Lifecycle condition-based manufacturing alteration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11981084-B2
Application number	US-201917414543-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2019
Priority date	Jun 18, 2019
Publication date	May 14, 2024
Grant date	May 14, 2024

Abstract

In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, a system is described. The system includes a reader to read an identifier from a storage element associated with a part. An extractor of the system extracts, based on the identifier, lifecycle conditions specific to the part. A controller of the system alters manufacturing operations based on extracted lifecycle conditions for the part.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
reading an identifier from a storage element, the storage element embedded within a part;
extracting, based on the identifier, lifecycle conditions specific to the part from the storage element embedded within the part;
performing part testing on the part following formation; and
altering manufacturing operations based on extracted lifecycle conditions for the part and an output of the part testing.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the part is a three-dimensional (3D) printed part; and
the lifecycle conditions comprise print conditions for the 3D printed part.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein altering manufacturing operations comprises at least one of:
altering manufacturing parameters;
altering a part design file;
altering a location of manufacturing devices;
altering operating characteristics of the manufacturing devices; and
altering part orientation along a manufacturing chain.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein manufacturing operations are altered further based on output of part testing of parts having similar characteristics.

5. A system comprising:
a reader to read an identifier from a storage element, the storage element embedded within a part;
an extractor to extract, based on the identifier, lifecycle conditions specific to the part from the storage element embedded within the part; and
a controller to alter manufacturing operations based on the extracted lifecycle conditions for the part.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein:
the part is a three-dimensional (3D) printed part; and
the identifier is embedded in the 3D printed part.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the controller is to manage testing of the part using parameters selected based on extracted lifecycle conditions.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein:
the extracted lifecycle conditions indicate conditions in at least one stage through which the part passes along its lifecycle; and
stages through which the part passes are selected from the group consisting of:
a formation stage;
a post processing stage;
a quality control stage;
a part testing stage;
a part storage stage;
a part shipping stage; and
an end use stage.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein formation stage conditions are selected from the group consisting of:
part pose within a build volume;
build material information;
agent material information;
part temperature;
manufacturing duration;
part yield;
manufacturing device type; and
environmental conditions.

10. The system of claim 5 , wherein the extractor is to extract information from at least one of:
the storage element disposed on the part; and
a device by which the part passes along its lifecycle.

11. The system of claim 5 , wherein the lifecycle conditions represent an intentional variation from default lifecycle conditions.

12. The system of claim 5 , wherein the controller determines a combination of manufacturing operations that result in a best performing part.

13. A system comprising:
a reader to read an identifier from a storage element embedded within a three-dimensional (3D) printed part;
an extractor to, based on the identifier, extract lifecycle conditions specific to the 3D printed part from the storage element embedded within the 3D printed part, wherein the lifecycle conditions are mapped to the identifier;
a controller to alter print operations based on the extracted lifecycle conditions for the 3D printed part; and
a testing device to perform part testing on the 3D printed part based on the extracted lifecycle conditions for the 3D printed part.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is to generate a notification of recall based on the extracted lifecycle conditions.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is to determine a predicted re-order time based on the extracted lifecycle conditions.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Erickson Kristopher J
• Wittkopf Jarrid
• Ballagas Rafael
• George David Wayne
• Zhao Lihua
• Allen William J

Classifications

• B29C64/386 Primary

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B29C64/379

  Handling of additively manufactured objects, e.g. using robots · CPC title

• G06Q10/0635

  Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities · CPC title

• G06Q10/0639

  Performance analysis of employees; Performance analysis of enterprise or organisation operations · CPC title

• G06Q10/20

  Administration of product repair or maintenance · CPC title