The 3D Printer Design and Model Formation by a Commercial Inkjet Printing Module

This research utilizes a 2D printer mechanism from a commercial available inkjet printer, combines with hardware and software to build up a new concept 3D printer. This 3D printer can receive printing information from personal computer, and setting the required layer thickness to stack those layers into a solid model. The largest build volume is 300x420x350 mm, print head resolution is as high as 1200x2400 dpi, and the life of printer head is longer than 12 weeks which is far longer than 4 weeks of Z Corp’s. There are many specifications are better than or equivalent to those of Z Corp’s Z-510 which is the state-of-art machine of this powder based rapid prototyping.