Isn’t 3D printing from floor to ceiling the dream of thousands of enthusiasts? A young Swede invented a printer that has absolutely nothing in common with the others, except for printing! This stroke of genius allows real feats.
The young Swedish maker Torbjörn Ludvigsen aka Tobben is at the origin of this concept. The latter discovered 3D printing during his studies by becoming familiar with RepRap (Replication Rapid) three-dimensional printers, which are largely self-replicating and free (open source). When building his own 3D printer, Tobben realized that the hardest thing to achieve was building the “box,” or frame of the printer.
Thus, the interested party made the decision to imagine a printer without a box. Indeed, his Hangpreinter project is none other than a 3D printer suspended in the air. It uses its environment as a print frame, embodied by the walls of a room. Requiring three anchor points for proper mounting, the printer hangs from cables attached to the ceiling.
The software determines the printing movements to be made taking into account the information of the room in which the printer is located. The installation is also in a single room, except for the power supply. The advantage of the Hangpreinter is then obvious: a tenfold increase in printing volume!
Indeed, this volume is no longer reduced to the size of the printer box, which makes it possible to print larger structures. Tobben has already printed objects measuring 120 centimeters in height and 80 centimeters in diameter.
However, although the printer does not offer the best of resolutions, it still allows the printing of large objects quickly, which could prove very useful in the field of construction. For example, repairing damage caused by a natural disaster would be theoretically possible.
As the build grows, the deformation of the filament becomes more severe, which is a flaw that Tobben seeks to correct by working on reducing the weight of the printer. The interested party is also trying to increase the printing speed. The Hangpreinter project demonstrated in the video below is currently the subject of a crowdfunding campaign on the BountySource platform.
Sources: Live Science – 3Dnatives