PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15886544
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-02
Publication Date: 2019-08
Patent Classification: ["219", "761000"]

Abstract:
The present disclosure describes three-dimensional (3D) printing apparatuses, processes, software, and systems for producing high quality 3D objects. Described herein are printing apparatuses that facilitate control of water vapor concentration during one or more printing operations.

Claim (Index 1):
An apparatus for printing a three-dimensional object, the apparatus comprising:\n a platform configured to support a powder bed comprising powder; a laser configured to generate a laser beam that melts at least a portion of the powder bed to a molten material to print at least a portion of the three-dimensional object; a layer forming device configured to form a planar layer of the powder that is at least a portion of the powder bed, which layer forming device comprises a blade or a roller configured to translate in a first direction over an exposed surface of the powder bed to planarize the exposed surface of the powder bed; an elevator operationally coupled with the platform, which elevator comprises an actuator configured to translate the platform in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; a processing chamber having walls that at least partially define an internal volume, which processing chamber is configured to enclose at least the exposed surface of the powder bed within an atmosphere during the printing, wherein at least one wall of the processing chamber comprises a window that is configured to permit at least a portion of the laser beam to pass therethrough to the internal volume; a galvanometer scanner configured to translate the laser beam across the exposed surface of the powder bed in accordance with a path, which galvanometer scanner is configured to move the laser beam in a processing cone region of the internal volume of the processing chamber; a gas flow system comprising one or more inlet openings and one or more outlet openings, which gas flow system is configured to provide a flow of gas into the internal volume from the one or more inlet openings to the one or more outlet openings, which one or more outlet openings is coupled with a conduit that directs the flow of gas out of the internal volume via the one or more outlet openings; and one or more controllers operationally coupled with the elevator, the layer forming device, the galvanometer scanner, and the gas flow system, which one or more controllers are configured to direct (a) the elevator to translate the platform in the second direction, (b) the layer forming device to translate in the first direction, (c) the galvanometer scanner to direct the laser beam at the exposed surface of the powder bed in accordance with the path, and (d) the gas flow system to provide the flow of gas into the atmosphere having water vapor at a concentration that yields a dew point temperature of at least about negative forty (\u221240) degrees Celsius (\u00b0 C.) at a location that is exposed to the flow of gas, which location is (i) in the one or more outlet openings, (ii) in the internal volume of the processing chamber and outside of the processing cone region, or (iii) in the conduit and downstream from the one or more outlet openings, wherein the water vapor concentration is sufficient to incorporate oxygen into the three-dimensional object.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 80.0
- Percentile: 88.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.19444
- Patent Class: 219.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15871763', '15855744', '15634228', '15803686', '15634267']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.808268874978226
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4919564269749439
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7766376301778978
- Mean Citation Score: 221.434742
- Max Citation Score: 265.81192000000004
- Similarity Product: 229.9206273252011

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 0
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test