Patent ID: 7741578

Claim:
A solid free form fabrication (SFF) system for fabricating three-dimensional structures in a continuous manner with successive layers of a feedstock material comprising: a deposition head operable to emit an energy beam in a path and to feed the feedstock material into the path of the energy beam, the feedstock material melting at a deposition point when introduced into the path and defining a fused area and a hot area extending beyond the fused area; a gas shielding structure positioned to protect the fused area and the hot area from oxidation, the gas shielding structure configured as a discrete parallelepiped structure having a substantially open periphery to provide saddling of the gas shielding structure over and about the fused area and the hot area to provide three-dimensional shielding, the structure further having openings formed therein an uppermost edge surface for positioning of the deposition head therethrough; a positioning arm coupled to the deposition head and moveable to align the deposition head with a targeted region of a three-dimensional structure to manufacture the three-dimensional structure by transferring the feedstock material in a controlled manner by melting the feedstock material at the deposition point and allowing it to re-solidify at the fused area; and a plurality of control components coupled to the positioning arm for controlling a position of the positioning arm and operation of the deposition head.