Covering All Technology and Application Areas of Additive Fabrication Including:
RAPID PROTOTYPING    3D PRINTING    RAPID TOOLING    RAPID MANUFACTURING

Update 49.      BRIEF Highlights 12/5/06 to 3/6/07:

195 US RP patents and patent applications were published during this three month period. It's estimated that the original material reviewed for this update is more than 5,000 pages. Obviously, this summary can't provide a complete picture of all important developments. A detailed analysis, with complete information about each patent and application published during the period is available at low cost. This indexed, Acrobat pdf format report is more than 200 pages long and includes nearly 200 illustrations. Review the entire contents rapidly by category, or quickly page through to make sure you know what's happening in the complex world of RP technology. Here are a FEW highlights from Update 49.

ISSUED PATENTS and PATENT APPLICATIONS PUBLISHED

Technology

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has received a patent for additive fabrication technology that might be appropriate for making replacement parts in space. The system uses material in wire form which it fuses in layers by an electron beam in a vacuum chamber. See Fig. 1.

• A patent application from Lockheed Martin Corp. describes a method of improving the strength of FDM parts by extruding both a thermoplastic base object material and a thermoset plastic matrix around it to provide complementary properties. See Fig. 2.

• A process for coating plastic or other non-conductive parts with a metal layer is described in a patent application this quarter. It's said to improve corrosion resistance, wear and strength, and may offer a competitive alternative to the commercially-available RepliForm process.

• DSM BV (Netherlands) is the assignee for a patent application material for making colored SLA parts. It offers attractive appearance and the added advantages of being able to monitor building progress and accuracy in removing uncured resin.

• Low-cost fabrication of satellites is the subject of a patent application by Mosher and Stucker. The authors describe the combined use of several additive technologies such as ultrasonic consolidation and direct writing to make highly-integrated and instrumented satellite systems. See Fig. 3.

• EFAB technology from Microfabrica Inc. is described as an appropriate means to make an extremely sensitive and rapid miniature detector for specific proteins and other substances according to a just-issued patent. The tips of numerous micro-tuning forks are coated with different chemical binders for specific substances. As the tuning forks resonate in the presence of target materials that become bound to the tuning forks, their mass changes. A consequent frequency shift can be detected with very great precision. The patent claims a sensitivity of 0.05 picograms. See Fig. 4.
          
• Microfabrica Inc. has had a patent application published for a method of making microtools using its electrochemical fabrication technology (EFAB). The primary use contemplated is multi-functional endoscopic tools, but there could be many industrial uses, as well. Various tools are swung into position and unsheathed at the end of a chain-like arrangement making the device much like a tiny, remote-controlled, Swiss Army knife for surgeons. See Fig. 5.

• Patent applications by a Swedish group discuss the use of additive fabrication, particularly selective laser sintering, to make jewelry products from precious metals. Much of the discussion concerns the advantages for producing chain-like and interlinked objects.

• Extrude Hone Corp. and General Motors Corp. are the assignees, or likely assignees, for two patent applications that describe the use of additive fabrication to make injection molds for expanded polystyrene foam parts. Such molds require numerous small vents for releasing steam which are easier to fabricate with additive technology. See Fig. 6.

        

• A patent assigned to The Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research describes the use of additive fabrication to make spinal cord surgical implants with complex structures that encourage axon growth. The scaffolds are potentially of use in bridging a severed spinal cord or nerve and can also be configured to deliver drugs. See Fig. 7.

• A mannequin for practicing surgical procedures has been invented by a group of Japanese inventors. Portions of the mannequin that are operated upon closely simulate the mechanical feel of real bone and organs. See Fig. 8.