The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 31, 2020
Filed:
Feb. 08, 2017
David R. Hall, Provo, UT (US);
Stephen R. Hall, Draper, UT (US);
Christopher Johnson, Provo, UT (US);
Jason Simpson, Provo, UT (US);
Jedediah Knight, Provo, UT (US);
David R. Hall, Provo, UT (US);
Stephen R. Hall, Draper, UT (US);
Christopher Johnson, Provo, UT (US);
Jason Simpson, Provo, UT (US);
Jedediah Knight, Provo, UT (US);
Hall Labs LLC, Provo, UT (US);
Abstract
A thermoforming apparatus is described herein. The apparatus may include a pressure mechanism, a thermal device, a plurality of individually actuatable pins, and/or a pin actuation mechanism. The pressure mechanism may create a force against a die surface. The thermal device may change a thermal state of a material forced by the pressure mechanism against the die surface. The plurality of individually actuatable pins may form the die surface. The pin actuation mechanism may be connected to the plurality of actuatable pins and/or may actuate the pins. This apparatus improves on prior solutions in many ways. For example, embodiments of the thermoforming apparatus may require significantly less time between different molds than previous thermoforming machines and 3D printers.