IP Library Granted Patent US 10,751,988
Granted Patent B1
US 10,751,988 · App. 15/372,204 · Granted Aug 25, 2020

Additive manufactured waveguides

Inventors: Michael Snyder (Mountain View, CA); Andrew Rush (St. Johns, FL); Derek Thomas (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: MADE IN SPACE, INC.
B33Y30/00B29D11/00663B29D11/00875B33Y10/00B33Y80/00
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,751,988
App. No.
15/372,204
Granted
Aug 25, 2020
Kind
B1
Abstract

A system comprising an additive manufacturing device to create a macrostructure as a continuous piece, an applicator to apply a conductive coating to an inner surface of the macrostructure, and a signal attenuation tuner to attenuate a signal by modification of a physical dimension of the macrostructure. A method and another system are also disclosed.

Claims (36)

1. A system to create a continuous macrostructure, the system comprising:

an additive manufacturing device to create a macrostructure as a continuous piece;

an applicator to apply a conductive coating with at least one of a powder production additive manufacturing process and a layering additive manufacturing process, to an inner surface of the macrostructure and to apply a surface applicant to at least one of wash and alter a surface prior to application of the conductive coating; and

a signal attenuation tuner to attenuate a signal by modification of a physical dimension of the macrostructure

wherein the applicator further provides for at least one layer of the conductive coating having a different property than an adjacent layer.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the surface applicant is applied to reduce a surface roughness of the macrostructure.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the surface applicant comprises a solvent.

4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the signal attenuation tuner comprises at least one of a temperature controller to adjust temperature at a section of the macrostructure to at least one of expand and constrict the section of the macrostructure, a pressure device to apply pressure to the section of the macrostructure to constrict the section of the macrostructure, a chamber to house the section of the macrostructure into which a gas is supplied to affect stability of the macrostructure.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the additive manufacturing device creates the macrostructure to comprise a solid inner surface within the macrostructure and a non-solid outer surface.

6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the macrostructure created by the additive manufacturing device initially has a non-solid inner surface and non-solid outer surface.

7. The system according to claim 6 , wherein the non-solid inner surface is transformed to a solid inner surface by the applicator.

8. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the inner surface is transformed by application of a solvent.

9. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the signal attenuation tuner comprises a smart material infused with feedstock as applied by the additive manufacturing device to create the macrostructure.

10. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the smart material functions as a sensor to detect at least one of an environmental condition and a signal to cause the smart material to at least one of bend, fold, shift, rotate and pivot which in turn causes the feedstock to change form in response to the at least one of bend, fold, shift, rotate and pivot of the smart material to a desired tune, and wherein the smart material is arranged to reconfigure the feedstock.

11. The system according to claim 10 , further comprising a processor to control the smart material.

12. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the macrostructure comprises a waveguide structure.

13. A method of creating a continuous microstructure comprising:

manufacturing a macrostructure with an additive manufacturing process;

applying a conductive coating, with at least one of a powder production additive manufacturing process and a layering additive manufacturing process, wherein the process provides for at least one layer of conductive coating having a different property than an adjacent layer; and

tuning the macrostructure with a signal attenuation tuner by modification of a physical dimension of the macrostructure.

14. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising reducing an inner surface roughness of macrostructure prior to applying a solvent.

15. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising reducing the inner surface roughness of the macrostructure by applying a solvent to the inner surface.

16. The method according to claim 13 , wherein tuning the macrostructure comprises at least one of controlling temperature at a section of the macrostructure to at least one of expanding and constricting the section of the macrostructure, applying pressure to the section of the macrostructure being tuned, and engulfing the section within a gas to affect structural stability of the section of the macrostructure.

17. The method according to claim 13 , wherein manufacturing the macrostructure further comprises creating the macrostructure to comprise a solid inner surface within the macrostructure and a non-solid outer surface on the macrostructure.

18. The method according to claim 13 , wherein manufacturing the macrostructure comprises creating by the macrostructure to initially have a non-solid inner surface and non-solid outer surface.

19. The method according to claim 18 , further comprising applying a solvent to transform the non-solid inner surface to a solid inner surface.

20. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising designing a macrostructure with wave endpoints.

21. The method according to claim 13 , wherein tuning the macrostructure comprises applying a smart material during the manufacture of the macrostructure to function as a sensor to detect at least one of an environmental condition and a signal to cause the smart material to at least one of bend, fold, shift, rotate and pivot which in turn causes the feedstock to change form in response to the at least one of bend, fold, shift, rotate and pivot of the smart material to a desired tune, and wherein the smart material is arranged to reconfigure the feedstock.

22. A system, the system comprising:

an additive manufacturing device to create a macrostructure wherein the additive manufacturing device initially manufactures the macrostructure with at least one of a solid inner wall and solid outer wall and a solid inner wall and porous outer wall, and a porous inner wall and porous outer wall,

an applicator to apply a conductive coating to an inner surface of the macrostructure with at least one of a powder production additive manufacturing process and a layering additive manufacturing process and to apply a solvent to the inner wall when the inner wall is porous to create a solid inner wall, wherein the applicator provides for at least one layer of the conductive coating having a different property than an adjacent layer; and

a signal attenuation tuner to attenuate a signal by modification of a physical dimension of the macrostructure.

23. The system according to claim 22 , wherein the signal attenuation tuner comprises at least one of a temperature controller to adjust temperature at a section of the macrostructure to at least one of expand and constrict the section of the macrostructure, a pressure device to apply pressure to the section of the macrostructure to constrict the section of the macrostructure, a chamber to house the section of the macrostructure into which a gas is supplied to affect stability of the macrostructure.

24. The system according to claim 22 , wherein the signal attenuation tuner comprises a smart material infused with feedstock as applied by the additive manufacturing device to create the macrostructure.

25. The system according to claim 24 , wherein the smart material functions as a sensor to detect at least one of an environmental condition and a signal to cause the smart material to at least one of bend, fold, shift, rotate and pivot which in turn causes the feedstock to change form in response to the at least one of bend, fold, shift, rotate and pivot of the smart material to a desired tune, and wherein the smart material is arranged to reconfigure the feedstock.

26. The system according to claim 24 , further comprising a processor to control the smart material.

Assignments (4)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 24, 2026
From: ADAMS STREET CREDIT ADVISORS LP
To: REDWIRE SPACE SOLUTIONS, LLC, FORMERLY KNOWN AS ROCCOR, LLC; REDWIRE SPACE, INC., FORMERLY KNOWN AS MADE IN SPACE, INC.
Reel/Frame 073882/0363 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Sep 1, 2021
From: MADE IN SPACE, INC.
To: REDWIRE SPACE, INC.
Reel/Frame 057348/0340 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Dec 15, 2020
From: ROCCOR, LLC; MADE IN SPACE, INC.
To: ADAMS STREET CREDIT ADVISORS LP, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 054770/0117 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 7, 2016
From: SNYDER, MICHAEL; RUSH, ANDREW; THOMAS, DEREK
To: MADE IN SPACE, INC.
Reel/Frame 040594/0366 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62263840 · Dec 7, 2015
Provisional Application 62266346 · Dec 11, 2015