Broad and/or obvious patent claims for 3-D printing technology may hamper the open-source 3-D printing community's ability to innovate. Previous work on an algorithm protected 3-D printing materials. This page is part of a MTU Open Source 3-D Printing class project to investigate 3-D printing concepts using TRIZ and is presented here as a defensive publication of prior art to help identify obvious 'inventions' for 3-D printing.
Examiners: The ideas on this page dated Dec 3, 2015 and Nov 29, 2016 were developed by university students with less than a semester of formal 3-D printing experience (or by an instructor in class) and thus should be considered unpatentable because of obviousness to any person skilled in the art of additive manufacturing.
Appropedians: This page is open edit. Please fee free to add ideas and sign them below with ~~~~ or to use any of the ideas to built better open-source 3-D printers.
This page was part of an MTU course MSE4777 OA and MSE4777 OB/MSE5777/EE4777/EE5777: Open-source 3-D printingPlease leave comments using the talk page. The course runs in the Fall semester. It is not open edit.Read more... 
Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  1. recycled filament Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  2. build heating safety feature into nozzle, so when it detaches form printer, nozzle turns off Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  3. build printer from scrap parts (metal, wood) Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  4. composite filament using waste products (coffee, ceramic, wood, glass, metal, other plastic) Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  5. improved ironing (conducting attachment on hot end that can smooth the surface) Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  6. use one print time to charge a battery, next print can be done remotely Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    1. or use downtime to charge the battery Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  7. use heat from nozzle to heat the bed Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  8. use old or scrap filament to melt down and cast into molds Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  9. use nozzle head to apply glue or adhesive to the print bed Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  10. capture machine noise and vibrations Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    1. track print errors Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    2. show print time Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    3. shut off printer once finished Blgregor (talk) 15:19, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  11. filament recycling station at each landfill Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    1. automatic separation of plastic by chemistry Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  12. find a cheap, common SLA resin Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  13. Use tungsten hot end to melt metal wire as plastic is currently melted Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  14. purposefully clog the areas of the nozzle to selectively reduce resolution Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  15. use cameras, code monitors, and board monitors to identify the source of all print fails Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  16. control adhesion properties to purposefully warp parts into a final shape Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  17. overextrude in selected situations to achieve textures Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  18. device next to nozzle to inject particles into print Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    1. nano-scale Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    2. meso-scale Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    3. strengthening materials (metal, ceramic, ...) Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    4. colorant Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    5. other filament (simultaneous extrusion) Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    6. magnets Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
    7. conductive materials Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  19. Spray acetone on part once finished for resolution Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  20. Sand edges or all of the part as it is printed Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  21. Use heat and vibrations to create power Blgregor (talk) 15:32, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
  22. Robots at srcap yards that assembly 3D printers from scrap Blgregor (talk) 15:34, 3 December 2019 (UTC)



Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)

  1. Grinder to reuse recycled filament Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  2. Everyone has a recycle bot and can re purpose waste filament. Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  3. Protective guard around hot end to prevent burning Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  4. enclose printer and add vent to the outdoors to prevent inhalation of gases Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  5. add automatically shutdown after the printer has not been printing for certain amount of time to reduce electricity use Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  6. minimize plastic used for printer parts Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  7. use recycled wood Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  8. use the "wood" that is made from recycled plastics Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  9. only utilize recycled filament Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  10. utilize waste heat to heat a home Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  11. waste heat to generate electricity Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  12. use refurbished electronic components Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  13. recycle the spool holder the filament comes on Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  14. use materials that are "native" to the region the printer is being built in Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  15. use "environmentally friendly" shipping methods when delivering 3D printed products Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  16. . have "community" 3D printers to reduce the number of printers Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  17. create a automatic part remover to reduce the chance of the mirror breaking and cutting the user Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  18. utilize a environmentally friendly adhesion method on mirror (ie. not hairspray) Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  19. recycle, reuse, resale all components when updating printer Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  20. only run printer when you are home to reduce the printer from being on when not running Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  21. print "screws" for assembly to reduce importing screws and bolts Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  22. . convert the printer into a coffee table when not using to reduce purchasing other furniture Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  23. use waste plastics from daily waste to create filament Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  24. . make the printer solar, wind, hydro powered to use a renewable source of energy Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  25. incase the printer in a weather proof box to increase the life of the printer Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  26. start a company where you can send in your broken part, receive one back, and the company fixes the broken one and this cycle continues Cmgietek (talk) 07:07, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  1. Extra heat from printer cooling to generate energy for more prints Sswade (talk) 07:18, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  2. Use bad prints for next prints (reuse filament) Sswade (talk) 07:18, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  3. Use noise from printer to monitor from afar, create an alert system to monitor printer remotely Sswade (talk) 07:18, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  4. Shift the print bed to correct for print head skewing Sswade (talk) 07:18, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  5. Use leftover radioactive materials to print new sources for different use (rad testing of PCB?) Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  6. Use broken parts from other electronics to build printer Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  7. Use broken parts from other printers to build new printers Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  8. Use recycled plastic to print with Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  9. Use 3d printers to recycle glass (print with broken glass) Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  10. Print with slag? Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  11. Print with recycled cardboard? Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  12. Active noise cancellation for printer noises Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  13. Printer auto calibrates itself based on failed prints Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  14. Use waste plastic to generate power to run printer Sswade (talk) 07:24, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  15. Earthquakes to generate power for printer Sswade (talk) 07:26, 4 December 2018 (PST)
  16. Hurricanes to generate power for storm Sswade (talk) 07:26, 4 December 2018 (PST)


Thomas Korejsza (talk) 07:53, 1 December 2015 (PST)

  1. 1) remember problem spots and self calibrate to these areas Thomas Korejsza (talk) 07:53, 1 December 2015 (PST)
  2. 2) recycle waste materials Thomas Korejsza (talk) 07:53, 1 December 2015 (PST)
  3. 3)
  4. 9) Auto Nozzle cleaner.Thomas Korejsza (talk) 07:53, 1 December 2015 (PST)
  5. 13) More efficient Gcode. Thomas Korejsza (talk) 07:53, 1 December 2015 (PST)
  6. 17) Adjusting 3D printing legs and build platform. Thomas Korejsza (talk) 07:53, 1 December 2015 (PST)
  7. 23) Insulative hot end cap with adjustable nozzle size. Thomas Korejsza (talk) 07:53, 1 December 2015 (PST)
  8. 25) Use scrap wood. Thomas Korejsza (talk) 07:53, 1 December 2015 (PST)


1.30) Use the fall plastic as sopport. Shan Zhong (talk) 11:00, 1 December 2016(PST)

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Authors Benjamin Gregory, Cassandra Gietek, Thomas Korejsza
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 4 pages link here
Impact 116 page views
Created December 1, 2015 by Thomas Korejsza
Modified February 6, 2023 by Felipe Schenone
Cite as Benjamin Gregory, Cassandra Gietek, Thomas Korejsza (2015–2023). "Obvious 3D printer technology based on 22. Convert harm into benefit". Appropedia. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
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