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:
Feb. 10, 2026
Filed:
Jun. 22, 2020
University of Pittsburgh—of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Board of Regents, the University of Texas System, Austin, TX (US);
Ravi Shankar Meenakshisundaram, Aspinwall, PA (US);
Mohsen Tabrizi, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Taylor H Ware, Richardson, TX (US);
University of Pittsburgh—Of The Commonwealth System of Higher, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
A four-dimensional ('4D')-printing or 4D-additive manufacturing method for producing anisotropic macroscopic structures and/or anisotropic macroscopic materials having a plurality of voxels, comprising: providing or forming a first layer of a photocurable first liquid crystalline (LC) monomer; wherein the first layer of the first LC monomer has been provided or formed at a temperature falling within a nematic phase range of the first LC monomer; applying a magnetic field, having a first three-dimensional (“3D”) magnetic field vector with respect to an origin point of a 3D coordinate system, to the first layer of first LC monomer or one or more of the plurality of voxels within the first layer of first LC monomer for a first dwell time, to produce in alignment with the first 3D magnetic field vector a first molecular director and/or first nematic alignment vector within the first layer of first LC monomer or within each of the one or more of the plurality of voxels within the first layer of first LC monomer; exposing the first layer of first LC monomer or the one or more of the plurality of voxels within the first layer of first LC monomer to a first dose of light radiation.