3D Printer Head
3D printers perform additive manufacturing by depositing heated material (commonly plastic) onto a surface from a printer nozzle. This plastic can come in many forms, including filament and pellets, and not all types of 3D printer heads are suitable for printing with all types of plastic. Moreover, certain materials are more suited to 3D printing at specific resolutions. Disclosed herein are embodiments of a 3D printer head with multiple types of printer heads configured on a single head. By comprising different printer heads that print with materials of varying coarseness and fineness, the single head can print using multiple different materials at multiple 3D-printing resolutions. It also possesses an anti-ooze mechanism to reduce errors while printing and deploys or retracts certain printer heads when they are not being used during a 3D print.
1 . A printer head for a 3D printer, comprising:
a pellet head configured for coarsely dispensing print material;;
a plurality of filament heads configured for finely dispensing print material;
a plurality of linear actuators operatively coupled to the plurality of filament heads, respectively, wherein each linear actuator of the plurality is configured to move a respective filament head upwards and downwards; and
a computer configured for operating the pellet head, the filament heads, and the linear actuators for depositing print material.
2 . The printer head of claim 1 , comprising a baseplate configured to mount components to the printer head.
3 . The printer head of claim 2 , comprising a plurality of filament supply units wherein each unit is configured to source print material to one high-resolution print head of the plurality of high-resolution print heads.
4 . The printer head of claim 1 , comprising a pellet reservoir configured to supply print material to the pellet head.
5 . The printer head of claim 1 , wherein the linear actuators may lower the filament heads into a deployed position.
6 . The printer head of claim 5 , wherein the linear actuators may raise the filament heads into a retracted position.
7 . The printer head of claim 6 , wherein an alignment member aligns the filament heads to move in a linear direction when the filament heads are moved to the deployed position or the retracted position.
8 . A multi-resolution 3D printing system, comprising:
a printer head configured with a low-resolution print head and a high-resolution print head;
a linear actuator configured to raise and lower the high-resolution print head;
a baseplate mounted to the low-resolution print head, wherein the high-resolution print head is mounted to the baseplate, and the linear actuator is mounted to the baseplate such that lateral and longitudinal movement of the high-resolution print head is coupled to that of the low-resolution print head.
9 . The multi-resolution 3D printing system of claim 8 , comprising a computer having software stored in non-volatile memory, wherein the software comprises instructions that govern the movement of the linear actuator to raise the print head into a retracted position or lower the print head into a deployed position.
10 . The multi-resolution 3D printing system of claim 8 , comprising a set of rails to which the print head is mounted.
11 . The multi-resolution 3D printing system of claim 8 , comprising a protective casing which encloses portions of the low-resolution and high-resolution print heads.
12 . The multi-resolution 3D printing system of claim 8 , comprising an alignment member disposed around the high-resolution print head.
13 . The multi-resolution 3D printing system of claim 8 , wherein the printer head comprises a second high-resolution print head.
14 . The multi-resolution 3D printing system of claim 13 , comprising a second linear actuator mounted to the baseplate, wherein the second high-resolution print head is configured to be raised and lowered by the second linear actuator.
15 . A method for multi-resolution 3D printing, comprising:
providing at least a low-resolution print head and a high-resolution print head on a single printer head, wherein the printer head comprises the low-resolution print head, a baseplate mounted to the low-resolution print head, and the high-resolution print head mounted to the baseplate;
depositing a first flowrate of a material in a coarse pattern to a print surface by expelling material from the low-resolution print head;
depositing a second flowrate of the material in a fine pattern to the print surface by expelling material from the low-resolution print head, wherein the second flowrate is less than the first flowrate and the fine pattern is finer than the coarse pattern.
16 . The method of claim 15 , comprising lowering the high-resolution print head via a linear actuator mounted to the baseplate, wherein the linear actuator is lowered into a deployed position for depositing material at the second flowrate.
17 . The method of claim 15 , comprising protecting the high-resolution print head with a protective member.
18 . The method of claim 15 , comprising deploying a first high-resolution print head while a second high-resolution print head is retracted.
19 . The method of claim 18 , comprising retracting the first high-resolution print head while the second high-resolution print is in a retracted position.