3D printer and methods of welding 3D printed items

1 . A 3D printer comprising:

a printer bed;

a movable printer head disposed over said printer bed;

a hot air welding head disposed over said printer bed, wherein said hot air welding head is movable over the printer bed; and

at least one controller in communication with said printer head and said hot air welding head for controlling said printer head and said hot air welding head, wherein said at least one controller is configured to cause said printer head to print material on the printer bed in an additive manner by laying down layers of the material on the printer bed in order to build articles on the printer bed comprising a first 3D printed component comprised of a first material and a second 3D printed component comprised of a second material, wherein said first material and said second material are immiscible, and said at least one controller is configured to cause said printer head to print said first 3D printed component and said second 3D printed component on said printer bed in a position adjacent to each other with an interface therebetween such that said first and second 3D printed components are not initially joined together, wherein said at least one controller is configured to move said hot air welding head over the printer bed into the area of the interface between said first and second 3D printed components and to cause said hot air welding head to weld the first and second 3D printed components together at said interface.

2 . The 3D printer of claim 1 , wherein said at least one controller is configured to cause the hot air welding head to move into position to weld together said first and second 3D printed components on said printer bed.

3 . The 3D printer of claim 2 , wherein said printer head is in a first location during printing of said first and second 3D printed components, and through said at least one controller, the printer head is movable away from the first location of printing to a second location to make room for the hot air welding head to move into position for welding said components.

4 . The 3D printer of claim 2 , wherein the first 3D printed component and the second 3D printed component that are in a position adjacent to each other on the printer bed are located side-by-side on the printer bed.

5 . The 3D printer of claim 2 further comprising a welding material dispenser that is configured to dispense a welding material for welding the first 3D printed component and the second 3D printed component together.

6 . The 3D printer of claim 2 , wherein said movable printer head comprises a nozzle that is configured to print both the first material for making the first 3D printed component and the second material for making the second 3D printed component.

7 . The 3D printer of claim 2 , wherein said movable printer head comprises first and second movable printer heads each for respectively printing said first material and said second material.

8 . The 3D printer of claim 2 , wherein said movable printer head is one of multiple print heads joined together, wherein each of said print heads comprises a separate material feed and a nozzle.

9 . The 3D printer of claim 2 , wherein said movable printer head comprises a single nozzle and multiple material feeds that are configured to be dispensed through said single nozzle.

10 . The 3D printer of claim 2 , wherein said movable printer head and said hot air welding head are provided on a combined head.

11 . A 3D printer comprising:

a printer bed;

a first movable printer head disposed over said printer bed, said first movable printer head provided with a supply of a first material for 3D printing a first component on said printer bed;

a second movable printer head disposed over said printer bed, said second movable printer head provided with a supply of a second material immiscible with said first material for 3D printing a second component on said printer bed;

a movable welding material dispenser disposed over said printer bed, said welding material dispenser containing a welding material;

a hot air welding head disposed over said printer bed, wherein said hot air welding head is movable over the printer bed to weld the first 3D printed component to the second 3D printed component on said printer bed; and

at least one controller in communication with said first printer head, said second printer head, and said hot air welding head, said at least one controller configured to control said first printer head and said second printer head to respectively print said first component and said second component adjacent to each other on the printer bed with an interface therebetween such that the first and second components are not initially joined together, wherein said at least one controller is further configured to control said hot air welding head to perform said welding at said interface.

12 . The 3D printer of claim 11 , wherein the welding material comprises an intermediary material that is miscible with both the first material and the second material.

13 . A method of joining 3D printed components on the bed of a 3D printer according to claim 1 , said method comprising:

printing said first 3D printed component and said second 3D printed component on the bed of the 3D printer in the position adjacent to each other with the interface therebetween;

applying a welding material onto said first 3D printed component and said second 3D printed component at said interface; and

joining said first 3D printed component to said second 3D printed component with said welding material by said hot air welder.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the first 3D printed component and the second 3D printed component are located side-by-side on the printer bed.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein said welding material is miscible with both said first and second materials.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the printer head stops moving during said joining of said first 3D printed component to said second 3D printed component.