Well, yes, I would expect that to be the case. http://www.google.com/patents/US6722872
"Disclosed is a three-dimensional modeling apparatus (*10*) that builds up three-dimensional objects in a heated build chamber (*24*) by dispensing modeling material from a dispensing head (*14*) onto a base (*16*) in a pattern determined by control signals from a controller (*140*). The motion control components (*18, 20*) of the apparatus (*10*) are external to and thermally isolated from the build chamber (*24*). A deformable thermal insulator (*132*) forms a ceiling of the building chamber, allowing motion control of the dispensing head (*14*) in an x, y plane by an x-y gantry (*18 *) located outside of and insulated from the build chamber (*24*). In the preferred embodiment, a material dispensing outlet (*66*) of the dispensing head is inside the chamber. Thermal isolation of the motion control components from the build chamber allows the chamber to be maintained at a high temperature." I am still trying to determine what part of that meets the "not obvious to someone versed in the field" that was part of the law creating the patent system, but its the world we live in now.. That particular patent is good until Apr 20, 2021 On Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 1:01 PM, Gene Heskett <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thursday 27 June 2013 14:59:37 Charles Buckley did opine: > > > Well, on January 28th, 2014 the next generation of stereolithography > > patents expire. That will increase the resolution a ridiculous amount. > > Interesting, until some troll crawls out of the swamp. Are there any other > gotchas that will fall through to, to bite the unwary? > > > Linuxcnc is a much more adaptable baseline for any of these machines. I > > would expect to see a lot of UI changes and movement with it. > > > > On Thu, Jun 27, 2013 at 10:49 AM, Bari <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I agree with you. When the GGG (Glorified Glue Gun) fad started a few > > > years ago many of the maker folk looked at Linuxcnc since it had been > > > used to control multi-axis machines for over a decade. Some of them > > > felt that it was too complicated and expensive to control their GGG > > > made mostly of threaded rods, nuts and low resolution PLA printed > > > parts. They then decided to just use an Arduino and make some custom > > > IO stepper boards to control the 3-axis Cartesian stage and glue > > > gun/extrude and write all the software from scratch. The printers > > > still needed a PC for the user interface, but I guess you weren't > > > supposed to notice that. > > > > > > Later they decided to move from Arduino to all-in-one 120MHhz ARM > > > cortex M3/4 boards and write all new libraries for the new > > > architecture. The new all-in-one boards sell for $120-200 and combine > > > the micro with stepper drivers, GPIO and mosfet outputs. A PC is > > > still required for the UI but they can run stand alone with the > > > G-code stored on an SD-Card. > > > > > > Now TI has released a $45 BeagleBone Black with a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 > > > that can host the machine control and suddenly there is interest in > > > Linuxcnc again. The UI can be directly off the GPU or over he network. > > > The Beaglebone Black still needs some expansion IO to drive the > > > steppers and extruder but the BOM is <$30. > > > > > > The GGG's only use one or two nozzles to deposit material so the > > > process is very slow and they have difficulty with producing features > > > under 200um. It's become popular since the original patents expired a > > > few years ago and you can build your own printer for only a few > > > hundred dollars. > > > > > > The reasons I have heard from the "maker guys" for not aspiring to > > > other additive manufacturing technologies have been the complexity > > > and the high costs involved for DIY. There are a few DIY projects > > > that use SLA with DLP (B9) or laser (SLAMPS) but they have chosen > > > slow methods mostly due to the problems with "It's the patents > > > stupid!" or just ignorance of the technology and SLS, Inkjet and > > > micronozzle DIY is practically non-existent. > > > > > > On 06/27/2013 10:29 AM, Dave wrote: > > > > I have been randomly watching the 3D printer efforts from the > > > > sidelines and for the most part I have not been impressed at all. > > > > > > > > I think you are right ... they are way, way behind. To many, it > > > > seems that reinventing the wheel is how they learn but at the > > > > expense of making any meaningful > > > > progress. > > > > > > > > >>Loading an SD card works because it > > > > > > > > is pretty bullet-proof and easy to manage as is just pressing a > > > > button.<< > > > > > > > > I guess that is fine if you want to duplicate a design that someone > > > > else > > > > > > has already worked out on a "standard" printer. > > > > > > > However I would hope that some of the "maker guys" would have more > > > > > > ambitious aspirations! :-) > > > > > > > Dave Cole > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > -------- This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: > > > > > > Build for Windows Store. > > > > > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Emc-users mailing list > > > [email protected] > > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: > > > > Build for Windows Store. > > > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev > > _______________________________________________ > > Emc-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > Cheers, Gene > -- > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > -Ed Howdershelt (Author) > My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene> is up! > My views > <http://www.armchairpatriot.com/What%20Has%20America%20Become.shtml> > Your KVM powered virtual machines will do IOs up to seven times faster if > you enable virtio. http://tinyurl.com/virtio > A pen in the hand of this president is far more > dangerous than 200 million guns in the hands of > law-abiding citizens. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: > > Build for Windows Store. > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Windows: Build for Windows Store. http://p.sf.net/sfu/windows-dev2dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
