Patents by Inventor Andries Rijfers

Andries Rijfers has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20230339178
    Abstract: An extrusion printer including a print head module is described. The print head module is arranged for cooperating with at least one further print head module in a stackable arrangement to form an extrusion print head. The print head module includes a casing having a first outlet channel defining a first nozzle for printing a first material, and a first inlet for receiving the first material from a first supply line including a first material supply. The casing defines a first pump chamber connected to the first outlet channel and the first inlet. The module further includes a first gear pump having two meshing gears arranged within the first pump chamber. A first meshing gear of the two meshing gears of the first pump is arranged for being actuated by a first actuator axle that extends through the stackable arrangement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2021
    Publication date: October 26, 2023
    Inventors: Andries RIJFERS, Leonardus Antonius Maria BROUWERS, Godefridus Hendrikus Willebrordus VERHOEVEN, Marcus Benedictus HOPPENBROUWERS
  • Publication number: 20230158740
    Abstract: An extrusion printer head for printing a viscous material. The print head comprises a plurality of nozzles. Each nozzle comprises a nozzle chamber for collecting therein the viscous material. The print head also comprises a viscous material distributor arranged for distributing a flow of viscous material to the plurality of nozzles. The viscous material distributor comprises a channel which defines therein, for each nozzle, a flow path which extends from an inlet of the channel to the nozzle chamber of the nozzle. The channel is structured such that the pressure drop over each of the defined flow paths is substantially equal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2021
    Publication date: May 25, 2023
    Inventors: Andries RIJFERS, Leonardus Antonius Maria BROUWERS, Godefridus Hendrikus Willebrordus VERHOEVEN
  • Patent number: 11610764
    Abstract: A plasma source (100), comprises an outer face (10) with an aperture (14) for delivering a plasma from the aperture. A transport mechanism is configured to transport a substrate (11) and the plasma source relative to each other parallel to the outer face, with a substrate surface to be processed in parallel with at least a part of the outer face that contains the aperture. First (4-1) and second tile (4-2) are arranged within a first plane of a working electrode (22) with neighbouring edges (12) bordering a first plasma collection space (6-1) and a third tile (4-3) is arranged in a second plane of the working electrode parallel to the first plane such that the third tile overlaps neighbouring edges in the first plane. At least one of the working and counter electrodes comprises a local modification (13,15) near said neighbouring edges to increase a plasma delivery to the aperture compensating for loss of plasma collection due to the neighbouring edges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO
    Inventors: Yves Lodewijk Maria Creyghton, Andries Rijfers
  • Publication number: 20220270860
    Abstract: A plasma delivery apparatus, comprising: a plasma source provided in an outer face of the delivery apparatus, the outer face arranged for facing a substrate to be treated; a transport mechanism configured to transport the substrate and the outer face relative to each other; the plasma source comprising a gas inlet to provide gas flow to a plasma generation space; the plasma generation space fluidly coupled to at least one plasma delivery port arranged in the outer face; wherein the plasma generation space is bounded by an outer face of a working electrode and a counter electrode; the working electrode comprising a dielectric layer; at least one plasma exhaust port provided in the outer face and distanced from the plasma delivery port, to exhaust plasma flowing along the outer face via said plasma exhaust port, wherein said at least one plasma delivery port and at least one plasma exhaust port are arranged to provide at least two contiguous plasma flows flowing in opposite directions that are each generated by
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2020
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Inventors: Yves Lodewijk Maria CREYGHTON, Andries RIJFERS
  • Publication number: 20210296094
    Abstract: A plasma source (100), comprises an outer face (10) with an aperture (14) for delivering a plasma from the aperture. A transport mechanism is configured to transport a substrate (11) and the plasma source relative to each other parallel to the outer face, with a substrate surface to be processed in parallel with at least a part of the outer face that contains the aperture. First (4-1) and second tile (4-2) are arranged within a first plane of a working electrode (22) with neighbouring edges (12) bordering a first plasma collection space (6-1) and a third tile (4-3) is arranged in a second plane of the working electrode parallel to the first plane such that the third tile overlaps neighbouring edges in the first plane. At least one of the working and counter electrodes comprises a local modification (13,15) near said neighbouring edges to increase a plasma delivery to the aperture compensating for loss of plasma collection due to the neighbouring edges.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2019
    Publication date: September 23, 2021
    Inventors: Yves Lodewijk Maria CREYGHTON, Andries RIJFERS
  • Publication number: 20210195751
    Abstract: An electronic device (1), is provided that comprises an electronic component (30) that is arranged on a component carrier (23) in a cavity (14) of a stack (10) of layers. One or more layers carry electrical conductors (15). The cavity (14) extends through the stack of layers from one of said layers (12n) to another one of said layers (12x). The component carrier (23) comprises electrically conductive tracks (24) from electric contacts (31) of the electronic component (30) to electric terminals (25) of the component carrier to a wall of the cavity to form an electrical connection with a respective one of said electrical conductors (15).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2019
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Inventors: Mathijs Rien DE SCHIPPER, Wijnand Christiaan GERMS, Jeichienus Johannes VAN DER WERFF, Herman Hendrikus MAALDERINK, Fabien Bernard Jacques BRUNING, Andries RIJFERS
  • Patent number: 11014288
    Abstract: A production line for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. The production line comprises: (i) a first and a second building platform for carrying a tangible product; (ii) a deposition head for providing a layer of construction material onto the building platforms; (iii) a conveyor for conveying the building platforms in a conveying plane towards and away from the deposition head repeatedly; and (iv) height adjustment means to adjust the distance between the deposition head and the building platforms by displacing the building platforms relative to the conveyor in a direction perpendicular to the conveying plane. The production line may further comprise a picking unit for picking a product from the building platforms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers, Andries Rijfers, Frits Kornelis Feenstra
  • Patent number: 10987868
    Abstract: A production line for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. The production line includes: first and second movable carriers, each carrier comprising a transporter for transporting the carrier, and a building platform for supporting a tangible product, one or more deposition heads for depositing construction material in a deposition direction onto the building platforms, and a conveyor for conveying the first and second building platform towards the deposition head and away from the deposition head repeatedly. The first and the second transporter are movable at variable speeds relative to each other along a trajectory of the conveyor. Optionally, the height of the building platforms can be adjusted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST-NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Andries Rijfers, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers, Augustinus Gerardus Maria Biemans, Frits Kornelis Feenstra
  • Patent number: 10609948
    Abstract: A cartridge assembly (3) of a 3D printer system for printing a plastic substance, such as a dough, comprises a refillable cartridge (31) and a punch-fill adapter (32) having a circumferential cutting edge (26) and being provided with a punch-fill connector (24) to form a manually releasable interconnection between the cartridge and the punch-fill adapter. When said interconnection is effective, the cartridge assembly is effective as a manual tool for punching, by means of said circumferential cutting edge, punched slices out of a supply slice of said plastic substance, and thereby for automatically inserting said punched slices into the inner space of the cartridge. Thanks to this punch-fill connector the manual (re)filling of the cartridge can be performed more easily and more reliably.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO
    Inventors: Mara Berkhout, Andries Rijfers
  • Publication number: 20190322052
    Abstract: The invention relates to a production line for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. The production line includes: first and second carriers comprising first and second building platforms for supporting first and second tangible products, a deposition head for depositing construction material onto the building platforms, a material remover for removing a surplus of the deposited construction material from the building platforms, a solidification device for solidifying at least a part of the deposited construction material, and a platform conveyor for conveying the carriers towards and away from the deposition head repeatedly. The layers are deposited on top of each other and solidified in a pattern that corresponds to a cross section of the product. The surplus material is removed by a remover, preferably before the layer is solidified. This allows the quantity of material to be adapted to the specific product on each building platform.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2019
    Publication date: October 24, 2019
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Andries Rijfers, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers, Augustinus Gerardus Maria Biemans, Frits Kornelis Feenstra
  • Patent number: 10421265
    Abstract: The invention relates to a production line and a method for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. The production line comprises a deposition head for depositing construction material layerwise on a building platform. The building platforms can move with a different speed along a conveyor. Optionally, the height of the building platforms can be adjusted. The method is characterized in that at least two building platforms are moving with different speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST-NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers, Augustinus Gerardus Maria Biemans, Andries Rijfers, Frits Kornelis Feenstra
  • Patent number: 10384436
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a production line (10) for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. Layers of a uniform thickness are deposited on top of each other and solidified in a pattern that corresponds to a cross section of the product. The method and production line are in particular suited for making mutually different products out of powders of construction material. The construction material is deposited on the different building platforms (11,12) individually by a deposition head (13). A surplus of material is removed by a remover (14), preferably before the layer is solidified (15). This allows that the quantity of material can be adapted to the specific product on each building platform. The production line further comprises a platform conveyor (16) for conveying the towards and away from the deposition head repeatedly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST-NATUURWETENSCHAPPELUK ONDERZOEK TNO
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Andries Rijfers, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers
  • Publication number: 20190224919
    Abstract: A production line for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. The production line includes: first and second movable carriers, each carrier comprising a transporter for transporting the carrier, and a building platform for supporting a tangible product, one or more deposition heads for depositing construction material in a deposition direction onto the building platforms, and a conveyor for conveying the first and second building platform towards the deposition head and away from the deposition head repeatedly. The first and the second transporter are movable at variable speeds relative to each other along a trajectory of the conveyor. Optionally, the height of the building platforms can be adjusted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2019
    Publication date: July 25, 2019
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Andries Rijfers, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers, Augustinus Gerardus Maria Biemans, Frits Kornelis Feenstra
  • Publication number: 20190210280
    Abstract: A production line for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. The production line comprises: (i) a first and a second building platform for carrying a tangible product; (ii) a deposition head for providing a layer of construction material onto the building platforms; (iii) a conveyor for conveying the building platforms in a conveying plane towards and away from the deposition head repeatedly; and (iv) height adjustment means to adjust the distance between the deposition head and the building platforms by displacing the building platforms relative to the conveyor in a direction perpendicular to the conveying plane. The production line may further comprise a picking unit for picking a product from the building platforms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Publication date: July 11, 2019
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers, Andries Rijfers, Frits Kornelis Feenstra
  • Patent number: 10226894
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a production line for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. The production line comprises (i) a first and a second building platform (102, 112) for carrying a tangible product, (ii) a deposition head (101) for providing a layer of construction material onto the building platforms, (iii) a conveyor (103) for conveying the building platforms in a conveying plane towards and away from the deposition head repeatedly, (iv) height adjustment means (107) to adjust the distance between the deposition head and the building platforms by displacing the building platforms relative to the conveyor in a direction (104) perpendicular to the conveying plane. The production line may further comprise a picking unit (106) for picking a product from the building platforms. The method allows making different tangible products in a continuous process by layerwise manufacturing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST-NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers, Andries Rijfers, Frits Kornelis Feenstra
  • Patent number: 10160207
    Abstract: The invention is directed at a print head for printing a suspension fluid. The print head comprises a nozzle having one or more nozzle outlets for allowing the suspension fluid to be ejected from the nozzle, a flow path including a supply channel for supplying the suspension fluid to the one or more nozzle outlets, and a supply pump for establishing a flow within the flow path. The nozzle further comprises an actuator for imparting pressure fluctuations on the suspension fluid at the one or more nozzle outlets for generating a stream of droplets therefrom. The flow path further comprises a shear section for locally increasing the shear rate at least at a location in the flow path upstream of the one or more nozzle outlets. The flow path further includes a return channel for allowing excess fluid not ejected from the nozzle to flow away from the one or more nozzle outlets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO
    Inventors: Andries Rijfers, René Jos Houben, Robin Bernardus Johannes Koldeweij
  • Publication number: 20180168217
    Abstract: A cartridge assembly (3) of a 3D printer system for printing a plastic substance, such as a dough, comprises a refillable cartridge (31) and a punch-fill adapter (32) having a circumferential cutting edge (26) and being provided with a punch-fill connector (24) to form a manually releasable inter-connection between the cartridge and the punch-fill adapter. When said inter-connection is effective, the cartridge assembly is effective as a manual tool for punching, by means of said circumferential cutting edge, punched slices out of a supply slice of said plastic substance, and thereby for automatically inserting said punched slices into the inner space of the cartridge. Thanks to this punch-fill connector the manual (re)filling of the cartridge can be performed more easily and more reliably.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2016
    Publication date: June 21, 2018
    Inventors: Mara BERKHOUT, Andries RIJFERS
  • Publication number: 20170334201
    Abstract: The invention is directed at a print head for printing a suspension fluid. The print head comprises a nozzle having one or more nozzle outlets for allowing the suspension fluid to be ejected from the nozzle, a flow path including a supply channel for supplying the suspension fluid to the one or more nozzle outlets, and a supply pump for establishing a flow within the flow path. The nozzle further comprises an actuator for imparting pressure fluctuations on the suspension fluid at the one or more nozzle outlets for generating a stream of droplets therefrom. The flow path further comprises a shear section for locally increasing the shear rate at least at a location in the flow path upstream of the one or more nozzle outlets. The flow path further includes a return channel for allowing excess fluid not ejected from the nozzle to flow away from the one or more nozzle outlets.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2015
    Publication date: November 23, 2017
    Applicant: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek TNO
    Inventors: Andries Rijfers, René Jos Houben, Robin Bernardus Johannes Koldeweij
  • Publication number: 20170050386
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a production line (10) for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. Layers of a uniform thickness are deposited on top of each other and solidified in a pattern that corresponds to a cross section of the product. The method and production line are in particular suited for making mutually different products out of powders of construction material. The construction material is deposited on the different building platforms (11,12) individually by a deposition head (13). A surplus of material is removed by a remover (14), preferably before the layer is solidified (15). This allows that the quantity of material can be adapted to the specific product on each building platform. The production line further comprises a platform conveyor (16) for conveying the towards and away from the deposition head repeatedly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2015
    Publication date: February 23, 2017
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Andries Rijfers, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers
  • Publication number: 20170050379
    Abstract: The invention relates to a production line and a method for making tangible products by layerwise manufacturing. The production line comprises a deposition head for depositing construction material layerwise on a building platform. The building platforms can move with a different speed along a conveyor. Optionally, the height of the building platforms can be adjusted. The method is characterised in that at least two building platforms are moving with different speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2015
    Publication date: February 23, 2017
    Inventors: René Jos Houben, Leonardus Antonius Maria Brouwers, Augustinus Gerardus Maria Biemans, Andries Rijfers, Frits Kornelis Feenstra