DLP) projector and a focused energy source to irradiate a photopolymerizable material, and apparatuses and methods for the same. The DLP projector irradiates and cures an outer perimeter of the object, and the focused energy source irradiates and cures an inner region of the object. In a preferred embodiment, irradiation by both the DLP projector and the focused energy source occur from underneath a tank holding the photopolymerizable material and through a transparent window.

A method is disclosed for controlling an additive manufacturing system. The method may include causing a head to discharge composite material along a first trajectory, and activating a cure enhancer to at least partially cure composite material discharging from the head along the first trajectory. The method may also include selectively deactivating the cure enhancer as the head nears a corner location, moving the head to a second trajectory after the head reaches the corner location, and reactivating the cure enhancer after moving the head to the second trajectory.

Sports boot element of which the wall includes at least two different plastics materials (15, 16), the wall having (i) a first zone (11) including the two different plastics materials within its thickness, the first plastics material (15) forming two layers of the wall constituting the internal and external faces of the said wall, and the second plastics material (16) being interposed between the two layers of the first plastics material (15), and (ii) a second zone (13) including only the second plastics material (16).

Embodiments of the present disclosure are drawn to an additive manufacturing system, which may include a nozzle having an inlet for receiving a flowable material and an outlet for depositing the flowable material. An applicator head may surround at least a portion of a proximal region of the nozzle. The applicator head may include a housing, a cooling inlet for receiving a coolant into the housing, a cooling outlet configured to allow the coolant to exit the housing, and an air inlet. A roller may be mounted on the applicator head to one side of the outlet of the nozzle. The roller may include an air outlet, wherein a flow path connects the air inlet and the air outlet so that air enters the air inlet and exits the air outlet. The roller may also include a plurality of holes located on an external surface of the roller.

A method and apparatus for making a three-dimensional object by solidifying a photohardenable material are shown and described. A photohardening inhibitor is admitted into a surface of a photohardenable material through a flexible film to create a “non-solidification zone” where little or no solidification occurs. The non-solidification zone prevents the exposed surface of the photohardenable material from solidifying in contact with the film. The inhibitor tends to cause the film to deform along the build axis, thereby creating a non-planar interface between the photohardenable material and the film, which distorts the resulting three-dimensional object. An apparatus is provided to stabilize the flexible film and eliminate or minimize such deformation.

A method and apparatus for the additive manufacturing of three-dimensional objects are disclosed. Two or more materials are extruded simultaneously as a composite, with at least one material in liquid form and at least one material in a solid continuous strand completely encased within the liquid material. A means of curing the liquid material after extrusion hardens the composite. A part is constructed using a series of extruded composite paths. The strand material within the composite contains specific chemical, mechanical, or electrical characteristics that instill the object with enhanced capabilities not possible with only one material.

According to one embodiment, a template includes a base body, and a first film. The base body has a first surface and a second surface. The first surface includes silicon oxide and spreads along a first plane. The second surface crosses the first plane. The first film includes aluminum oxide. A direction from the second surface toward the first film is aligned with a direction perpendicular to the second surface. A thickness of the first film along the direction perpendicular to the second surface is not less than 0.3 nm and not more than 10 μm. The first surface includes an unevenness.

The invention relates to an apparatus for producing a droplet assembly, which apparatus comprises a droplet generator. A process for producing a droplet assembly, using an apparatus comprising a droplet generator is also described. The invention also relates to droplet assemblies comprising a plurality of droplets. Various uses of the droplet assemblies are also described.

There is provided an optical shaping apparatus for readily implementing three-dimensional shaping with sufficiently high accuracy, including a material tank that has a bottom surface made of a light-transmitting material and accommodates a photo-curing liquid material, a light source unit that incorporates a driving mirror and scans the bottom surface with a laser beam, and a lifting mechanism that lifts a shaped object shaped by the laser beam from the material tank. The light source unit includes, as an optical engine, a housing, a laser diode that is arranged on one side in the housing and emits a laser beam, and the driving mirror that reflects reflected light from the laser diode by changing an angle in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.