Optomec Awarded Aerosol Jet 3D Print Head Patent, Enables 3D Electronics Printing

Optomec, a privately held company known for providing additive manufacturing systems to companies worldwide, has been awarded U.S. patent #8,640,975, titled Miniature Aerosol Jet and Aerosol Jet Array.

This patent could be very important for the company as they begin supplying the industry with 3D print heads capable of printing out electronics. It covers a miniaturized Aerosol Jet print head, which is much smaller and lighter than those on the market today. This patent will also allow for the 3D printing of electronics in tight spaces, such as recesses and cavities.  Such technology could have a far reaching impact on several key industries.

Dr. Mike Renn, Optomec Chief Technology Officer, states, “The miniaturized Aerosol Jet print head can be used for many applications. As a linear array using a single material, it is a means for increasing throughput with simple parallel processing for high volume applications, such as printed touch screen displays. However, the array doesn’t have to be linear; custom placement of multiple print heads for a specific application is also an option. Looking into the future, Aerosol Jet could print different materials from each miniaturized print head in the array. In this case, Aerosol Jet Printers could produce complex multi-material, multi-layered devices such as transistors, capacitors, sensors and resistors, on a single system.”

Optomec, located in Albuquerque, NM, is on a mission to leap-frog their competition by investing heavily into research and development. To date they have invested over $30 million in an effort to come out with innovative products which will push the 3D printing industry forward quickly. They first introduced their additive manufacturing system in 1997, and since then, have installed systems in 15 different countries for over 150 different companies. Discuss this Patent at 3D Print Board.