A three-dimensional printer (1) includes a material supply device (3) that supplies material powder to a table which is movable vertically, a powder retaining wall (26) that surrounds the table and retains the material powder, a material-recovery bucket (30) that accommodates excess material powder and impurities discharged from the powder retaining wall, an impurity removing device (43) that removes the impurities from the material powder, and a material drying device (47) that dries the material powder. The material powder from which the impurities have been removed and which has been dried is returned and recycled to the material supply device.

A powder bed fusion apparatus and method includes a build platform for supporting a powder bed onto which layers of a powder can be deposited, a scanner for scanning an energy beam over each layer to fuse selected regions of the powder bed and a gas flow circuit for passing a flow of gas over the powder bed. The gas flow circuit includes a filter assembly including a filter housing through which the gas flows, the filter housing containing a granulate, preferably powder, filter medium for filtering particles from the gas flow. The powder filter medium may correspond to powder used to form the powder bed such as being of the same material as the powder used to form the powder bed.

We describe a process chamber, an apparatus, a modular system, a method, a safety device, a positioning system and a system for producing a three-dimensional workpiece and/or for use thereof when producing a three-dimensional workpiece. The process chamber for producing the three-dimensional workpiece via an additive layer construction method comprises: a material supply unit comprising a substantially ring-like shaped end portion at a first side of the process chamber, wherein the material supply unit is adapted to supply, via the end portion, material to a carrier on which the material is to be processed by the process chamber for producing the three-dimensional workpiece, and an opening at the first side of the process chamber for processing, by the process chamber, the material supplied on the carrier in order to produce the three-dimensional workpiece, wherein the substantially ring-like shaped end portion surrounds the opening.

An additive manufacturing apparatus including a chamber, a build platform movable in the chamber such that layers of flowable material can be successively formed across the build platform, a unit for generating an energy beam for solidifying the flowable material, a scanning unit for directing the energy beam onto selected areas of each layer to solidify the material in the selected areas and a getter for absorbing oxygen, nitrogen and/or hydrogen from atmosphere in the chamber.

An additive manufacturing apparatus includes an environmentally sealed first chamber, a second chamber separated from the first chamber by a first valve, a platform positionable in the first chamber, a dispenser configured to deliver a plurality of successive layers of feed material onto the platform in the first chamber, at least one energy source to selectively fuse feed material in a layer on the platform in the first chamber, and an air knife assembly to direct a laminar flow of air across a layer of feed material on the platform in the first chamber. The air knife assembly includes an inlet module and an exhaust module that are movable through the first valve between the first chamber and the second chamber.

An apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional object by a layer-by-layer solidification of building material at the points corresponding to the cross-section of the object to be manufactured in a respective layer. The apparatus includes a process chamber in which the object is to be built up layer by layer by selectively solidifying layers of a building material in a build area, a gas supply device, and a recirculating air filter device, wherein the apparatus comprises a pressure stabilization device configured to keep the pressure in the process chamber substantially constant.

An apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional object by a layer-by-layer solidification of building material at the points corresponding to the cross-section of the object to be manufactured in a respective layer. The apparatus includes a process chamber in which the object is to be built up layer by layer by selectively solidifying layers of a building material in a build area, a gas supply device, and a recirculating air filter device, wherein the apparatus comprises a pressure stabilization device configured to keep the pressure in the process chamber substantially constant.

Disclosed is 3D printer that may precisely irradiate a laser to a spot where the laser is to be irradiated so that a precise three-dimensional product may be output, and prevent a temperature deviation from occurring inside a case including a product forming chamber to improve the quality of the output product, and increase the durability of the output product by enhancing the binding force between powder and powder applied to an output bed and maximizing the melting of the powder.

A lamination molding apparatus, including a chamber covering a molding region; a powder layer forming apparatus to form a material powder layer by discharging the material powder onto the molding region and planarizing the material powder on the molding region; a laser beam emitter to emit a laser beam for sintering the material powder to form a sintered body; a cutting machine to cut the sintered body; a horizontal drive device to move both the cutting machine and the powder layer forming apparatus in a horizontal direction parallel to the molding region; a first vertical drive device to reciprocate the cutting machine in a vertical direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction; and a second vertical drive device to reciprocate the powder layer forming apparatus in the vertical direction, is provided.

The invention relates to a production method of the powders composed of spherical heavy metal particles utilizing an ultrasonic atomization, where these powders can be applied in industrial applications, like additive manufacturing and several other. The method for production of heavy metal powders by ultrasonic atomization comprises providing a heavy metal raw material (5) in the vicinity of a heat source (13) being an electric arc (13), heating the heavy raw material (5) by the electric arc (13), so as to create a molten metal pool (21) on a sonotrode (3), the molten metal pool (21) having a temperature equal to or greater than the melting temperature of the heavy metal raw material (5), but below the vaporization temperature of the heavy metal raw material (5), providing ultrasonic mechanic vibrations by the sonotrode (3) to the molten metal pool (21), so as to cause the heavy metals droplets (11) being ejected from the molten metal pool (21), directing the ejected heavy metal droplets (11) away from the molten metal pool (21), so as the heavy metal droplets (11) freely cool down within a predetermined distance at least by radiation and transform to a heavy metal powder (11), collecting the heavy metal powder (11), so as to collect at least 75% of the heavy metal raw material (5) in the form of the heavy metal powder (11′).