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US 12,023,731 B2Granted
System and method for manufacturing powders from ductile materials
AssigneeMetal Powder Works, LLC
InventorsJohn E. Barnes, Christopher B. Aldridge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A powder production method includes providing at least one elongated member including a ductile material; providing a rotating or vibrating cutter configured to repeatedly cut an end of the at least one elongated member to produce particles; and advancing the at least one elongated member or the cutter towards the other of the at least one elongated member or the cutter to cut the particles from the at least one elongated member to produce a powder comprising a plurality of the particles. The particles produced by the method can have a diameter ranging from about 10 μm to about 200 μm.
Claims20
A system for producing powder comprising particles, the system comprising:
- at least one cutter configured to repeatedly cut ends of a plurality of elongated members comprising a ductile material to produce the particles, wherein the at least one cutter comprises a proximal surface, a distal surface, and a plurality of holes, with the plurality of holes being configured to receive the plurality of elongated members;
- a driver coupled to the at least one cutter for vibrating the at least one cutter at a selected ultrasonic frequency comprising a tuned sonotrode driven to resonance configured to cause the at least one cutter to oscillate back and forth at the selected vibration frequency;
- a feed assembly for advancing the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter;
- and at least one controller in communication with the driver and the feed assembly, wherein the at least one controller is configured to cause the feed assembly to move the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter at a selected feed rate and/or cause the driver to vibrate or rotate the at least one cutter at the selected frequency.
1 more element
A system for producing powder comprising particles, the system comprising:
- at least one cutter configured to repeatedly cut ends of a plurality of elongated members comprising a ductile material to produce the particles, wherein the at least one cutter comprises a proximal surface, a distal surface, and a plurality of holes, with the plurality of holes being configured to receive the plurality of elongated members;
- a driver coupled to the at least one cutter for rotating or vibrating the at least one cutter at a selected frequency;
- a feed assembly for advancing the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter;
- a visual display that provides a user interface configured to receive inputs comprising at least one of a total volume or total mass for the particles of the powder to be produced;
- and
- at least one controller in communication with the driver, the feed assembly, and the visual display, wherein the at least one controller is configured to:
- determine a selected feed rate and/or the selected frequency based on the inputs received via the user interface;
- determine a time required to make the powder based on the input total volume or total mass for the particles of the powder to be produced;
- and
- cause the feed assembly and the driver to move the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter at the selected feed rate and/or cause the driver to vibrate or rotate the at least one cutter at the selected frequency for the determined time required.
7 more elements
A system for producing powder comprising particles, the system comprising:
- at least one cutter configured to repeatedly cut ends of a plurality of elongated members comprising a ductile material to produce the particles, wherein the at least one cutter comprises a proximal surface, a distal surface, and a plurality of holes, with the plurality of holes being configured to receive the plurality of elongated members;
- a driver coupled to the at least one cutter for rotating or vibrating the at least one cutter at a selected frequency;
- a feed assembly for advancing the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter;
- a visual display that provides a user interface configured to receive inputs comprising at least one of a target particle size, a percentage of the particles for the target particle size, or a total volume or total mass for the particles of the powder to be produced;
- and
- at least one controller in communication with the driver, the feed assembly, and the visual display, wherein the at least one controller is configured to:
- determine a selected feed rate and/or the selected frequency based on the inputs received via the user interface;
- cause the feed assembly to move the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter at the selected feed rate and/or cause the driver to vibrate or rotate the at least one cutter at the selected frequency;
- and
- dynamically adjust the selected feed rate and/or the selected frequency based on new inputs for the target particle size or for the percentage of the particles for the target particle size entered via the user interface.
7 more elements
A system for producing powder comprising particles, the system comprising:
- at least one cutter configured to repeatedly cut ends of a plurality of elongated members comprising a ductile material to produce the particles, wherein the at least one cutter comprises a proximal surface, a distal surface, and a plurality of holes, with the plurality of holes being configured to receive the plurality of elongated members and having a diameter or maximum dimension ranging from 10 μm to 200 μm;
- a driver coupled to the at least one cutter for rotating or vibrating the at least one cutter at a selected frequency;
- a feed assembly for advancing the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter;
- and
- at least one controller in communication with the driver and the feed assembly, wherein the at least one controller is configured to cause the feed assembly to move the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter at a selected feed rate and/or cause the driver to vibrate or rotate the at least one cutter at the selected frequency.
2 more elements
A system for producing powder comprising particles, the system comprising:
- at least one cutter configured to repeatedly cut ends of a plurality of elongated members comprising a ductile material to produce the particles, wherein the at least one cutter comprises a proximal surface, a distal surface, and a plurality of holes, with the plurality of holes being configured to receive the plurality of elongated members;
- a driver coupled to the at least one cutter for rotating or vibrating the at least one cutter at a selected frequency;
- a feed assembly for advancing the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter;
- one or more sensors configured to detect at least one of the following characteristics of the powder:
- average particle volume, median particle volume, particle volume distribution, total powder weight, total powder volume, or average sphericity;
- and
- at least one controller in communication with the driver, the feed assembly, and the one or more sensors, wherein the at least one controller is configured to:
- cause the feed assembly to move the plurality of elongated members towards the at least one cutter at a selected feed rate and/or cause the driver to vibrate or rotate the at least one cutter at the selected frequency, and
- adjust the selected feed rate and/or the selected frequency based, at least in part, on measurements from the one or more sensors.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.