ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,696,958, issued on Aug. 4, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Three-dimensional printing utilizing a captive element" was invented by Todd W. Miller (Portland, Ore.) and Yoav Sterman (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method of forming a printed structure is disclosed. The method may include printing layers of a printed structure and incorporating an element within the printed structure. The element may be removed in order to form tunnels within the printed structure. In some embodiments the element may be removed and reused in the formation of additional printed structures. The element may also be retained to for...