Three-dimensional product manufacture using masks
First Claim
1. A process for making a component comprising the steps of:
- a. depositing a layer of a porous material;
b. positioning a mask near to said deposited layer of porous material;
c. applying a bonding material that will cause any contacted portions of said porous material to become bonded together, over and through said mask, such that said bonding material is applied to one or more selected regions of said layer of porous material; and
d. repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) to produce successive layers, said bonding material causing each of said successive layers to become bonded to an adjacent layer.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A process for making a component includes the steps of: depositing a layer of a porous material; positioning a mask near to the deposited layer; applying a bonding material that will cause any contacted portions of the porous material to become bonded together, over and through the mask, such that the bonding material is applied to one or more selected regions of the recently deposited layer of porous material; and repeating the foregoing three steps a selected number of times to produce a selected number of successive layers, said bonding material causing each of said successive layers to become bonded to an adjacent layer. Any unbonded porous material that is not at the selected regions is easily removed. The mask may be an open stencil mask, or a screen mask. If open stencil masks are used, there may be more than one mask for a single layer of porous material. Successive masks may be positioned by a continuous sheet, a rotating disk, or individually, such as by a robot. The porous material may be metallic or ceramic or plastic, and it may be loose powder or loosely bonded powder. The bonding material may be applied as droplets or a jet. Droplets may be applied by sonic or ultrasonic atomizer, through a nozzle, a simple orifice, or by an electrostatic arrangement, such as in electrostatic painting. The mask may be positioned in contact with the powder material or spaced away therefrom.
192 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A process for making a component comprising the steps of:
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a. depositing a layer of a porous material; b. positioning a mask near to said deposited layer of porous material; c. applying a bonding material that will cause any contacted portions of said porous material to become bonded together, over and through said mask, such that said bonding material is applied to one or more selected regions of said layer of porous material; and d. repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) to produce successive layers, said bonding material causing each of said successive layers to become bonded to an adjacent layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for making a component, said apparatus comprising:
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a. means for depositing successive layers of a porous material; b. means for positioning a mask, having figure and ground regions, adjacent each of said successive layers of said porous material; and c. means for applying through a positioned mask, to one or more selected regions of each successive layer of porous material, after each successive layer has been deposited, a bonding material that will cause any porous material to which it is applied to become bonded at said one or more selected regions.
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25. An apparatus for making a component, said apparatus comprising:
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a. a porous material successive layer depositor; b. a mask positioner, arranged to position a mask having figure and ground regions, near to each of any successive layers of said porous material deposited by said layer depositor; and c. a bonding material applicator, arranged to apply, through a positioned mask, to one or more selected regions of each successive layer of porous material, after each of any such successive layers has been deposited, a bonding material that will cause the porous material to become bonded at said one or more selected regions. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification