02-27-2021: the last Stratasys patent on the heated build chamber for FDM technology expired
Despite high expectations at the time, it did not bring a significant revolution to the market
On February 27, 2021, Stratasys’ patent on the heated build chamber for FDM/FFF 3D printers expired. Patent No. US6722872B1, titled “High Temperature Modeling Apparatus,” was filed in June 2000 and granted in April 2004. The inventors were William Swanson, Patrick Turley, Paul Leavitt, Peter Karwoski, Joseph LaBossiere, and Robert Skubic. This was the last "significant" patent related to FDM technology, and after its expiration, many expected a surge of industrial 3D printers directly competing with Stratasys. However, the market took a completely different turn...
Patenting method of heating the build chamber during 3D printing was a clever move by Stratasys, effectively blocking competition. It involved heating the build chamber while isolating stepper motors and electronic components from the heat.
For competing companies, this was a significant barrier. Entering this sector became much more difficult and required developing alternative heating methods that didn’t infringe on the patented solution. The simplest—but highly imperfect—approach used from the mid-2010s was to seal the chamber as tightly as possible and heat it using… the build plate. Not only was this inefficient, but it also resulted in uneven heat distribution.
On the other hand, a heated build chamber is crucial for producing large parts from most materials such as ABS, ASA, PA, and PC—not to mention ULTEM or PEEK. For some of these materials, attempting 3D printing without a heated chamber would be a complete failure due to high shrinkage.
So, it seemed like this was one of the things the AM industry had been waiting for. Yet… only a handful of companies worldwide actually took advantage of it. In the end, the expiration of the FDM heated chamber patent had much smaller impact as for example the expiration of SLS patents.
Instead, the FDM/FFF 3D printer market followed the path set by Bambu Lab.
Source: www.patents.google.com
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