Patent ID: 9370896
Filing Date: 2016-06-21
CPC Classification: B29C,B29K,B29L,B33Y

Claim Text:
1. A method for additive manufacturing of a part, the method comprising: supplying an unmelted fiber reinforced composite filament including at least one axial fiber strand extending within a matrix material of the filament; feeding the fiber reinforced composite filament at a feed rate; heating the fiber reinforced composite filament in a transverse pressure zone to a temperature greater than a melting temperature of the matrix material to melt the matrix material interstitially within the filament; applying an ironing force to the melted matrix material and the at least one axial fiber strand of the fiber reinforced composite filament with an ironing lip as the fiber reinforced composite filament is deposited in bonded ranks to the part; and translating the ironing lip adjacent to the part at a printing rate that maintains a neutral to positive tension in the fiber reinforced composite filament between the ironing lip and the part, the neutral to positive tension being a tension less than that necessary to separate a bonded rank from the part.