System for customization or fabrication of extruded support members for facilitating access to a vehicle and related methods
OwnerRobert Crandallinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for producing vehicle components or components for use with vehicles or in other non-vehicle applications allow an end user to select and produce at a local job site, or optionally elsewhere as desired. The system and method can allow a manufacturer or designer to send a design for a component to a consumer for the consumer to produce. The consumer can then use one of a variety of methods, such as three dimensional printing or machining, to produce the component. The consumer can produce a component from a stock data file or can customize the component before production.
Claims23
A method for production of vehicle components directed by a consumer interacting with a computer, comprising:
- retrieving a listing of vehicle components from a vehicle component database, components on the listing of vehicle components are attachable to a produced good;
- displaying a subset of the listing of vehicle components to the consumer based on a time period defined by a manufacturer associated with the vehicle components or a consumer subscription;
- selecting a vehicle component that couples to the produced good from the vehicle component database based on a selection input from the consumer from the subset of vehicle components;
- following receipt of the selection input from the consumer, the computer generating an output data file from data for the vehicle component from the vehicle component database, the output data file being configured to be readable by a production machine and to instruct the production machine to produce the vehicle component;
- transmitting the output data file to the production machine to instruct the production machine to produce the vehicle component;
- and
- providing the vehicle component produced by the production machine to the consumer for coupling with the produced good for the vehicle;
- wherein the produced good comprises a user support device that attaches to the vehicle.
A system for production of vehicle components for a produced good comprising:
- a production machine;
- a processor;
- a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a program code executable by the processor, the program code configured to:
- retrieve a list of vehicle components that couple to an assembly of comprising the produced good from a vehicle component database;
- display a subset of the list of vehicle components to the consumer based on a time period defined by a manufacturer associated with the vehicle components or a consumer subscription;
- receive a selection input from the subset of the list of vehicle components from a user;
- select a vehicle component from the vehicle component database based on the selection input;
- and
- generate an output data file from data for the vehicle component selected from the vehicle component database,
- the output data file configured to be readable by the production machine and to instruct the production machine to produce the vehicle component for coupling of to the assembly of the produced good;
- and
- transmit the output data file to the production machine to instruct the production machine to produce the vehicle component for coupling to the assembly of the produced good;
- wherein the produced good comprises a user support device that attaches to the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.