Oct.2, 2013
3D scanning and 3D printing techniques have been used by Chocolate fans in Japan to create miniature chocolate sculptures. Their faces are scanned and then turned into a chocolate mold, using 3D printing technology. And now, Brian Begun, a visual effects artist wants to use 3D scanning and 3D printing techniques to mold and design chocolate and he is currently raising funds on indiegogo.
"With a passion for creativity, and a knack for creative problem solving, I decided to take my almost 20 years experience in the entertainment business as a digital artist and apply it as a chocolate designer." said Begun. "This change came while my wife and I were planning our wedding, and decided to have custom designed chocolate for all our guests. We ended up doing the work ourselves, and during this process I realized that the way chocolate was molded was fairly limiting. After much thought, and research I invented a new way to produce more detailed and unique chocolate design."
As a result, Begun founded his company "Everything's Made Of Chocolate".
Begun says his process utilizes 3D scan and 3D printing technology which allows him to be able to create molds based on actual objects like heirlooms, personal items and corporate logos. "Not only can we maintain comparable detail to a replicated object, but can create our molds out of almost anything without destroying or damaging the original. We can also easily change the size of the mold on demand. Using computers and 3d geometry also gives us the flexibility to incorporate two-dimensional images, (photos, paintings and logos) into chocolate designs as well."
Surprisingly this process is now patent pending - a provisional patent has been submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and that the company has received a "filing date". The workflow using 3D scanning, data manipulation, 3D printing to create chocolate face or sculptures has been used for long by makers. What is the unique process in Begun's invention? You can check out the patent pending file here and let us know in the comment.
Brian has launched his project on indiegogo for "crowd-sourced" funding. Watch video below the project introduction:
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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@Perry Engel: It is in Files > Our Patent Pending Process, where you can download a pdf file.
Perry Engel wrote at 10/2/2013 7:09:49 PM:
Did not see what the patent claims are on the link. Can you be more specific as to where I can find it? Without knowing the specifics, I don't see a claim that would be enforcable. I suspect the "patent pending" is a marketing ploy. is it a utility patent? or a design patent? pending means not yet approved (and might not be). so,, if you are doing a start-up it makes for good marketing to sound like you have exclusive rights to a process. Even if that workflow has been seen in prior art (several instructables and thingiverse postings come to mind) I think the patent (if it is in fact pending) is probably a design patent (this was what was called in the toy industry "a red button patent" not something that could be realistically enforced.)
pixeldoppleganger wrote at 10/2/2013 7:02:52 PM:
Welcome to the new world of business 3.0 USA style Undeliverable kickstarted projects/ideas/fantasies & Indiegogo handouts. Layer this with pseudo patent trolls and a overwhelmed patent office and one sees where we are headed... High unemployment with college grads should only compound this ridiculousness, as we'll see more 'start ups'
Anita wrote at 10/2/2013 1:09:02 PM:
Patent!?! Are you kidding me? He could have take it from this June post: http://b9creator.com/support/?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=653
Tim wrote at 10/2/2013 5:03:37 AM:
This is ridiculous. Brian is using indiegogo to fund a business, not a product. He's applied for a patent for his unoriginal "invention" despite the glut of prior art on making chocolates using 3D scanning and printing. If he wants to make a profitable business out of this, he should come to indiegogo with an actual product, or court investors, where he will be accountable to outsiders. I personally think it's ridiculous to patent an idea that you're planning to crowdsource but I'm not the arbiter of indiegogo or kickstarter.