Patent ID: 11872746
Assignee: ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE (EPFL)
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  C | IPC B  C

Claim 4:
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said liquid photoresponsive material with thermoresponsive gelation properties is used, and the method comprises the steps of
a. providing an optically transparent vessel which defines a build region,
b. filling the build region with said liquid photoresponsive material with thermoresponsive gelation properties, such that after filling the material liquid photoresponsive is in contact with a wall of the optically transparent vessel,
c. forming a gel, from said liquid photoresponsive material with thermoresponsive gelation properties, by either heating up the liquid photoresponsive material above its gelation temperature of between 0° C. and 40° C. or cooling it down below its gelation temperature of between 0° C. and 40° C.,
d. computing one or more sequences of spatially modulated light patterns of one or more radiation wavelengths;
e. setting either the build region or a projection device irradiating said patterns of curing light into a rotational motion;
f. concurrently irradiating the build region with one or more synchronized spatially modulated light patterns to selectively alter the phase of the photoresponsive material in order to form an object;
g. developing the three-dimensional article by either cooling down the photoresponsive-thermoresponsive gel below its gelation temperature or heating the photoresponsive-thermoresponsive gel up above its gelation temperature;
h. in the case of the fabrication of a multi-material three-dimensional object, removing an uncured light-reactive material from the build region, filling the build region with another light-reactive material, and repeating the above steps.