Thermwood, the manufacturer of Large Scale Additive Manufacturing systems, revealed that it received a staggering 32 additive manufacturing patents marking a one-day record for Thermwood. These additive manufacturing patents are in connection with its proprietary LSAM technology for large format additive systems.
Thermwood already were granted the patents but the hard-copies were withheld due to COVID. But these were now released and thus the company is making the announcement as the official documents arrived.
Additive Manufacturing Patents
In addition to these new patents, Thermwood has a large portfolio of previously issued additive manufacturing patents covering the company's unique, large format (5x10 foot table and larger) 3D print technology. This LSAM technology is the most widely used large scale additive print technology in use today in industry. It is used in many industries, including aerospace, transportation, heavy equipment, foundries, and large decorative structures. It is used to manufacture a wide range of products such as aerospace patterns, moulds, and tooling, heavy equipment foundry patterns, bus chassis, large valve body foundry patterns, and trim tooling.
Thermwood offers this one-of-a-kind patented technology on a wide range of equipment, making it the largest and most diverse product offering of its kind on the market today. It includes a broad selection of machines, including single and dual gantry, fixed and moving table configurations, print-only and print-and-trim systems, and print envelopes ranging from 5 x 10 feet to 20 x 60 feet. We're working on bigger machines, but that'll have to wait for another day.
The patented LSAM technology's primary goal is to reliably and repeatedly produce the highest quality, best fused, most homogeneous printed structures possible from a wide range of reinforced thermoplastic polymer composites, including those designed to operate at high temperatures. Although it is satisfying to have these patents granted, it is even more satisfying to finally have the official hard copies in hand.
3D Printed Al Davis Torch
The LSAM technology is perfect for building large structures. In September 2020, Dimensional Innovations is a Kansas-based design, technology, and fabrication firm used Thermwood’s LSAM technology to build, possibly, the tallest 3D printed structure in the form of a 92-feet tall Memorial Torch installed at the home stadium of Las Vegas Raiders, a National Football League (NFL) team. The Torch commemorated Al Davis, the team’s manager of 39 years.
