Design data for the 3D printer modification to print gels and pastes and the corresponding firmware

Abstract

In order to deposit gel and paste-like materials, a commercially available HICTOP Prusa i3 plastic 3D printer was modified. The modification included replacing the existing plastic microextruder with a customised 3D printed syringe pump which could hold a syringe containing the printing material. The arrangement also allowed the temperature in the syringe to be controlled. Since the hardware of the printer was changed significantly, a new firmware was loaded on the 3D printer which was customised to enable it to perform its new function. The present data consists of the 3D image files of the syringe pump assembly and instructions on how to assemble the components. It also provides a copy of the modified firmware with a list of the changes made to it. This data will allow the readers to modify a similar type of 3D printer to print pastes and gels. This can be achieved by recreating the entire syringe pump assembly by 3D printing the given 3D image file data. With some changes, these designs can also be adapted to a variety of different printers. Similarly, the given firmware can also be loaded onto a similar type of printer. The list and explanation of the changes made to the firmware also allow such changes to be made to the respective firmwares of a variety of different printers.

Development of affordable 3D food printer with an exchangeable syringe-pump mechanism

“…Scientists, that require laboratory scale production capacities, resemble the syringe-pump systems and can benefit from the availability of open source and free hardware designs which can be duplicated with inexpensive regular 3D printers [7] . In this context, some of syringe-pump based components/hardware assembly were presented in the literature [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] .…”

“…The SPM relies on a guide carriage that mounted on a linear rail, which exists in some of regular 3D printers. It is a direct-drive system like some of its counterparts [13] , [16] . The authors studied on two other different designs (unpublished work) that available in common 3D printing forums ( [17] , [18] ) and adapted them to their desktop printer ( Fig.…”

“…A typical user can easily disassemble the mechanism (SPM), and the polymer extruder of the conventional 3D printer can be replaced back. Like as other open source 3-D printers, this gives opportunity of using same device for food materials and for thermoplastic filaments [9] , [13] , [12] .…”

“…Despite the extrusion with SPM conducted at room temperature, the proposed cooling apparatus allows the cooled air to be carried to the tip of the syringe. It provides an advantage over equivalent syringe pump mechanisms in terms of directly reaching the tip of the syringe [8] , [9] , [11] , [13] , [12] , [19] . With this attribute, the layer stability of prints might be improved for some food materials whose viscosity increases under cold conditions.…”

“…Since the mechanism we proposed is mounted on a linear rail guide and its center of gravity is designed to be on the rail, it can operate at relatively higher speeds than other printers. In addition, many syringe mechanisms are generally developed to fit Ender or Prusa models but cannot be used with linear rail guide mechanisms [8] , [10] , [13] , [12] . Our system, on the other hand, is designed to achieve smoother motion with linear rail slides.…”