General Electric Company

Concept Laser Gmbh

Andreas Lutz

Stefaan Guido Van Nieuwenhove

Sultan Shair

Martin Petersen

Thomas Kluge

Mathias Ernst Messmer

Roland J Menassa

Thomas Merzhaeuser

Alexander Hofmann

Christopher James Madsen

Glen Charles Fedyk

James Duvall Bollacker

Dragan Filipovic

Viktor Kremer

Krishnan Balaji Thattai Parthasarathy

Danilo Veljkovic

Anja Lena Nieratschker

Andreas Ullrich

Matthew Hall Beaumont

Stafaan Guido Van Nieuwenhove

A system for transporting a carrying plate may include a lifting assembly comprising a carriage, and a carrying assembly. The lifting assembly may include a carriage having one or more lifting arms configured to lift the carrying assembly at least in part by one or more carrying arms of the carrying assembly. A carrying assembly may include a perimeter frame surrounding a perimeter of a carrying plate, one or more carrying arms attached to the perimeter frame, and one or more indexing pins extending or extensible inwardly from the perimeter frame. The one or more indexing pins may detachably secure the carrying plate to the perimeter frame. A method of transporting a carrying plate may include detachably securing a carrying plate to a perimeter frame of a carrying assembly and transporting the carrying assembly with a lifting assembly.

Apparatuses and related systems and methods for transporting carrying plates for an additive manufacturing machine or system

Plant () comprising at least one apparatus (-) for additively manufacturing three-dimensional objects by means of successive layerwise selective irradiation and consolidation of layers of a build material which can be consolidated by means of an energy source, which plant () comprises at least one module () separably connected or connectable with the apparatus (-), wherein the plant () comprises at least one tunnel structure () through which the at least one module () is moveable in a tunnel transport direction ().

Plant comprising at least one apparatus for additively manufacturing three-dimensional objects

An apparatus for infusing a composite structure includes a reservoir configured to receive a volume of resin, a base, a membrane configured to be sealed upon the base, and a flow medium in fluid communication with the reservoir. The flow medium includes a first flow medium portion disposed in contact with at least a portion of the base and a second flow medium portion disposed in contact with at least a portion of the membrane.

System, method, and apparatus for infusing a composite structure

A system for forming stacked material includes a housing defining an interior space. The housing includes a bottom wall and a side wall coupled to the bottom wall. At least one tool is configured to shape the stacked material. The at least one tool is disposed within the interior space. A membrane extends at least partially over the bottom wall and is spaced a distance from the bottom wall. The membrane is configured to move towards the bottom wall. At least one intensifier mechanism is disposed in the interior space and is configured to induce a force against a portion of the stacked material and against the at least one tool as the membrane is moved towards the bottom wall.

System and method for forming stacked materials

A method and an automatic layup system for making a stack of a plurality of composite plies are presented. The automatic layup system includes a stacking assembly located in a first plane and a layup tool located in a second plane parallel to the first plane. The stacking assembly and the layup tool are movable towards each other. The method includes the steps of (a) providing one or more composite sheets between the layup tool and the stacking assembly, (b) generating a first composite ply from the one or more composite sheets, (c) placing the first composite ply on the layup tool by the stacking assembly by bringing the stacking assembly and the layup tool close to each other, and (d) repeating the steps (b) and (c) for generating and placing a second composite ply on the first composite ply, which is placed on the layup tool.

Automatic systems and methods for stacking composite plies

A wind turbine is presented. The wind turbine includes a tower, a rotor coupled to the tower, and a plurality of blades coupled to the rotor, wherein each of the plurality of blades comprises a root and a plurality of root inserts positioned circumferentially along the root. Each of the root inserts includes a metal bushing including an outer surface and a plurality of grooves formed at least on the outer surface, a core coupled to the metal bushing, and a plurality of layers wrapped around the metal bushing and the core, wherein a layer of the plurality of layers comprises a different fiber orientation from a fiber orientation of another layer of the plurality of layers.

Root insert and a wind turbine having wind turbine blades with root inserts

A layup system for use in forming a composite layup structure from a plurality of plies of composite material, wherein an outermost ply of composite material has a removable film adhered thereto. The system includes a robotic device and an end effector coupled to the robotic device. The end effector includes a layer of compressible material configured to compress the plurality of plies of composite material together when positioned over the composite layup structure. The end effector further includes a first suction device configured to grip the removable film adhered to the outermost ply of composite material. The robotic device is configured to translate the end effector relative to the composite layup structure such that the removable film is peeled from the outermost ply of composite material while the first suction device grips the removable film.

Systems and methods of forming a composite layup structure

Growing community of inventors

Bavaria, Germany

Andreas Lutz