Temperature control system for 3D printer extrusion head

An extruder cooling control system comprising:

• processing circuitry;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium that includes instructions that are executable by the processing circuitry and that, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform a control of a louver of an extruder to which the processing circuitry is configured to be communicatively coupled, wherein:
• the extruder includes a motor, a filament inlet arranged for feeding filament from outside the extruder u and towards and through a nozzle arranged on a bottom end of the feed tube, a heat sink surrounding a portion of the feed tube, a heating block below the heat sink and surrounding a portion of the feed tube with the nozzle protruding out of the heating block, a heat guard surrounding at least a portion of the heating block and including one or more outlet slots, a blower with an air inlet and an air exit, a channel that is positioned below the air exit of the blower such that air flow from the air exit of the blower enters the channel and that is divided, by at least one baffle, into at least two air passages, each of the at least two air passages with its own respective inlet, a first air passage of the at least two air passages being configured to direct a portion of the air flow across the heat sink and through an outlet, and a second air passage of the at least two air passages being configured to direct another portion of the air flow towards and through the one or more outlet slots in the heat guard and across the nozzle;
• for each of at least one of the at least two air passages, the louver, which is configured to control the air flow for the at least two air passages divided by the at least one baffle, is configured to at least partially close the respective inlet to the respective air passage;
• and
• the method comprises, at least one of responsive to a sensed operating state of the extruder and based on a received input identifying a material of the filament, outputting a signal to the motor to shift a position of the louver, thereby modifying a ratio of an amount of the air flow being directed into the first air passage to an amount of the air flow being directed into the second air passage.