Patent ID: 11872747
Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
Field: Materials, metallurgy (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  Y | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A method for printing a three-dimensional object comprising:
(i) applying a metallic build material;
(ii) selectively applying a binder fluid on at least a portion of the metallic build material, wherein the binder fluid comprises a liquid vehicle and latex polymer particles dispersed in the liquid vehicle, wherein the liquid vehicle includes a coalescing solvent selected from the group consisting of 2-pyrrolidinone, 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-pyrrolidone, tripropylene glycol mono methyl ether, dipropylene glycol mono methyl ether, dipropylene glycol mono propyl ether, tripropylene glycol mono n-butyl ether, propylene glycol phenyl ether, dipropylene glycol methyl ether acetate, diethylene glycol mono butyl ether, diethylene glycol mono hexyl ether, ethylene glycol phenyl ether, diethylene glycol mono n-butyl ether acetate, ethylene glycol mono n-butyl ether acetate, 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol, and a combination thereof, and wherein the latex polymer particles have a molecular weight ranging from about 100,000 Mw to about 500,000 Mw and are heteropolymers each having from greater than 0 wt % to about 40 wt % of a hydrophobic component and a balance of a hydrophilic component, wherein the hydrophobic component is selected from the group consisting of styrene, p-methyl styrene, α-methyl styrene, methyl methacrylate, hexyl acrylate, hexyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, butyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, ethyl methacrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, propyl acrylate, propyl methacrylate, octadecyl acrylate, octadecyl methacrylate, stearyl methacrylate, vinylbenzyl chloride, isobornyl acrylate, tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate, 2-phenoxyethyl methacrylate, benzyl methacrylate, benzyl acrylate, ethoxylated nonyl phenol methacrylate, ethoxylated behenyl methacrylate, polypropyleneglycol monoacrylate, isobornyl methacrylate, cyclohexyl methacrylate, cyclohexyl acrylate, t-butyl methacrylate, n-octyl methacrylate, lauryl methacrylate, tridecyl methacrylate, alkoxylated tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate, isodecyl acrylate, isobornyl methacrylate, isobornyl acrylate, dimethyl maleate, dioctyl maleate, acetoacetoxyethyl methacrylate, diacetone acrylamide, N-vinyl imidazole, N-vinylcarbazole, N-vinyl-caprolactam, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof;
(iii) flash fusing the selectively applied binder fluid to bind the metallic build material and the selectively applied binder fluid by applying an energy flux having an energy density of from about 0.5 J/cm2 to about 20 J/cm2 for less than about 1 second;
(iv) repeating (i), (ii), and (iii) at least one time to form the three-dimensional object;
(v) exposing the three-dimensional object to a de-binding temperature; and
(vi) exposing the three-dimensional object to a sintering temperature that is higher than the de-binding temperature.