Three dimensional printing of biotic material originated from swiftlet edible bird nest
10736348 ยท 2020-08-11
Inventors
Cpc classification
B33Y10/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
A23P20/20
HUMAN NECESSITIES
B33Y70/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B33Y30/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B33Y80/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
A23P20/20
HUMAN NECESSITIES
B33Y80/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B33Y30/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B33Y10/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
A system and method of printing a biotic material based object from a biotic material originated from swiftlet's edible bird nest, includes providing parameters of an object for printing; controlling a deposition of a fluid biotic material comprising a blend of water and nanometre-sized and/or micrometre-sized swiftlet edible bird nest particles to form the said object, wherein at least an outer surface region of the fluid biotic material is converted to a solid or semi-solid region after deposition & dehydration; and controlling a dehydration of said deposited fluid biotic material by accurately exposing the said deposited fluid biotic materials to a controlled environment. During and/or after the fluid biotic material deposition, an ultra-low humidity air stream is specifically channelled onto the freshly deposited fluid biotic material to accelerate the dehydration process and minimise the deposited biotic material based object or structure from deforming.
Claims
1. A method of three-dimensional printing a biotic material comprising steps: (a) providing a three-dimensional printer system configured to print a three-dimensional object from a biotic material, the three-dimensional printer system having a printing nozzle and dehydration system in an enclosed working chamber, wherein the printing nozzle is attached to a multi-axis robotic mechanism; (b) forming the biotic material, wherein the biotic material comprises a blend of materials including swiftlet edible bird nest particles and water; (c) depositing, via the printing nozzle, a plurality of globules of the biotic martial in connecting stacks at preprogrammed locations such that the plurality of globules form the three-dimensional object; and, (d) dehydrating, via the dehydration system, the three-dimensional object, wherein the dehydration system provides 0.1% to 30% relative humidity via an air stream nozzle.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the swiftlet edible bird nest particles consist of nanometer sized particles ranging from 1 to 999 nanometers.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the swiftlet edible bird nest particles consist of micrometer sized particles ranging from 1 to 999 micrometers.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the enclosed chamber is circulated with dehumidified, cooled, and filtered air to avoid the biotic material from degrading.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional printer system is controlled via a center controller such that the center controller is configured to control the multi-axis robotic mechanism in step (c).
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of heating up and/or cooling down the biotic material prior to step (c).
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising a controlling the depositing pressure and flow rate at the preprogrammed locations during step (c).
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the biotic material further comprises edible ingredients which are not swiftlet edible bird nest particles.
9. The method of claim 1, where the enclosed working chamber has a controlled environment of temperature and humidity.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
(1) Embodiments of the invention are represented in the drawings and described in greater detail in the following description, in which drawings:
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DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
(21) A system of printing biotic materials based objects from biotic materials originated from swiftlet edible bird nest according to the present invention is shown in
(22) As shown in
(23) The proposed method according to the present invention comprises of providing parameters of an object for printing, and controlling a deposition of a fluid biotic material. Wherein at least an outer surface region of the said fluid biotic material is converted to a solid or semi-solid region after deposition and subsequent dehydration process. The said fluid biotic material may include other edible materials as well.
(24) Said parameters of said object for printing is provided to the said biotic material based object printing system via a Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36 as shown in
(25) As illustrated in
(26) During and/or after the said fluid biotic material deposition, an ultra-low humidity air stream is specifically channelled onto the freshly deposited fluid biotic material via a ultra-low humidity air stream nozzle 18 to accelerate the dehydration process and minimise the deposited biotic material based object or structure from deforming. The said ultra-low humidity air stream could channelled thru said air filtering system 31, air cooling system 32, and/or air sanitising system for air filtering, cooling and sanitising purposes.
(27) The proposed method in this invention includes controlling a deposition of the fluid biotic material comprises controlling a pressure and/or flow rate of said fluid biotic material while simultaneously controlling a deposition location of the said fluid biotic material such that deposited biotic material forms the object. The method also includes controlling a deposition of the fluid biotic material comprises depositing an initial portion of the fluid biotic material, and then depositing a next portion of the fluid material on the initial portion after at least an outer surface region of the initial portion is converted to a solid or semi-solid region, the said depositing steps are repeat for subsequent deposition of said fluid biotic material.
(28) The proposed method in this invention includes depositing globules of the fluid biotic material comprises depositing stacks of connected globules that together form a three-dimensional object, wherein an optimum globule size is approximately ranging from 1 micrometre to 1 centimetre in diameter.
(29) As illustrated in
(30) Generally, said working chamber 1 shown in
(31) The said Centre Controller Unit (CCU) 34 is equipped with an operating software and is responsible to monitor and control all the operation of the said biotic material based object printing system according to the present invention. Besides, said Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36 is included in this invention to ease a user or technician to operate the said printing system and also to allow a user or technician to communicate with or to upgrade said operating software of the said printing system. The said Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36 is located in front of the said working station 1. In additional, an emergency switch 37 is also located in front of the working station as shown in
(32) As illustrated in
(33) As illustration shown in
(34) In this invention said ultra-low humidity air stream nozzle 18 and said fluid biotic material deposition nozzle 17 are attached to a nozzle gripper mechanism 16 on said multi-axis robotic mechanism 15. Besides, a deposition system controller 39 and said Centre Controller Unit (CCU) 34 are configured to control said multi-axis robotic mechanism to position the said ultra-low humidity air stream nozzle 18 and said biotic material deposition nozzle 17 to a plurality of pre-programmed deposition locations for depositing process.
(35) As shown in
(36) The said fluid biotic material deposition nozzle 17 is further equipped with a heating element 26 or a cooling element 27 to heat-up or cool down the said fluid biotic material at said fluid biotic material deposition nozzle 17 before and/or during deposition. Besides, the said ultra-low humidity air stream nozzle 18 is located in close proximity to said fluid biotic material nozzle 19 to enable the said ultra-low humidity air stream significantly accelerate the dehydration process immediately after the deposition.
(37) In this invention, a deposition platform identification system is integrated to identify said deposition platforms. Practically, said depositing process could be repeated on a particular deposition platform 10. This is mainly due to said printing or depositing programme could include globule-by-globule or portion-by-portion depositing steps on the particular deposition platform 10. Therefore, it is critical to be able to systematically identify each of the deposition platforms 10 and their activities history records. The said deposition platform identification system consists of a plurality of deposition platforms 10, a deposition platform identification tag/sticker 22 and a deposition platform identification reader/scanner 23 as shown in
(38) According to present invention, said dehydrating station 9 comprising of an exit gate 28, a low humidity tunnel 29, a low humidity air stream piping 30, a low humidity tunnel ultraviolet light sanitizing system and an Ozone gas outlet. After deposition, said deposition platform 10 will be transferred from said depositing station 8 to said low humidity tunnel 29 at said dehydrating station 9 for dehydrating process. The said low humidity tunnel 29 is circulated with a low humidity air stream at approximately 5% to 35% relative humidity. The said low humidity air stream is supply to said low humidity tunnel 29 thru a low humidity air stream piping 30 located at said working chamber 1 and connected to said air dehumidifying system 33 at said upper chamber 2 as shown in
(39) There are a plurality of proximity sensors in said low humidity tunnel 29 to detect the present of deposition platform 10. There are also a plurality of exit gate proximity sensors 28 located near to said exit gate 5 to detect the present of deposition platforms 10 or other objects at the said exit gate 5.
(40) Referring to
(41) Referring to
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(43) Yet another embodiment according to present invention is illustrated in
(44) The said enclosed low humidity returning conveyor system 50 is set-up with a controlled environment, which act like a low humidity tunnel with conveyor. The said enclosed low humidity returning conveyor system 50 have two critical functions.
(45) The first function is to transfer said deposited fluid biotic material on said deposition platforms 10 from said dehydrating station 9 to said waiting station 7 or said extended unloading conveyor 48. In this invention, the said deposited fluid biotic material on said deposition platform 10 is transferring back to said waiting station 7 for the subsequence depositing process till the pre-programmed structure or object is formed or completed.
(46) The second function of the said enclosed low humidity returning conveyor system 50 is to act as a buffering and an additional dehydrating station, which dehydrate said deposited fluid biotic material on said deposition platforms 10 during buffering or transferring on the said enclosed low humidity returning conveyors system 50.
(47) The said enclosed low humidity returning conveyor system 50 is preferably equipped with a plurality of enclosed return conveyor lanes as shown in
(48) There are a plurality of process flow combination in implementing present invention. Three examples are illustrated in this invention disclosures:
Example #1
(49) According to example #1 of present invention as shown in
(50) According to example #1 of present invention as shown in
(51) The second step is to load said fluid biotic material into a fluid biotic material reservoir 35 and connecting to a fluid biotic material deposition nozzle 17 thru a fluid biotic material piping 19.
(52) The third step is to set up a printing programme by providing parameters of an object for printing or depositing thru a Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36.
(53) The fourth step is to load a plurality of deposition platforms 10 onto a conveyor at an entry gate 4.
(54) The fifth step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 from said entry gate 4 to a waiting station 7.
(55) The sixth step is to activate said printing programme at said Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36.
(56) The seventh step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 from said waiting station 7 to a depositing station 8 for printing or depositing process.
(57) The eighth step is to hold said deposition platform 10 at a pre-defined position by a deposition platform holding or clamping mechanism 13 in said depositing station 8 for printing or depositing.
(58) The ninth step is to control a deposition of said fluid biotic material on said deposition platform 10 or a detachable tray 24 sitting on the said deposition platform 10. Said Centre Controller Unit (CCU) 34 is configured to control the deposition of the fluid biotic material so as to form a solid structure that at least the outer surface region of the fluid biotic material is converted to a solid or semi-solid region after deposition and subsequent dehydration process.
(59) The tenth step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with said deposited fluid biotic material to a dehydrating station 9.
(60) The eleventh step is to dehydrate said deposited fluid biotic material in said low humidity tunnel 29 at said dehydrating station 9.
(61) The final step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 from dehydrating station 9 to a conveyor at exit gate 5 and unloading the said deposition platform 10 with said deposited fluid biotic material.
Example #2
(62) According to example #2 of present invention as shown in
(63) According to example #2 of present invention as shown in
(64) The second step is to load said fluid biotic material into a fluid biotic material reservoir 35 and connecting to a fluid biotic material deposition nozzle 17 thru a fluid biotic material piping 19.
(65) The third step is to set up a printing programme by providing parameters of an object for printing or depositing thru a Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36.
(66) The fourth step is to load a plurality of deposition platforms 10 onto an extended loading conveyor 45 and an enclosed returning conveyor system 44. The said deposition platforms 10 will be transferred from said extended loading conveyor 45 to said enclosed returning conveyor 44.
(67) The fifth step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 from said enclosed returning conveyor 44 to a waiting station 7.
(68) The sixth step is to activate said printing programme at said Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36.
(69) The seventh step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 from said waiting station 7 to a depositing station 8 for printing or depositing process.
(70) The eighth step is to identify said deposition platform 10. A deposition platform identification system will read and decode the information. Then, submit the information to a centre controller such as a Centre Controller Unit (CCU) 34.
(71) The ninth step is to hold said deposition platform 10 at a pre-defined position by a deposition platform holding or clamping mechanism 13 in said depositing station 8 for printing or depositing.
(72) The tenth step is to control a deposition of said fluid biotic material on said deposition platform 10 or a detachable tray 24 sitting on the said deposition platform 10. Said Centre Controller Unit (CCU) 34 is configured to control the deposition of the fluid biotic material so as to form a solid structure that at least the outer surface region of the fluid biotic material is converted to a solid or semi-solid region after deposition and subsequent dehydration process.
(73) The eleventh step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with said deposited fluid biotic material to a dehydrating station 9.
(74) The twelfth step is to dehydrate said deposited fluid biotic material in said low humidity tunnel 29 at said dehydrating station 9.
(75) The thirteenth step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with said deposited fluid biotic material from said dehydrating station 9 to an enclosed returning conveyor 44.
(76) The fourteenth step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with said deposited fluid biotic material from said enclosed returning conveyor 44 to said waiting station 7 as shown in the fifth step. Then repeat the fifth step to the thirteenth step till an object or structure are formed or completed.
(77) The final step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with a completed object to said extended unloading conveyor 46 and unloading the said completed object.
Example #3
(78) According to example #3 of present invention as shown in
(79) According to example #3 of present invention as shown in
(80) The second step is to load said fluid biotic material into a fluid biotic material reservoir 35 and connecting to a fluid biotic material deposition nozzle 17 thru a fluid biotic material piping 19.
(81) The third step is to set up a printing programme by providing parameters of an object for printing thru a Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36.
(82) The fourth step is to load a plurality of deposition platforms 10 onto an extended loading conveyor 45 and an enclosed low humidity returning conveyor system 50. The said deposition platforms 10 will be transferred from said extended loading conveyor 45 to said enclosed low humidity returning conveyor 50.
(83) The fifth step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 from said enclosed low humidity returning conveyor 50 to a waiting station 7.
(84) The sixth step is to activate said printing programme at said Man-Machine Interface Unit (MMIU) 36.
(85) The seventh step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 from said waiting station 7 to a deposition station 8 for printing or depositing process.
(86) The eighth step is to identify said deposition platform 10. A deposition platform identification system will read and decode the information. Then, submit the information to a centre controller such as a Centre Controller Unit (CCU) 34.
(87) The ninth step is to hold said deposition platform 10 at a pre-defined position by a deposition platform holding or clamping mechanism 13 in said depositing station 8 for printing or depositing.
(88) The tenth step is to control a deposition of said fluid biotic material on said deposition platform 10 or a detachable tray 24 sitting on the said deposition platform 10. Said Centre Controller Unit (CCU) 34 is configured to control the deposition of the fluid biotic material so as to form a solid structure that at least the outer surface region of the fluid biotic material is converted to a solid or semi-solid region after deposition and subsequent dehydration process.
(89) The eleventh step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with said deposited fluid biotic material to a dehydrating station 9.
(90) The twelfth step is to dehydrate said deposited fluid biotic material in said low humidity tunnel 29 at said dehydrating station 9.
(91) The thirteenth step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with said deposited fluid biotic material from said dehydrating station 9 to an enclosed low humidity returning conveyor 50.
(92) The fourteenth step is to continue dehydrating said deposited biotic material on said deposition platform 10 at said enclosed low humidity returning conveyor 50 till at least an outer surface region of said fluid biotic material is converted to a solid or semi-solid region.
(93) The fifteenth step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with said deposited fluid biotic material from said enclosed low humidity returning conveyor 50 to said waiting station 7 as shown in the fifth step. Then repeat the fifth step to the fourteenth step till an object or structure are formed or completed.
(94) The final step is to transfer said deposition platform 10 with a completed object to said extended unloading conveyor 46 and unloading the said completed object.
(95) Although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration, it is understood that such detail is solely for that purpose. It is also to be noted that the present invention is susceptible to modifications, adaptations and changes by those skilled in the art. Such variant embodiments employing the concepts and features of this invention are intended to be within the scope of the present invention, which is further set forth under the following claims.