Patent ID: 11919238
Assignee: STRATASYS, INC.
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 19:
20. A method of printing a part with an additive manufacturing system, comprising:
providing a first portion of the part formed of a thermoplastic material, wherein the first portion of the part comprises a hollow member printed in a helical 3D tool path;
pre-heating the first portion of the part along an upcoming tool path to a temperature at or above a material-specific bonding temperature and below a degradation temperature of the thermoplastic material;
extruding molten thermoplastic material onto the first portion of the part along the pre-heated tool path while the temperature along the pre-heated tool path remains at or above the material-specific bonding temperature and below the degradation temperature, wherein the additional thermoplastic is the same as or different from the thermoplastic material forming the first portion of the part, thereby forming a newly extruded road bonded to the first portion of the part, wherein the newly extruded road forms a contact edge for printing a second portion of the part onto the hollow member in a direction substantially perpendicular to the helical 3D tool path; and
actively cooling the newly extruded road to remove substantially all heat imparted by the preheating step and the extruding step such that a thermally stable temperature at or about a bulk temperature of the part being printed is reached while reducing the minimum return time in at least one portion of the part being printed, wherein the preheating, extruding and cooling is performed in less than ten seconds.