Rheological measurement systems for use with systems including pressurized polymer melts and/or other viscous materials are described. In one embodiment, a rheometer is connected to an associated system with a bent, curved, or bendable tube to permit the rheometer to measure rheological properties in locations where the rheometer could not otherwise be located due to the presence of obstructions. Embodiments including rigid straight tubes for connecting a rheometer to an associated system are also described. In another embodiment, a flow-through rheometer is connected to an industry standard ?-20 thermowell aperture that is typically used for attaching temperature and pressure probes to a vessel containing a viscous material such as an extruder or injection molding system.

A method and system for optical droplet analysis for a 3D printhead. Wherein the system is comprising, a light emission unit configured to emit a collimated light beam, wherein the light beam is directed to essentially cross a flight path of a droplet ejected from the 3D printhead; a light detection unit positioned in the light beam at a position opposite to the light emission unit with regard to the flight path of the droplet, wherein the light detection unit is configured to directly detect an interference pattern caused by the droplet passing through the light beam in an area essentially corresponding to the cross-section of the light beam; and a processing unit configured to process the detected interference pattern in order to estimate at least one parameter of the droplet.

A nanofabrication method comprises receiving information regarding in-plane distortion of a substrate, modeling target out-of-plane displacement as a summation of a plurality of geometric modes represented by a linear combination of basis functions, generating a first drop pattern of formable material based on the modeled out-of-plane displacement, generating a second drop pattern by merging the first drop pattern with a drop pattern based on a topography of the template and the substrate; dispensing drops of formable material onto the substrate according to the second drop pattern, and contacting the dispensed drops with the template to form a film. The plurality of geometric modes are modified using a plurality of unique predetermined correction coefficients. Each unique predetermined correction coefficient represents a relationship between an analytically determined amount of in-plane distortion and an empirically determined amount of in-plane distortion.

Provided is an apparatus for molding a shell hull made of composite material for a boat having a first mold part and a second mold part, each having a molding surface and adapted to be coupled to jointly define a concave molding cavity that extends longitudinally between a stern end and a bow end. The apparatus has a humidity sensor for detecting humidity at the first and/or second mold parts. A plurality of sensors, arranged in a respective plurality of detection positions on a detection surface extending over at least one of the first mold part and the second mold part, and arranged directly in contact therewith, produce signals representative of respective strains of the detection surface in directions substantially perpendicular to the detection surface.

The present invention an imprint apparatus which performs an imprint process of forming a pattern in an imprint material on a substrate using a mold, the apparatus including an image capturing unit configured to obtain an image by capturing the substrate, and a processing unit configured to perform detection processing of detecting a foreign particle present between the mold and the substrate, wherein the processing unit performs the detection processing by comparing, with a reference image, an image obtained by the image capturing unit in a state in which the mold and the imprint material on the substrate are in contact with each other, and when the image includes a region outside the substrate, the region outside the substrate is excluded from a target of the detection processing.

System and methods for monitoring an injection molding process are disclosed. A monitoring system for monitoring operation of an injection mold during an injection molding process, may include a sensor system configured for integration into the injection mold, the sensor system may be configured to obtain, from the injection mold, operational data associated with the injection molding process, and may further contain a computing system in communication with the sensor system, the computing system may be configured to: receive, from the sensor system, the operational data; monitor a process parameter of the injection molding process based on analyzing the operational data with respect to a predictive model of the process parameter, and generate, based on monitoring the process parameter, an output for transmitting to an electronic device in communication with the computing system to provide a monitoring status indication.

The present invention provides an information processing apparatus including a processing unit configured to perform a process of outputting information indicating a contact state between a mold and a composition on a substrate, wherein the processing unit obtains a plurality of points representing a contour shape of a portion where the mold and the composition on the substrate are in contact with each other while at least one process of a contact process and a mold releasing process is performed, and outputs the information indicating the contact state based on the plurality of points.

The invention pertains to a deposition head (200) for automated layup of pre-impregnated fibers (110) onto a deposition surface (101) comprising a laser heating device in the vicinity of the deposition site via an optical device (250) and comprising a device adapted to adjust the positioning of said optical device relative to the deposition site in order to obtain heating conditions adapted according to the intended lay up operation.

Systems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for automated composite layup quality assurance.

The demoldability prediction model includes the steps of choosing a mold specimen; choosing a reference material; measuring the force F.sub.0 for demolding the reference material from the mold specimen; determining the force M.sub.0 for demolding the reference material from the control test specimen; selecting a material to be measured; determining the force M for demolding the material from the control test specimen; calculating the ratio of the forces M.sub.0 for demolding the reference material and M for demolding the material from the control test specimen so as to define a coefficient C of material impact; and calculating the force F for demolding the material such that F=CF.sub.0.