Method of manufacturing mixers

Abstract

A method for fabricating a unitary mixer is disclosed, said method comprising the steps of determining three-dimensional information of the unitary mixer having at least one swirler, converting the three-dimensional information into a plurality of slices that each define a cross-sectional layer of the unitary mixer, and successively forming each layer of the unitary mixer by fusing a metallic powder. Exemplary embodiments are disclosed, showing unitary mixer comprising an annular housing and a swirler having a unitary construction wherein unitary mixer is made by using a rapid manufacturing process. In one aspect of the invention, the rapid manufacturing process is a laser sintering process.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.