Patents by Inventor Eric Erwin Thomas

Eric Erwin Thomas 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).

  • Patent number: 11673193
    Abstract: A process for additive manufacture of an article including conjoined first and second metals, wherein the first metal includes one of steel and titanium and the second metal includes another of the steel and the titanium. The process comprises arranging an interface layer of a third metal on a substrate of the first metal, wherein the third metal is capable of forming an alloy with the first metal and capable of forming an alloy with the second metal. The process further comprises supplying a consumable form of the second metal to a locus of the interface layer and heating the locus of the interface layer in an non-reactive environment. In this process, the heating fuses the consumable form of the second metal to render a fused form of the second metal and joins the fused form of the second metal to the interface layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: Daniel Elliott Sievers, Eric Erwin Thomas
  • Publication number: 20210129222
    Abstract: A process for additive manufacture of an article including conjoined first and second metals, wherein the first metal includes one of steel and titanium and the second metal includes another of the steel and the titanium. The process comprises arranging an interface layer of a third metal on a substrate of the first metal, wherein the third metal is capable of forming an alloy with the first metal and capable of forming an alloy with the second metal. The process further comprises supplying a consumable form of the second metal to a locus of the interface layer and heating the locus of the interface layer in an non-reactive environment. In this process, the heating fuses the consumable form of the second metal to render a fused form of the second metal and joins the fused form of the second metal to the interface layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2019
    Publication date: May 6, 2021
    Inventors: Daniel Elliott Sievers, Eric Erwin Thomas
  • Publication number: 20200368815
    Abstract: A method for use in additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional workpiece is described. The method includes depositing material onto a substrate to form a shape of the workpiece in accordance with an additive manufacturing process; determining a thermal characteristic of at least a portion of the workpiece during the additive manufacturing process; determining that the thermal characteristic of at least the portion exceeds a threshold associated with the portion; adjusting a cooling parameter of a cooling flow to be applied to the workpiece responsive to determining that the thermal characteristic of at least the portion exceeds the threshold associated with the portion; and applying the cooling flow with the adjusted cooling parameter to at least the portion of the workpiece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2019
    Publication date: November 26, 2020
    Inventors: Andrew H. Baker, James B. Castle, Eric Erwin Thomas, Samuel Joseph Easley