Craig Orr

This patent is for the worlds first 3D printer. Before this invention, inkjet printers could only print on flat surfaces like paper due to extreme complexity and cost of printing on 3D surfaces. This invention makes printing on 3D surfaces possible using advanced hardware, software, and materials.

Inkjet printers work by shooting pico to micro liter size ink drops out of nozzles fractions of the size of a human hair when an electrical pulse is applied to each nozzle's actuator. The… Show more

This patent is for the worlds first 3D printer. Before this invention, inkjet printers could only print on flat surfaces like paper due to extreme complexity and cost of printing on 3D surfaces. This invention makes printing on 3D surfaces possible using advanced hardware, software, and materials.

Inkjet printers work by shooting pico to micro liter size ink drops out of nozzles fractions of the size of a human hair when an electrical pulse is applied to each nozzle's actuator. The flight time of each drop, the material properties of the ink, and their interaction with the substrate and printhead largely determine the quality of the printed image. Printing in 3D means each drop faces a different flight time (because printheads are flat, but surfaces are curved), which means new software is required to pre-distort images so that when they are printed they appear correctly. New software is also needed to convert images to the appropriate electrical pulses for each nozzle of the printhead and to compensate for varied flight times. New laser guided hardware is needed to accurately move the print head over the substrate. Unique control systems are needed to make everything work together. 3D printing also means that ink will be moving up and down in the print head due to changes in printhead position/acceleration/velocity, etc. This means that the ink may not be in the right place when it is needed, so methods are needed to compensate for this. Long story short is that 3D printing is really, really complex, and the technologies covered herein make it possible. Show less

To make predictable polymeric conductors the line dispensed must have a constant cross sectional area. This invention is a way to enable predictable cross sections of dispensed polymeric conductors despite the shortcomings of manufacturing tolerances of parts, atmospheric conditions, robot inherent accuracy limitations, and operator error in substrate placement. A laser adaptive dispensing unit attached to a robot, which allows for dispensing of a conductive polymer in amounts precisely… Show more

To make predictable polymeric conductors the line dispensed must have a constant cross sectional area. This invention is a way to enable predictable cross sections of dispensed polymeric conductors despite the shortcomings of manufacturing tolerances of parts, atmospheric conditions, robot inherent accuracy limitations, and operator error in substrate placement. A laser adaptive dispensing unit attached to a robot, which allows for dispensing of a conductive polymer in amounts precisely controlled by a closed loop system based on feedback from a robot. The dispensing unit consists of a laser that moves a slide up and down in real time to compensate for defects in the substrate, and inaccuracies of the robotic arm with the goal of maintaining the 1mm nozzle of the dispenser at a constant distance above the substrate. Additionally, the controller regulates the rotational speed of the dispensing unit such that a constant volume of material is dispensed regardless of robot speed or acceleration. i.e. in normal cases, if a robot slows down during dispensing, more material would end up on the surface so you'd have a fatter line in areas where the robot was moving slowly and thicker where it was moving quickly. This makes the line have a constant shape independent of robot speed & acceleration or surface defects, or robot innacuracies, etc. Show less