Makerbot Industries, LLC

Samuel Holland

Vishnu Anantha

Taylor S Goodman

Aljosa Kemperle

William B Buel

Jackson Seidenberg

Mark Waller

Carlos Fernandez Arreola

Jonah Gold

Bryan Vaccaro

Eric Justin MacNeil

Mark Palmer

James Griszbacher

Kevin C Rand

Michael C Pappas

Christopher James Yarka

Eric Justin Macneil

An extruder of a three-dimensional printer may be coupled with one or more filament tubes, each filament tube having its own supply of filament. The extruder may include a drive gear rotatable in a first direction to advance a filament from a filament tube toward at least one extrusion opening defined by the extruder and rotatable in a second direction, opposite the first direction, to advance another filament from a different filament tube toward the at least one extrusion opening defined by the extruder. Also, as one filament is advanced by the drive gear, another filament may be retracted by the drive gear to improve the switching of filaments in a three-dimensional printing process. The extruder may work in conjunction with a filament supply-side drive system that feeds filament into one or more filament tubes, reducing a pull force exerted by the drive gear of the extruder.

Multi-filament three-dimensional printing

A removable and replaceable build plate for a three-dimensional printer supports magnetic coupling to a printer and advantageous adhesion for an initial layer of build material.

Removable build plate for three-dimensional printers

Build plate for a three-dimensional printer

An extruder is fitted with a connector for coupling and decoupling with a filament feed source, such as a filament tube. When connected, the extruder and filament tube are aligned to define a feed path for a filament. A tool rack includes a plurality of filament tubes secured within respective openings. The tool rack may facilitate coupling and decoupling operations between the extruder and filament sources. For example, the tool rack may define an insertion path that engages a filament tube during insertion, and that secures the filament tube against an excursion from the insertion path. The extruder may disengage the coupling by initiating a motion along the insertion path and then moving off of the insertion path to decouple the filament tube and the extruder. In this manner, filaments may be swapped through engaging and disengaging the extruder with different filament tubes on the tool rack.

Filament swapping in three-dimensional printing

A build chamber of a three-dimensional printer uses directed heat to preheat a region within the chamber where a build will be initiated, and then uses circulating, heated air to maintain a target temperature for the entire build volume after the build is initiated. A fixed heating element and blower may advantageously be used for both heating steps, and preheating may be accomplished more quickly by initially directing heat at the locus of build initiation rather than diffusing heat throughout an entire build volume.

Controlling build chamber temperature

Three-dimensional printer frame

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Brooklyn, NY, United States of America

Samuel Holland