PodoPrinter
PodoPrinter Sole
Dutch outfit PodoPrinter has announced the launch of its Sole 3D printing system based on patented technology first brought to market by Blackbelt 3D in 2017.
The Sole machine has been developed as a plug and play, application-specific system for the production of customised insoles and is equipped with a tilted build plate for parts to be printed at angles of around 45°.
Following the launch of Blackbelt 3D, which looked to use this method of printing to ‘change the paradigms’ of Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), lead inventor Stephan Schurmann has decided to package up a solution for a single application originally developed on the larger Blackbelt platform. Working alongside colleagues at Blackbelt 3D and filament supplier ColorFabb, Schurmann has scaled down the core Blackbelt 3D printing process into a bench-top system that is designed to work with just one material in one shape for one application.
PodoPrinter is offering the Sole printer as the key part of an insole production process that sees the shape of a client's feet captured using scanning devices and pressure sensors, before a digital model is created inside the company’s ‘specialised insole’ CAD platform. Here, supporting elements, such as details that can help improve the client’s posture or performance, can also be added to the design, while shore hardnesses of between 30 to 65 can also be selected to integrate the required level of softness or stiffness. Once the design is complete, the data is sent to the Sole printer, where it will be built within two hours and ready to use without post-processing. The material used is a foaming TPU called Sole Premium developed by ColorFabb and available in a range of different colours.
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PodoPrinter
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PodoPrinter
Speaking to TCT, Schurmann explained: “We have developed this material especially for this application. It has an active foaming agent in it which means when you print, it expands, and it creates gas inside the extruder so that you’re printing not a solid material but you’re printing foam from gas and liquid plastic. Doing this, you can print very fast, very lightweight and, of course, it’s material efficient, so with one spool of material you can print about twice as much if you have the foaming technology in it and you can also print twice the speed.”
PodoPrinter believes this process will help to improve the turnaround times involved with custom insole production, while also suggesting its Sole 3D printing system, with no calibration or adjustment of the build plate required and with its enclosed printing chamber, is as easy and safe to use as a 2D paper printer. Moreover, the company has highlighted its proficiency in reducing waste when compared with traditional methods of insole manufacture.
“The standard method for making insoles is based on CNC milling and there we have [up to and around] 80% waste material,” Schurmann said. “For the Sole 3D printer, we have a very small bucket of waste material that you only do in the begging to ‘purge’ the nozzle, but [CNC] there’s a full bucket of waste material for just one insole. And they have a lot of EBA and you cannot recycle that much.”
Specifications:
- Print volume: 170 x 60 x ∞ mm
- Print head: 1.2 mm
- Printer size: 51 x 61 x 95 cm
- Printer weight: 63kg
- Machine price: €25,000 excl. VAT
- Material price: €299.75 excl. VAT
PodoPrinter’s Sole Premium material, he went onto say, can be recycled, but it is not yet possible to reuse it as filament and maintain the quality standards the company can currently reach. That is maybe something for the future, Schurmann said, with a close relationship with Blackbelt 3D and ColorFabb to remain. The three companies all share facility space, with Schurmann starting out as the COO of the material supplier before his side project became a business in Blackbelt and an application that intrigued him became this latest endeavour.
With six Sole printers already in the field, the company is now looking to establish a global network of distributors, as Blackbelt 3D has, to supply the orthopaedic industry with customised insoles. The company is also working with ColorFabb to develop a carbon-fibre reinforced material to enable the production of insoles with greater stiffness, while Schurmann wouldn’t rule out other application-specific production tools being brought to market harnessing similar technology.
“We’re actively looking for new niche applications where our technology can bring a benefit and improve the process,” he said. “Absolutely, I see this coming.”
