3D printing technology, Who invented it?

It is not new to mention 3D printing technology now. But when it comes to the world's first 3D printer, there are very few that can answer it. 3D printing has appeared more than 30 years ago. It wasn't until Mr. Charles (Chuck) Hull in the United States produced the first commercial printer.

  3D printing integrates digital modeling technology, electromechanical control technology, information technology, material science and chemistry and many other frontier technical knowledge, with a high technological content.

At that time, it was not called "3D printing". Hull named this machine "SLA-1" and described its function as rapid prototyping. Hull invented it to shorten the time required to create product prototypes. At that time, disposable molds were used. The process takes about 6-8 weeks. So such a machine that could print out parts in just a few hours was definitely a major breakthrough in the manufacturing industry at that time.

In order to reward his contributions in the field of 3D printing, Hull was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Alexandria, Virginia, and is among the great inventors in history. It should be pointed out that Hull co-created the STL file format while inventing the stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing technology. Today, the STL file has become the most common 3D printing file format.

The content of 3D printing technology covers all printing processes, technologies, equipment categories and applications related to "rapid prototyping" in the early part of the product life cycle and "rapid manufacturing" in the full generation cycle. The continuous progress and development of technology has also reduced the cost of 3D printers, allowing 3D printing enthusiasts to buy one for their own use.

In our opinion, 3D printing may be just a tool that can help us improve efficiency, but its power is far more than that. FLSUN believes that with the development of the times, 3D printing will definitely print anything we want!