A few months ago, we took an in-depth look at one of the rising stars in the Chinese 3D printing industry. Beijing Huitianwei Technology Co., Ltd., better known as HORI for their extensive line of 3D printers, isn’t a new company, having been established back in 2005, but in the last few years they’ve been growing steadily and rapidly with the introduction of a new 3D printer or printer upgrade on a regular basis. Their 3D printer line has grown to nearly a dozen models, on both the industrial and desktop level, and they’ll soon be adding another.
In the meantime, HORI continues to improve their existing line of printers with upgrades and enhancements. In October, they introduced the FLOW extruder, a completely redesigned extruder updated to prevent filament clogs and to accommodate flexible filaments for the first time. Now, the company has announced two new upgrades to their printer line, designed to help their customers print with as little stress as possible.
The first update involves filament again – this time, solving the dreaded problem of running out of filament mid-print. If you print on a regular basis, you’ve undoubtedly run into the issue at least once – you’re busy with something else, half-listening as your 3D printer hums away in the background, anticipating a quality finished print in an hour or so. However, when you go over to check on it, you discover that you’ve been out of filament for half an hour, and your printer has been laying down nothing but air over your half-finished print. Now you need to start over from the beginning.
HORI addresses this issue with their new filament detector system. Now, as soon as your printer runs out of material, it will beep loudly, alerting you that you need to add a new spool. If you’re out of the home or office, not to worry – as soon as the filament runs out, the print head will move into the home position, ready to resume from where it left off as soon as more material is added. Check out a quick demo below:
The second update also safeguards against the loss of partially finished prints. The new uninterrupted power system, or UPS, allows your printer to go on printing even after the power is disconnected. It involves a double electricity system, of sorts, with an inverter that provides constant voltage and frequency. If the electricity is cut off for any reason, such as a power outage, the printer continues to print, uninterrupted, thanks to the backup battery.
Of course, a battery can only last so long, so again, if you’re away from home when your dog or cat steps on the power strip and shuts it off, or if your power outage lasts all day and night, you’re still covered, thanks to the auto resume function. The printer will remember the point at which it left off, and resume printing from that point when the power is finally restored. See below:
The new upgrades have been applied to every printer in the HORI line, both the desktop and industrial models. Unfortunately, because the updates involved structural modifications to the printers, they can’t be added to customers’ existing models, but they definitely add extra appeal for new customers. And speaking of appeal, HORI has a brand new 3D printer coming soon, and it’s an exciting one. While the name of the printer hasn’t been released yet, and we don’t know too much detail, we do know that it’s going to be big, literally, with HORI’s largest build area yet. We can’t wait to tell you more about it soon! Discuss in the HORI Upgrades forum at 3DPB.com.
