Appeal No. 2005-0891 Page 2
Application No. 09/916,566
BACKGROUND
The appellants’ invention relates to a direct metal deposition (DMD) system and
method using a rapid-response diode laser source. Claims 1 and 5 are illustrative of the
invention and read as follows.
1. A system for automatically controlling the build-up
of material on a substrate, comprising:
a controllable semiconductor diode laser having a
beam directed to a localized region of the substrate so as to
form a melt pool thereon;
a material feeder for feeding material into the melt
pool to be melted by the beam to create a deposit having a
physical attribute;
an optoelectric sensor operative to output an electrical
signal as a function of the physical attribute; and
a feedback controller operative to automatically adjust
the rate of material deposition as a function of the electric
signal by modulating the laser to control the power of the
beam.
5. A method of depositing material on a substrate,
comprising the steps of:
heating the substrate with a high-power, rapid-
response diode laser to create a melt pool in a laser
interaction zone;
feeding material into the melt pool to create a deposit
having a physical dimension;
monitoring the laser interaction zone to generate an
optical signal indicative of the physical dimension; and
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