Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus for thermal extrusion of a polymeric material to manufacture prototype mechanical elements from said polymeric material, said apparatus used for deposition of a liquefied ribbon of said polymeric material in patterned layers which solidify to form a three-dimensional prototype element, said apparatus comprising in combination, a mounting frame, said mounting frame including a mounting plate with a movable platen movable in the x and y directions, said frame further including an extrusion cylinder, said extrusion cylinder comprising a cylindrical housing having a uniform diameter cylindrical through passage, a head member having a uniform diameter bore connected with a reduced diameter, integral tip opening, said head member attached by a clamp to one end of the cylindrical housing to align the bore with the through passage, said-bore and through passage having an equal diameter, said head member including a circumferential heater to liquefy contents of the head member, a reciprocal piston slidably positioned in the cylindrical housing, and a piston actuator for driving the piston into the through passage to eject material through the tip opening.

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First Claim