The reprap ormerod is using an infra-red sensor for bed levelling, so no contact force. http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/3d-printers/7952333/ http://uk.rs-online.c

The reprap ormerod is using an infra-red sensor for bed levelling, so no contact force. http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/3d-printers/7952333/ http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/3d-printers/7952333/ There was a nice bed levelling project I saw on hackaday a couple of years ago that was cool as well, I think their method isn't covered by this patent either - http://hackaday.com/2012/04/23/automated-bed-leveling-with-our-3d-printer/ http://hackaday.com/2012/04/23/automated-bed-leveling-with-o... Also, the idea of bed leveling using contact force and other methods was discussed in the reprap forums at least as far back as January 2008 - http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?1,8028 http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?1,8028