May 13, 2014
Everyone is now aware of 3D printing, especially desktop 3D printers have its limitations. You want not only to print plastic, but also a combination of metals and rubbers, but sadly, this is not the case. You want to print multiple colors and switch colors in the middle of printing automatically. Yes, this is the future!
In fact, Makerbot filed a patent back in 2012 for printing with different materials with only one extruder. The current desktop 3D printer allows you to print different supporting and printing materials or colors simultaneously, but you need a printer with at least two extruders.
Makerbot filed for a 3D printing technique that changes from one color to another during a printing process. The printer includes a build platform, an extruder, an x-y-z positioning assembly, and a controller that cooperate to fabricate an object within a working volume of the printer.
Extruder
This 3D printer uses an extruder which has a feed to receive a build material and a nozzle to extrude the build material. A filament changer is designed to receive a first filament and a second filament and to selectively deliver one of them to the extruder. The filament changer has a blade or other cutting edge to cut one material before moving the other into the feed of the extruder. It can switch between two filament without interrupting a filament supply, as each of the feeds of the filament changer has an independent feed drive motor.
However when the device switches from one color to another, an old color may linger within an extrusion nozzle due to non-laminar flow. Makerbot suggests to use transition segments, a safety margin for various color changes, or monitor extruder output with a camera.
The application also covers methods how to determine a tool path for the extruder to print an object from a 3D model, how to identify a transition for a color or material change.
The application is filed on Sep 21, 2012, and published on Feb.6, 2014. Maybe some of methods would be used in the future generation of the Makerbot Replicator. The details of the application can be found here.
Posted in 3D Printing Technology
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i guess they have turned a blind eye to The Dual-Feed System that builder 3D Printers is offering since 2013
Alan wrote at 5/14/2014 12:55:55 PM:
There is nothing stopping Makerbot creating an alogrithm that "clears the nozzle" midprint to avoid visible colour mixturing between layers. It could be done in many ways, i.e., dumping the plastic away from the print bed or maybe infilling it.
rambo wrote at 5/14/2014 9:38:29 AM:
It is not a new idea, its just them who see something they can do with it. However it may solve some multicolor problem but not multiple material as said in the intro for the simple reason that all material extruded will be at the same temperature. Even the color from the same supplier may need different temperature... Also when we change color it takes a noticeable amount of extrusion to get a clean color.
smartfriendz wrote at 5/13/2014 8:48:37 PM:
the thing is : makerbot need patents to be more credible for investors. Whatever the patent is . Just in case you didn't think about that . Makerbot is not anymore trying to make the 3d printing world better..they make money ! And it's not a criticism, it's just a fact :) thousands of startup do that everyday . I did before :)
ThatGuy wrote at 5/13/2014 8:10:16 PM:
What injection molding machine can do multicolor? Multimaterial is a two shot process. Print it and hydrographic the surface.
James Rivera wrote at 5/13/2014 7:20:18 PM:
This would work for the kind of "tie dyed" multicolor printing printing such as RichRap has shown, but it is a poor design for anything else, because there needs to be a way to control the ooze still left in the extruder nozzle. So this will not be usable for anything like making a complex multicolor print of say, a statue of a person. This is probably just for protection. I doubt this will ever be turned into a real product.
ThatGuy wrote at 5/13/2014 6:23:39 PM:
How does this get past the 'Duh" test? I wonder that the real exact/relevant claims are. If it simply is that there is one nozzle, that's not really innovative. If they had come out with some kind of way to get over the contamination issue, that might be interesting. Hell, something as simple as a PTFE ramming rod to push out the remaining material would be interesting, but not really patent-able since it doesn't pass the 'Duh' test since I just came up with over a 1/4 cup of coffee, and I'm far from a skilled practitioner.
Bender wrote at 5/13/2014 4:04:07 PM:
Looks like it will work as well as the ABP.
lassikin wrote at 5/13/2014 10:40:42 AM:
I'd be pretty surprised if this concept was workable into an actual functioning reliable product.
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