To achieve mass production of 3D printed parts, manufacturers usually need to have a fleet of several 3D printers. Here is the thing, not everyone can afford to purchase several 3D printers at once.
Visitech has explored this issue with one question in mind: what if manufacturers could scale up their production with a single 3D printer?
For those who do not know the company, Visitech is a provider of solutions in three main areas: lithography, adaptive manufacturing, and 3D Scanning. Headquartered in Norway, the company operates globally with key entry points in Germany, China, and the USA. In the additive manufacturing industry, the company is mostly known for the fabrication of digital light processing (DLP) systems for printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing, as well as for 3D printing.
The manufacturer has disrupted the traditional 3D printing process by enabling operators to scale up their production using a single sub-system: a Scrolling Multi-head tool named LUXBEAM® Rapid System (LRS).
With the goal of delivering high throughput capability, high-resolution and low cost of ownership, Visitech has imagined a patented subsystem that can be integrated into additive manufacturing machines. By using a scrolling multi-head subsystem, operators can increase productivity without jeopardizing print speed, pixel resolution and surface finish of printed parts.
How does it work?
First, it should be noted that the Scrolling Multi-head subsystem is made up of configurable light engine heads and motion stage. Engineers can control the manufacturing process with a scrolling multi-head subsystem using a dedicated proprietary software that is part of the package.
Once it is integrated into a 3D printer, the company assures that it allows for flexible scaling of the build field, with sizes corresponding to the accumulated build fields of 100 or more desktop printers at same resolution. This means that, using such a tool can make manufacturers decrease their investment in other infrastructures while saving time and costs at the production level.
“Our vision is to fuel the AM revolution by enabling mass production of 3D-printed parts. The Visitech’s Scrolling Multi-head system enables machine builders to roll out mass production equipment or large-scale printing machines with high-definition parts. Configurations either include our UV SLA light engines, both top-down and bottom-up configuration, or [they comprise] our recently released infrared light engines for Polymer Powder Bed Fusion, allowing for a vast range of materials from Nylon to PEEK with large build areas and high resolution”, the company told 3D ADEPT Media.
Currently, the LRS product family includes products that address the needs of two processes: static printing with fixed build area as well as dynamic/scrolling system with vast printing area.
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