Method and system for software defined metallurgy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11237529-B2
Application number	US-201816224432-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2018
Priority date	May 1, 2017
Publication date	Feb 1, 2022
Grant date	Feb 1, 2022

Abstract

A system for generating a user-adjustable furnace profile, comprises a user interface configured to receive one or more materials properties from a user, a processor, and a memory with computer code instructions stored thereon. The memory is operatively coupled to the processor such that, when executed by the processor, the computer code instructions cause the system to implement communicating with a furnace to ascertain one or more thermal processes associated with the furnace, identifying one or more object characteristics associated with an object to be processed by furnace, and determining a thermal processing parameter profile of at least one thermal processing parameter corresponding to each of the thermal processes, based on (i) the one or more part characteristics and (ii) the one or more materials properties, the thermal processing parameter profile characterizing a cycle of the one or more thermal processes.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of controlling, via a control system, a furnace for thermally processing an object, the method comprising:
receiving, via a user interface, one or more material properties of the object in a post-processed state, wherein the post-processed state occurs after the object is formed and before the object is thermally sintered;
receiving from the furnace one or more thermal processes associated with the furnace;
receiving, via the user interface, one or more characteristics of the object in a pre-processed state;
determining a thermal processing profile of the object, wherein the thermal processing profile is based on at least one of the one or more material properties of the object, the one or more characteristics of the object, or the one or more thermal processes; and
determining, based on the thermal processing profile, whether the furnace includes one or more physical components associated with the one or more thermal processes necessary to process the object to achieve the one or more material properties of the object in a post-processed state,
wherein the one or more characteristics of the object includes a characteristic of a first material from which the object is formed and a characteristic of a second material, different from the first material, wherein the second material coats a surface of the object after a thermal process and during a cooling process, and
wherein the thermal processing profile includes instructions to cause the second material to have at least one different material property in the post-processed state than the one more material properties of the object.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying the thermal processing profile on a display; and
receiving a user input based on the processing profile.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the user input includes one or more of a modification of the processing profile or an approval of the processing profile.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the processing profile includes instructions to control the furnace to release one or more of water, boride, or nitrogen into an inner chamber of the furnace during processing of the object.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to the furnace not including one or more of the physical components necessary to process the object according to the processing profile, generating an indication to a user; and
alerting the user when the one or more physical components associated with the one or more thermal processes are ready to be replaced.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the processing profile includes instructions to adjust the one or more thermal processes based on the one or more material properties of the object in the post-processed state.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more material properties are received via one or more of a user input to a graphical user interface (GUI) associated with the furnace or a mobile device operably connected to the furnace.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
prompting a user to input the one or more material properties of the object; and
prompting the user to input the one or more characteristics of the object.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
initiating the processing profile to begin processing the object and generating an output to a user indicating a status of the processing.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the processing profile includes instructions to control at least one of a gas flow rate, a gas species, or a chamber pressure of the furnace during processing of the object.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying on a graphical user interface (GUI) representations of a plurality of printed objects printed by an additive manufacturing device;
receiving via the GUI a selection of a first object to be processed from the plurality of printed objects; and
based on the selection of the first object, preventing the GUI from receiving a selection of a second object from the plurality of printed objects to be processed with the selected first object if the selected second object has a processing profile that requires a thermal process not compatible with the processing profile of the selected first object.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal processes include one or more of a heating time, a furnace temperature, an atmosphere composition, or a pressure of the furnace.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein receiving the one or more characteristics of the object includes at least one of receiving an input from a user or receiving an input from an additive manufacturing device used to print the object.

Assignees

• Desktop Metal Inc

Inventors

• Tuncer Nihan
• Kernan Brian
• Bose Animesh
• Sowerbutts Mark

Classifications

• B22F3/003 Primary

  Apparatus, e.g. furnaces (in general F27B) · CPC title

• B22F10/14

  by jetting of binder onto a bed of metal powder · CPC title

• G05B15/02 Primary

  electric · CPC title

• B33Y40/00

  Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling · CPC title

• B33Y40/20

  Post-treatment, e.g. curing, coating or polishing · CPC title