Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

Brandon Joseph Walker

Thomas Rockwell Mackie

Jonathon R Seaton

Nathan Schumacher

A 3D printer successively fuses sheet material in a stack to form a three-dimensional object. The sheet material may provide a mesh separating islands of material that will be fused to produce the desired three-dimensional object. The mesh provides support for the island material during the fusing process and may be removed afterwards.

Three-dimensional printer laminating fusible sheets

A 3-D printer scalable to large sizes employs a combination of mechanical and electrical scanning of a linear array of electron beams that operate to melt material of a powder bed. A housing holding the electron beam sources may be maintained at a high vacuum and positioned close to a print surface to minimize electron travel in a softer vacuum surrounding a print bed.

Three-dimension printer with mechanically scanned cathode-comb

An imaging module includes a plurality of cathodes and respective gates, each cathode configured to generate a separate beam of electrons directed across a vacuum chamber and each gate matched to at least one respective cathode to enable and disable each separate beam of electrons from being directed across the vacuum chamber. A target anode is fixed within the vacuum chamber and arranged to receive the separate beam of electrons from each of the plurality of cathodes and, therefrom, generate a beam of x-rays. A deflection system is arranged between the plurality of cathodes and the target anode to generate a variable magnetic field to control a path followed by each of the separate beams of electrons to the target anode.

Growing community of inventors

Madison, WI, United States of America

Brandon Joseph Walker