Patent ID: 7772520

Claim:
A hand-held apparatus for material fabrication, comprising: a hand piece having an output end; a switch disposed on said hand piece, having an on position and an off position; wherein a laser beam is directed outwardly from said output end of said hand piece when said switch is disposed in said on position; a trepanning mechanism rotatably disposed within said hand piece and comprising a rotatable trepanning head comprising a gas plenum, a drive mechanism, and a rotatable hollow shaft comprising an internal gas conduit and interconnecting said trepanning head and said drive mechanism, wherein said drive mechanism rotates said hollow shaft, and wherein said laser beam passes through said drive mechanism and through said hollow shaft and enters said trepanning head on a first axis and is directly outwardly from said trepanning head on a second axis; a rotatable external gas conduit in communication with said gas plenum and extending outwardly from said trepanning head and through said output end, wherein a distal end of said gas conduit comprises a nozzle; wherein said nozzle is configured such that a gas jet comprising a gas exiting from said nozzle is directed at said laser beam.