Freeform Building Extrusion With Cellular Scaffold Structures
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional construction methods are inefficient in material usage and lack flexibility, as they focus on speed and uniformity rather than optimizing material efficiency and form, limiting the creation of complex or customized structures, especially with additive manufacturing techniques which are currently restricted to small volumes and limited by the build volume of the printing mechanism.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and process for freeform additive manufacturing using an extruder attached to a movement mechanism to create a cellular matrix scaffold, allowing for the deposition of materials in a controlled manner to form pathways, enabling the use of cost-effective materials and methods to construct structures that mimic natural formations, with the ability to fill spaces between pathways with materials of different characteristics for enhanced functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional construction methods are used to build structures with uniform shapes and depths, then manufacturing speed and ease of erection are improved, but material efficiency and design flexibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the cross-sectional properties of structural elements along their length. Instead of uniform beams, the invention uses elements with depth and thickness that change locally to match the distribution of internal forces, placing material only where structurally necessary. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining manufacturing efficiency through continuous fabrication while dramatically improving material efficiency through localized optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs dynamics by enabling continuous adjustment of structural element properties during the fabrication process. The system dynamically modifies the geometry of elements as they are being manufactured, allowing the depth, thickness, and shape to change continuously along the element's length based on real-time structural analysis. This resolves the contradiction by combining the efficiency of continuous manufacturing with the flexibility of customized, optimized shapes.
2Loss of substance
If additive manufacturing is used to create customized shapes and optimized structures, then material efficiency and design flexibility are improved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the structure into a series of interconnected elements that are fabricated sequentially. Each element can have optimized geometry, but they are all produced using the same continuous fabrication process. This resolves the contradiction by breaking down complex customized structures into manageable segments that can be manufactured efficiently using standardized processes, reducing overall manufacturing complexity while maintaining material efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs universality by using a single fabrication system to produce multiple different structural elements with varying geometries. The same extrusion or deposition mechanism can create beams, columns, and connecting nodes with different optimized shapes by adjusting process parameters. This resolves the contradiction by demonstrating that material efficiency through customized shapes does not require multiple specialized manufacturing systems, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity.
3Manufacturing precision
If traditional layered additive manufacturing is used to deposit material, then material deposition control is improved, but build volume and structural complexity are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by transitioning from purely layered horizontal deposition to a process that creates three-dimensional continuous structures. Instead of building layer-by-layer in horizontal planes, the system extrudes or deposits material along spatial paths that create volumetric elements with complex 3D geometries. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining precise material deposition control while dramatically expanding the effective build volume and structural complexity through spatial path planning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs nesting by creating hierarchical structures where smaller optimized elements are embedded within larger structural frameworks. The continuous fabrication process can produce nested geometries where internal voids, reinforcement elements, and connecting features are integrated within the outer shell. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining deposition precision while achieving complex volumetric structures through nested geometric patterns that maximize the use of build space.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the efficient construction of structures at various scales with optimal material usage, enabling creative and economical building designs that would be impossible or prohibitively expensive with traditional methods, offering greater design flexibility and structural performance.
Implementation Method 1
An extruder heats material to make it fluid
Implementation Method 2
mixes or otherwise handles materials that are at least transitorily fluid
Implementation Method 3
dispensing the fluid from a nozzle in a controlled manner that, upon exit from the nozzle, rapidly solidifies
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Freeform, additive manufacturing equipment, processes and products, including residential, commercial and other buildings. A movable extruder places extrudate that solidifies in open space to create "scaffolding" or "skeletons" of buildings and other products. Elongated extrudate elements are fused to each other or connected by other means to form a cellular structure. Filler material such as polymeric insulating foam may simultaneously or thereafter be placed within the cellular structure to contribute desired strength, rigidity, insulative, barrier or other properties. Finish materials may also be applied.