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:
Dec. 18, 2007
Filed:
Mar. 20, 2003
Dawn White, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Dawn White, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Solidica, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Abstract
This invention improves upon existing approaches by providing a method for improving the uniformity of additive manufacturing processes of the type wherein material increments are consolidated to produce a three-dimensional object. According to one aspect of the invention, the method comprises the steps of tacking an increment during the method to minimize creep, then fully consolidating that increment to the underlying material. According to a different aspect of the invention, the method includes a step of steering the welding head or the feeding of the increments to ensure that the relative orientation of the contact line of the welding head as defined by the lowest surface is parallel to the central axis. As yet a further aspect of the invention, a different method includes a step of placing the increment so as to minimize the ratio of deformed to undeformed material. Such placement may be carried out manually over automatically.