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

Update 51.      BRIEF Highlights 6/6/07 to 9/4/07:

257 US RP patents and patent applications were published during this three month period - beating the old record by a wide margin. It's estimated that the original material reviewed for this update is more than 6,400 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 51.

ISSUED PATENTS and PATENT APPLICATIONS PUBLISHED

Technology

• Eoplex Technologies, Inc. is the assignee for a follow-on patent concerning the company's high volume print-forming system (HVPF). Screen printing is used to fabricate layers of many structures in parallel. Applications foreseen are electromechanical devices, and other small, intricate devices which could compete with micro-stereolithography, EFAB and other such processes. See Fig. 1.

• Inventor Bruce Waters is aiming toward additive architectural applications, and has adapted some of the methodology of three dimensional printing (3DP) to the problem. Roving deposition robots deposit layers of ferrocement where walls and architectural features are required and sand in other areas as a support material. Once all the layers are complete and the cement is hardened, the sand can be removed to reveal the building.

• Combining EDM (electro-discharge machining) and laser powder forming processes such as direct metal deposition is the subject of a patent application by Jyoti Mazumder et al. The idea is to both additively fabricate a part and precisely finish it in the same setup. The system is said to be potentially capable of sub-micron resolution. See Fig. 2.

Manufacturing

• The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has received a patent on a method of marking tires using additive fabrication. Inkjet technology and selective laser sintering are mentioned as being appropriate to apply writing of various types to sidewalls. The method is said to be less susceptibile to damage or removal, and can also be used to provide variable information or custom designs on each tire. See Fig. 3.

  

• DaimlerChrysler AG (Germany) describes extending selective laser sintering and three dimensional printing to carbon particle materials in its published patent application. Porous carbon electrodes are formed which are said to offer great geometric and design freedom for fuel cell applications.

• Nuveatix, Inc. has received a patent for a complex IC heat sink made by stereolithography. The device incorporates its own means for forming a matrix of jets of heat transfer fluid for cooling. See Fig. 4.

• Solidica's Ultrasonic Consolidation offers some unobvious advantages in a patent application by Frederick Fortson. Metal packaging for sensors and circuitry can be formed around sensitive devices that avoids the heating which would be caused by more typical methods such as welding. See Fig. 5.
  

  
  

• Running white-gloved hands over smooth surfaces is often the method used to detect flaws on finely-finished consumer goods like automobiles. What if the gloves had a mind of their own and could amplify small errors for the inspector? Gloves which amplify these small differences contain parts that are geometrically complex and made by stereolithography. See Fig. 6.

• Jennifer Lewis and Scott White have applied for a patent on a material containing microcapillary networks. The potential applications are very advanced such as smart materials containing integral sensors, self-healing materials, fluid mixing, etc.

• Degussa AG (Germany) has described a process which can convert a wide range of irregularly-shaped powder particles to a spherical shape which is preferable in SLS/SLM applications. Materials are mechanically kneaded with various sugar-based materials which are subsequently leached away. See Fig. 7.

• Novartis AG (Switzerland) has received a patent for making contact lenses using stereolithography. Also covered is ordering such custom devices over a network.

• Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC has applied for a patent on mechanical scaffold trusses that unfold within a vessel to provide mechanical support or modification of fluid flow through a vessel. The device is magnetically actuated after being emplaced and may incorporate bioactive substances. One interesting possibility is to incorporate a trap door which can release substances or devices on command after emplacement like a micro-Trojan Horse. See Fig. 8.

• Respironics, Inc. has applied for a patent on a mandibular advancement device made by additive fabrication. The plastic device fits in a patient's mouth to keep airways open and is meant to treat such conditions as sleep apnea and snoring. If it works well, a cure for snoring is bound to get prodigious publicity. See Fig. 9.
  

  
  

• Selective laser melting (SLM) can fabricate columns of metal a few mils in diameter and several inches long. This ability translates into using the process to make sections of cable models for testing and evaluation. According to a patent application from Casar Drahtseilwerk Saar GmbH (Germany), it's possible to optimize a cable using different complements of diameters, lay length, the use of different materials, and so forth.