Patented System for Removing 3-D Printing Support Material

PADT, a provider of simulation, product development and additive manufacturing (AM) services and products, has been awarded a U.S. patent for its Support Cleaning Apparatus (SCA) system. The SCA-which was invented by Rey Chu, Solomon Pena and Mark C. Johnson-is designed to improve the process of removing support material often required to hold up a part during 3-D printing.

PADT's SCA systems are currently sold exclusively by Stratasys, Ltd. (SSYS) for use with any of the Stratasys printers using Soluble Support Technology (SST) material. This award marks PADT's fourth patent to date.

"When Stratasys first introduced its soluble support material that can be dissolved with chemicals to help remove supports in the 3-D printing process, we knew that existing support removal devices were not reliable or efficient enough to handle the innovation," said Rey Chu, Co-Founder and Principal, PADT. "We used computational fluid dynamics simulation, along with our extensive product development skills and knowledge from over two decades of 3-D printing experience, to design an efficient and reliable support cleaning solution. We are proud that our SCA system has now been granted patent protection."

There are currently two units in the SCA family: the SCA-1200HT with a 10" x 10" x 12" part basket and the larger SCA 3600 with a 16" x 16" x14" part basket. They offer temperature ranges suitable to remove support from all Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and PolyJet materials, including ABS, ASA, PC, nylon and PolyJet resins.

For more information contact:

PADT

7755 S. Research Dr., Suite 110

Tempe, AZ 85284

480-813-4884 / 800-293-PADT

info@padtinc.com

www.PADTINC.com/sca