US 11,865,769 B2
Weak material phases
Wei Huang, Palo Alto, CA (US); and Jun Zeng, Los Gatos, CA (US)
Assigned to HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
Filed by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
Filed on Dec. 7, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/544,541.
Prior Publication US 2023/0173746 A1, Jun. 8, 2023
Int. Cl. B33Y 10/00 (2015.01); B29C 64/141 (2017.01); B33Y 80/00 (2015.01)
CPC B29C 64/141 (2017.08) [B33Y 10/00 (2014.12); B33Y 80/00 (2014.12)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method, comprising:
printing a first solid material region;
printing a second solid material region distanced from the first solid material region; and
printing a weak material region that separates the first solid material region from the second solid material region, the weak material region comprised of a plurality of beams, each of the plurality of beams having a thickness that is not more than one millimeter and each of the plurality of beams being horizontally separated from each other by a distance of at least 0.5 millimeters to form a plurality of gaps within the weak material region, wherein the weak material region has a volumetric density that is less than one based on the distance separating each of the plurality of beams from each other, and wherein the weak material region and the first solid material region are printed using a same base powder and a same manufacturing procedure.