Samsung to enter 3D printing market?

December 16, 2015

The OEM has been granted a patent in the USA for a “holographic 3D printer and driver”.

The patent was discovered by 3DPrint.com through the US Patent Office, which noted that Samsung has “emphasised they are not entering the 3D printing arena” despite being granted a patent for “multicolour ink for 3D printing” previously. That technology would use “several tanks to hold the colour” alongside several printheads, while the new technology is for a “holographic 3D printer” and the “method to drive it”.

The patent document is said to include references to a “light source configured to emit a beam”, alongside “beam splitting and expanding” units, illumination units and other technological features. 3DPrint.com added that the design “offer[s] a way” to “record 3D image information on a holographic recording medium, which is a photosensitive storage medium, as an interference pattern”.

Samsung filed the patent application in August 2012, with 3DPrint.com stating that “what we see is a focus on the general elements that must traditionally be present for such technology”, including the “strongly-developed light source, beam cutter, light modulator and optical system”. Noting that it would hope to “hear Samsung expound further – and more clearly – on what they are doing”, the site points out that there is “the potential for high resolution, as well as high speed” 3D prints.

The technology could also “undeniably make some huge strides in 3D printing technology”, but 3DPrint.com warns that “we may be forced to wait and see how it comes to ‘light’ in terms of a true fabrication experience shared with the public”, as “only time will tell as to whether this will be unveiled with retail fanfare, or whether it’s something Samsung plans to retain for their own internal use”.

Categories : Products and Technology

Tags : 3D printing IP Samsung