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

Update 54.      BRIEF Highlights 3/4/08 to 6/10/08:

278 US RP patents and patent applications were published during this three month period - a new record. It's estimated that the original material reviewed for this update is more than 7,000 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 300 pages long and includes nearly 300 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 54.

ISSUED PATENTS and PATENT APPLICATIONS PUBLISHED

Technology

• FCubic AB's (Sweden) patent describes a method similar to three-dimensional printing (3DP), but which is claimed to have the throughput of selective inhibition sintering (SIS). The company recently started providing services to produce small high-resolution metal parts in volumes up to 10,000 or so. See Fig. 1.

• Envisiontec GmbH (Germany) is the likely assignee for a patent application describing a continuous generative process for producing a three-dimensional object. The technology is that which is being used in the company's recently-introduced, photopolymer-based Xede™ system. Exposure is by means of a projected DMD image and is done continuously rather than in discrete layers. The system actually "grows" a part. See Fig. 2.

• With all the work going on in the field, gas turbine blades are well on their way to becoming the next "hearing-aid" for rapid manufacturing. Their complex geometry and high-value-added nature means that it is becoming increasingly inevitable that additive fabrication will be preferably used for either their tooling or direct manufacture. This quarter, two issued patents to Rolls-Royce Corp. describe a complex mold generated by three dimensional printing which permits directional solidification to produce single-crystal blades. Numerous additional documents in the field were also published this period. See Fig. 3.

• Sonitus Medical, Inc. has had additional patent applications published this quarter that describe a novel approach to hearing aid fabrication. One or more extra microphones are mounted to the teeth and receive sounds by bone conduction. The signal may be used to cancel unwanted noise or otherwise improve information processing for the patient. One of the applications this period concerns using the instrumentation to treat tinnitus, the common condition of ringing in the ears.

• Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC is the assignee for a device that can be used to quickly determine biological or chemical threats. Specific additive fabrication technologies are not mentioned, but the method of making these "plastic antibodies" is architecturally the same as micro-stereolithography. An inverted microscope is used to expose photopolymer-based substance recognition sites in nano- to micro-scale sizes. See Fig. 4.

• Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Netherlands) uses fused deposition modeling (FDM) to fabricate seamless enclosures for NMR radio frequency coils in its patent application. Depending on use, such coils can come in intimate contact with a patient and the seamless feature makes them easier and safer to clean.

• Lockheed Martin Corp. is the likely assignee for a patent application by Hestness et al. A tool is described for accurately applying epoxy to bond aircraft skins to underlying frames. The tool guarantees that neither too much nor too little material is applied. See Fig. 5.

• Desktop Factory Inc. is the probable assignee for a patent application from Bedal and Schmidt. Aluminum filler is said to increase the speed of sintering the thermoplastic base material by increasing thermal conductivity. Additives may include light absorbers, flow agents and other materials. The material is claimed to offer low curl and good mechanical properties.

• Z Corporation has applied for a patent on a material system that uses a peroxide cure with an acrylate binder to form parts having high strength without subsequent infiltration.

• Two patent applications have been published this period concerning the fabrication of extrusion dies. One application uses additive fabrication to make cooling features to avoid hot cracking problems. A second patent application from Corning Inc. describes the advantages of the geometric freedom of additive fabrication in making extrusion dies for honeycombs and other filtration-related devices. See Fig. 6.

• Charite-Universitat - Smedizin Berlin (Germany) has applied for a patent on a life-size model of a child's skull that provides a reference for a target shape to surgically correct premature cranial suture synostosis. In this condition, the shape of a child's skull fails to develop normally. The models are made as a guide to the surgeon using statistical averages from a large population of children.

• A complex, multi-layer device for nerve regeneration is described by inventors Carmichael and Fox in their recently-published patent application. The device is a tiny conduit for guiding nerves to reconnect through a gap. See Fig. 7.

• A catheter balloon-like device for delivery of biologically active substances is described in a patent application this period. The expandable portion of the device has substantial reservoirs on its surface for placing therapeutic agents in contact with an internal body passageway or cavity. See Fig. 8.

• Extracted teeth are scanned and exact replacements generated by additive fabrication in two patent applications assigned to Natural Dental Implants GmbH (Germany).

• A couple of patent applications this quarter deal with custom footwear, but one from Drake Powderworks LLC is of particular interest. The application discusses fabricating customized, hard-shelled ski boots from scanned data. What's most interesting, perhaps, is that laser sintering is at a state of the art where this project is likely practical today. See Fig. 9.