US Patent 9908290 Configurable printers

Three dimensional printing or additive manufacturing apparatus for creating two dimensional “slices” of a three dimensional object, with successive slices built up in the third dimension to form the three dimensional object. The printing apparatus may include selectable or interchangeable print head apparatus to support multiple modes of slice formation. To facilitate multiple formation methods the apparatus may include multiple interchangeable build surfaces, preferably having common physical interface features for ease of swapping, and otherwise having differing characteristics as appropriate for the individual formation or building modes.