Determining optimal of additive manufacturing and/or three dimensional printing processes
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsSanjay Bhaskara Panikkar, Mukundan Sundararajan, Saikat Mukhopadhyay
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Abstract
Machine logic (for example, software) are choosing among pre-existing manufacturing processes to make a newly-designed physical piece part, or a piece part that reflects a modified design with respect to an earlier design. In some embodiments, the manufacturing process includes an additive manufacturing (AM) process. In some embodiments, the manufacturing process involves three dimensional (3D) printing.
Claims4
A manufacturing process for remanufacturing a gear component of a machine with the gear component defining a gear ratio characteristic of the machine, the process comprising:
- receiving a product specification data set including information indicative of a first gear design that defines a first gear ratio when used in the machine;
- receiving a manufacturing process data set including information indicative of an additive manufacturing process that may be used to transform a first gear made according to the first gear design by adding at least one gear tooth to the first gear to convert the first gear into a second gear made according to a second gear design that defines a second gear ratio when used in the machine;
- using the manufacturing process data set to convert the first gear which has physical existence and is made according to the first gear design into a second gear, which has physical existence and is made according to the second gear design;
- and
- physically installing the second gear in the machine to operate the machine at the second gear ratio in order to repurpose the first gear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.