Liquid Metal Digital Manufacturing System
First Claim
1. A process for the creation of three dimensional objects from wire feed stock comprising the steps of:
- a) Creating and maintaining a melt pool in a melt chamber by feeding in raw materials in the form of wire and supplying sufficient heat to melt the material and maintain it at a desired temperature.b) Controlling the rate of expulsion of the melt through nozzles in the melt chamber.c) Controlling the deposition pattern of the melt to create layer profiles.d) Controlling the solidification rate of the melt by controlling the temperature of the melt and the surface on which it is deposited, to obtain the desired three dimensional object.
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Abstract
A process and apparatus for the production of metal parts by layered manufacturing starting from wire raw material comprising of the steps of; descaling of the wire; creating and maintaining a melt pool of the metal in a melt chamber; expelling controlled amounts of melt from the melt chamber in predetermined layer patterns, which solidify to form a desired object; managing the solidification parameters to achieve the deposit cross sections desired and depositing a removable support material to assist in maintaining the geometry of the desired metal deposit. Said apparatus is capable of higher production rate than other metal layered manufacturing systems available commercially and can be used for any metal alloy or non-metal material that can be supplied in wire form and that is within the melt capacity of this invention.
33 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A process for the creation of three dimensional objects from wire feed stock comprising the steps of:
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a) Creating and maintaining a melt pool in a melt chamber by feeding in raw materials in the form of wire and supplying sufficient heat to melt the material and maintain it at a desired temperature. b) Controlling the rate of expulsion of the melt through nozzles in the melt chamber. c) Controlling the deposition pattern of the melt to create layer profiles. d) Controlling the solidification rate of the melt by controlling the temperature of the melt and the surface on which it is deposited, to obtain the desired three dimensional object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification