US20210076502A1
High speed multi-directional three dimensional printer
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20210076502A1/en
I partnered with a professor to create a proof-of-concept 3D Printer that could accelerate rapid prototyping by using multiple heads coming in at different directions. By splitting up the printing process among multiple heads all printing on the same piece, this would cut down the work each printer head has to do and thus speeding up the process without affecting quality. To show proof-of-concept, we attempted to have two horizontal printers printing on a vertical build plate. To do this, we put together two delta printers. These printers are easy to manipulate, both in their software and hardware. We showed one could print small prints on a vertical build plate, as gravity does not play a large factor in abnormal forces at that scale.
To make double-headed printer, we first removed the build plate and the hardware under it to be moved to the outside section of the printers. We re-calibrated the extruder heads so that their absolute zero was below the printer; this area is where we would insert an expendable build plate. We then attached the two delta printers bottom end- to- bottom end using 80/20 brackets and custom 3D-printed fasteners. We added a clamping system to reinforce the build plate between the two printers.
The next steps will be to run a print to demonstrate the proof-of-concept, and to create a user-friendly interface to move the electronic hardware away from the center section. Future goals will include to incorporate a membrane that can be removed as the build plate, whether through some solvent or heat. The extruders will also need to read the G-code so that each side would print their corresponding half and do so without having gravity be a large factor.