Prusa has come up with a tidy answer to a messy 3D printing problem: make the nozzle pass through a small cleaning station that cuts, scrubs, and parks it.
patent
University Of Arizona Patent Splits One Laser Into Multiple 3D Prints
Two-photon polymerization 3D printing has a throughput problem: the machine usually can print only one object at a time.
PostProcess Patent Turns Powder Removal Into A Programmable Process
Powder removal is one of those 3D printing jobs that looks simple until you have a production batch in front of you.
Remote 3D Printing Through Opaque Materials Uses Focused Ultrasound
What if the printing head never had to reach the place where the object is being made?
VulcanForms Patents Steerable Laser Beams
Laser beam steering usually means moving something.
SprintRay Patent Turns Resin Printer Lighting Into A Replaceable Cartridge
What if the most troublesome part of a resin 3D printer could simply slide out?
X-Bow Patents Controllable 3D Printed Rocket Fuel
What if a rocket motor could change the way it burns after manufacturing?
EOS Patent Uses A Carbon Monoxide Laser For Finer Powder Bed Fusion
EOS is proposing a very different light source for polymer powder bed fusion: a carbon monoxide laser.
Voxeljet Patent Uses A Light Barrier To Prevent Recoater Crashes
A recoater crash is one of the more expensive ways for a powder bed 3D printer to have a bad day.
University of Maine Seeks More Patents for an Old 3D Printing Idea
Tilting a 3D printer’s build plate to eliminate supports is hardly a new idea.
Researchers Improve Commercial 3D Printing Technology And Seek Patent Protection
A Stanford and UNC patent describes a high-resolution CLIP printer using reduction optics, automated focusing and resin-flow modeling to produce microneedles and other microstructures at unusual speed.
GE Patent Uses Laser Flicker To Spot LPBF Defects
In metal LBPF, a laser can look perfectly healthy while the powder beneath it is not.
Prusa Patent Shapes Nozzle Channels For Higher Flow
Prusa has patented a very unusual and possibly quite powerful hot end design.
Bambu Lab Wins Patent Review After Stratasys Jury Victory
There’s been another development in the ongoing patent dispute between Stratasys and Bambu Lab.
Stanford Patent Proposes 3D Printing Through a Keyhole
What if the printhead could snake its way into the build instead of hovering above it?
Align Patent Uses Temperature To Tune 3D Printed Resin
What if changing a resin’s temperature could change the properties of the finished print?
Quadratic 3D Building A Volumetric Printing Platform
Quadratic 3D has been hiding in plain sight.
Xolo Patent Uses Messy Light Beams To Smooth Volumetric Prints
Volumetric 3D printing can be fast, but the light itself can leave fingerprints on the part.
Bambu Lab’s WO Patent Burst Maps The H2D
A curious cluster of Bambu Lab patent applications has suddenly appeared.
Additive Industries Patent Splits Powder Beds Into Independently Controlled Zones
Additive Industries seems to want to make its LPBF print beds into a collection of smaller machines.
LLNL Patent Replaces LPBF Rastering With A Digital Light Mask
LLNL is making a metal powder bed fusion machine print like an MSLA resin system.
Creality Patent Puts Internal Fins Inside A High-Speed Hot End
Creality wants to heat the middle of the filament instead of waiting for heat to work its way inward from the walls.
A Differential Drive Could Make FFF Printheads Lighter
What if you moved the extruder motor off FFF printhead?
Bambu Lab Patent Uses Printer Housing To Switch Hot Ends
What if a dual-hotend 3D printer could switch nozzles without carrying around another motor?
The Stratasys–Bambu Lab Patent Verdict Could Reshape Desktop 3D Printing
After the announcement of the Bambu Lab / Stratasys patent infringement case, there are some implications.
Anycubic Patent Thickens Color Contours Before Printing
A single colored line may be too little color.
Divergent Patent Uses Magnetic Fields To Stir Metal 3D Printing
A metal 3D printer patent from Divergent Technologies proposes using changing magnetic fields to stir the melt pool and break up structures that can become pores or cracks.
Bambu Lab Patent Puts The Heater Inside The 3D Printer Bed
What if the heated bed were designed around its heater, instead of simply having a heater stuck underneath it?
Stratasys Patent Rethinks The Multi-Material Purge Tower
A purge tower usually looks like a boring chunk of plastic beside the part. Stratasys is proposing something a lot more organized.
Bambu Lab Patent Combines Bowden and Direct Drive Extrusion
Bambu Lab has patented an unusual extrusion arrangement that seems particularly good for printing soft materials like TPU in FFF systems.
Stratasys Wins $27.6M Verdict Against Bambu Lab, But It’s Not Over Yet
Stratasys has scored a significant patent victory against Bambu Lab in the US.
Atlant 3D Patent Proposes Atomic Scale Multi Fluid Printing
A printer head that dispenses three different fluids through the same tiny nozzle could bring atomic layer processing closer to a genuinely three-dimensional workflow.
Nanogrande Patent Combines Binder Jetting With Laser Precision
Why use one 3D printing process for an entire part when different areas need different levels of accuracy?
Creality Patent Proposes Induction Heating For FFF Nozzles
A Creality patent proposes heating an FFF nozzle with electromagnetic induction instead of relying only on a conventional heater.
Zellerfeld Patent Smooths Shoe Textures With Continuous Infill
A 3D printed shoe could change from mesh to solid-looking surface without creating a stiff seam, according to a new Zellerfeld patent application.
Miltenyi Patent Could Make Two-Color Volumetric Printing Much Larger
Here’s an interesting approach to volumetric 3D printing: instead of focusing light into a tiny point, stretch it into a thin sheet and sweep that sheet across the print.
Nissan Patent Uses Magnetic Pillars To Help Release Resin Prints
Here’s a rather strange idea from Nissan: put tiny magnetic pillars in the bottom of a resin 3D printer vat and wiggle them around to help release each layer.
IBM Patent Uses Seed Crystals To Control 3D Printing
Here’s an unusual idea from IBM: what if a 3D printer could decide exactly where crystals should begin growing inside a print?
Lawrence Livermore Patent Proposes Multimaterial Two-Photon 3D Printing
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory appear to have found an unusual way to 3D print multiple materials with a two-photon system: change the light instead of changing the resin.
Chinese Patent Proposes Swappable Hotends For Multimaterial FFF
Changing filament in a multimaterial FFF printer usually means pushing the new material through the old hotend until the previous material is gone. A Chinese patent proposes a different solution: leave the extruder in place and swap the hotend underneath it.
Carbon Patent Adds Laser Cleanup To Resin Printing
Resin 3D printing usually treats excess material as a post-processing problem. Carbon’s latest patent application proposes dealing with it while the part is still inside the printer.
3D Systems Patent Moves The Build Plane Through Liquid
3D Systems proposes a vat photopolymerization system that moves its build plane downward by pumping a dense transparent fluid away, while a projector follows the changing focus position.
EOS Patent Shapes Laser Beams To Reduce Metal Cracks
A laser beam with a deliberately abrupt edge may help metal powder bed fusion produce fewer hot cracks.
Lawrence Livermore Patent Uses Z-Pinch For Metal Droplet Printing
What if a metal printer could use the molten metal itself as both the printing material and the actuator?
3D Systems Patent Describes Faster Sloped Resin Printing
3D Systems has patented an unusual resin 3D printing method that could point toward a larger high speed photopolymer architecture.
Continuous Composites’ Fibre Seek Lawsuit Has A Financial Backstory
Continuous Composites’ new patent lawsuit against Fibre Seek looks a bit different once you examine the company’s recent financial troubles and the legal battle with the lawyers who won its previous patent case. Continuous Composites, or “CCI”, has been developing continuous fiber composite 3D printing technology for many years. Its patent family goes back all… Continue reading Continuous Composites’ Fibre Seek Lawsuit Has A Financial Backstory
NanoVoxel Patent Turns Micro 3D Prints Into Metal Parts
NanoVoxel has patented a clever method for producing highly detailed metal microcomponents using polymer micro 3D printing as a temporary mold.
Anycubic Patent Explores Full Color Resin 3D Printing
Anycubic has patented an unusual way to produce multicolor resin prints without painting them afterwards.
Ford Patents Production 3D Printed Suspension Parts
Ford is looking at something much more interesting than 3D printing another automotive part.
CEAD Patent Targets Nonstop Continuous Extrusion Toolpaths
CEAD has patented an unusual slicing strategy designed for 3D printing materials that cannot easily stop flowing.
IBM Patents “5D Printing”
IBM has patented a way to make robotic “5D printing” compensate automatically when the workpiece moves during fabrication.
Bambu Lab Patent Reveals Multi-Printhead Toolchanger Concept Beyond Vortek
Bambu Lab has a new patent that seems to describe something beyond their advanced Vortek technology.
Thermwood Patent Adds Internal Bracing to Cut Layer Tooling
Thermwood has patented an interesting way to strengthen large hollow tooling made from stacked, machined layers.
Hybrid Manufacturing Patent Automates Additive Tool Docking
Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies has published a European patent application describing a way to make toolheads work like CNC tools.
Slice Engineering Patent Separates Hotend Structure From Heatbreak
Slice Engineering has secured a European patent covering an FFF hotend design that simplifies the heatbreak.
University Of Bath Patent Automates 3D Printing Setup
The University of Bath has filed a patent for automated material calibration on FFF systems.
EOS Pursues AM Software Patent In China
EOS is pursuing Chinese patent protection for additive manufacturing preflight software
Bambu Lab Patents a Method for Faster 3D Printer Assembly
A newly patent application from Shenzhen Tuozhu Technology, the company behind Bambu Lab, focuses on assembling the machine itself.
New Stratasys Patents Target Both FFF And Resin
Stratasys has surfaced in two recent patents that work on very different problems: keeping heat inside an industrial FFF machine, and making resin parts last longer after printing.
ELEGOO Patent Targets Lighter Multi Nozzle FFF Switching
A new Chinese patent application suggests ELEGOO is exploring a lighter way to switch multiple FFF toolheads.
Flashforge Patents Swappable FFF Toolheads
Flashforge appears to be thinking about a different way to handle multiple toolheads on desktop FFF 3D printers.
Shining 3D Patent Packages Resin Into Capsules
Shining 3D has filed a European patent application for a resin printing capsule system, and the interesting part is not just the packaging.
Hanin Patent Makes Toolhead Filament Cutters Safer
Xiamen Hanin has patented a modular filament cutting mechanism intended to make automated material changes safer and easier to maintain.
Chinese Patent Combines Pellet Material Heating And Metered Feeding
A newly granted Chinese utility model proposes combining material heating, mixing and forced feeding inside one compact 3D printer hopper.
Mechanical Patent Detects FFF Material Flow Failures
System to mechanically detect material flow in the hot end [Source: Espacenet]
Nine Bambu Lab Patents Reveal Broader Printer Architecture
A collection of nine new Bambu Lab patents provides a detailed picture of several future 3D printer concepts.
Patent Proposes Self Retracting FFF Nozzle Guard
A newly published Chinese patent proposes an unusually elaborate way to protect an FFF 3D printer nozzle when the machine is idle.
Retracting Sensor Patent Targets Cleaner Filament Monitoring
A newly granted Chinese utility model patent proposes a self-cleaning, retractable filament sensor for FFF 3D printers.
Chinese Patent Proposes Unusual Magnetic FFF Platform
A newly granted Chinese utility patent describes an unusual FFF 3D printer arrangement combining a magnetically driven platform, a rotating work area and a vertically actuated extrusion head.
INSTATIQ Patents Method for Difficult Concrete Printing
INSTATIQ has patented a construction 3D printing system designed to place concrete directly against existing walls and other awkward building features.
Patent Proposes New Method to Reduce CoreXY Ringing
A new Chinese patent application suggests a more sophisticated way to stop ringing on high speed CoreXY 3D printers.
Crawling 3D Printer Patent Targets Large FFF Parts
A Chinese patent application describes a crawling FFF 3D printer that can print beyond a fixed build volume.
FlashForge Patent Describes a Method for Smoother Toolhead Docking
FlashForge has patented a new way to make detachable FFF toolheads dock more reliably.
Inkbit Patents New 3D Printing Process
Inkbit has published a patent application that describes a different kind of material chemistry for inkjet additive manufacturing.
SprintRay Patent Targets Replaceable LCD Resin Screens
SprintRay has been granted a patent for a replaceable screen cartridge.
Chinese Patent Targets Magnetic Flexible Print Beds
A Chinese utility model patent attempts to claim a magnetic flexible print platform — a feature that has been common in desktop FFF machines for many years.
IBM Patent Applies AI To 3D Printer Control
IBM has published a patent application describing an AI decision engine for managing 3D printers.
Qingdao Patents Multimaterial Gradient Resin Printing
Qingdao University of Technology has filed a patent application for a light curing 3D printing method for functional gradient materials.
Hefei Patent Targets Cleaner Multi Resin SLA Printing
A new patent proposes a more practical way to switch materials in resin 3D printing.
Bosch Patents Suggest Continuous Pellet 3D Printing
Bosch has published three related German patent applications that point toward a rather interesting 3D printing concept: a pellet-based extrusion system designed to keep printing while its printheads are being refilled.
Patent Filing Trends Reveal China’s Dominance in 3D Printing Intellectual Property
I did some analysis on 3D print patents to understand where innovation seems to be occurring.
No, Voron Was Not Just Patented In China
The Voron 3D printer design was NOT just patented by Chinese organizations.
Magma OrcaSlicer Fork Introduces Vertical Plastic Injection for Stronger Parts, But There’s a Patent
There’s an interesting software fork of OrcaSlicer brewing, but there could be patent issues in the future.
Prosthetic Printer Patent Targets Better Z Accuracy
A new Chinese utility model patent describes a compact high speed FFF 3D printer aimed specifically at prosthetic and orthotic manufacturing.
Creality Patents Better 3D Printer Feet
Creality appears to be looking at an overlooked 3D printer component: the foot.
Patent For Smarter FFF Failure Recovery
A Chinese patent application describes a way to make FFF printers recover more intelligently from nozzle clogs and filament breaks.
Bambu Lab Fails to Invalidate Stratasys Purge Tower Patent in U.S. Patent Office Ruling
Bambu Lab just lost a case against Stratasys. What does this mean?
Chinese Patent Describes Adjustable FFF Nozzle
A newly granted Chinese utility patent proposes a variable extrusion head for FFF 3D printers, aimed at avoiding one of the oldest annoyances in desktop and industrial extrusion printing: changing nozzles.
Selective SLA Curing Patent Targets Variable Properties
A patent application proposes a more selective way to post-cure stereolithography parts.
Patent Suggests Low Cost Automated Part Removal
A new German patent application proposes a simpler way to automate part removal in 3D printers: use the motion system already inside the machine.
Flashforge Patent Targets Smarter Resin Peel Speeds
Flashforge appears to be looking at a smarter way to control resin 3D printing.
HKUST Patent Targets Multi Directional DLP Coating
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has filed a patent for a DLP 3D printer that uses multi-directional coating to handle more difficult photopolymer materials.
3D Systems Patent a New Way to Align Printheads
3D Systems has published a European patent application for a printhead mounting and alignment system that could make multi printhead 3D printers easier to calibrate.
TNO Patents a Multi Material Semi Solid Extrusion
TNO has published a patent application describing a compact printhead for multi material semi solid extrusion.
Kumovis Patents Smoother Porous Implants
Kumovis has a new European patent application that digs into a very specific FFF problem: how to print parts with regions that transform smoothly from porous to solid.