Terrestrial and space-based manufacturing systems

• US 10,725,451 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2015
• Issued: 07/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Redwire Space Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Made In Space, Inc.
• Inventors: Snyder, Michael, Dunn, Jason, Kemmer, Aaron, Chen, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Grun, Robert J
• Application Number:
  US14/860,029
• Publication Number:
  US 20160082652A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,772 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/106 using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/118 using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM]
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/20 Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/35 Cleaning
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/357 Recycling
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/364 Conditioning of environment
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/379 Handling of additively manufactured objects, e.g. using robots
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 70/68 by incorporating or moulding on preformed parts, e.g. inserts or layers , e.g. foam blocks mould constructions therefor B29C33/12; joining preformed parts by moulding B29C65/70
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 10/00 Processes of additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 30/00 Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 40/00 Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4099 Surface or curve machining, making 3D objects, e.g. desktop manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35134 3-D cad-cam
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49007 Making, forming 3-D object, model, surface
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A system including an additive manufacturing device to perform at least one additive manufacturing process and to include a prefabricated component during the at least one additive manufacturing process to accelerate build completion of a produced object. Another system and a method are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system comprising;

an additive manufacturing device configured to perform a polymer-based additive manufacturing process to apply a polymer and to perform a metal casting additive manufacturing process to apply metallic feedstock to create a first portion of the object;

a robotic arm in communication with the additive manufacturing device to place a bulk volume component as a second portion of the object in contact with the first portion at any location about the first portion to accelerate a build process during at least one of the polymer-based additive manufacturing process and the metal casting additive manufacturing process;

a plurality of end effectors interchangeably attachable to an end of the robotic arm wherein at least a first end effector of the plurality of end effectors comprises a gripper device to place bulk volume component, a second end effector of the plurality of end effectors comprises a filament extruder to apply the polymer and a third end effector of the plurality of end effectors comprises melting device to apply the metallic feedstock; and

a scanner device, attached to the robotic arm, configured to inspect the object during creation and after completion as the robotic arm is moved about the object.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the bulk volume component comprises at least one of a same material being applied during the at least one additive manufacturing process, a different material, and a bulk volume with an embedded part that comprises at least one of a circuit board, battery, a wire, a common structural component that shares functionality with at least a portion of one of the produced object, and an electrical component that shares functionality with at least a portion of the produced object.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an interchange mechanism to enable the produced object to be created from multiple materials applied to the produced object via more than the at least one additive manufacturing process by transporting the produced object to a plurality of extruder heads, each producing a different material.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a conveyor belt to transport the produced object from a build area where the at least one additive manufacturing process occurs to a retrieval area where the product is retrieved.

5. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a conveyor belt to transport the produced object during production from a first build area for the at least one additive manufacturing process to a second build area for a second additive manufacturing process.

6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a recycler to convert the produced object into feedstock for use with the at least one additive manufacturing process, wherein the recycler comprises a heating element, a material control system, a material size reducer, an extruder to create recycled feedstock for use with the additive manufacturing device, a spooling assembly to hold the recycled feedstock.

7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one storage area to hold the bulk volume component prior to placement of the bulk volume component as the second portion of the object by the robotic arm.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the bulk volume component comprises a bulk volume of at least one of a same material being applied with the at least one of the polymer-based additive manufacturing process and the metal casting additive manufacturing process and a different material.

9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an environmental control unit to regulate an environment to reduce contamination and outgassing at build area of the additive manufacturing device.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the build area comprises a tray movable from the build area to a product receiving area when the additive manufacturing process is complete with at least one of a conveyor belt and the robotic arm.

11. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a housing to separate the build area during the at least one additive manufacturing processes from a user interface and a product receiving area.

12. The manufacturing system according to claim 1, further comprising a housing to enclose the additive manufacturing device and the robotic arm from an outer environment.

13. The system according to claim 1, wherein a fourth end effector of the plurality of end effectors is configured to provide for plating, a fifth end effector of the plurality of end effectors is configured to provide for polishing, a sixth end effector of the plurality of end effectors is configured to provide for coating, a seventh end effector of the plurality of end effectors is configured to provide for heat treating, an eighth end effector of the plurality of end effectors is configured to provide for sintering, and a ninth end effector of the plurality of end effectors is configured to provide for annealing.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a processor, with non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program product loadable into a memory of the processor in communication with the additive manufacturing device and the robotic to control both the additive manufacturing process and the robotic arm to place the bulk volume component at a location designated for the bulk volume component during the at least one additive manufacturing process.

15. The manufacturing system according to claim 14, further comprising a user interface in communication with the processor to receive an input to determine the object to be manufactured with the additive manufacturing device.

16. A method comprising:

performing a polymer-based additive manufacturing process with an additive manufacturing system to apply a polymer and performing a metal casting additive manufacturing process with the additive manufacturing system to apply metallic feedstock to create a first portion of an object;

placing a bulk volume component as a second portion of the produced object in contact with the first portion with a robotic arm that is in communication with the additive manufacturing device to accelerate a build process during at least one of the polymer-based additive manufacturing process and the metal casting additive manufacturing process, wherein an end of the robotic arm received at least one end effector of a plurality of interchangeably attachable end effectors wherein at least a first end effector of the plurality of end effectors comprises a gripper device to place bulk volume component, a second end effector of the plurality of end effectors comprises a filament extruder to apply the polymer and a third end effector of the plurality of end effectors comprises melting device to apply the metallic feedstock; and

inspecting the object during creation and after completion as the robotic arm is moved about the object with a scanner device attached to the robotic arm.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising inspecting the produced object with a scanner to ensure that the produced object meets a quality standard for the object.

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising scanning a prior object with a scanning device to ascertain at least one characteristic to include in the produced object.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising recycling at least one of a prior object and the produced object to convert into feedstock for later use during the at least one additive manufacturing process.

20. The method according to claim 16, further comprising recycling the produced object to convert into feedstock for later use during at least one of the plurality of additive manufacturing processes.

21. The method according to claim 16, further comprising regulating an environment with an environmental control unit to reduce contamination and outgassing where at least one of the additive manufacturing processes is applied to the object.

22. The method according to claim 16, further comprising enabling the produced object to be created from multiple materials applied to the produced object via more than the at least one additive manufacturing process with an interchange mechanism by transporting the produced object to a plurality of extruder heads, each producing a different material.

23. The method according to claim 16, further comprising transporting the produced object with a conveyor belt from a build area where the at least one additive manufacturing process occurs to a retrieval area where the product is retrieved.

24. The method according to claim 16, further comprising transporting the produced object with a conveyor belt during production from a first build area for the polymer-based additive manufacturing to a second build area for the metal casting additive manufacturing process.