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:
Oct. 01, 2002
Filed:
Oct. 04, 2000
Dawn White, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Solidica, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Abstract
Friction heating and bonding are used to consolidate sequentially applied metals, plastics or composites to previously deposited material so as to form a bulk deposit in a desired shape. Monolithic or composite sheets, tapes and filaments can be consolidated using the approach. A system according to the invention includes a source of friction; a mechanism for applying a forging load between a feedstock power supply and a work surface; a work-head, which may have various configurations depending on the geometry of the feedstock to be used; a material feeding system; and a computer-controlled actuation system which controls the placement of material increments added to an object being built. A computer model of the object to be built is used to generate commands to produce the object additively and automatically. The approach provides a solid, freeform fabrication technique that requires no tooling, operates in the solid state, and creates a bond directly at the faying surfaces (i.e., acts only at the location where bonding/consolidation of the material increments is desired).