Makerbot Industries, LLC

Autodesk, Inc.

Stratasys, Inc.

Stratays, Inc.

Aljosa Kemperle

Peter Joseph Schmehl

Stewart Schmehl

Taylor S Goodman

Vishnu Anantha

William B Buel

Jackson Seidenberg

Samuel Holland

Filipp Gelman

Jonah Gold

Bryan Vaccaro

Mark Waller

David Tuzman

James Sherwood Page

Cory Mark Bloome

Jack W Poon

David R Tuzman

An extruder or other similar tool head of a three-dimensional printer is slidably mounted along a feedpath of build material so that the extruder can move into and out of contact with a build surface according to whether build material is being extruded. The extruder may be spring-biased against the forward feedpath so that the extruder remains above the build surface in the absence of applied forces, and then moves downward into a position for extrusion when build material is fed into the extruder. In another aspect, modular tool heads are disclosed that can be automatically coupled to and removed from the three-dimensional printer by a suitable robotics system. A tool crib may be provided to store multiple tool heads while not in use.

Three-dimensional printer tool systems

A technique for planarizing build surfaces in three-dimensional printing includes the use of a three-dimensional printer having an extruder with a sensor mechanically coupled thereto, where the sensor is operable to sense a contact force between the extruder and a separate structure. In particular, the sensor may be used to measure the contact force at a plurality of locations across a build surface of the separate structure, so that a difference between the measured contact force at two or more locations can be identified. In response to the difference between the measured contact force at these locations, a control signal may be created to reduce the difference for planarizing the build surface, e.g., by fabricating a layer on the build surface that mitigates irregularities therein, by gap filling on the build surface, or by adjusting a parameter of the three-dimensional printer.

Planarizing build surfaces in three-dimensional printing

An extruder or other tool head of a three-dimensional printer is instrumented to detect contact force against the extruder, such as by a build platform or an object being fabricated. The tool head may also be instrumented to detect deflection forces and the like acting on the tool that might indicate an operating error. The resulting feedback data can be used in a variety of ways to control operation of the three-dimensional printer during fabrication or diagnostics.

Three-dimensional printer with force detection

An extrusion head or other similar tool head of a three-dimensional printer is slidably mounted along a feedpath of build material so that the extruder can move into and out of contact with a build surface according to whether build material is being extruded. The extrusion head may be spring-biased forward along a feedpath to rest in a downward position, or the extrusion head may be spring-biased against the forward feedpath so that the extruder remains above the build surface in the absence of applied forces, and then moves downward into a position for extrusion when build material is fed into the extruder.

A hot end associated with an extruder for a Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) three dimensional (3D) printer includes, in at least one aspect of the subject matter described in this specification: a heater; a temperature sensor coupled with the heater; an FFF material delivery channel; a heat sink coupled with the FFF material delivery channel; a nozzle coupled with the FFF material delivery channel and with the heater, the nozzle having a total included angle of less than or equal to sixty degrees and greater than or equal to ten degrees, with respect to a nozzle target point; and a cooling delivery system for at least the heat sink; where the heat sink, the heater, the temperature sensor, the FFF material delivery channel, the nozzle, and the cooling delivery system are all contained within a volume defined by the total included angle with respect to the nozzle target point.

Narrow angle hot end for three dimensional (3D) printer

A three-dimensional printer uses its extruder and build platform to properly orient the build platform within a working volume. In a multi-point leveling operation, the extruder is moved to the z-axis origin at a number of x-y positions within the plane of the build platform, and the height of the build platform is adjusted to meet the extruder at the origin. If the build platform is a meltable material such as a plastic, then this leveling process must be performed while the extruder is cool. A homing operation may be performed periodically after leveling in order to realign the z-axis positions of the build platform and extruder. A non-meltable contact point may be usefully provided so that homing can be performed while the extruder is hot, such as immediately before a build or between a number of builds.

Build platform leveling and homing

Three-dimensional printer frame

Growing community of inventors

Brooklyn, NY, United States of America

Aljosa Kemperle