3D printing – Page 2

Stratasys sues Bambu Lab over patents used widely by consumer 3D printers

Patent protections pushed for proprietary processes —

Heated platforms and purge towers are among Stratasys’ infringement claims.

Kevin Purdy – Aug 12, 2024 5: 59 pm UTC

Bambu Lab A1, with three filament spools connected by circular loops off to the right. — Enlarge / The Bambu Lab A1, complete with heated build platform.

Bambu Lab

A patent lawsuit filed by one of 3D printing’s most established firms against a consumer-focused upstart could have a big impact on the wider 3D-printing scene.

In two complaints, (1, 2, PDF) filed in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, against six entities related to Bambu Lab, Stratasys alleges that Bambu Lab infringed upon 10 patents that it owns, some through subsidiaries like Makerbot (acquired in 2013). Among the patents cited are US9421713B2, “Additive manufacturing method for printing three-dimensional parts with purge towers,” and US9592660B2, “Heated build platform and system for three-dimensional printing methods.”

There are not many, if any, 3D printers sold to consumers that do not have a heated bed, which prevents the first layers of a model from cooling during printing and potentially shrinking and warping the model. “Purge towers” (or “prime towers” in Bambu’s parlance) allow for multicolor printing by providing a place for the filament remaining in a nozzle to be extracted and prevent bleed-over between colors. Stratasys’ infringement claims also target some fundamental technologies around force detection and fused deposition modeling (FDM) that, like purge towers, are used by other 3D-printer makers that target entry-level and intermediate 3D-printing enthusiasts.

Bambu Lab launched onto the 3D-printing scene in 2022, quickly picking up market share in the entry-level and enthusiast space, in part due to its relatively fast multicolor printing. It hasn’t had an entirely smooth path to its market share, with a cloud-based force printing fiasco in the summer of 2023 and a recall of its popular A1 printer for heat issues earlier this year.

Stratasys, by contrast, has been working in 3D printing since 1988, and its products are used more often in manufacturing and commercial prototyping. Its 3D printers were part of how General Motors pivoted to making face shields and ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its acquisition of MakerBot led to layoffs two years in and eventually a spin-off merger with Ultimaker, but Stratasys retained MakerBot’s patents.

Another patent lawsuit filed by a larger prototyping firm against a smaller semi-competitor was settled in 2014. 3D Systems sued Formlabs in 2012 over patents regarding laser-based stereolithography. That suit ended with Formlabs agreeing to pay an 8 percent royalty on all sales to 3D Systems. Stratasys had also previously sued another smaller-scale printing firm, Afinia, in 2013, although that case eventually failed.

Listing image by Bambu Lab

“Rasti Computer” is a detailed GRiD Compass tribute made from Framework innards

3D printing, computer history, grid compass, grid systems corp, laptop design, mechanical keyboards, Tech / DJ Henderson / February 2, 2024

But can it play Pitfall!? —

It’s a custom keyboard, an artfully dinged-up case, and a wonderful throwback.

Kevin Purdy – Feb 2, 2024 8: 34 pm UTC

Penk Chen's Rasti Computer — Enlarge / Penk Chen’s Rasti Computer, built with 3D printing, Framework laptop internals, and a deep love for the first laptop that went to space.

If I had to figure out what to do with the insides of a Framework 13 laptop I had lying around after today, I might not turn it into a strange but compelling “Slabtop” this time.

No, I think that, having seen Penk Chen’s remarkable project to fit Framework parts into a kind of modern restyling of the Grid Compass laptop, I would have to wait until Chen posts detailed build instructions for this project… and until I had a 3D printer… and could gather the custom mechanical keyboard parts. Sure, that’s a lot harder, but it’s hard to put a price on drawing unnecessary attention to yourself while you chonk away on your faux-used future laptop.

The Rasti Computer, which Chen writes is “derived from the German compound word ‘Rasterrahmen’ (grid + framework),” has at its core the mainboard, battery, and antennae from the highly modular and repairable first-generation Framework laptop. It takes input from the custom keyboard Chen designed for the chassis, with custom PCB and 3D-printed keycaps and case. It sends images to a 10.4-inch QLED 1600×720 display, and it all fits inside a bevy of 3D-printed pieces with some fairly standard hex-head bolts. Oh, and the hinges from a 2012 13-inch MacBook pro, though that’s possibly negotiable.

Rear view of the Rasti Computer, with “a touch of silver dry brushing [that] added the beat-up metal look.”
Semi-exploded view of the Rasti Computer.
You can, of course, run Windows on this device, if you like. But it might feel dissonant to put so much custom work in to run a stock OS.

Chen’s project derives from, and pays tribute to, the Grid Compass (styled “GRiD” by its maker, GRiD Systems Corp.). The Compass was probably (again, probably) the first clamshell-style laptop made. It saw use by NASA’s Space Shuttle program, as well as by military and other entities needing a laptop that was both compact and throw-it-at-a-wall durable. It had 256KB of memory by default (less than half the amount Bill Gates didn’t say you should ever need), a 320×240 pixel screen, and an Intel 8086 processor. Some models contained a 1,200bps modem. It cost more than $8,000 in 1982, or almost $25,000 today.

We have it on good word from some resident vintage computer collectors that the Compass remains a rare and expensive item to get. Rebuilding a Framework mainboard into a modern-day Grid-like doesn’t seem particularly cheap, depending on your 3D printer setup, or lack thereof. Nor is it likely to be easy, given a glimpse at how it goes together. But it will give you a unique portable and conversation piece, one that runs programs beyond Grid-OS.

You can read more about the Grid Compass at Cooper Hewitt, the firm where Compass designer Bill Moggridge worked as design director from 2010 until his 2011 passing. If you remember bubble memory, it’s a dip back into that genial trauma. Hackaday, where we first saw the Rasti project, wrote up a similarly Compass-inspired laptop, the GRIZ Sextant, with a Raspberry Pi at its core.

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