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US 2026/0284976 A1Published application
Material supply systems for additive manufacturing and methods for using the same
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsCarlos H. Bonilla, Gregory Kurt Miller, John Sterle, Vadim Bromberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for providing build material to an additive manufacturing system includes moving the build material from a dosing hopper to an interior space defined by one or more supply sidewalls of a supply receptacle and a piston positioned within the supply receptacle, and moving the piston toward a working surface of the additive manufacturing system, thereby moving build material within the interior space to the working surface.
Claims20
A method for providing build material to an additive manufacturing system, the method comprising:
- moving the build material from a dosing hopper to a supply receptacle via a supply chute that is positioned between the dosing hopper and an interior space that is defined at least by one or more supply receptacle sidewalls, the supply receptacle also having an upwardly-facing receptacle opening, wherein the supply chute has a supply chute opening into the interior space positioned below the upwardly-facing receptacle opening, wherein the interior space defines a dosing volume defined by the one or more supply receptacle sidewalls, the upwardly-facing receptacle opening, and the supply chute opening;
- and
- moving a piston that is engaged with the one or more supply receptacle sidewalls toward a working surface of the additive manufacturing system, causing the build material to move within the interior space to the working surface.
A system, comprising:
- a working surface;
- a supply receptacle having an interior space and an upwardly-facing receptacle opening defined at least by one or more supply receptacle sidewalls, the supply receptacle positioned along the working surface;
- a dosing hopper positioned above and in selective communication with the supply receptacle via a supply chute positioned between the dosing hopper and the interior space and having a supply chute opening into the interior space below the upwardly-facing receptacle opening;
- a piston positioned at least partially within the supply receptacle;
- a piston actuator coupled to the piston;
- a controller communicatively coupled to the piston actuator, the controller comprising a processor and a computer readable and executable instruction set, which when executed, causes the processor to:
- direct the piston actuator to move the piston downward in a vertical direction, allowing build material to flow from the dosing hopper into the supply receptacle;
- and
- direct the piston actuator to move the piston upward in the vertical direction, causing the build material to be delivered to the working surface.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.