JP3222664U - Oil pot for 3D printer - Google Patents

Abstract

An oil pot for a 3D printer capable of imparting lubricity to a filament before entering an internal passage of a tubular guide. A flexible lubricant-impregnated body S that comes into contact with the filament F is loaded into a cylindrical body 10 having a through hole 14 into which the filament F is loosely inserted. The cylindrical body 10 is connected to the tip of the shaft body 30 provided with an attachment portion 31 for the fixed member. A slit 16 is formed in the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body 10. A notch 21 is provided in the lubricating liquid impregnated body S so that an intermediate portion of the filament F inserted through the slit 16 can be separated. [Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an oil pot for a 3D printer, and more particularly, to an oil pot for a 3D printer for imparting lubricity to a filament used as a molding resin material for a hot melt lamination type (FDM type) 3D printer.

  In an FDM 3D printer, a filament made of a thermoplastic resin as a modeling resin material fed from a cartridge is guided to the head unit, and this filament is heated while passing through the head unit and melted from the nozzle of the head unit. Discharged. In addition, the filament feed path from the cartridge to the head unit is provided with a tube-shaped guide that protects the filament and suppresses the deflection of the filament during printing (during molding operation). Is inserted through the tubular guide and guided to the head unit as described above. In this type of 3D printer, it has been found that if the filament feeding state becomes unstable, printing cannot be performed normally or it is difficult to continue printing.

On the other hand, in connection with this type of 3D printer, in the preceding example (Patent Document 1), a frictional force is generated when the filament comes into contact with the wall surface of the filament supply path, so that the filament can be smoothly supplied to the nozzle of the modeling head. There is a statement that it will disappear. In addition, in this preceding example, if the filament is cooled in the vicinity of the feed mechanism to suppress the softening or buckling of the filament due to the heat of the heater of the modeling head, the filament is smoothly supplied by the action of the feed mechanism. There is also a statement to that effect.
In another prior example (Patent Document 2), there is a description that a passage for guiding a filament to a nozzle is formed by a cylindrical barrel. Still another prior example discloses a means for increasing the effective friction between the pinch wheel and the filament to increase the modeling speed (see Patent Document 3).

JP-A-2018-86814 Japanese Patent No. 6454810 Special table 2017-530037 gazette

  As described above, in a 3D printer, when the feeding state of the filament becomes unstable, it is known that printing cannot be performed normally or it is difficult to continue printing. Therefore, as a result of repeated investigations by the inventors of the present application, in the 3D printer, the tubular guide is held in a curved shape according to its own elasticity and rigidity, and the head unit moves during printing. Along with this, the tubular guide follows and moves while deforming the curved shape, so that the contact state or frictional resistance between the wall surface of the inner passage of the tubular guide and the filament entering the inner passage of the tubular guide changes sequentially. A situation occurred, and it was speculated that this was one of the causes of unstable filament feeding. In addition, it was considered that the filament feeding state could be stabilized by improving the slipping property between the internal passage of the tubular guide and the filament.

  The present invention has been made under the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an oil pot for a 3D printer capable of imparting lubricity to a filament before entering the internal passage of a tubular guide. To do.

  The oil pot for a 3D printer according to the present invention is configured such that a filament, which is a modeling resin material discharged in a molten state from a nozzle of the head unit, is fed to the head unit through a tube-shaped guide. Used for printers. The cylinder has a cylinder through which the filament passes, and a lubricating liquid impregnated body in which a flexible material is impregnated with a lubricating liquid is loaded inside the cylinder, and 1 of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body The point is connected to the tip of the shaft body provided with the attachment portion for the fixing member.

  According to the oil pot configured in this manner, the filament passing through the inside of the cylindrical body is impregnated with a flexible lubricating liquid by installing the oil pot in the filament feed path before entering the tubular guide. The body contacts and the lubricating liquid adheres to the surface of the filament. Therefore, the lubricating liquid in which the sliding property between the wall of the inner passage of the tubular guide and the filament when the filament having the lubricating liquid on the surface passes through the inner passage of the tubular guide adheres to the surface of the filament. It is enhanced by the action of the lubricating liquid adhering to the wall surface of the internal passage of the tube-shaped guide, which helps to stabilize the filament feeding state.

  In the present invention, the cylindrical body has a cylindrical body portion and a lid portion provided on each of one end portion and the other end portion of the body portion, and the filament is allowed to play in each lid portion. It is desirable to adopt a configuration in which a through hole to be inserted is provided. According to this, since the displacement of the lubricating liquid impregnated body inside the cylinder is suppressed by the lid on the one end side of the barrel and the lid on the other end of the barrel, the filament feed movement Therefore, it is difficult for the lubricating liquid impregnated body to follow and the position of the lubricating liquid impregnated body to be biased inside the cylindrical body, so that it can be used for a long time.

  In the present invention, a slit is formed at one place in the circumferential direction of the tubular wall of the tubular body so as to extend between the through-holes and insert the intermediate portion of the filament. It is desirable to adopt a configuration in which the body is provided with a cut that can be inserted into an intermediate portion of the filament inserted through the slit. According to this, the intermediate portion of the filament can be inserted into the cylindrical body through the slit, and the filament inserted into the cylindrical body through the slit is divided into the groove of the lubricating liquid impregnated body to impregnate the lubricating liquid. Since the filament can be brought into contact with the body, the filament can quickly enter the cylinder even when the filament remains connected to the head unit of the 3D printer.

    In the present invention, one portion of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body is connected to the tip of the shaft body, and the slit is formed as the cylindrical portion from the continuous position of the shaft body on the cylindrical wall. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which a portion displaced by an angle smaller than 90 degrees in the forward direction or the reverse direction around the axis of the cylinder is selected. According to this, even if the filament swings during printing, the swinging direction of the filament is less likely to be directed to the slit forming portion of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body, which makes it difficult to pull out the filament from the slit. It ’s useful.

  In the present invention, it is desirable to employ a configuration in which the shaft body is divided into a swing shaft portion on the cylindrical wall side and a fixed shaft portion on the attachment portion side through a ball joint. In this configuration, if a ball joint in which the ball and the socket are loosely fitted is employed, the cylindrical body also swings without difficulty following the swing of the filament during printing by the action of the ball joint. Therefore, excessive force is not applied to the filament.

  As described above, according to the oil pot for a 3D printer according to the present invention, the slipperiness between the filament entering the internal passage of the tubular guide and the wall surface of the internal passage of the tubular guide is enhanced by the action of the lubricating liquid. Therefore, the filament smoothly passes through the internal passage of the tubular guide and the filament feeding state is stabilized, and as a result, normal printing can be continued for a long time.

1 is a side view of an oil pot according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of FIG. 1 is a plan view of an oil pot according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part expanded sectional view of FIG. It is a schematic perspective view of a cylinder. It is the side view which showed the oil pot P by a modification. It is explanatory drawing of the use condition of the oil pot which concerns on embodiment.

  1 is a side view of an oil pot P for a 3D printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the oil pot P, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the cylindrical body 10.

  As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, the oil pot P has a cylindrical body 10. The cylindrical body 10 is formed by a resin molded body integrally including a cylindrical body portion 11 and lid portions 12 and 13 provided on one end portion and the other end portion of the body portion 11, respectively. Yes. In the illustrated cylinder 10, the lids 12 and 13 are formed in a tapered cone shape, and have an inner diameter larger than the diameter of the filament F at the tops of the lids 12 and 13. Thus, through holes 14 and 15 into which the filament can be loosely inserted are opened. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a slit 16 extending between the through holes 14 and 15 is formed in one place in the circumferential direction of the cylinder wall of the cylinder 10 so as to be straight in a side view. The opening width of the slit 16 is larger than the diameter of the filament, and an intermediate portion of the filament can be inserted into the cylindrical body 10 through the slit 16. In this oil pot P, the lid portions 12 and 13 provided on the cylinder body 10 are formed integrally with the trunk portion 11 as shown in the drawing, but are not shown in the figure. The body lid portions 12 and 13 may be detachable from the trunk portion 11.

  A flexible lubricating liquid impregnated body S is loaded inside the cylindrical body 10. The lubricating liquid impregnated body S is formed by impregnating a lubricating liquid with a material having liquid absorbency such as sponge, glass wool, fabric, cotton, fiber aggregates such as vegetable fibers, and their hybrids. As the lubricating liquid, petroleum-based mineral oils, synthetic oils, animal and vegetable oils, and blended oils thereof can be appropriately selected and used. In the illustrated oil pot P, the lubricating liquid impregnated body S is loaded only in the internal space of the barrel portion 11 of the cylindrical body 10, and the internal spaces of the two conical lid portions 12, 13 are hollow. However, in this respect, the lubricating liquid impregnated body S may be loaded in the entire internal space of both the body portion 11 and the two lid portions 12 and 13. The flexible lubricating liquid impregnated body S can be easily obtained by injecting the lubricating liquid from the through holes 14 and 15 and the slit 16 after the flexible material is loaded into the cylindrical body 10 using the slit 16. can get.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lubricating liquid impregnated body S has a notch 21 across the entire axial length of the lubricating liquid impregnated body S in the range from the outer peripheral surface of the lubricating liquid impregnated body S to the center. The slits 21 are formed and face the slits 16 provided in the cylindrical body 10 described above. Therefore, the intermediate portion of the filament F inserted through the slit 16 can be divided into the cuts 21.

  One place in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body 10 is integrally connected to the tip end of the shaft body 30 provided with an attachment portion 31 for a fixing member such as a machine frame of a 3D printer. The shaft body 30 is divided into a swing shaft portion 35 on the cylindrical wall side and a fixed shaft portion 36 on the attachment portion 31 side through a ball joint 32. In this embodiment, the ball joint 32 includes a ball portion 33 and a socket portion 34 in which the ball portion 33 is loosely fitted. For this reason, the swing shaft portion 35 swings freely and comfortably with respect to the fixed shaft portion 36 by the action of the ball joint 32.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the usage state of the oil pot P. FIG. In FIG. 7, a machine frame 40 of the 3D printer, a horizontal guide rail 41 attached to the machine frame 40 and moved up and down as indicated by an arrow Z, and attached to the guide rail 41 and moved horizontally as indicated by an arrow X. A head unit 42 having a nozzle 46 in addition to a head unit 42, a base body 43 attached to the machine frame 40 and moved in the front-rear direction horizontally with respect to the head unit 42, and a cartridge 44 for feeding out the filament F A tubular guide 45 and the like connected to 42 are shown. In the use state of FIG. 7, the oil pot P is attached to the machine frame 40 so as to be positioned in the filament F feed path in the vicinity of the filament F fed-out start end fed from the cartridge 44. The oil pot P is attached to the machine frame 40 by, for example, attaching the attachment portion 31 to the machine frame 40 via an adhesive tape.

  As shown in FIG. 7, at the time of printing by the 3D printer, the filament F fed out from the cartridge 44 is fed to the head unit 42 through the tubular guide 45 and is discharged from the nozzle 46 of the head unit 42 in a molten state. Further, the filament F drawn out from the cartridge 44 passes through the inside of the cylindrical body 10 at a position before entering the internal passage of the tubular guide 45. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the filament F passing through the inside of the cylindrical body 10 is loosely inserted into the two through holes 14 and 15 of the cylindrical body 10, and It touches and passes through the center. For this reason, when the filament F is sent toward the head unit 42, the lubricating liquid impregnated body S comes into contact with the filament F and the lubricating liquid adheres to the surface of the filament F. When the filament F having the lubricating liquid attached to the surface passes through the internal passage of the tubular guide 45, the slippage between the wall of the internal passage of the tubular guide 45 and the filament F adheres to the surface of the filament F. It is enhanced by the action of the lubricating liquid adhering to the wall surface of the inner passage of the tube-shaped guide 45 and the lubricating liquid. Therefore, the filament F smoothly passes through the internal passage of the tubular guide 45, and the feeding state of the filament F is stabilized. Further, the swinging shaft portion 35 freely and freely swings with respect to the fixed shaft portion 36 by the action of the ball joint 32 described above, so that the cylinder 10 also swings following the swinging of the filament F during printing. No excessive force is applied to the filament F by moving. This also helps to stabilize the feeding state of the filament F. Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the fixed shaft portion 36 is lengthened and a long hole-shaped stealing hole portion 37 is provided in the middle portion in the longitudinal direction. By so doing, soft elasticity is imparted to the fixed shaft portion 36, so that the fixed shaft portion 36 also swings following the swing of the filament F during printing. Together, the feeding state of the filament F is further stabilized.

  In the oil pot P of this embodiment, when the slit 16 formed in the cylindrical body 10 and the cut 21 provided in the filament F are used, an intermediate portion of the filament F is inserted into the cylindrical body 10 through the slit 16. In addition, the filament F inserted into the cylindrical body 10 through the slit 16 can be divided into the cuts 21 of the lubricating liquid impregnated body S and brought into contact with the lubricating liquid impregnated body S. For this reason, even if the filament F remains connected to the head unit 42 of the 3D printer, there is an advantage that the filament F can be quickly entered into the cylinder 10.

  By the way, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, one place “a” of the cylinder wall of the cylinder 10 is connected to the tip of the shaft body 30, whereas the slit 16 is formed as a cylinder. A location b that is displaced 45 degrees in the positive direction (clockwise direction) around the axial line of the cylindrical body 10 from the continuous location a of the axial body 30 on the cylindrical wall of the body 10 is selected. If the slit 16 is formed at the position b on the body wall of the cylindrical body 10, even if the filament F sways to the left and right of the axis z of the shaft body 30 as indicated by the arrow R during printing, the filament The swinging direction of F is less likely to be directed to the formation portion b of the slit 16 on the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body 10, which helps to prevent the filament F from coming out of the slit 16. Further, as in the oil pot P shown in FIG. 7, the axis z (see FIG. 3) of the shaft body 30 of the oil pot P and the rotation axis of the cartridge 44 attached to the frame 40 are crossed. In the case where a filament F (filament F indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 7) having a curved bent rod protruding from the cartridge 44 to the outside of the machine frame 40 (left side in the figure) is fed out. It has been found that the formation of the slit 16 on the body wall of the cylinder 10 is the above-mentioned position b, which is particularly useful for making it difficult for the filament F to come out of the cylinder 10. The location where the slit 16 is formed is not limited to the illustrated location b. For example, the slit 16 is formed in a reverse direction (counterclockwise direction) from the continuous location a of the shaft body 30 on the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body 10 around the axis of the cylindrical body 10. ) May be displaced by 45 degrees. Further, even if it is a place other than those, select a place displaced by an angle smaller than 90 degrees in the forward direction or the reverse direction around the axis of the tubular body 10 from the continuous place a of the shaft body 30 on the tubular wall. In this case, even if the filament F sways during printing, the swinging direction of the filament F is less likely to be directed to the location where the slit 16 of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body 10 is formed. This helps to prevent the filament F from coming out of the slit 16. In FIG. 3, reference numerals c and d are attached to portions that are displaced by 90 degrees in the forward or reverse direction around the axis of the cylindrical body 10 from the continuous position a of the axial body 30 on the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body 10. .

  FIG. 6 is a side view showing an oil pot P according to a modification. In the oil pot P of the same figure, the difference from the oil pot P of the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 and 7 is that a short shaft body 30 is employed, and the mounting portion 31 The only difference is the shape. Since the other points are the same as those of the oil pot P of the embodiment, elements corresponding to those shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and FIG.

P Oil pot F Filament S Lubricating liquid impregnated body 10 Tube body 11 Body portion 12, 13 Lid portion 14, 15 Through hole 16 Slit 21 Cut 30 Shaft body 31 Mounting portion 32 Ball joint 35 Swing shaft portion 36 Fixed shaft portion 42 Head Unit 46 Nozzle 45 Tubular guide a Shaft location of shaft body b Slit formation location

Claims (5)

An oil pot for a 3D printer configured such that a filament that is a resin material for modeling discharged from a nozzle of a head unit in a molten state is fed to the head unit through a tubular guide,
The cylinder has a cylinder through which the filament passes, and a lubricating liquid impregnated body in which a flexible material is impregnated with a lubricating liquid is loaded inside the cylindrical body, and the lubricating liquid impregnated body comes into contact with the filament. An oil pot for a 3D printer, which is configured as described above, wherein one portion of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body is continuously provided at the tip of a shaft body provided with an attachment portion for a fixing member.   The cylindrical body has a cylindrical body and a lid provided on each of one end and the other end of the body, and a through hole into which the filament is loosely inserted in each lid. An oil pot for a 3D printer according to claim 1, comprising:   A slit is formed at one location in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body so as to extend between the through-holes and insert an intermediate location of the filament. The oil pot for a 3D printer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a cut is provided so that an intermediate portion of the filament inserted through the slit can be divided.   One location of the cylindrical wall of the cylindrical body is continuously provided at the tip of the shaft body, and the axial line of the cylindrical body from the continuous location of the axial body on the cylindrical wall is used as the slit forming location. 4. The oil pot for a 3D printer according to claim 3, wherein a portion displaced around 90 degrees in the forward direction or the reverse direction is selected.   5. The 3D printer according to claim 1, wherein the shaft body is divided into a swing shaft portion on the cylindrical wall side and a fixed shaft portion on the attachment portion side through a ball joint. Oil pot.

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