Material mixing for an additive manufacturing apparatus is provided. A further aspect employs multiple material inlets for simultaneously feeding a polymer and/or nanocomposite material in at least a first inlet, and ceramic or other particles in at least a second inlet, to a single additive manufacturing outlet nozzle. In another aspect, a three dimensional printing machine varies a chemical or compounding characteristic, such as a loading percentage, of printing material during printing. In another aspect, in situ mixing of a polymer and/or nanocomposite with variable amounts of ceramic, magnetic or other particles therein in an additive manufacturing apparatus, such as a multi-material aerosol jet printing machine.

Space- and cost-efficient antenna apparatus and methods of making and using the same. In one embodiment, the antenna is formed using a deposition process, whereby a conductive fluid or other material is deposited directly on one or more interior components of a host device (e.g., cellular phone or tablet computer). The antenna can be formed in a substantially three-dimensional “loop” shape, and obviates several costly and environmentally unfriendly processing steps and materials associated with prior art antenna manufacturing approaches.

A manufacturing apparatus that includes a conveyance device that moves a stage, where an electronic device shaped by multiple layers is placed, in X-axis and Y-axis directions. A first shaping unit, a second shaping unit, and a component mounting unit are arranged within a range in which the stage can move. The manufacturing apparatus performs additive manufacturing of the electronic device on the stage by performing a sequential movement of the stage to respective working positions of different units. As a result, in this manufacturing apparatus, a workpiece on the stage does not have to be removed and repositioned during each work process such as shaping by a first shaping unit, shaping by a second shaping unit, and electronic component mounting by a component mounting unit.

A touch substrate manufactured by three-dimensional printing and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The method for manufacturing the touch substrate works together with a three-dimensional printer. The three-dimensional printer includes a first nozzle, a second nozzle, and a light source. The method includes the steps of: jetting a photocuring material by the first nozzle and exposing the photocuring material to the light source to form a base layer; jetting a conductive material on the base layer by the second nozzle and exposing the conductive material to the light source to form a touch electrode layer; and jetting the photocuring material on the base layer and the touch electrode layer by the first nozzle and exposing the photocuring material to the light source to form a protective layer. The touch electrode layer is embedded between the base layer and the protective layer.

The present disclosure provides a first method for updating firmware of a computer system, which is embedded in a technical device, wherein the technical device has a volatile memory module, wherein the technical device has a non-volatile memory module, in which a firmware update package is stored, wherein the firmware update package contains individual files and associated first checksums, wherein the method runs through the following steps in the specified sequence: a restart (G), a subsequent booting of the computer system (H), and checking if an indicator file exists in the non-volatile memory module (I). Also provided is a second method for updating firmware of the computer system, which is embedded in a technical device, wherein the method runs through the following steps in the specified sequence: a restart (G), a subsequent booting of the computer system (H), and a check as to whether an indicator file exists in the non-volatile memory module (I).

A dispensing system includes a dispensing unit assembly configured to dispense viscous material and a gantry coupled to the frame. The gantry is configured to support the dispensing unit assembly and to move the dispensing unit assembly in x-axis and y-axis directions. The dispensing unit assembly includes a support bracket secured to the gantry and a movable bracket rotatably coupled to the support bracket by a first strain wave gear system configured to enable the rotation of the movable bracket with respect to the support bracket about a first axis. The dispensing unit assembly further includes a dispensing unit rotatably coupled to the movable bracket by a second strain wave gear system configured to enable the rotation of the dispensing unit with respect to the movable bracket about a second axis generally perpendicular to the first axis.

Provided is a method for encoding chipless RFID tags in real-time. The method includes exposing a chipless RFID transponder to a conductive material, the RFID transponder comprising an antenna and a plurality of resonant structures, the plurality of resonant structures together defining a first spectral signature. Each of the plurality of resonant structures includes a respective one of a frequency domain. The method also includes depositing a conductive material on at least one of the resonant structures to short the at least one of the resonant structures. The remainder of the plurality of resonant structures that are not shorted by the conductive material define a second spectral signature for the RFID transponder.

A conductive tape formed by laying a conductive pathway on a tape layer is disclosed. Various apparatus and methods for laying conductive pathways to form conductive tape are disclosed. The conductive pathways may be laid by varying the lateral position of the conductive pathway on the tape substrate. Such patterns all stretchable conductive tape to be realized. Multiple conductive pathways may be laid in the tape and the lateral separation of the pathways in the tape may vary. In some embodiments the pathways are formed from conductive yarn or by printing or laying conductive ink.

A method of dispensing a metallic nanoparticle composition along a trajectory on a substrate is disclosed. The composition is dispensed from a nozzle through its outlet. The outlet is characterized by an outlet size. First, an initial pressure is applied to the composition in the nozzle to cause the composition to flow from the outlet. The nozzle is positioned at a height such that the composition does not flow onto the substrate. Second, the nozzle is lowered toward the substrate such that a fluid bridge forms between the outlet and the substrate and an adjusted pressure is applied to the composition in the nozzle. The adjusted pressure is lower than needed for the composition to continue to flow from the outlet. Third, the fluid is dispensed from the nozzle. A dispensing pressure is applied to the fluid while the nozzle is laterally displaced along the trajectory on the substrate.

A circuit formation method includes: a protruding portion formation step of forming a protruding portion by applying a curable viscous fluid onto a base and curing the curable viscous fluid; a wiring formation step of forming a wiring extending toward the protruding portion by applying a metal-containing liquid containing nanometer-sized metal fine particles onto a base and making the metal-containing liquid conductive; a paste application step of applying a resin paste containing micrometer-sized metal particles different from the metal-containing liquid on the protruding portion and the wiring, such that the protruding portion and the wiring are connected to each other; and a component placement step of placing a component having an electrode on the base, such that the electrode is in contact with the resin paste applied on the protruding portion.