Variable shutters on an energy source
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsMatthew A Shepherd, Wesley R Schalk, Pierre J Kaiser, Arthur H. Barnes, Matt G Driggers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In example implementations, an apparatus and method are provided. The apparatus includes a movable carriage, an energy source coupled to the movable carriage and a plurality of shutters coupled to the movable carriage. In one example, the plurality of shutters is coupled to the movable carriage along a length of the energy source. Each one of the plurality of shutters may be coupled to the movable carriage via respective coupling mechanism that provides a continuously variable movement of each one of the plurality of shutters.
Claims15
An apparatus, comprising:
- a movable carriage;
- an energy source coupled to the movable carriage;
- and
- a plurality of shutters coupled to the movable carriage along a length of the energy source, wherein each one of the plurality of shutters is coupled to the movable carriage via a respective coupling mechanism that provides a continuously variable movement of each one of the plurality of shutters.
A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a processor, a thermal analysis of a powder bed;
- determining, by the processor, an amount of heat to be applied to each two dimensional coordinate of the powder bed;
- and
- controlling, by the processor, a movement of an energy source and a position of each one of a plurality of shutters along a length of the energy source to apply the amount of heat to the each two dimensional coordinate of the powder bed based upon the determining.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a powder bed;
- a thermal camera positioned over the powder bed to measure an amount of heat at each coordinate of the powder bed;
- a movable carriage comprising an energy source and a plurality of shutters along a length of the energy source, wherein each one of the plurality of shutters is coupled to the heat carriage via a respective coupling mechanism that provides a continuously variable movement of each one of the plurality of shutters;
- and
- a controller coupled to the thermal camera and the movable carriage, wherein the controller is for controlling the movement of the heat carriage and the each one of the plurality of shutters based upon the amount of heat measured by the thermal camera at the each coordinate of the powder bed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.