Hello Community,

this is Rafael writing from germany, I study translation at Leipzig University and I'm currently working on my final thesis about the terminology of additive manufacturing technologies in german and portuguese. (Don't worry I won't ask you to help with either ). At the current stage I'm writing an overview over all the different AM technologies and so far for STL, FDM, 3DP and SLS things have been a breeze with tons of easily accessible articles and websites on the internet.

However as I reached the technologies multi-jet modeling, polyjet modeling and ballistic particle manufacturing things have gotten really confusing, so I humbly ask if someone can answer a few questions or point me towards a comprehensive article or two. Mainly:

(1) Most sources I find describe MJM as printing waxy materials in a similar fashion as an Inkjet printer, whereas the material is then solidified through heat. PJM on the other hand is described as very similar, but the hardening is done with a UV-Lamp, which means PJM uses only photosensitive polimers. That's all fine and well if not for the other websites and articles that either call "MJM, sometimes also referred to as PJM" or describe "MJM processes that use UV lamps to harden the material". I have a hunch my original description is correct, can someone shed some light on this?

(2) It was really easy to pinpoint the patents and so-to-speak date of birth of STL and SLS, but can someone point me to who exactly invented MJM (American 3D Systems?) and PJM (Israeli Company Objet?), when, and in which patents the tech was first described?

(3) An older source I found describes MJM as similar to BPM, who invented the latter, who holds the rights, is it still used, etc?

Please answer the questions seperately, so that I can keep my research tidy.
Thanks so much for any help you can provide, I might have a few more questions down the road...


Guten Abend from Leipzig,
Rafael