Appeal No. 2004-2034
Application No. 09/917,096
d) feeding material into the meltpool to deposit
a layer having a physical dimension;
e) optically monitoring the physical dimension;
f) automatically controlling the physical
dimension in accordance with the description of the
article to be fabricated based upon feedback derived
through the optical monitoring; and
wherein, compared to the substrate, the layer of
material exhibits:
improved resistance to wear, corrosion,
or oxidation,
improved thermal conduction,
greater density, or
a different phase.
The examiner relies upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Lewis et al. (Lewis) 5,837,960 Nov. 17, 1998
Singer et al. (Singer) 5,875,830 Mar. 02, 1999
Parks 5,952,057 Sep. 14, 1999
Jeantette et al. (Jeantette) 6,046,426 Apr. 04, 2000
Appellants’ claimed invention is directed to a method of
fabricating a component, such as molds and tools, which uses a
laser-assisted, direct metal deposition technique. The method
also employs optical monitoring and controlling a physical
dimension of the deposited layer with a feedback system.
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