A newly patented pump from Sciperio, the R&D arm of nScrypt, is built to let additive manufacturing (AM) systems dispense materials with viscosities above 1 million centipoise, a range Sciperio says has been difficult for conventional dispensing systems to handle without defects.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued Patent No. 12,654,396 B2 for the pump, titled “Pump for Additive Manufacturing,” which nScrypt says underpins its QuantiHelix dispensing platform and is already built into the company’s production systems.
Sciperio claims direct write manufacturing (DWM) processes often rely on challenging materials such as conductive inks, adhesives, epoxies, and biological materials. Conventional dispensing systems, the company says, struggle to maintain consistent flow at the start and end of print paths or during complex geometries, resulting in over-deposition, under-deposition, and other defects.
How the pump works
The patented system pairs a servo-controlled progressive cavity pump with a servo-motor-driven valve, adjusting material flow in real time. Sciperio says the combination allows accurate volumetric dispensing of high-viscosity materials while cutting down on the print defects they typically introduce.
Five inventors are credited on the patent: Paul I. Deffenbaugh, Michael W. Owens, Dr. Kenneth H. Church, Joshua Goldfarb, and Emily Sassano. Church, CEO of both Sciperio and nScrypt, tied the patent to a wider push in the company’s electronics work:
“This patent reinforces our commitment to advancing the capabilities of direct digital manufacturing and additively manufactured electronics.”
Applications in electronics and defense
Sciperio says the dispensing technology targets printed electronics, electronics packaging, antenna manufacturing, and microelectronics, and that it supports point-of-need production for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), where dispensing and repair capability matters in remote or austere settings.
Precision Dispensing as a Defense Manufacturing Strategy
nScrypt and Sciperio have spent years positioning microdispensing as a route to production and repair capability that does not depend on centralized supply chains, particularly for the DoD. The QuantiHelix patent extends that strategy by targeting a specific bottleneck: handling very high viscosity materials in direct write AM.
The company has pursued this direction before. In 2020, Sciperio proposed using its SmartPump technology to microdispense growth enhancers into a bioreactor as part of a program to manufacture transfusion-safe human blood on demand for military personnel in remote locations. In 2023, nScrypt patented a modular mobile direct digital manufacturing system, a container-based platform for distributed and mobile output, again aimed at letting the DoD respond to needs without relying on fixed facilities.
The pump patent extends that same strategy toward material precision, building on the company’s earlier work on system portability.
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Featured image shows Sciperio Logo. Image via Sciperio.
