FPT obtained 5 patents relating to 3D printing

On July 25^th, FPT Research Institute, FPT University has been granted patents on all five of the submitted invention on 3D printing by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam.

Accordingly, patents numbered 15677 to 15681 were granted to Tran The Trung, PhD, Head of FPT Research Institute. All inventions were named “3D printing”.

The 5 patents have their effective period of 20 years from the submission date

According to Tran The Trung, the key advantage of the inventions were the focus on design so that the 3D printer can print faster than the polymer printer which are being used widely. Besides, the new printer uses less moving parts, therefore being more durable and stable when running over a long period of time, yet being able to use low cost materials as compared to quick printing machines which can only consume expensive materials such as liquid crystal polymer using the polymerization process.

Having the same name, the 5 patents were characterized by its structure to either have or not have moving parts and are different in its finish. Patents number 15677 to 15680 used materials including cement, clay, plain flour, corn-flour, sugar, salt, while the patent number 15681 used thermoplastic, glass and metal.

Sharing about the idea, Trung said “using the 3D printers at work, I noticed that existing printers have a drawback of being slow. Therefore, I researched on how to make it print faster”.

Going forward, Trung intended to continue to improve the design, optimize the size, and simplify functions in order to be more user-friendly to individuals and households. He also hopes that in the near future, 3D printers can print directly on materials which are being used on daily life such as plastic bottles, plastic bags, etc.

3D printing has two distinctive factors as compared to traditional manufacturing methods, including rapid prototyping and the ability to manufacture the whole object in a single execution. 3D printing technologies nowadays are varied in terms of materials and forms, ranging from solid, liquid to powder-like. Printing methods are also varied, including laser-cutting, tool-cutting, plastic extrusion, etc.

Trung is also enthusiastic in sharing his knowledge, experience, and inspiring other in science, especially young people.

Earlier, FPT Technology Research Institute has been granted two patents including “Auto-winding kites and wind-turbine kites” and “Moving and pressing finger detection system within a limited virtual space”. These are inventions of Trung and his colleagues.

Having a Doctoral degree in Astrophysics, and successfully defended his PhD thesis at the University of Versailles (France), Tran The Trung has chosen to come back to Vietnam to conduct scientific researches and teaching. He currently works at the FPT Research Institute under FPT University, and concurrently a lecturer at FPT University.