OK so why not? By switching heating cylinders for heating strips the space between nozzles is greatly reduced. Then by jogging longitudinally (let's call it X) while travelling in Y it should be possible to quickly lay down a plane of goo. The time otherwise used to 'raster scan' is greatly reduced. For multiple color prints just paralled another line of nozzles and add one more heating strip. Might be possible to add more colors by stacking more reels of filament.
-- Steamboat, Mar 20 2014

Baked dot matrix printer http://build.slashd...han-current-systems
HP's version of my idea [Steamboat, Oct 30 2014]

(??) Dot Matrix Printers Manufacturers http://www.exporter...hi-india-116529.htm
We are offering dot matrix printers at market leading prices that easily fit in the budgets of one and all. The dot matrix printers that we deal in are used for big as well as small jobs in offices, banks, homes, educational institutes, shopping malls and other such places. [Exportersindia, Jun 04 2015]

You'd need many more stepper motors (to push out (or not) the material here but not there)

I'd think, with micromachines, you could create a massively parallel set of steppers to control I/O along that one dimension.

And, are you proposing to keep it 1 filament per nozzle? (too many hookups/spools needed), or 1 filament goes into a shared fluid reservoir after pre- heating?

Managing the pressure drops & fluid flow would be challenging as well. (Esp. if you quickly oscillate between drawing a full solid line then point, then line).

And, these things clog, & need maintenance.

Sorry if I'm taking this HB idea too seriously. I have a 3D Makerbot & it's wonderful but breaks down all the time.
-- sophocles, Mar 20 2014


// You'd need many more stepper motors //

Isn't the point to replace the stepper motor-driven extruder(s) with micro-pumps or heaters like in an inkjet or bubble jet printer?

I've taken apart *many* printers (the kind that print images and text on paper), a few of which were the dye sublimation type. I think one of those could be adapted to 3D printing. They typically take blocks of solid ink, which they melt/sublimate and deposit on the paper. Just run the same paper through multiple times and you've got 2.5D printing. Mount the print head on a gantry and it's a 3D printer.
-- notexactly, Jun 14 2015



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