Improving 3D printing methods to create versatile sleeves for the printing industry

Abstract

In this work we show a method to produce sleeves for the printing industry by utilizing a modified 3D printer. The modification enables the printing process to take place on a rotating cylindrical surface. Due to this modification the corresponding G-code is generated by a MATLAB program. The advantage of this G-code based workflow, as we refer, is the inclusion of the sleeve dimensioning process, and the independence from generalized slicer algorithms providing the freedom to design every layer in respect to mechanical requirements. The motivation behind combining the ability to print on a cylindrical printing surface with the G-code based workflow is to increase the stability of 3D-printed sleeves in relation to their usage in the printing industry. The sleeves themselves consist of required elements, such as top layer and bottom layer, infill layer and air ducts. Our method allows load-appropriate extrusion orientation and therefore gives an additional choice to the common 3D printing workflow adopting Cartesian coordinates.