Mold shape deposition manufacturing
First Claim
1. A method of making a complex three-dimensional molded part, comprising the steps of:
- a) generating a mold by (i) sequentially depositing in a predetermined deposition fashion a plurality of mold layers each comprising mold material, at least one of said mold layers comprising a mold segment formed of said mold material and a support segment formed of support material, wherein said mold material being removing resistant against a first removing means and being removable by a second removing means, wherein said support material being removable by said first removing means;
(ii) shaping a mold surface within a previously deposited mold layer of said plurality of mold layers by shaping at least one of said support segment and said mold segment prior to deposition of a subsequent mold layer above said support segment and said mold segment, said shaping including three dimensional material removal in correspondence with a predetermined configuration of said mold surface, said predetermined configuration being independent of said predetermined deposition fashion, and wherein said predetermined deposition fashion and said shaping provide final layers selected from the group consisting of;
A) planar layers;
B) non planar layers;
C) wedge shaped layers;
D) layers having an uneven thickness;
E) layers having an undulating thickness;
F) layers having a curved shape; and
G) layers having different thicknesses;
(iii) removing said support material from said mold by removing said support material by use of said first removing means;
b) casting part material into said mold to produce said part; and
c) removing said mold material by use of a second removing means, said second removing means not removing said part material.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of making molded parts employing Shape Deposition Manufacturing (SDM) techniques. First, SDM processes are used to make a layered structure having support segments and mold segments. The support segments are made of material which may be removed from the mold segments (e.g. dissolved or melted). The mold segments are made of a material which can function as a mold. The mold and support segments are sequentially deposited (e.g. in layers) and shaped (e.g. machined) to form a mold. The support segments define the shape of the part to be manufactured. The mold segments are removed from the support segments by dissolving or melting away the support segments, leaving an empty mold. Then, part material is cast into the empty mold. The mold is removed, providing a molded part. The part material can be a gelcasting slurry, for example. The present method provides homogeneous or heterogeneous parts having shapes which are accurately defined by the SDM process.
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Citations
83 Claims
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1. A method of making a complex three-dimensional molded part, comprising the steps of:
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a) generating a mold by (i) sequentially depositing in a predetermined deposition fashion a plurality of mold layers each comprising mold material, at least one of said mold layers comprising a mold segment formed of said mold material and a support segment formed of support material, wherein said mold material being removing resistant against a first removing means and being removable by a second removing means, wherein said support material being removable by said first removing means;
(ii) shaping a mold surface within a previously deposited mold layer of said plurality of mold layers by shaping at least one of said support segment and said mold segment prior to deposition of a subsequent mold layer above said support segment and said mold segment, said shaping including three dimensional material removal in correspondence with a predetermined configuration of said mold surface, said predetermined configuration being independent of said predetermined deposition fashion, and wherein said predetermined deposition fashion and said shaping provide final layers selected from the group consisting of;
A) planar layers;
B) non planar layers;
C) wedge shaped layers;
D) layers having an uneven thickness;
E) layers having an undulating thickness;
F) layers having a curved shape; and
G) layers having different thicknesses;
(iii) removing said support material from said mold by removing said support material by use of said first removing means;
b) casting part material into said mold to produce said part; and
c) removing said mold material by use of a second removing means, said second removing means not removing said part material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 82)
a) deposition of a first of said mold layers with a first thickness that is predetermined equal to at least one other of said mold layer, and wherein said first thickness being constant within said layer;
b) deposition of a second of said deposition layers with a second thickness varying relative to at least one other of said mold layer;
c) deposition of a third of said mold layers having a planar bottom surface and a top surface shaped in correspondence with a feature contour of said mold shape;
d) deposition of a fourth of said mold layers having a planar top surface and a bottom surface shaped in correspondence with a feature contour of said mold shape; and
e) deposition of a fifth of said mold layers having a top surface and a bottom surface shaped in correspondence with feature contours of said mold shape.
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70. The method of claim 1 or 15, wherein said first removing means is a thermal removing means providing melting.
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71. The method of claim 1 or 15, wherein said first removing means is a non-thermal dissolving means providing dissolving.
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72. The method of claim 71, wherein said non-thermal dissolving means is water based.
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73. The method of claim 71, wherein said non-thermal dissolving means is an organic solvent.
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74. The method of claim 1 or 15, wherein said second removing means is a thermal removing means providing melting.
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75. The method of claim 1 or 15, wherein said second removing means is a non-thermal dissolving means providing dissolving.
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76. The method of claim 75, wherein said non-thermal dissolving means is water based.
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77. The method of claim 75, wherein said non-thermal dissolving means is an organic solvent.
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82. The method of claim 1, 15, 28, 35, or 51, wherein said shaping is selected from the group consisting of three to five axis milling, turning and electrical discharge machining.
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15. A method of making a complex three-dimensional molded part, comprising the steps of:
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a) depositing a mold segment formed of mold material in a predetermined deposition fashion, wherein said mold material being removing resistant against a first removing means and being removable by a second removing means;
b) primary shaping said mold segment within a deposition height of said mold segment, wherein said primary shaping includes three dimensional material removal in correspondence with a predetermined configuration of said mold surface, said predetermined configuration being independent of said predetermined deposition fashion,;
c) depositing a support segment formed of support material in said predetermined deposition fashion, wherein said support material being removable by said first removing means;
d) secondary shaping said support segment within a deposition height of said support segment, wherein said secondary shaping includes three dimensional material removal in correspondence with at least one of said predetermined configuration and a predetermined support for at least one of a consecutively deposited mold segment and a consecutively deposited support segment;
e) sequentially repeating steps (a), (b), (c), and (d) to generate a plurality of mold layers forming said mold, wherein said predetermined deposition fashion, said primary shaping and said secondary shaping provide final layers selected from the group consisting of;
A) planar layers;
B) non planar layers;
C) wedge shaped layers;
D) layers having an uneven thickness;
E) layers having an undulating thickness;
F) layers having a curved shape; and
G) layers having different thicknesses;
f) after forming said mold, removing said support material from said mold by removing said support material with said first removing means;
g) after step (f), casting part material into said mold;
h) after step (g), solidifying said part material to form said part; and
i) after step (h), removing said part by removing said mold with said second removing means. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of rapid-prototyping a mold for a complex three-dimensional part, comprising the steps of:
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a) sequentially depositing in a predetermined deposition fashion a plurality of mold layers each comprising mold material, at least one of said mold layers comprising a mold segment formed of said mold material and a support segment formed of support material, wherein said mold material being removing resistant against a removing means and wherein said support material being removable by said removing means;
b) shaping a mold surface within a previously deposited mold layer of said plurality of mold layers by shaping at least one of said support segment and said mold segment prior to deposition of a subsequent mold layer above said support segment and said mold segment, to define a surface of said mold, said shaping including three dimensional material removal in correspondence with a predetermined configuration of said mold surface, said predetermined configuration being independent of said predetermined deposition fashion, and wherein said predetermined deposition fashion and said shaping provide final layers selected from the group consisting of;
A) planar layers;
B) non planar layers;
C) wedge shaped layers;
D) layers having an uneven thickness;
E) layers having an undulating thickness;
F) layers having a curved shape; and
G) layers having different thicknesses; and
c) removing said support material from said mold by removing said support material with said removing means. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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35. A rapid-prototyping method comprising the steps of:
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a) generating a mold by (i) sequentially depositing in a predetermined deposition fashion a plurality of mold layers each comprising mold material, at least one of said mold layers comprising a mold segment formed of said mold material and a support segment formed of support material, such that said support material forms a plurality of distinct support sections enclosed by said mold material, said plurality of support sections defining a corresponding plurality of distinct cavities in said mold, wherein said mold material being removing resistant against a removing means;
(ii) shaping a mold surface within a previously deposited mold layer of said plurality of mold layers by shaping at least one of said support segment and said mold segment prior to deposition of a subsequent mold layer above said support segment and said mold segment, to define said mold surface, said shaping including three dimensional material removal in correspondence with a predetermined configuration of said mold surface, said predetermined configuration being independent of said predetermined deposition fashion, and wherein said predetermined deposition fashion and said shaping provide final layers selected from the group consisting of;
A) planar layers;
B) non planar layers;
C) wedge shaped layers;
D) layers having an uneven thickness;
E) layers having an undulating thickness;
F) layers having a curved shape; and
G) layers having different thicknesses;
(iii) removing said support material from said mold by removing said support material with said removing means, thereby providing said plurality of cavities in said mold;
b) casting part material into said plurality of cavities to form a part comprising a plurality of part sections corresponding to said plurality of cavities; and
c) solidifying said part material. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A rapid-prototyping method comprising the steps of:
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a) generating a mold by (i) sequentially depositing in a predetermined deposition fashion a plurality of mold layers each comprising mold material, at least one of said mold layers comprising a mold segment formed of said mold material and a support segment formed of support material, such that said support material forms a first support section and a second support section, said first support section being distinct from said second support section, said support sections being enclosed by said mold material, wherein said mold material being removing resistant against a first removing means and being removable by a second removing means, and wherein said support material being removable by said first removing means;
(ii) shaping a mold surface within a previously deposited mold layer of said plurality of mold layers by shaping at least one of said support segment and said mold segment prior to deposition of a subsequent mold layer above said support segment and said mold segment, to define a surface of said mold, said shaping including three dimensional material removal in correspondence with a predetermined configuration of said mold surface, said predetermined configuration being independent of said predetermined deposition fashion, and wherein said predetermined deposition fashion and said shaping provide final layers selected from the group consisting of;
G) planar layers;
H) non planar layers;
I) wedge shaped layers;
J) layers having an uneven thickness;
K) layers having an undulating thickness;
L) layers having a curved shape; and
M) layers having different thicknesses;
b) removing with said first removing means said first support section to open said first mold cavity;
c) casting said first part-forming material into said first mold cavity to form a first part section;
d) solidifying said first part-forming material in said first mold cavity;
e) secondarily shaping an access aperture connecting said first part section and said second mold cavity defined by said second support section enclosed by said mold;
f) removing with said first removing means said second support section through said access aperture to open said second mold cavity;
g) casting a second part-forming material into said second mold cavity and said access aperture to form a second part section connected to said first part section; and
h) solidifying said second part-forming material. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 83)
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Specification