Materion has patented a three-dimensional inkjet printer and method for printing aperture masks on multi-spectral filter arrays. The printer uses a custom tray to deposit photopolymer resin on prefabricated filters, forming dark mirror coatings without heat or chemical etching. GlobalData’s report on Materion gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.

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According to GlobalData’s company profile on Materion, Ceramic composite laminates was a key innovation area identified from patents. Materion's grant share as of May 2024 was 45%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.

Three-dimensional inkjet printer for printing aperture mask

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Credit: Materion Corp

A recently granted patent (Publication Number: US12013558B2) discloses a novel three-dimensional printer designed to deposit a photopolymer resin directly onto a prefabricated filter, creating an aperture mask known as a dark mirror coating. The printer features a custom tray with a vacuum chuck for precise positioning of the filter during printing, allowing adjustments along the X, Y, and Z axes. The device can operate as an inkjet printer or an extrusion-type printer, with the ability to print the dark mirror coating using inkjet heads or extrusion ports, respectively.

Moreover, the patent details the use of prefabricated filters such as a six-band optical filter or an optical filter array composed of multiple filter elements bonded together. The printer includes control components to adapt the printing process for use with prefabricated filters and utilizes ultraviolet lamps to solidify the photopolymer resin, forming the dark mirror coating on the filter surface. Another embodiment of the printer involves a tray supporting a prefabricated multi-spectral optical filter array, with a print block containing dispensing components connected to a resin reservoir for depositing the resin onto the filter surface to create the dark mirror coating. The print block may also incorporate ultraviolet lamps for resin solidification, offering flexibility in the printing process. The tray in this configuration includes a vacuum chuck for precise positioning adjustments, similar to the previous design, and the printer can function as either an inkjet or extrusion-type printer, depending on the specific application requirements.

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GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.