# US 2025/0135540 A1 · Method and system for operating a metal hybrid manufacturing system to shorten object formation time > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2025/0135540 A1 - Document ID: US20250135540A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 18/498,906 - Filed: 2023-10-31 - Published: 2025-05-01 - Earliest claimed: 2023-10-31 - Assignees: ADDiTEC - Applicants: ADDiTEC - Inventors: Brian Matthews; Chu-heng Liu; Paul J. McConville; Sriram Manoharan - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20250135540A1 ## CPC - B22F 10/22: Direct deposition of molten metal - B22F 10/25: Direct deposition of metal particles, e.g. direct metal deposition [DMD] or laser engineered net shaping [LENS] - B22F 10/30: Process control - B22F 10/50: Treatment of workpieces or articles during build-up, e.g. treatments applied to fused layers during build-up - B22F 10/66: by mechanical means - B22F 10/85: for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes - B22F 12/33: translatory in the deposition plane - B22F 12/41: characterised by the type, e.g. laser or electron beam - B22F 12/55: Two or more means for feeding material - B22F 12/90: Means for process control, e.g. cameras or sensors - B33Y 10/00: Processes of additive manufacturing - B33Y 30/00: Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor - B33Y 40/20: Post-treatment, e.g. curing, coating or polishing - B33Y 50/02: for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes - B22F 2999/00: Aspects linked to processes or compositions used in powder metallurgy - B22F: WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER (making alloys by powder metallurgy C22C); APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER - B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING ## Abstract A metal hybrid manufacturing apparatus includes a melted metal drop ejecting device and a metal deposition device. The melted metal drop ejecting device is operated to form perimeters of layers in a metal object being formed by the system. The metal deposition device is operated to fill interior portions of the layers. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A metal hybrid manufacturing system comprising: a platform; a first melted metal drop ejecting device configured to eject melted metal drops toward the platform; a metal deposition device that produces metal at a rate that is greater than a rate at which the first melted metal drop ejecting device produces melted metal; and a controller operatively connected to the first melted metal drop ejecting device and the metal deposition device, the controller being configured to: generate a layer model of a metal object to be formed on the platform; using the layer model of the object to identify a perimeter portion of each layer and an interior portion of each layer of the metal object to be formed on the platform; operate the first melted metal drop ejecting device to form the identified perimeter portion of each layer with melted metal drops ejected from the first melted metal drop ejecting device; and operate the metal deposition device to fill the identified interior portion of each layer with metal deposited by the metal deposition device. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 1 wherein the metal deposition device is one of a directed energy deposition device, a melted metal extrusion device, and a wire welding device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 1 wherein the metal deposition device is a second melted metal drop ejecting device that produces melted metal drops that are larger than the melted metal drops produced by the first melted metal drop ejecting device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 1 wherein the first melted metal drop ejecting device is one of a magnetohydrodynamic device, an electrohydrodynamic ejector, a piston driven ejector, and a pneumatic ejector. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 1 wherein the first melted metal drop ejecting device is configured to eject melted drops of a first metal and the metal deposition device is configured to emit a stream of a second metal that is different than the first metal. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 1 further comprising: an optical sensor configured to generate image data of an upper surface of the metal object being formed on the platform; and the controller being further configured to: identify a difference in height between portions of a formed layer of an upper surface of the metal object and a height identified in the layer model; compare the identified difference to a predetermined threshold; and compensate for the height differences in response to the identified difference being greater than the predetermined threshold. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 6, the controller being further configured to compensate for the height differences by: modifying layer printing instructions for subsequent layers in the layer model. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 7, the controller being further configured to modify the layer printing instructions by changing one or more of a drop spacing, a line spacing, a drop ejection frequency, an linear speed and a solid metal feed rate identified in the layer printing instructions. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 6 further comprising: a subtractive manufacturing device; and the controller is further configured to compensate for the height differences by: operating the subtractive manufacturing device to remove material from a higher portion of the formed layer. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 9 wherein the subtractive manufacturing tool is a computer numerical control (CNC) tool. ### Claim 11 A method for operating a metal hybrid manufacturing system comprising: generating a layer model of a metal object to be formed on a platform; using the layer model of the object to identify a perimeter portion of each layer and an interior portion of each layer of the metal object to be formed on the platform; operating a first melted metal drop ejecting device to form the identified perimeter portion of each layer with melted metal drops ejected from the first melted metal drop ejecting device; and operating the metal deposition device to fill the identified interior portion of each layer with metal deposited by the metal deposition device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 11, the operating of the metal deposition device further comprising: operating a directed energy deposition device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 11, the operating of the metal deposition device further comprising: operating a second melted metal drop ejecting device that produces melted metal drops that are larger than the melted metal drops produced by the first melted metal drop ejecting device. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 11, the operating of the first melted metal drop ejecting device further comprising: operating a magnetohydrodynamic device. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 11 wherein operation of the first melted metal drop ejecting device ejects melted drops of a first metal and operation of the metal deposition device emits a stream of a second metal that is different than the first metal. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 11 further comprising: identifying a difference in height between portions of a formed layer of an upper surface of the metal object and a height identified in the layer model; comparing the identified difference to a predetermined threshold; and compensating for the identified difference in response to the identified difference being greater than the predetermined threshold. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 16, the compensation for the identified difference further comprising: modifying layer printing instructions for subsequent layers in the layer model. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 17, the modification of the layer printing instructions further comprising: changing one or more of a drop spacing, a line spacing, a drop ejection frequency, a linear speed, and a solid metal feed rate identified in the layer printing instructions. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 16, the compensation of the identified difference further comprising: operating a subtractive manufacturing device to remove material from a higher portion of the formed layer. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of operating the metal hybrid manufacturing system of claim 19, the operation of the subtractive manufacturing device further comprising: operating a computer numerical control (CNC) tool to remove the material.