Method for fabricating dimensionally accurate pieces by laser sintering
US5732323A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 21, 1997 |
| Grant date | Mar 24, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 21, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02P10/25
- WIPO fieldMaterials, metallurgy
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
The invention relates to a method for the fabrication of dimensionally accurate metal pieces by sintering a material which, before the sintering, consists of a blend of three pulverous ingredients, of which the first ingredient is in the main an iron-group metal, the second ingredient is in the main copper and phosphorus, and the third ingredient is an alloy of copper and some other metal. The shape of the piece is produced by layer-by-layer freeform selected area laser sintering, wherein a layer of the said powder blend is spread on a base, those regions of the layer which correspond to this cross-sectional surface of the piece are heated by a laser beam to the sintering temperature. Thereafter further successive powder layers are spread one on top of another, and in each layer in turn those areas which correspond to the cross-sectional surface of the piece in that layer are laser sintered. The sintering takes place in a gas atmosphere which contains a chemical compound of some iron-group metal, the compound decomposing at the sintering temperature, in which case the iron-group metal will deposit into those cross-sectional areas of the piece being sintered at a given time.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.