Obvious 3D printer technology based on 29. Use pneumatic or hydraulic systems

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.

Klbarie (talk) 06:51, 3 December 2015 (PST)

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

Pneumatic or hydraulic systems

1. Use Air Bearings for Ultra Low Friction Bearing Surfaces Pnjensen (talk) 07:45, 1 December 2016 (PST)

cylinders will replace hydraulics/pneumatics

1. extrude plastic using cylinders
2. cylinders to push completed print off bed
3. Move large printheads (Build a house)
4. Cylinders to level bed
5. reduce vibrations from stepper motors
6. Automated bed swapping
7. Automated spool replacement
8. Printer storage management
9. print head swapping
10. replace steppers with cylinders
11. Extrude materials other than plastic
12. Automated punching defense system
13. Print hydraulic system
14. cylinder mechanical limit switches
15. Hydraulic emergency brakes
16. Hydraulic rods as linear rods to extend print area