Re: [rp-ml] retrofit desktop printers

 
In a message dated 2/13/2008 5:45:12 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
C.Hauser@liverpool.ac.uk writes:

 
Dear List,
 
Has anyone successfully retrofitted a desktop printer (Epson, Lexmark, HP
etc) with build height capabilities ? (for the sake of argument lets ignore the
addition of powder dispensing technology). The mechanical system is not my
major concern (although perhaps someone might suggest otherwise) but more the
control side, particular the supplied software and drivers of said chosen
printer. I would like to use a multi cartridge printer for dispensing more that
one type of ink/binder and one of my concerns is with the way in which the
printer chooses which cartridges to dispense ink from. I initially thought I
could control this by the use of different colours within images to be
printed, but in reality the solution appears far from trivial. I think I may need
the likes of HP, Epson etc to help out with printer software source code.
 
I would be interested to know anyone's thoughts and experiences on this
topic.
 
 
Best Regards
 
Carl
 

 
Dr Carl Hauser

Rapid Manufacturing Research
Department of Engineering
The University of Liverpool
PIDC Foresight Centre
3 Brownlow Street
Liverpool
L69 7ZE

Carl:
 
Many moons ago Aad van der Geest did this using HP components. His page is
still available here:
 
_http://home.wxs.nl/~spitstec/_ (http://home.wxs.nl/~spitstec/)
 
Buss Modeling Technology attempted to commercialize the technology, (and TNO
was involved along the way, too, as I recall), but BMT ran up against the
MIT patent rocks, and sank.
 
Aad had made a couple of EPO patent applications, however, and those should
still be available. More recently HP itself has made applications that
discuss lowering costs of 3D printers by sharing components with 2D machines.
 
This might notsolve your SW problem directly, but may give you some idea of
where to look for information. The chances that a major company will share
source code seem bleak to me.
 
Can you adapt the open SW from f_ab@home_ (mailto:fab@home) ?

Ed Grenda
Castle Island Co.
_EdGrenda@aol.com_ (mailto:EdGrenda@aol.com) (email)

The Worldwide Guide to Rapid Prototyping
http://home.att.net/~castleisland/

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Received on Wed Feb 13 16:57:19 2008