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The topic of conveyor 3D printers was developed: a joint development under the name "Printrbelt" was presented by Printrbot and Polar3D.
The very idea of conveyor 3D printers is not new. This upgrade has been available to MakerBot CupCake owners since 2010, and is currently used on Voxeljet VXC800 industrial 3D printers that entered the market in 2012. However, the concept of non-stop printing was not very popular in the desktop segment until recently.
The situation changed in May this year, when the Dutch company BlackBelt 3D launched a crowdfunding campaign and raised the claimed amount in just 15 minutes. The proposal was for an FDM printer with a Slant Head Moving Belt Head. This design theoretically allows you to print parts of unlimited length, but the pleasure is not cheap - € 9,500 at retail.
Printrbot, for its part, offers a smaller and more affordable device, developed at the suggestion of Polar3D, which is creating a similar Polar3D Flash printer, which is still at the prototype stage. The size of the Printrbelt working area reaches 150 millimeters in X and Y, and the Z is a movable steel belt with a Kapton coating. The dimensions of the device are 515x330x355 mm and weighs only eight and a half kilos. Polar3D did its bit by providing Polar Cloud software to take full advantage of the new printer's non-stop printing capabilities.
The printer prints filaments with a diameter of 1.75 mm at a speed of 30-60 mm / s, and the recommended layer thickness is 200 microns. The head is equipped with a proprietary aluminum extruder Gear Head v2. PLA-plastic is considered as the main consumable material, although the tape is equipped with heating. The retail price of the new device is set at $ 2,000, but before the end of Independence Day, the order can be placed with a discount of up to $ 1,700. Printrbelt 3D printers will still be assembled by the piece, so shipping and delivery may take several weeks.
