Rapid Prototyping (e.g., Layer-by-layer, Material Deposition) Patents (Class 700/119)
  • Patent number: 12214554
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing system includes a first robotic arm and a print head with a nozzle. The first robotic arm is configured to hold a build part during a build process. The print head is configured to deposit source material layer by layer during the build process to construct the build part. The first robotic arm is configured to reorient the build part relative to the print head during the build process to modify an angle of a surface layer of the build part relative to the print head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2025
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventor: Lisa A. Cardon
  • Patent number: 12179434
    Abstract: There is disclosed an improved additive manufacturing method and system for the production of components and structures, which integrates real-time monitoring and integrity diagnosis systems directly into the manufacturing process. The method introduces smart slicing technique by which smart sensor network layers (SNL) are embedded into sliced layers of a 3-D model at critical points during component design. The critical points are identified by structural analyses of the component using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). A Smart Extrusion and Mixing Module (SEMM) produces both primary printing material and conductive material for SNL layers. The SEMM operates in a direct extrusion mode for primary material and in a mixing and extrusion mode for conductive material. An Artificial Intelligence Single Board Computer (AISBC) manages the printing process and communication with SNL layers. Defect detection occurs in real-time during manufacturing, aided by a scanning module powered by an AI algorithm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2024
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2024
    Assignee: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Waleed Ahmed, Muthanna Aziz
  • Patent number: 12179269
    Abstract: A method of determining a tool path for an additive deposition on a surface, the method including receiving primary edges data of the surface of a three-dimensional (3D) object; calculating a number of raster lines for applying an additive deposition on the surface; mapping a raster pattern to the surface of the 3D object; calculating surface normal and rotational angles along the raster lines; calculating a nozzle velocity of an additive application used for producing the additive deposition on the surface; identifying curvature effects of the 3D object; and establishing an order of performing passes of the additive deposition on the surface based on a selected direction for performing the additive deposition and a consideration of a residual stress profile of a resulting deposit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2024
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Isaac M. Nault, Kenneth W. Young, Gehn D. Ferguson, Aaron T. Nardi
  • Patent number: 12167720
    Abstract: An artificial structure for promoting microalgae growth includes a 3D-printed structure formed by positioning a printing surface on a movable stage of a 3D bioprinter in contact with a bio-ink that includes a mixture of a pre-polymer material with one or more of cellulose-derived nanocrystals (CNC), and microalgae cells. By projecting modulated light onto the printing surface while moving the stage, the bio-ink is progressively polymerized to define layers of an artificial coral structure with microalgae cells disposed thereon, where the artificial coral structure is configured to scatter light within the structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2024
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Shaochen Chen, Dimitri Deheyn, Shangting You, Daniel Wangpraseurt, Silvia Vignolini
  • Patent number: 12157274
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing system having a sensor module. The sensor module including a distance sensor to provide an indication of a position of a top surface of a volume of build material. The system includes a processor to determine whether the volume of build material should be reformed based on the indication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2024
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Guillermo Moliner Clemente, Eduard Galdeano Castillo, Alejandro Torres Pinero
  • Patent number: 12138861
    Abstract: In a method for the production and/or treatment of a three-dimensional object with a printing material which is dispensed at a target position in the form of discrete three-dimensional printing material elements, a metering device is moved to at least one reservoir in which a supply of printing material is kept and, by means of the metering device, printing material is picked up from that at least one reservoir. The metering device is transported to a target position defined in all three spatial dimensions and, at that target position, a metered quantity of printing material is applied to a substrate or to a three-dimensional object arranged thereon or being constructed thereon, in order to create a printing material element. The creation of a printing material element is repeated until the three-dimensional object has been fully constructed and/or treated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: Chemspeed Research AG
    Inventor: Rolf Gueller
  • Patent number: 12138854
    Abstract: In the case of a method for producing a three-dimensional shaped object by means of layer-by-layer material application, a base surface for holding the three-dimensional shaped object, a liquid, flowable or powder-form first material that can solidify, a powder-form second material including thermoplastic powder particles, and a solvent are made available. From the first material, a negative mold layer having a cavity for a shaped-object layer to be produced is produced and solidified. The bottom of the cavity is charged to an electric potential having a first polarity, and the powder particles are charged to a potential having a second polarity. The powder particles are applied to a support surface that is positioned relative to the cavity in such a manner that the powder particles are transferred from the support surface into the cavity and form a shaped-object layer having a positive shape that matches the negative mold in this cavity. The shaped-object layer is sintered by means of the effect of heat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: 3D Systems GmbH
    Inventor: Hans Mathea
  • Patent number: 12138862
    Abstract: According to one aspect, there is provided an apparatus and a method for extracting 3D printed parts from a build unit (114) in cleaning station comprising obtaining data representing the contents of a print job contained in the build unit (114) and generating a visualization of the contents of the build unit (114) based in part on the obtained data and in part on data related to operations performed by the cleaning station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Pol Fornos, Sergio Puigardeu Aramendia, Carmen Blasco
  • Patent number: 12131102
    Abstract: Various embodiments described herein provide a method of making an object from a three-dimensional geometry file and a light polymerizable resin on a light-transmissive window by projection of light through the window in a bottom-up stereolithography process. The method may comprise: slicing the file into a series of sequential images. Temperature fluctuations in the resin may be calculated for at least some of the sequential images upon light polymerization thereof based on sequential exposure of the resin to light, the light corresponding to the series of sequential images. During producing of the object, the production may be modified based on the calculated temperature fluctuations by: (i) reducing production speed during at least a portion of the production; (ii) activating a window cooler during at least a portion of the production; or (iii) increasing production speed during at least a portion of the production.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2024
    Assignee: Carbon, Inc.
    Inventors: Kyle Laaker, Bob E. Feller, Matthew Panzer
  • Patent number: 12115732
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaping device includes: a dispensing unit including a nozzle; a stage having a shaping surface on which a shaping material is to be laminated; a position changing unit configured to change a relative position between the nozzle and the stage; a control unit configured to control the position changing unit; and a measurement module used to measure a difference of the nozzle from a reference position in the shaping surface based on a first position of the nozzle in the shaping surface and a second position of the nozzle in the shaping surface. The first position is a position in which the nozzle is assumed to be positioned by the control unit controlling the position changing unit. The second position is a position changed by the control unit controlling the position changing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takafumi Sameshima, Keitaro Hashizume
  • Patent number: 12103235
    Abstract: A beam steering system in which the printhead follows a printpath along a curve, such as printing of a heat exchanger thin walls, typically undergoes errors due to varying beam angles, beam focus and beam speed. The present disclosure provides solutions to error reduction and increases reliability for printing rings and hollow objects related to 3D printing. Accordingly, a wall described by a curve function, may be fabricated using a printhead, which is moved in a print path that keeps the print lines orthogonal to the print path and tangent to the inner center line curve between the outer wall and the inner wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Inventor: Charles Bibas
  • Patent number: 12097561
    Abstract: A method for operating a powder bed-based manufacturing device for additive manufacturing of a component from a powder material includes taking at least one optical recording of a working powder layer of the powder material on a construction location of the manufacturing device, locally evaluating the at least one optical recording, and examining the working powder layer for local coating errors using the evaluation of the at least one optical recording.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2024
    Inventors: Philipp Wagenblast, Markus Pieger, Frederik Schaal, Matthias Allenberg-Rabe, Bjoern Ullmann, Valentin Blickle, Marc Gronle
  • Patent number: 12076931
    Abstract: In an example, a method includes receiving, by at least one processor, object model data representing at least a portion of a first object that is to be generated by an additive manufacturing apparatus. An indication of a proportion of the first object which is solid may be determined, and, based thereon, a dimensional compensation value may be determined. The determined dimensional compensation value may be applied to the object model data to determine modified object model data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Victor Diego Gutierrez, Manuel Freire Garcia, Enrique Gurdiel Gonzalez
  • Patent number: 12070897
    Abstract: A method of additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object, comprises: dispensing from a first array of nozzles a modeling material formulation containing a polyimide precursor to form a layer in a configured pattern corresponding to a shape of a slice of the object; applying to the layer ultraviolet radiation and infrared radiation from two different radiation sources; and repeating the dispensing and the application of radiation to form a plurality of layers in configured patterns corresponding to shapes of other slices of the object. Optionally, an additional modeling material formulation or a support material formulation is dispensed from a second array of nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: Stratasys Ltd.
    Inventors: Mariana Pokrass, Omer Sinwani, Shai Sultan, Lev Kuno, Gil Shelef
  • Patent number: 12023869
    Abstract: A system for detecting irregularities in three-dimensional parts being manufactured using an additive manufacturing process. Images of the manufactured cross section are obtained via an apparatus, then processed for irregularities as the object manufacturing cycle progresses. These images are processed through computational algorithms in order to identify areas of compromised integrity or quality. This data is then used to determine the risk of the part as manufactured, and an assessment is performed to determine if the process should continue. Should the manufacturing process be determined to proceed, the data is stored to be further assessed later by technicians, operators, and/or engineers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2024
    Inventor: David Louis Edelen, III
  • Patent number: 12008745
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing method includes depositing a first amount of metal powder onto a powder bed of a printing system, spreading the first amount of metal powder across the powder bed to form a first layer, and depositing a first amount of binder material on the first layer. The additive manufacturing method also includes exposing the first layer to a first lighting condition, imaging the first layer under the first lighting condition to generate a first image, analyzing the first image of the first layer, and determining whether to adjust at least one printing parameter based on the analyzing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2024
    Assignee: Desktop Metal, Inc.
    Inventors: George Hudelson, Matthew McCambridge, Jake Dec, Alexander Legendre
  • Patent number: 11958113
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaped article production method for producing a three-dimensional shaped article by ejecting a shaping material to a stage and stacking layers according to a path including multiple partial paths is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Satoshi Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 11919227
    Abstract: A circuit board and component fabrication apparatus comprises a print head configured to deposit one or more materials on a substrate so as to print electronic circuit boards and/or components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: DST INNOVATIONS, LTD.
    Inventor: Anthony Miles
  • Patent number: 11919235
    Abstract: According to some aspects, techniques that address one or more drawbacks of laser-based optical systems in additive fabrication devices are described. In some aspects, an additive fabrication device may include one or more variable focus lenses that may be operated (e.g., actuated) during fabrication to adjust the focus, and thereby the spot size, of a laser beam. In some aspects, an additive fabrication device may comprise a laser array, such as a plurality of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), that may be operated to direct light into a build region, rather than using a single laser beam, such as a single diode laser. In some aspects, an additive fabrication device may comprise a container that includes a flexible display film, such as a flexible LCD screen, which may be operated to direct light into the container to thereby cure a liquid photopolymer therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Formlabs, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew M. Goldman, Benjamin FrantzDale, Scott Norton
  • Patent number: 11904526
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing method and system comprising: a nozzle having a nozzle sidewall defining a central channel for allowing a deposition material filament to be dispensed therethrough on a workpiece; a heat source operatively coupled to the nozzle for melting the deposition material filament dispensed through the nozzle to form an additive material layer on a top surface of the workpiece; and an ultrasonic wave generator for providing ultrasonic waves into the melted deposition material in order to break up the oxide layer around the melted deposition material and bond the additive material layer to the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Inventor: Francesco Gallé
  • Patent number: 11839914
    Abstract: A method of metal additive manufacturing includes generating a plurality of laser beams and directing the plurality of laser beams to selected portions of a surface of a powder bed of powdered metal. The method also includes monitoring the powder bed while performing the generating and directing, and adjusting at least one of the generating or directing based on the monitoring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Freeform Future Corp.
    Inventors: Derek Schmuland, Thomas J Ronacher, Erik Palitsch
  • Patent number: 11833623
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing system includes an additive manufacturing tool configured to receive a plurality of metallic anchoring materials and to supply a plurality of droplets to a part, and a controller configured to independently control the composition, formation, and application of each droplet to the plurality of droplets to the part. The plurality of droplets is configured to build up the part. Each droplet of the plurality of droplets includes at least one metallic anchoring material of the plurality of metallic anchoring materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.
    Inventors: Bruce Patrick Albrecht, Christopher Hsu
  • Patent number: 11806785
    Abstract: A 3D printing method providing an improved manufacturing process by providing a plurality of layers forming at least a part of the component, wherein the plurality of layers contains at least one first layer part and at least one second layer part, wherein the at least one first layer part and the at least one second layer part have been manufactured with different manufacturing speeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Pajazit Avdovic, Jonas Eriksson, Jerry Fornander
  • Patent number: 11760028
    Abstract: A material drop ejecting three-dimensional (3D) object printer identifies a time lag error corresponding to a time lag in the response of printer components to component commands. The identified time lag error is provided to a slicer program that uses the identified time lag error to compensate for the time lag in the response of the printer components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Rachel L. Tanchak, Erwin Ruiz, Brendan McNamara, Piotr Sokolowski, Jack G. Elliot, Ka H. Fung, Derek A. Bryl, Douglas E. Proctor, Christopher T. Chungbin, Peter M. Gulvin
  • Patent number: 11731364
    Abstract: In an example, a method includes receiving object model data representing at least a portion of an object that is to be generated by an additive manufacturing apparatus by fusing build material within a fabrication chamber. At least one of a number of different geometrical compensation models to be applied to the object model data may be selected, where the geometrical compensation models are to determine geometrical compensations to compensate for object deformation in additive manufacturing. An object generation operation based on a modification of the object model data using the or each selected geometrical compensation mode may be simulated and predicted attributes of the object when generated based on the or each simulation may be displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Enrique Gurdiel Gonzalez, Victor Diego Gutierrez, Manuel Freire Garcia
  • Patent number: 11734814
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for. One embodiment is a system that includes an interface configured to receive an image of media printed on with print data, and memory configured to store defect reference data of nozzles belonging to printheads of a printer. The system also includes a print defect controller configured to detect a nozzle defect in the image based on a comparison of the image with the print data, and to determine a type of the nozzle defect based on a comparison of the nozzle defect with the defect reference data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Nikita Gurudath, Scott R. Johnson, Nathan Young, Ziling Zhang
  • Patent number: 11673319
    Abstract: A three-dimensional printing system includes a resin vessel, a support plate, a light engine, a build tray, motorized support, and a controller. The resin vessel includes a vessel body defining a central opening and a transparent sheet that closes the central opening. The transparent sheet is at least partially formed from a cast polypropylene (CPP). The support plate is for supporting the resin vessel and includes a rigid transparent central portion for supporting the transparent sheet. The light engine is configured to project pixelated light to a build plane within the resin. The build tray defines a support surface for supporting the three-dimensional article to be at least partially submerged in the resin. The motorized support is configured to align and adjust a vertical position of the build tray. The controller is for controlling the light engine and the motorized support for fabricating the three-dimensional article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: 3D SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventor: Hai Quang Tran
  • Patent number: 11674836
    Abstract: A method and a device for acquiring a volume of a structure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and a printer are provided. The method includes for a model placed on a specified plane, determining at least one reference plane in a direction parallel to the specified plane. The method also includes for the at least one reference plane, obtaining at least one vertical projection area by acquiring a vertical projection area of the model above each reference plane projected on a corresponding reference plane. Further, the method includes according to the at least one vertical projection area, obtaining a total volume; and according to the total volume and a volume of the model, obtaining the volume of the supporting structure of the model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: ZHUHAI SAILNER 3D TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Wei Chen, Dongqing Xiang
  • Patent number: 11666985
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure relate to. In one example, a method of controlling an additive manufacturing machine includes: determining a material transition between a first machine control code and a second machine control code in a set of machine control codes; determining a material transition time for the determined material transition between the first machine control code and the second machine control code; determining a motion time from the first machine control code and the second machine control code; comparing the material transition time to the motion time; and manipulating the set of machine control codes based on the comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: FormAlloy Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeffrey L. Riemann
  • Patent number: 11669057
    Abstract: Examples of a thermal behavior prediction method are described herein. In some examples of the thermal behavior prediction method, a predicted heat map of a layer corresponding to a three-dimensional (3D) model is computed using at least one neural network. The predicted heat map is computed based on a contone map corresponding to the 3D model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    Inventors: Jun Zeng, He Luan
  • Patent number: 11654634
    Abstract: Provided is a system, method, and computer program product for generating a three-dimensional (3D) printable file of a complete object by re-assembling pieces of a broken object using generative adversarial network techniques. A processor may generate a 3D scan of each piece of a plurality of pieces of a broken object. The processor may assemble the 3D scan of each piece of the plurality of pieces to generate a re-assembled object, where the re-assembled object includes one or more gaps. The processor may fill the one or more gaps in the re-assembled object to create a complete object. The processor may generate a 3D printable file of the complete object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Clement Decrop, Charles E. Beller, Zachary A. Silverstein, Jeremy R. Fox
  • Patent number: 11648612
    Abstract: In one example, a 3D printing system includes a support structure generator to identify a breakaway support to temporarily support part of the object, to design a wedge shaped groove between a portion of the object and the support, the groove ending at a line along which the support intersects the object, and to generate a digital object model that includes the support and the groove. The system also includes a 3D printer to print the object, support and groove based on the object model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: James Charles McKinnell
  • Patent number: 11642840
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a composite material layer including a core layer and a shell layer. The core layer includes foamed elastomers. The shell layer encapsulates the core layer and continuously covered surfaces of the foamed elastomers, wherein the shell layer includes a material having light absorption. The melting point of the core layer is higher than the melting point of the shell layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: National Taipei University of Technology
    Inventors: Cherng-Yuh Su, Kai-Han Su, Chung-Chieh Chang, Yung-En Liao, Deng-Nan Jhang, Jia-Long Hu
  • Patent number: 11636756
    Abstract: A method is provided, performed by at least one apparatus, the method including: obtaining probe data including a plurality of probe samples of a multi-dimensional probe sample space, the probe data being representative of a potentially multi-modal traffic scenario; performing a cluster analysis for at least a part of the probe samples of the probe data, the cluster analysis including: associating at least a part of the probe samples with respective clusters, each cluster being representative of a mode of the potentially multi-modal traffic scenario.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: HERE GLOBAL B.V.
    Inventor: James Fowe
  • Patent number: 11623279
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing device includes a recoater configured to push powder onto a build platform. The recoater defines an advancing direction for pushing powder. A gas mover is mounted to the recoater and is configured to flow gas to remove powder from the build platform as the recoater moves along the advancing direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventor: David W. Morganson
  • Patent number: 11618083
    Abstract: A layered modeling method for laser metal deposition (LIVID) 3D printing. The layered modeling method includes: obtaining estimated printing parameters of each layer in an entire digital model based on a process database; obtaining estimated feature points of each layer through the estimated parameters; comparing estimated feature points of each layer with feature points of a corresponding actual shape to obtain a difference in each layer; and accumulating to obtain a difference in the entire digital model to obtain corresponding printing parameters. The layered modeling method has the advantages of effectively reducing the calculation amount during data comparison and greatly saving time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: CHENGDU AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIAL(GROUP)CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shaochun Sui, Peng Rong, Dawei Wang
  • Patent number: 11597156
    Abstract: Examples of methods for monitoring additive manufacturing by an electronic device are described herein. In some examples, a predicted thermal image is calculated for a layer. In some examples, a captured thermal image is obtained for the layer. In some examples, a risk score is calculated for the layer based on the predicted thermal image and the captured thermal image. In some examples, a mitigation operation is performed in response to determining that the risk score is outside of a threshold range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: He Luan, Jun Zeng
  • Patent number: 11590712
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing system configured to: during a first build cycle of an additive manufacturing process for manufacturing a first layer of a build, sampling a first set of sensor data streams via the sensor suite; calculate a first likelihood of failure of the build based on the first set of sensor data streams; in response to calculating the first likelihood of failure within a first likelihood range, flag the build to indicate the first likelihood of failure; and in response to calculating the first likelihood of failure within a second likelihood range greater than the first likelihood range, pause the additive manufacturing process, and notify an operator of the additive manufacturing system of the first likelihood of failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: Stratasys, Inc.
    Inventors: Joel Ong, Christopher Prucha
  • Patent number: 11571852
    Abstract: An extruder of a three-dimensional printer may be coupled with one or more filament tubes, each filament tube having its own supply of filament. The extruder may include a drive gear rotatable in a first direction to advance a filament from a filament tube toward at least one extrusion opening defined by the extruder and rotatable in a second direction, opposite the first direction, to advance another filament from a different filament tube toward the at least one extrusion opening defined by the extruder. Also, as one filament is advanced by the drive gear, another filament may be retracted by the drive gear to improve the switching of filaments in a three-dimensional printing process. The extruder may work in conjunction with a filament supply-side drive system that feeds filament into one or more filament tubes, reducing a pull force exerted by the drive gear of the extruder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: MakerBot Industries, LLC
    Inventors: Samuel Holland, Mark Waller, Carlos Fernandez Arreola, Mark Palmer, Taylor S. Goodman, Kevin C. Rand
  • Patent number: 11565476
    Abstract: A method of additive manufacturing a three-dimensional object by layerwise deposition of a building material with an inkjet printing system comprising a print head and a building tray, comprises calculating a weighting value for each nozzle, then for each layer obtaining a 2-D map of the layer, comprising active pixels at building material dispensing positions; obtaining a Data Correction Filter (DCF) including a height map of the previous layer, comparing the data of the 2D map to the data of the DCF at each position and determining if the nozzle at that position should dispense, then printing the layer, updating the weighting values and adjusting the position of the print head vis a vis the printing tray. The above is repeated until the three-dimensional object is printed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Stratasys Ltd.
    Inventors: Mayan Rumbak, Eduardo Napadensky, Raffy Sarfati, Gavish Mida
  • Patent number: 11554540
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a conformal manufacture method for 3D printing with high-viscosity material. The method comprises the steps: using 3D design software to design a 3D model of a component and a conformal contactless support; importing the 3D model data of the component and the conformal contactless support into slice software; importing multiple slice data of the component and the conformal contactless support into a 3D printing device, and sequentially scanning a high-viscosity material by laser till completing the printing; and removing the support and the uncured materials to finally obtain the component. The support and the component to be manufactured are easy to be separated, and no trace is left on the surface of the component. The present disclosure provides a conformal contactless support method for manufacturing a component having a complex bottom surface structure by using a 3D printing technology, and has a wide application prospect in the field of 3D manufacture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: ZRapid Technologies Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hongzhi Zhou, Yinsheng Liang
  • Patent number: 11518097
    Abstract: A dispensing system for an additive manufacturing apparatus includes a frame, a powder reservoir, an agitator and an array of dispensing units positioned below the powder reservoir. The powder reservoir has a first width along a primary axis, and includes a lower portion and an upper portion that is wider than the lower portion along a second axis perpendicular to the primary axis. The agitator is positioned in the upper portion of the powder reservoir. Each dispensing unit includes a nozzle block that has a passage therethrough that defines a nozzle and provides a respective path for the powder to flow from the powder reservoir to the nozzle, and a valve positioned in the passage in the nozzle block to controllably release powder through the nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Raanan Zehavi, Hou T. Ng, Nag B. Patibandla, Ajey M. Joshi
  • Patent number: 11511491
    Abstract: Methods and systems for optimizing additive process parameters for an additive manufacturing process. In some embodiments, the process includes receiving initial additive process parameters, generating an uninformed design of experiment utilizing a specified sampling protocol, next generating, based on the uninformed design of experiment, response data, and then generating, based on the response data and on previous design of experiment that includes at least one of the uninformed design of experiment and informed design of experiment, an informed design of experiment by using the machine learning model and the intelligent sampling protocol. The last process step is repeated until a specified objective is reached or satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Voramon Supatarawanich Dheeradhada, Natarajan Chennimalai Kumar, Vipul Kumar Gupta, Laura Dial, Anthony Joseph Vinciquerra, Timothy Hanlon
  • Patent number: 11491547
    Abstract: Aspects described herein provide a method including: receiving layer data for a part to be additively manufactured, wherein the layer data comprises a plurality of deposition locations; for each respective deposition location of the plurality of deposition locations: determining a surface normal vector for with the respective deposition location; determining a direction of travel vector based on the respective deposition location and at least one other deposition location of the plurality of deposition locations; determining a tool vector for the respective deposition location based on the direction of travel vector for the respective deposition location and the surface normal vector for with the respective deposition location; manipulating a movable element of the additive manufacturing machine to align with the tool vector for the respective deposition location; and depositing material of the part at the respective deposition location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: FormAlloy Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Jeffrey L. Riemann
  • Patent number: 11465354
    Abstract: Additive manufacturing parts having improved functional properties such as conductivity and absorption are fabricated with a fused filament fabrication process to have a contiguous path of functional nanomaterial embedded within the parts. A first heated filament consisting of a primary polymer material is deposited through a first nozzle and a second heated filament including a secondary polymer material filled with functional nanomaterial is deposited through a second nozzle in one or more layers to form a fabricated additive manufacturing part having at least one void. The second heated filament is embedded within the primary polymer material. A section of the fabricated additive manufacturing part where the secondary polymer material is located is selectively melted and an external isostatic pressure is applied to the fabricated additive manufacturing part to diffuse the secondary polymer material into the void and form a contiguous path of functional nanomaterial within the additive manufacturing parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Nishant Kumar Sinha
  • Patent number: 11446865
    Abstract: The invention relates to a print head (10) for a 3D printer (1), comprising a feed zone (11) with a feed (12) for feedstock (20) with variable viscosity, a melting zone (14) comprising a heating element (15) and an outlet opening (16) for the liquid phase (22) of said feedstock (20), as well as a conveyor device (30) for conveying the feedstock (20) from the feed zone (11) into the melting zone (14), said conveyor device (30) comprising a plunger (31) that can be inserted into said feed zone (11).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Markus Streicher, Christian Dueformantel, Hendrik Jahnle, Norman Lung, Sebastian Herbster, Victor Roman
  • Patent number: 11446877
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are at least partially water soluble compositions for use in 3D printing. The compositions comprise a mixture of polymeric materials that can be printed using existing 3D printing devices to form a support scaffold for overhanging parts of a 3D object to be printed. The 3D object can be printed such that at least a portion of the 3D object is printed onto the support scaffold. After printing, the support scaffold can be removed from the 3D object by treatment with water, such as by immersion in water. The compositions can comprise a mixture of one or more water soluble polymers and one or more water insoluble polymers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: WOLF & ASSOCIATES, INC.
    Inventors: Miodrag Micic, Erick Packard Wolf
  • Patent number: 11427902
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate to production of amorphous alloys having compositions of iron, chromium, molybdenum, carbon and boron for usage in additive manufacturing, such as in layer-by-layer deposition to produce multi-functional parts. Such parts demonstrate ultra-high strength without sacrificing toughness and also maintain the amorphous structure of the materials during and after manufacturing processes. An Amorphous alloy composition has a formula Fe100-(a+b+c+d)CraMobCcBd, wherein a, b, c and d represent an atomic percentage, wherein: a is in the range of 10 at. % to 35 at. %; b is in the range of 10 at. % to 20 at. %; c is in the range of 2 at. % to 5 at. %; and d is in the range of 0.5% at. % to 3.5 at. %.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: CORNERSTONE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, LLC
    Inventors: John Kang, Ricardo Salas, Evelina Vogli
  • Patent number: 11413806
    Abstract: A method for fabricating a composite part using a 3D printing machine. The method includes forming a support structure by depositing consecutive support structure layers including rows of filaments made of a support structure material from the machine on a build plate, smoothing out a top surface of the support structure after it is formed, and forming the part by depositing consecutive part layers including rows of filaments made of a part material from the machine on the support structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Eric G. Barnes, Pedro A. Gonzalez, Todd L. Szallay, Steven J. Floyd, Sung S. Park, Brett G. Morham, Cody J. Brown, Reese R. Allen, Ryan L. Bischoff
  • Patent number: 11400641
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for forming a dimensionally stable, three-dimensional object (12) by consecutively or continuously applying and hardening a shapeable printing material (89).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: XIONEER SYSTEMS GMBH
    Inventors: Andrei Neboian, Robert Hein