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document are registered trademarks of Zortrax and are subject to legal protection.
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Zortrax 3D Printing Technology Glossary
EXTRUDER
the mechanism which ensures material feeding, heating and extruding as well as cooling
of the print. Its main components include the hotend and the nozzle. The material is
melted in the hotend, and then pushed through it until it exits the nozzle. The melted
thermoplastic is deposited layer by layer to form a predesigned shape. Additionally, there
are three fans on the extruder: one which cools the whole mechanism and two which
cool the print.
EXTRUDER CABLE
the ribbon cable which connects the extruder with the motherboard. It supplies the extru-
der with electricity and allows the motherboard to regulate the printing process.
FIRMWARE
the software programmed into Zortrax printers, which controls and monitor all the
data in the device. It also gives the possibility to enable/disable the printer’s functions.
HOTEND
an essential heating system which consists of an aluminum block and a heater & ther-
mocouple. The hotend is responsible for heating and melting the material as well as for
ensuring the proper temperature of the material during the whole printing process. In
addition, the hotend is less likely to become dirty thanks to the teflon cover.
LPD (LAYER PLASTIC DEPOSITION) / FFF
a technology in which a melted material is deposited on a surface. This technique involves
applying one layer of material after another in order to accurately form a computer-desi-
gned shape. This technology is used by Zortrax devices - the printer starts to print from
the bottom and builds the object until it is fully formed. The model and the support struc-
tures are created using the same material.
MATERIAL ENDSTOP
the device placed at the back of the printer, which detects the presence of material and
reacts when it runs out. If during the printing process a spool of material is finished, the
material endstop will automatically make the printer pause the printing and allow the user
to load new material.
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