Continuous printing on a conveyor belt

Belt printers: true continuous printing, hands-free

Belt printers are built for non-stop printing - the part rides the conveyor belt and rolls off on its own. Pair one with SimplyPrint AutoPrint and your queued jobs print back-to-back with nothing to clear by hand.

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Infinite Z, zero clearing cycle, fully queued

A belt printer has no fixed-height bed - the print surface is a moving conveyor, so the Z axis is effectively endless. Each finished part rolls off the end of the belt while the printer keeps going, which means there is no separate clearing routine to run. With SimplyPrint AutoPrint, you queue jobs back-to-back and the belt prints them one after another, completely hands-off.

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What is a belt printer?

Infinite Z, continuous by design

A belt printer (also called an infinite-Z or conveyor printer) is a 3D printer whose print bed is a moving conveyor belt instead of a fixed plate. The belt is angled, and as the print grows it slowly advances - so the Z axis is effectively unlimited and you can print parts longer than the machine itself.

Because the part travels along the belt and rolls off the end on its own once it is finished, there is no separate clearing cycle to run. The next job simply starts behind it. That is what makes belt printers truly continuous - and a perfect fit for SimplyPrint AutoPrint, which keeps feeding the belt from your print queue without anyone touching the machine.

How to run a belt printer in SimplyPrint

Once your belt printer is connected, getting it cycling through jobs in AutoPrint takes three steps.

1. Connect your belt printer

Add your CR-30, IR3, iFactory One or other belt printer to SimplyPrint like any other printer, then enable AutoPrint on it.

2. Pick the belt method

Choose the belt-printer clearing method for that printer. There is no clearing cycle to configure - the part rolls off on its own, so AutoPrint just moves straight to the next job.

3. Queue jobs and walk away

Send jobs to the print queue. AutoPrint starts a job, the finished part rolls off the belt, and the next queued job begins automatically - back-to-back, hands-off.

How a belt printer runs continuously

The part rolls off, the belt keeps going

As the print finishes it advances along the angled belt and drops off the end on its own. There is no plate to swap and no clearing routine - SimplyPrint AutoPrint simply starts the next queued job, so the line keeps cycling with no clearing cycle.

Works with these printers

This method works with belt and conveyor printers (infinite Z), including the Creality CR-30, IdeaFormer IR3 and iFactory One. If a machine prints onto a moving conveyor belt and lets the finished part roll off the end, AutoPrint can drive it.

Running a farm of belt printers? AutoPrint can feed every one of them from a single SimplyPrint print queue, so the whole line keeps cycling without manual hand-offs.

Nothing extra to buy or fit

Belt printers are made for continuous printing out of the box, so there is no add-on hardware, plate swapper or ejector arm to install. The belt itself does the clearing.

To run it hands-free, you only need your belt printer connected to SimplyPrint, AutoPrint enabled on it, and the belt-printer method selected. From there the print queue does the rest.

Read the belt-printer setup guide

Plan access: what plan do I need?

AutoPrint is included on Pro as 1 license (up to 5 total). Print Farm, Enterprise and Education include unlimited AutoPrint licenses. The belt-printer method itself is built in - you only need an AutoPrint license to drive your printer hands-free.

Feature / Limit Free Basic Pro Print Farm Enterprise School Cloud Slicer Filament Manager
AutoPrint licenses
One license drives one belt printer running continuously from the queue.
1 included
Up to 5 total · $3/mo per extra license

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Frequently asked questions

It works with belt and conveyor (infinite-Z) printers such as the Creality CR-30, IdeaFormer IR3 and iFactory One. Any printer that prints onto a moving conveyor belt and lets the finished part roll off the end is a good fit.
No. The belt-printer method is built into SimplyPrint AutoPrint, and a belt printer clears itself by design - there is no plate swapper or ejector to add. You only need an AutoPrint license to run your printer hands-free.
On a normal printer you wait for each print to finish, remove the part and start the next job by hand. A belt printer never stops: the part rides the conveyor and rolls off on its own, so there is no clearing cycle at all. AutoPrint just moves straight to the next queued job.
Yes. AutoPrint pulls jobs straight from your SimplyPrint print queue. The moment one print rolls off the belt, AutoPrint starts the next queued job, so a full queue runs through back-to-back without you touching the printer.
As many as your queue holds. Because the belt clears itself and AutoPrint immediately starts the next job, the printer keeps cycling through the queue until it is empty. Run it within sight and within your own safety judgement, as you would any unattended print.

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