Customizable powder bed containment systems for use with direct metal laser melting systems
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorWilliam Thomas Carter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A customizable powder bed containment system for use with a direct metal laser melting (DMLM) system includes a plurality of interlinkable containment walls mechanically couplable on a build plate of the DMLM system as well as mechanically coupleable to another interlinkable containment wall of the plurality of interlinkable containment walls, and at least one actuator mechanically coupled to at least one interlinkable containment wall of the plurality of interlinkable containment walls. The at least one actuator is operable to selectively raise the at least one interlinkable containment wall of the plurality of interlinkable containment walls axially relative to a build surface of the build plate.
Claims20
A customizable powder bed containment system for use with a direct metal laser melting (DMLM) system, said customizable powder bed containment system comprising:
- a plurality of interlinkable containment walls mechanically coupleable on a build plate of the DMLM system, each interlinkable containment wall of said plurality of interlinkable containment walls further mechanically coupleable to another interlinkable containment wall of said plurality of interlinkable containment walls;
- and
- at least one actuator mechanically coupled to at least one interlinkable containment wall of said plurality of interlinkable containment walls, said at least one actuator operable to selectively raise said at least one interlinkable containment wall of said plurality of interlinkable containment walls axially relative to a build surface of the build plate.
A kit for customizing a powder bed on a build plate of a direct metal laser melting (DMLM) system, said kit comprising:
- a plurality of interlinkable containment walls, each interlinkable containment wall of said plurality of interlinkable containment walls mountable on the build plate of the DMLM system, each interlinkable containment wall of said plurality of interlinkable containment walls further configured to be selectively interlinked with at least one other interlinkable containment wall of said plurality of interlinkable containment walls.
A kit for customizing a powder bed on a build plate of a direct metal laser melting (DMLM) system, said kit comprising:
- a plurality of containment walls, each containment wall of said plurality of containment walls engageable with at least one other containment wall of said plurality of containment walls.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.