Patents Examined by John Robitaille
  • Patent number: 12605892
    Abstract: The task of the invention is to create a 3D printer to produce, for example, bone substitutes or organ substitutes or other objects such as prostheses from organically compatible materials Cable robot 3D printer (1), comprising a cable robot (1) with eight cables (2) or straps (2), wherein the cables (2) or straps (2) are detachably attached at a first end (3) to a print head (4) and are guided from the print head (4) to a respective cable drum (5), and the other second end (6) of the cables (2) or straps (2), which is opposite the print head (4) in each case, can be wound in the cable drum (5) in a planar, crossing-free manner wherein the cable drums (5) are arranged within a working space (7) and wherein the cable drums (5) are drivable and the drives (8) of the cable drums (5) are arranged outside or inside the working space (7), and in that at least one material feed (9) and at least one nozzle (10) are provided on the print head (4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2026
    Inventor: Anton Niederberger
  • Patent number: 12594715
    Abstract: Disclosed are a 3D printing device, and a method for preparing a 3D printed structure. The device comprises a curing system (1), and a curing pattern player (6), a flat curing surface (2) with dewettability, and a receiving base (4) capable of moving upwards and away from the flat curing surface, with same being successively arranged above the curing system (1), wherein a curing medium provided by the curing system (1) passes through the curing pattern, so that ink between the flat curing surface (2) and the receiving base (4) is cured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2026
    Assignee: INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
    Inventors: Lei Wu, Yanlin Song
  • Patent number: 12584252
    Abstract: An apparatus (20) for the continuous production of a mattress (14) of agglomerated mineral fibres is described, comprising a mineral fibre receiving or forming chamber (2), an accumulator conveyer (3) arranged below the receiving or forming chamber (2) and comprising adjacent drums (4) provided with perforated or gas-permeable circumferential surfaces (5) for receiving and accumulating the fibres to form a mattress (14) comprising mineral fibres between the drums (4), a gas extraction device (6) in fluid communication with the perforated or gas-permeable circumferential surfaces (5) of the drums (4) and a lower space between the drums (4) for unloading the mattress (14) of mineral fibres formed between the drums (4), the apparatus (20) being characterized in that said drums (4) comprise each a first half-drum (4a) and a second half-drum (4b) telescopically connected with each other and which are movable along the axis of rotation (X) between a first stroke-end position in which the first half-drum (4a) and th
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2026
    Assignee: STM TECHNOLOGIES S.R.L.
    Inventors: Marco La Greca, Roberto Massini
  • Patent number: 12570031
    Abstract: An injection-molding tool comprising at least two separate mold parts arranged so that they can be moved along a central tool axis between a closed and an open position. At least one of the mold parts comprises an alignment compensator with a first and a second compensator part. The first compensator part has a socket adapted for receiving the second compensator part so that it can slide along the central tool axis in the socket, and for allowing the second compensator part to tilt in the socket. A seal is arranged so that the seal and the first and the second compensator part encloses a space in the socket containing an elastic or fluid material. The seal also comprises a lid made from a plastic material arranged between the second compensator part and the liquid filled space in the socket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2026
    Assignee: LEGO A/S
    Inventor: Jens Stamp Lambæk
  • Patent number: 12552099
    Abstract: Provided herein is an additive manufacturing system having a build chamber, a plurality of tools and a plurality of tool bays where each tool bay is arranged to store one tool. A gantry is arranged to select one tool and removes the selected tool from a tool bay. A tool mount is slidably arranged on the gantry and to detachably couple the selected tool to the gantry. Two guide rails extend in a first direction and are arranged to receive the selected tool. The guide rails are movable along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, so as to enable alignment of the guide rails with one of the tool bays at a time. Channel seals expand or contract based on a relative movement between the tools and the sliders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2026
    Assignee: ULTIMAKER B.V.
    Inventors: Raymond Houwing, Kornelis Hermanus Welling
  • Patent number: 12552105
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing system may include an irradiation device configured to emit an energy beam having a manufacturing power level selected to additively manufacturing a three-dimensional object by irradiating a powder material, and a controller configured to perform one or more beam alignment operations when irradiating the powder material. The irradiation device may include a beam source, one or more beam positioning elements, a beam splitter configured to split a measurement beam from the energy beam, and one or more beam sensors configured to determine one or more parameters of the measurement beam. The one or more beam alignment operations may include determining position information of the energy beam based on the one or more parameters of the measurement beam, and aligning the energy beam with an optical axis of the irradiation device by adjusting a position of the one or more beam positioning elements based on the position information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2026
    Assignees: General Electric Company, Concept Laser GmbH
    Inventors: Fabian Zeulner, David Scott Simmermon, Laura L. Banks
  • Patent number: 12496744
    Abstract: The invention relates to the manufacture of a reinforced slab-shaped building element (E) having a length (L), a width (W) and a thickness, said slab-shaped building element (E) comprising an upper concrete plate anchored to a lower concrete plate with a top surface and a bottom surface, said upper concrete plate being cast from relatively higher strength concrete laid out upon said top surface, said lower concrete plate being of a less strong concrete, said lower concrete plate including a base contiguous with a plurality of raised portions integral therewith, said raised portions being spaced apart in the direction of said length (L) and said width (W), said plurality of raised portions defining between them a network of recesses, at least some of said recesses including reinforcing bars (R), said raised portions and said recesses together defining said top surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2025
    Assignee: ABEO ApS
    Inventors: Peter Hertz, Morten Rasmussen
  • Patent number: 12479027
    Abstract: A forming apparatus capable of producing an inorganic material-containing formed body having improved quality, and a method of making the same is disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the forming apparatus includes a stage, a supply unit having a first supply unit and a second supply unit, where the first supply unit is configured to intermittently or continuously supply a first composition containing an inorganic material to a stage, where the second supply unit is configured to intermittently or continuously supply a second composition containing a support material configured to support the first composition to the stage, an immobilization unit configured to immobilize the second composition on the stage, a heating unit configured to apply heat to the first composition on the stage, and a control unit configured to control the first supply unit and the heating unit to repeat supply and heating of the first composition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2025
    Assignee: LG Chem, Ltd.
    Inventors: Eiichiro Narimatsu, Yoshihiro Kinoshita
  • Patent number: 12473667
    Abstract: Systems and methods for producing BCF yarns include providing at least one color enhancement method for enhancing the color and/or hue of at least one of the N bundles of filaments. The color enhancement methods include tacking one or more of the bundles of spun filaments prior to and/or during drawing, texturizing one or more bundles of spun filaments individually from the other bundles of spun filaments, providing intermediate tacking of at least one bundle of texturized filaments and feeding the tacked and texturized filaments to a mixing cam for positioning tacked and texturized bundles relative one to the other before reaching the final tacking device, or combinations thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2025
    Assignee: Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Anthony Cascio, James Mason, Lucinda Jones
  • Patent number: 12454086
    Abstract: A method for directly preparing a foamed polylactic acid (PLA) product from a PLA melt includes PLA melt preparation, feeding, and two-stage extrusion. In the two-stage extrusion, a pressure at an outlet of a first-stage twin-screw extruder is 15 MPa to 17 MPa, a PLA melt is fed at a rate of 250 kg/h, a foaming additive is fed at a rate of 7.5 kg/h to 10 kg/h, and a foaming gas is fed at a rate of 2.8 L/h to 7.5 L/h. The method can ensure both foamability and quality of a material and reduce more than ? of energy consumption; and an obtained product has an adjustable foaming rate of 3 to 25, a crystallinity of 40.3% to 48.5%, a tensile strength of 8.7 MPa to 19.6 MPa, and an apparent density of 0.05 g/cm3 to 0.4 g/cm3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2025
    Assignee: JHM Engineering and Technology (Ningbo) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yanan Song, Lejun Wang, Weiwei Huang, Zongqiang Zheng, Yining Liu
  • Patent number: 12420282
    Abstract: A microchannel device, including a homogenization chamber, a deceleration-cooling channel, an acidity regulation channel, a microchannel reaction chamber, and an ultrafiltration desalination chamber. A method for preparing high-oil-load microcapsules using the aforementioned microchannel device, including: preparing an aqueous phase and an oil phase; feeding the aqueous phase and the oil phase to the homogenization chamber to form a first emulsion; cooling the first emulsion; adjusting pH of the first emulsion with dilute hydrochloric acid; feeding the first emulsion to the microchannel reaction chamber to form a second emulsion with a core-shell structure; removing Na+ and Cl? from the second emulsion; and subjecting the second emulsion to spray drying to obtain the high-oil-load microcapsule powder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2025
    Assignee: Nanchang University
    Inventors: Yikun Liu, Xing Chen, Wei Liu, Yuan Wang, Liqiang Zou
  • Patent number: 12409605
    Abstract: An improved apparatus and method provide conditioning to a powder deposited on a substrate (e.g., a web), for example, by wetting the powder in a 3D printing apparatus. To achieve this in an exemplary implementation, a wetting apparatus is located between a powder dispenser and at least one top calendering roller in a direction of movement of the substrate, wherein the wetting apparatus is configured to apply a wetting agent to the powder on the substrate before the powder passes through the calendering roller. The wetting agent is comprised of a material which increases cohesiveness of the powder to prevent the powder from adhering to the top roller. In a particular implementation, the wetting agent is steam confined to an area of the substrate where the powder passes through the wetting apparatus, without wetting other areas of the substrate which are not in the wetting apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2025
    Assignee: Sakuu Corporation
    Inventors: Morteza Vatani, Seyed Mohammad Sajadi, David Paul Wanamaker, Kevin Nesdahl, Tim Debruin, Brian Lindahl, Justin Carroll
  • Patent number: 12410623
    Abstract: A putty scraper is provided, which includes a sealing piece and a positioning structure provided on the sealing piece. The sealing piece has a sealing state when it is fixed on the positioning structure and an unlocking state when it is detached from the positioning structure. In the sealing state, one end of the sealing piece blocks an end of a gap and prevents a blade from being detached from a handle at the end of the gap. In the unlocking state, the end of the gap is exposed. When it is necessary to extract or replace the blade, the sealing piece is pushed by hand and a positioning block is detached from a positioning groove, and then the sealing piece is rotated to expose the end of the gap. At this time, the blade can be extracted out from the end of the gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2024
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2025
    Inventor: Junpiao Ying
  • Patent number: 12390993
    Abstract: A three-dimensional-object printing apparatus includes: a base; an arm supported by the base; a liquid ejecting head that is fixed to a tip end of the arm and ejects a liquid onto a work piece; a liquid accumulation section that accumulates the liquid; a supply channel which enables the liquid accumulation section and the liquid ejecting head to communicate with each other and along which the liquid is supplied from the liquid accumulation section to the liquid ejecting head; and a pressure control valve that is provided halfway in the supply channel and controls a pressure of the liquid supplied to the liquid ejecting head, in which the arm includes N movable sections that three-dimensionally change a position and an orientation of the liquid ejecting head, N being 1 or more, and the pressure control valve is fixed to the arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2025
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Keigo Sugai
  • Patent number: 12384111
    Abstract: A feeding device for feeding a polymeric material to a print head of an additive manufacturing machine has a feed cylinder that flows directly into the print head at a fitting to feed the polymeric material into the print head; and a movable pusher within the feed cylinder to advance the polymeric material towards the print head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2025
    Assignee: CARACOL S.R.L.
    Inventors: Daniele Vanerio, Paolo Cassis, Giovanni Avallone
  • Patent number: 12370745
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaping device includes: a dispensing unit having a nozzle and configured to dispense a material toward a stage; a cleaning mechanism configured to clean the nozzle; a moving unit configured to move the dispensing unit and the cleaning mechanism relative to the stage; and a control unit configured to control an operation of the moving unit. The cleaning mechanism includes a cleaning unit including a purge unit in which the material is purged from the nozzle and a brush unit to come into contact with the nozzle, and a recovery unit configured to recover the material accumulated in the purge unit. The control unit is configured to move the cleaning unit relative to the stage in conjunction with movement of the dispensing unit relative to the stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2025
    Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masayuki Gozu
  • Patent number: 12365137
    Abstract: In an embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a method of direct ink writing (DIW). In general, the method includes extruding a resin from a print head, applying radio frequency (RF) heating to the resin, and inducing partial curing of the extruded resin layer-by-layer to thereby form a self-supporting structure. In an additional embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a system for DIW. In some embodiments, the system includes a print head operable to extrude a resin from a nozzle and an RF applicator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2025
    Assignee: The Texas A&M University System
    Inventors: Anubhav Sarmah, Ava Crowley, Suchi Desai, Gabriel Zolton, Micah J. Green
  • Patent number: 12351658
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a polypropylene resin exhibiting excellent processability and capable of producing fine fibers, a polypropylene fiber including the same, and a method for preparing the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2025
    Assignee: LG Chem, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seong Min Chae, Hyunsup Lee, Kyung Seop Noh, Heekwang Park, Jihwa Ye
  • Patent number: 12299836
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a custom headwear for a subject is described. The method comprises generating a three-dimensional head data file for the subject and determining contour lines on the head; automatically generating a headwear data file. The method further comprises juxtaposing the headwear represented by the headwear data file with the head represented by the three-dimensional head data file having the contour lines thereon. The method yet further comprises utilizing the headwear data file to generate a shape for a desired headwear, the shape having an interior surface to contact the head and an outer surface. Still further, the method comprises projecting lines outward from the contour lines to the outer surface; and utilizing the projected lines to establish headwear contour lines for the custom headwear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2025
    Assignee: CRANIAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Timothy R Littlefield, Jerold N Luisi, George Kechter
  • Patent number: 12277664
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a custom cranial remodeling device for correction of cranial deformities in a subject is described. The method comprises generating a three-dimensional head data file for the subject and determining contour lines on the head. The method further comprises automatically generating a modified head shape data file and juxtaposing the modified head shape with the head represented by the three-dimensional head data file having the contour lines thereon. Still further the method includes utilizing the modified head shape data file to generate a shape for a desired custom cranial remodeling device, the shape having an interior surface to contact the head and an outer surface. The method also includes projecting lines outward from the contour lines to the outer surface and utilizing the projected lines to establish cranial remodeling device contour lines for the custom cranial remodeling device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2025
    Assignee: CRANIAL TECHNOOLGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Timothy R. Littlefield, Jerold N. Luisi, George E. Kechter