What Is A Rapid Prototyping System
According to a blog article by the European Subcontracting Network, before the term 3D printing was coined, it was known only as rapid prototyping.
So, to understand the reason behind its invention, we should first try to realize how 3D printing is a practice of rapid prototyping.
Rapid prototyping technology is when any model or product undergoes fast creation with the help of a three-dimensional computer-aided design .
This means that any digital designs you create with the help of a computer can be 3D printed as small models or parts of a product that you can experiment with first before manufacturing the entire piece.
Scale models of buildings, houses, cars, or even robots are one good example of prototypes that can be produced via 3D printing, to give an early vision of the product before the final manufacturing.
So, in essence, 3D printing was invented to create a faster, more easy-going, and affordable manufacturing method using digital files for creating tangible items.
D Food Printers Discovery And Development
The idea of printing food such as mango or pizza began during the same time filament printers were invented. But 3D food printers werent successful at that time. The first known were developed at Cornell University during 2005.
Despite an unfavorable beginning, people became interested in 3D food printers in 2017. Here a few of the noteworthy reasons that spark the curiosity of the masses about 3D food printers:
- Food printers are great and healthy for the environment because it converts alternative ingredients such as beet leaves and proteins to tasty food.
- 3D food printers open doors for food customization. Thus, people can express their individual food preferences and needs.
If youre a fan of the Star Trek series, you might be familiar with the Replicator. Yes, the food manufacturer in the movie that can create food and dishes down to the molecule. Well, we have our version of the Replicator in a 3D food printer!
Thats right! But were not in a sci-fi movie by the way 3D food printers are for real. Many innovators are introducing food printers that can make pasta, chocolate, sugar, and other favorites. The possibilities of creating your own food are limitless!
But the first results of food printers arent that awesome. The first printed foods come from pasta and sugar. These foods arent good for consumption. But dont worry! Advanced technology has the answer to that FDM printers.
Inspiration And Invention Of The Printing Press
Around the late 1430s, a German man named Johann Gutenberg was quite desperate to find a way to make money. At the time, there was a trend in attaching small mirrors to ones hat or clothes in order to soak up healing powers when visiting holy places or icons. The mirrors themselves were not significant, but Gutenberg quietly noted how lucrative it was to create mass amounts of a cheap product.
During the 1300s to 1400s, people had developed a very basic form of printing. It involved letters or images cut on blocks of wood. The block would be dipped in ink and then stamped onto paper.
Gutenberg already had previous experience working at a mint, and he realized that if he could use cut blocks within a machine, he could make the printing process a lot faster. Even better, he would be able to reproduce texts in great numbers.
Also Check: Trick Printer Ink Sensor Epson
The Future Of 3d Printing
We have seen how far 3D printing has come from its initial purpose of rapid prototyping. Now, let us take a look at what might the future be for 3D printing.
- Full-scale manufacturing and serial production it will be easier to print 100 pieces for industrial testing for a company by way of additive manufacturing.
- Digitization no more warehouses full of boxes, only digital files stored on computers or the Cloud.
- Simpler 3D design software for additive manufacturing that is easier to learn and operate.
- More awareness and application of 3D printing education to generate more experts and welcome beginners to the industry.
- Smarter 3D printers that have sensors and cameras within would allow for instant feedback and data of the manufactured product.
- Metal and composite 3D printing will grow and develop further.
- 3D printing will have a major influence on the manufacturing technology in the dental industry.
- More possibilities for design, complex structures and geometries, and more than one printable material per project.
- Greater durability of finished product and faster 3D printing.
- Less harmful emissions being released in the environment use of less toxic materials.
When Was The Printing Press Invented
Movable type and paper were invented in China, and printing with movable type was undertaken in Korea by the 14th century, if not earlier. The printing press first became mechanized in Europe. The earliest mention of a printing press in Europe appears in a lawsuit in Strasbourg in 1439. It reveals construction of a press for Johannes Gutenberg and his associates. The earliest European printing presses owed much to the medieval paper press, which was in turn modeled after the ancient wine-and-olive press of the Mediterranean area.
printing press, machine by which text and images are transferred from movable type to paper or other media by means of ink. Movable type and paper were invented in China, and the oldest known extantbook printed from movable type was created in Korea in the 14th century. first became mechanized in Europe during the 15th century.
Also Check: Where Do I Find The Wps Pin For My Printer
Applications Of 3d Printing Today
Moving on from just rapid prototyping, 3D printing technology has grown to manufacture greater goods and objects.
With 3D printing, you can produce well-designed and functional models, all the while using less material than traditional manufacturing methods.
In the medical industry, prosthetic limbs, surgical instruments, and even 3D printed copies of patients organs are being produced for doctors to practice on before the actual operation.
There is an entirely 3D-printed house up for sale in the United States. Using a 3D printing technology called Autonomous Robotic Construction System , printing the house was faster and cheaper than the traditional way of construction.
Interestingly enough, even food is being possible to 3D print. Foods like chocolate, pizza, ravioli, etc. are fitting contestants for 3D printed edibles.
Even NASA is investing in the 3D printing market to make easier and sustainable space food for astronauts to save time and reduce waste.
3D printing is also becoming increasingly popular in the classroom environment. This technology allows students to creatively design and experience the excitement of crafting intricate objects they can hold instantly.
The History Of 3d Printing
3D printing has a rich history. It started from an imperfect machine and ended up into something that can bring to life anything you have in mind.
Have you wondered how 3D printing has started? If you do, then this page is for you. Continue reading as we take you to a trip down memory lane from how 3D printing starts, progresses and develops into what it is today.
3D printing is one of the growing industries today because it can produce almost anything from toys, accessories, sneakers, guns, wheelchairs and even organs like hearts. Yes, almost everything is possible with 3D printing.
Can you imagine the world where everything is possible? We are closer to that world with 3D printing.
Recommended Reading: Why Won T My Printer Scan
When Was 3d Printing Invented The History Of 3d Printing
When you first heard the words 3D printing did you imagine a super futuristic technology, like in the movies but, when was it really invented?
While the term 3D printing maysound like something youd expect to hear in a science fiction novel, the history of 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is longer than you might think.
Keep reading to learn about the history of 3D printing, and our BCN3D predictions on where we see this technology going in the future.
When Was The Inkjet Printer Invented
Although inkjet printers only appeared on the consumer market in the late 1980s, they had been under development for more than twenty years by that time. In the mid-1970s, printer companies realized the potential of the technology that would make dot matrix printers obsolete. The challenge, however, was to come up with a way to create an affordable inkjet printer that would reliably create high-quality printouts.
Technical challengesThe quality of the printed page depends largely on the relationship between the ink, the print head, and the paper. Researchers had a hard time creating a controlled flow of ink from the print head onto the page, and preventing the print head from becoming clogged with dried ink. Once these challenges were met by Canon and Hewlett Packard in the late 1980s, liquid inkjet printers began to come on the market.
Don’t Miss: How Do I Connect My Wireless Printer To My Phone
The Xerograph Xerography And Xerox
Printer evolution finally took its next step towards modern times. It was on October 22, 1938, when the first xerograph image was made. It was Chester Carlson who developed this printing method and called it xerography.
Xerography uses dry ink which by an electrically charged photoconductor-coated metal plate and flashes of light cause the dry ink to stick to a drum. The drum then rolls over the paper, leaving the ink and copied image behind.
The name was inspired by the Greek language dry plus writing . The process was refined over the next 20 years before going to market, and the company he worked for at the time eventually changed its name to Xerox Corporation in 1961.
Chinese Monks And Blocks
Nearly 600 years before Gutenberg, Chinese monks were setting ink to paper using a method known as block printing, in which wooden blocks are coated with ink and pressed to sheets of paper. One of the earliest surviving books printed in this fashion an ancient Buddhist text known as “The Diamond Sutra” was created in 868 during the Tang Dynasty in China. The book, which was sealed inside a cave near the city of Dunhuang, China, for nearly a thousand years before its discovery in 1900, is now housed in the British Library in London.
The carved wooden blocks used for this early method of printing were also used in Japan and Korea as early as the eighth century. Private printers in these places used both wood and metal blocks to produce Buddhist and Taoist treatises and histories in the centuries before movable type was invented.
An important advancement to woodblock printing came in the early eleventh century, when a Chinese peasant named Bi Sheng developed the world’s first movable type. Though Sheng himself was a commoner and didn’t leave much of a historical trail, his ingenious method of printing, which involved the production of hundreds of individual characters, was well-documented by his contemporary, a scholar and scientist named Shen Kuo.
While earthenware movable type was used by several other Chinese printers throughout the 12th and 13th centuries, Sheng’s movable type didn’t go mainstream in China or elsewhere until many centuries later.
Don’t Miss: Connect Canon Ts3122 To Wifi
How The Printing Press Works
With the original printing press, a frame is used to set groups of type blocks. Together, these blocks make words and sentences however, they are all in reverse. The blocks are all inked and then a sheet of paper is laid on the blocks. All of this passes through a roller to ensure that the ink is transferred to the paper. Finally, the paper is lifted, and the reader can see the inked letters that now appear normally as a result of the reversed blocks.
These printing presses were operated by hand. Later, towards the 19th century, other inventors created steam-powered printing presses that did not require a hand operator. In comparison, todays printing presses are electronic and automated, and can print much faster than ever before!
Today, there are multiple types of printing presses, each best for a specific type of printing. They include:
History Of Computer Printing
The history of computer printing began in 1983 when Chester Carlson invented the electrophotographic dry printing process known as a Xerox. It laid out the foundations for laser printers. However, it was in 1953 when Remington-Rand developed the first ever high-speed printer used with the Univac computer.
Read Also: How To Fix Hp Printer Offline
Monochrome Colour And Photo Printers
A monochrome printer can only produce an image consisting of one colour, usually black. A monochrome printer may also be able to produce various tones of that color, such as a grey-scale. A colour printer can produce images of multiple colours. A photo printer is a colour printer that can produce images that mimic the colour range and resolution of prints made from . Many can be used on a standalone basis without a computer, using a memory card or USB connector.
Printing Technology And Continuous Evolution
The next time you click print, youll have a better understanding of the 500 years it took to produce the incredible technology that many of us take for granted.
In this article, you discovered the history, timeline, evolution, and brilliant technological breakthroughs that made the printer a household necessity.
The printer in your home is an example of how people with vision combined with creativity, and in some cases, a bit of luck can change the global picture of how we communicate and do business.
Read Also: Wps Pin For Hp Deskjet 3630
Why Is The Printing Press Important
The printing press is a useful tool for communicating and disseminating ideas on paper quickly and at a large scale. Before the advent of radio, television, the Internet, and other forms of mass media, printed materials were used to share ideas quickly and efficiently for the purposes of informing large numbers of people about current events, business opportunities, and cultural and religious practices and for educational purposes.
D Printing Becomes A Buzz Word
It was somewhere around the mid-2000s when 3D printing became something of a buzz word. The very first selective laser sintering machines were to become commercially viable. In 2006, on-demand manufacturing came into being for industrial parts. Soon after this, the ability to print with various other materials got industry even more excited. From an engineering standpoint, this was a huge deal, offering all sorts of options in parts production. At the end of this adolescent period in 3D printing history we began to see various collaborative co-creation services appear. The easily accessible 3D printing marketplace had arrived. Nowadays, people can exhibit their designs, share ideas, and freely swap information.
Also at the end of this era, MakerBot made an appearance. This was the first service of its kind to provide open-source DIY 3D printer kits. It was an affordable way for people to learn all about the technology as they built their own machines. At last, 3D printers were becoming accessible to the general public.
Read Also: How To Connect Canon Ts3122 Printer To Iphone
Who Invented The 3d Printer
You may have heard of 3D printing being heralded as the future of manufacturing. And with the way the technology has advanced and spread commercially, it may very well make good on the hype surrounding it. So, what is 3D printing? And who came up with it?
The best example to describe how 3D printing works comes from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. In that fictional futuristic universe, the crew aboard a spaceship uses a small device called a replicator to create virtually anything, as in anything from food and drinks to toys. Now while both are capable of rendering three-dimensional objects, 3D printing isnt nearly as sophisticated. Whereas a replicator manipulates subatomic particles to produce whatever small object comes to mind, 3D printers print out materials in successive layers to form the object.
The History Of 3d Printers
Hull wasnt the first person to apply for the patent on 3D printing technologies. Dr. Kodama of Japan was the first to try and patent 3d printing in 1980. However, he failed to complete the full patent specification process within the one-year deadline, thereby missing out on a tremendous opportunity. Six years later, the first patent issued for stereolithography was secured by Charles Hull, who had invented the first printing apparatus in 1983.
In 1987, the first commercial printing system, the SLA-1, was introduced by 3D Systems. After exhaustive testing, the unit was first sold in 1988.
Also Check: How Do I Find The Wps Pin For My Printer
Expanding To Different Materials And Techniques
While Hulls patent covered many aspects of 3D printing, including the design and operating software, techniques and a variety of materials, other inventors would build upon the concept with different approaches. In 1989, a patent was awarded to Carl Deckard, a University of Texas graduate student who developed a method called selective laser sintering. With SLS, a laser beam was used to custom-bind powdered materials, such as metal, together to form a layer of the object. Fresh powder would be added to the surface after each successive layer. Other variations such as direct metal laser sintering and selective laser melting are also used for crafting metal objects.
The most popular and most recognizable form of 3D printing is called fused deposition modeling. FDP, developed by inventor S. Scott Crump lays down the material in layers directly onto a platform. The material, usually a resin, is dispensed through a metal wire and, once released through the nozzle, hardens immediately. The idea came to Crump in 1988 while he was trying to make a toy frog for his daughter by dispensing candle wax through a glue gun.
In 1989, Crump patented the technology and with his wife co-founded Stratasys Ltd. to make and sell 3D printing machines for rapid prototyping or commercial manufacturing. They took their company public in 1994 and by 2003, FDP became the top-selling rapid prototyping technology.