Heating and cooling of extrusion tool for additive manufacturing

A method comprising:

• identifying a first point in a manufacturing process when an extrusion tool will be mounted on a carriage and in position to extrude material in a build space;
• determining a second point, which precedes the first point in the manufacturing process, when the extrusion tool will be located on a rack, wherein a time between the second point and the first point in the manufacturing process is determined in accordance with the material to be extruded by the extrusion tool;
• and
• triggering a heating device to begin pre-heating the extrusion tool at the second point before mounting of the extrusion tool to the carriage, such that the material in the extrusion tool is melted by the first point in the manufacturing process;
• triggering a cooling device to reduce a temperature of the extrusion tool when the extrusion tool is relocated on the rack after use of the extrusion tool in the manufacturing process;
• identifying a third point after the first point in the manufacturing process when use of the extrusion tool will end and the extrusion tool will be relocated on the rack;
• determining a fourth point, which succeeds the third point in the manufacturing process, when the extrusion tool will be relocated on the rack, wherein a time between the third point and the fourth point in the manufacturing process is determined in accordance with the material extruded by the extrusion tool and the temperature of the extrusion tool during the material extrusion;
• and
• operating the cooling device until the fourth point in the manufacturing process to reduce the temperature of the extrusion tool;
• wherein determining the fourth point comprises repeatedly recalculating a cooling equation using actively collected temperature measurements.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoding instructions that cause a data processing apparatus associated with a three dimensional (3D) printer system to perform operations comprising:

• identifying a first point in a manufacturing process when an extrusion tool will be mounted on a carriage and in position to extrude material in a build space;
• determining a second point, which precedes the first point in the manufacturing process, when the extrusion tool will be located on a rack, wherein a time between the second point and the first point in the manufacturing process is determined in accordance with the material to be extruded by the extrusion tool;
• and
• triggering a heating device to begin pre-heating the extrusion tool at the second point before mounting of the extrusion tool to the carriage, such that the material in the extrusion tool is melted by the first point in the manufacturing process;
• triggering a cooling device to reduce a temperature of the extrusion tool when the extrusion tool is relocated on the rack after use of the extrusion tool in the manufacturing process;
• identifying a third point after the first point in the manufacturing process when use of the extrusion tool will end and the extrusion tool will be relocated on the rack;
• determining a fourth point, which succeeds the third point in the manufacturing process, when the extrusion tool will be relocated on the rack, wherein a time between the third point and the fourth point in the manufacturing process is determined in accordance with the material extruded by the extrusion tool and the temperature of the extrusion tool during the material extrusion;
• and
• operating the cooling device until the fourth point in the manufacturing process to reduce the temperature of the extrusion tool;
• wherein determining the fourth point comprises repeatedly recalculating a cooling equation using actively collected temperature measurements.