ADDITIVELY REINFORCED THERMOFORMING

Organization Name

UT-Battelle, LLC

Inventor(s)

Ahmed A. Hassen of Knoxville TN (US)

Christopher J. Hershey of Knoxville TN (US)

Vipin Kumar of Knoxville TN (US)

Vlastimil Kunc of Knoxville TN (US)

David Nuttall of Knoxville TN (US)

Ryan C. Ogle of Knoxville TN (US)

Tyler C. Smith of Knoxville TN (US)

ADDITIVELY REINFORCED THERMOFORMING

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 20250010537 titled 'ADDITIVELY REINFORCED THERMOFORMING

Original Abstract Submitted

a hybrid additive manufacturing and thermoforming method is provided. the method includes additively manufacturing one or more reinforcing structures directly onto a polymer sheet before shaping the polymer sheet onto a mold and/or while the polymer sheet is shaped onto a mold. by leveraging the design control of additive manufacturing, reinforcing structures can be deposited onto the polymer sheet as needed based on the intended application. these reinforcing structures can comprise standard infill patterns or complex custom core designs. the present invention provides an innovative way in which to mass produce custom thermoformed components with an optimal mechanical response.