It covers the hardware and software steps that happen after a multi-jet fusion (MJF) print job finishes printing but before a finished part is ready to use, most commonly automated depowdering, part extraction, and the workflow logic sequencing those steps. This dataset specifically combines MJF terminology with automation, workflow, or depowdering language, which excludes broader powder-bed-fusion filings that do not mention automation. That scoping is why the corpus is only 25 published families rather than the thousands seen in general additive-manufacturing searches. Anyone reusing this search should keep the same term pairing to get comparable results.

The trend data shows zero filings in 2017, a peak of 18 in 2019, and a return to zero by 2022, which is the signature of a short filing burst around a specific apparatus concept rather than sustained platform investment. Bursts like this typically happen when one or two applicants stake out core claims quickly, after which competitors either license, design around, or move to adjacent problems. The 2026 data point is partial and, given the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, recent years will always look thinner than they eventually turn out to be. Still, the shape of the drop-off after 2019 is unlikely to be fully reversed by later publications.

B29C, the shaping-of-plastics subclass, appears in 21 of the 25 records in this dataset, with B33Y (additive manufacturing) close behind at 18 and heavy overlap between the two. That tells you most claims are written around handling a plastic part after it has been printed, not around the jetting or fusing step itself. B22F, powder metallurgy, appears in 7 records and marks a smaller metal-powder automation branch. A single B28B (clay and cement shaping) record is an outlier and should be checked individually rather than read as a trend.

US20250083389A1, assigned to DEI Holding Ltd and published 2025-03-13, claims a specific mechanical apparatus for depowdering and extracting 3D printed parts: an elevated frame, a perforated plate, a movable unit tied to that plate, a lifting-lowering mechanism, a depowdering unit, and at least one gripper. It is one of a small family of near-identically titled filings across WO and US routes from the same applicant, which is why it carries meaningful citation weight in this corpus. Anyone building a depowdering station with a similarly structured frame-and-plate transport mechanism should review the granted claim language closely rather than relying on the abstract. Designs that avoid the specific frame-plate coupling described may sit outside its scope, but that requires a formal claim chart, not an abstract read.

Yes, based on where filings are concentrated. The bulk of claims sit in plastics-focused depowdering apparatus design (B29C/B33Y), leaving areas like metal-powder depowdering automation, in-line quality inspection during depowdering, and closed-loop powder reclamation software comparatively under-claimed in this dataset. That does not mean those areas are unpatented generally, only that this specific search of MJF-plus-automation terms turns up little there. A freedom-to-operate search scoped to those narrower terms is the next reasonable step before committing engineering resources.