Patent ID: 7168935

Claim:
An apparatus for formation of a three dimensional object by a sequential deposition of a wire feedstock comprising: a sealed container capable of maintaining a vacuum environment; a positioning subsystem contained within said container and capable of controlling the position of said object; a wire feed subsystem contained within said container and capable of depositing said wire feedstock in solid form at a target location relative to said position of said object in a sequential manner; an electron beam subsystem capable of directing energy within said container, directing energy to said target location, melting said wire feedstock at said target location consistent with said sequential deposition of said wire feedstock, and sustaining a molten pool at said target location thereby forming said object in said sequential manner; a vacuum subsystem capable of creating and sustaining said vacuum environment in said container; an instrumentation subsystem electronically connected to said electron beam subsystem, positioning subsystem, wire feed subsystem, and vacuum subsystem; and a power distribution subsystem electrically connected to said electron beam subsystem, positioning subsystem, wire feed subsystem, vacuum subsystem, and said instrumentation subsystem.