Lawrence J Lukis

US Patent:

6467867, Oct 22, 2002

Filed:

Sep 3, 1997

Appl. No.:

08/922297

Inventors:

John Walter Worthington - Minnetonka MN
Lawrence J. Lukis - Long Lake MN

Assignee:

MacDermid Acumen, Inc. - Waterbury CT

International Classification:

B41J 29393

US Classification:

347 19

Abstract:

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for precise placement of discrete marks comprising a digital image using an optical sensor adapted to read individual dots of a variety of calibration patterns. The sensor is preferably coupled to a reciprocating carriage assembly so that the dot patterns recorded upon a printing media from at least two of a plurality of print heads disposed on the carriage assembly are compared, a preferred timing or trajectory control sequence is calculated, and thereafter relayed to the print heads to correct for physical misalignment of print heads, manufacturing tolerance errors, and the like to improve registration in a digital color print engine.

US Patent:

6701200, Mar 2, 2004

Filed:

Jan 24, 2002

Appl. No.:

10/056755

Inventors:

Lawrence Joseph Lukis - Long Lake MN
Yuri Arnoldovich Dreizin - Golden Valley MN
John Mark Gilbert - St. Paul MN

Assignee:

The Protomold Company, Inc. - Maple Plain MN

International Classification:

G06F 1900

US Classification:

700 98, 700197, 345420, 264401

Abstract:

Automated, custom mold manufacture for a part begins by creating and storing a collection of information of standard tool geometries and surface profiles machinable by each of the standard tool geometries. A customer sends a CAD file for the part to be molded to the system. The system assesses the CAD file to determine various pieces of mold manufacturing information. One or more acceptability criteria are applied to the part, such as whether the part can be manufactured in a two-piece, straight-pull mold, and whether the mold can by CNC machined out of aluminum. If not, the system sends a file to the customer graphically indicating which portions of the part need modification to be manufacturable. With any such modifications, the system provides the customer with a quotation of the cost to manufacture the mold or a number of parts. The quotation is based upon mold manufacturing time as automatically assessed from the part drawings.

US Patent:

6836699, Dec 28, 2004

Filed:

Dec 19, 2002

Appl. No.:

10/325286

Inventors:

Lawrence Joseph Lukis - Long Lake MN
Yuri Arnoldovich Dreizin - Golden Valley MN
John Mark Gilbert - St. Paul MN

Assignee:

The Protomold Company, Inc. - Maple Plain MN

International Classification:

G06F 1900

US Classification:

700200, 700 97, 700197, 264401, 345420

Abstract:

Automated, custom mold manufacture for a part begins by creating and storing a collection of information of standard tool geometries and surface profiles machinable by each of the standard tool geometries. A customer sends a CAD file for the part to be molded to the system. The system assesses the CAD file to determine various pieces of mold manufacturing information. One or more acceptability criteria are applied to the part, such as whether the part can be manufactured in a two-piece, straight-pull mold, and whether the mold can by CNC machined out of aluminum. If not, the system sends a file to the customer graphically indicating which portions of the part need modification to be manufacturable. The system provides the customer with a quotation form, that allows the customer to select several parameters, such as number of cavities, surface finish and material, which an independent of the shape of the part. The quotation module then provides the customer with the cost to manufacture the mold or a number of parts.

US Patent:

7089082, Aug 8, 2006

Filed:

Apr 25, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/114893

Inventors:

Lawrence J. Lukis - Wayzata MN, US
Christopher Walls-Manning - Ramsey MN, US
Mark R. Kubicek - Lakeville MN, US

Assignee:

The Protomold Company, Inc. - Maple Plain MN

International Classification:

G06F 19/00

US Classification:

700182, 700197, 264453

Abstract:

A first customer provides a CAD file defining the surface profile for a part to be molded to the system, and a second customer does the same for a second part. The system determines whether the materials match and the run dates overlap, thereby qualifying the parts for use in a multi-customer mold block. The system assesses the part surface profile (which could have any of a virtually infinite number of shapes) of the parts submitted and lays out the parts from multiple customers on one or more multi-customer mold blocks. Savings are generated, such as by reducing redundancies in press clean-up, in set-up, in tooling, and in surface finishing. Due to these savings, the system provides a quotation of the part to at least one of the customers which differs from the quotation that would be provided if each part was run independent of parts of other customers.

US Patent:

7123986, Oct 17, 2006

Filed:

Mar 7, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/074388

Inventors:

Lawrence J. Lukis - Wayzata MN, US
Christopher Walls-Manning - Ramsey MN, US
Mark R. Kubicek - Lakeville MN, US

Assignee:

The Protomold Company, Inc. - Maple Plain MN

International Classification:

B29C 39/00

US Classification:

700197

Abstract:

A customer sends CAD files for two or more parts to be molded in a family to the system. The system provides the customer with a quotation form that allows the customer to select several family-level parameters which are independent of the shape of the part, such as material and delivery date. The quotation also allows the customer to select several part-level parameters which are independent off the shape of the part, such as quantity of each part and surface finish. The system assesses the CAD files to determine savings which can be achieved by molding the parts as a family, with multiple parts in the same mold block. If possible, the system machines cavities for the multiple parts into a single mold block, passing on reductions in cost to the customer both in the quote and in the final product delivery.

US Patent:

7299101, Nov 20, 2007

Filed:

Mar 6, 2006

Appl. No.:

11/369120

Inventors:

Lawrence J. Lukis - Wayzata MN, US
Matthew Hartloff - Plymouth MN, US

Assignee:

The Protomold Company, Inc. - Maple Plain MN

International Classification:

G06F 19/00

US Classification:

700 98, 700105, 345619, 345653

Abstract:

Any issues associated with manufacture of a part are identified and highlighted on a part model. A software method and system then uses motion of the part model for communicating the manufacturability issues to the customer. The motion can include a repositioning of a part rendering to a preferred orientation position, a fly-around so the customer can appreciate the next zoom location, and then a zooming in on the issue desired to be shown. Alternatively or in conjunction with the zooming and fly-around motion, the orientation of the part rendering showing the manufacturability issues can be three-dimensionally manipulated such as with a click-drag-drop command of the customer's computer mouse. By adding a moveable aspect to the communication, customers can much better understand which changes are recommended or required of the part.

US Patent:

7496528, Feb 24, 2009

Filed:

Jan 14, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/035648

Inventors:

Lawrence J. Lukis - Wayzata MN, US
John M. Gilbert - St. Paul MN, US
Christopher Walls-Manning - Ramsey MN, US

Assignee:

Proto Labs, Inc. - Maple Plains MN

International Classification:

G06Q 30/00

US Classification:

705 26, 705 27

Abstract:

A customer sends a CAD file for the part to be molded to the system. The system assesses the CAD file to determine various pieces of mold manufacturing information. One or more acceptability criteria are applied to the part, such as whether the part can be manufactured in a two-piece, straight-pull mold, and whether the mold can by CNC machined out of aluminum. If not, the system sends a file to the customer graphically indicating which portions of the part need modification to be manufacturable. The system provides the customer with a quotation form, that allows the customer to select several parameters, such as number of cavities, surface finish and material, which are independent of the shape of the part. The quotation module then provides the customer with the cost to manufacture the mold or a number of parts. Budget-driven quotation is possible, wherein proposed modifications in the molding process are controlled by the budget of the customer.

US Patent:

7574339, Aug 11, 2009

Filed:

Sep 19, 2006

Appl. No.:

11/523232

Inventors:

Lawrence J. Lukis - Wayzata MN, US
Yuri Dreizin - Golden Valley MN, US

Assignee:

The Protomold Company - Maple Plain MN

International Classification:

G06G 7/50

US Classification:

703 9, 700197

Abstract:

The present invention is a method and system for simulating fluid flow in a cavity, having relevance to the modeling of viscous flows within thin cavities of complex shapes in which heat exchange with the cavity walls may be a governing factor, as in injection molding of plastic parts. Its automated discretization scheme, in which the model cavity is partitioned into macrocells, each macrocell having substantial contact areas with the model cavity walls, eliminates the need for time consuming and expensive manual model configuration required by some modeling methods. Because of the simplicity of the discretization, models based on the invention are less demanding on computer resources then conventional finite element methods, and execute more quickly. A key innovation of the method is a function characterizing the shape of a macrocell that appears in a coefficient in equations governing the flow. As a consequence of the improvements offered by the invention, molds for complex parts can be fabricated more rapidly, with the resulting parts having high quality.