Obvious 3D printer technology based on 10. Prior Action

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...

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.

Perform, before it is needed, the required change of an object (either fully or partially). • Pre-pasted wall paper • Sterilize all instruments needed for a surgical procedure on a sealed tray.

Pre-arrange objects such that they can come into action from the most convenient place and without losing time for their delivery. • Kanban arrangements in a Just-In-Time factory • Flexible manufacturing cell

use functional printing materials (e.g. electronics)

use less energy (zero or ambient) quieter printing (soundless) ubiquitous printing (everywhere) print smaller (nanoscale) print bigger (apartment complex, Great Wall of China, planet?) enable auto calibration enable auto leveling enable auto monitoring enable quality control enable real-time feedback make it safer (infant approved) make is smell good (designer imposters?) make it from current waste products (CO2, flyash, spent fuel rods?)

1. Collect recycled parts to build printers. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
2. Combine moving parts to a central drive. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
3. Use better motors motors on the printer, has more steps then 200. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
4. Use a smaller print head, to improve print resolution. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
5. Use a plastic that will not clog the print head. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
6. Print in a clean chamber, where there is no moisture or ambient temperature fluctuation. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
7. Make a print bed, which is easy to remove parts. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
8. Consolidate the programs to a central platform, so three programs are not needed to print something, make it just one. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
9. Print assemblies of parts to make the assembly more simple. Hjhunt (talk) 06:56, 3 December 2015 (PST)
10. Metal 3D print the parts that need to experience a lot of stress.Hjhunt (talk) 07:22, 3 December 2015 (PST)
11. Pancake flipper, where there are multiple print heads that are printing. Once a layer is finished printing it flips to a central location and the next layer, say clockwise, would be flipped to the central location. All of the print heads would be constantly printing. (This would help solve overhang issues, and increase print time).Hjhunt (talk) 07:22, 3 December 2015 (PST)
12. Make more of the parts 3D printable.Hjhunt (talk) 07:22, 3 December 2015 (PST)
13. Make a print head that prints plastic and metal to print circuit boards, solder and PLA or ABS.Hjhunt (talk) 07:32, 3 December 2015 (PST)
14. A machine that melts old prints with heated rolling pins that would spit out a smaller filament that can be used in a 3D printer.Hjhunt (talk) 07:32, 3 December 2015 (PST)
15. Have a wind powered 3D printer.Hjhunt (talk) 07:32, 3 December 2015 (PST)
16. Use more efficient motors that still have precision.Hjhunt (talk) 07:32, 3 December 2015 (PST)