KR102232492B1 - Multifilament selection and supplying device for fdm type 3d printer using single extruder - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM-type 3D printer using a single extruder, capable of increasing price competitiveness and shortening a product production period. According to the present invention, the multifilament selection and supply device for the FDM-type 3D printer using the single extruder includes: a frame part; a material transport guide unit; a filament; a material selection motor; a lead screw; a nut part; a block body; a material supply transport motor; a rotating shaft part; a material transport gear; a material selection concavo-convex guide; and a material selection roller.

Description

Multifilament selection and supply device for FDM type 3D printer using single extruder {MULTIFILAMENT SELECTION AND SUPPLYING DEVICE FOR FDM TYPE 3D PRINTER USING SINGLE EXTRUDER}

The present invention relates to a multifilament selection and supply device for a 3D printer, and more particularly, to a multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder.

Among 3D printers, the FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) method is a method in which plastic materials such as ABS and PLA are melted and sprayed from a nozzle to be laminated. The advantage of the FDM method is that the device and materials are cheaper, expandable, and the configuration is relatively simple compared to other 3D printer methods, and it is a 3D printer method that occupies the most part in the market from early on.

US Patent No. 9669586 as shown in FIG. 1A is a material supply device for the use of a plurality of materials, and is a material supply device for an FDM type 3D printer provided with a transfer motor as many as the number of materials to use a plurality of materials.

However, the FDM type 3D printer has as many motors as the number of materials installed to transport the materials used for printing, which acts as a factor of increasing product cost, and it is difficult to maintain and maintain due to the complicated structure. There is a disadvantage in that it requires the addition of a control interface for control and a motor driver component due to the modified motor.

In addition, the addition of a relatively large motor among 3D printer parts should increase the overall size of the 3D printer or limit the number of materials that can be used for miniaturization of the overall size. There is a disadvantage in that an additional extruder bundle structure is required.

As another prior art, U.S. Patent Publication No. 20150140147A1 as shown in FIG. 1B is a 3D printer equipped with a plurality of extruders for melting and discharging a plurality of materials as a material extrusion apparatus for use of a plurality of materials.

However, the above extruder requires a bundle of extruders such as heaters and temperature sensors as many as the number of materials to melt, and a plurality of extruder bundles including an extruder, heater, temperature sensor and nozzle must be added to melt the material at high temperature. As a structure for selecting materials, the extruder bundle selection structure is attached to the circular disk, so that the circular disk rotates and feeds the material.There is a disadvantage that an additional interface such as the addition of a disk structure and control of a rotation motor for rotating the disk is required. .

In addition, when using a bunch of nozzles, the height difference between the nozzles inevitably occurs due to the manufacturing process or parts replacement. This can cause a collision with the printout during printing, resulting in print failure, and only a slight error occurs when rotating the disk. Problems may occur during material transfer, resulting in deterioration of the quality of the printout and may lead to output failure.The use of multiple individual extruders for temperature control increases the amount of power used by the heater, and an accident occurs when the heater and temperature sensor are abnormal. There is a problem that it increases.

As another prior art, Korean Patent No. 1430583 as shown in FIG. 1C is a multi-material feeder using two motors and a plurality of cams for an FDM type 3D printer. , A structure such as a spring is provided.

However, this device has a disadvantage in that the structure is complicated because a number of cams, springs, handles, etc. are used as a mechanism for material selection, and the frequency of failures due to wear or separation of individual instruments increases due to the use of a number of instruments.

The present invention was conceived to solve the problems of the prior art, and the present invention minimizes the use of an additional motor for material transfer, lowers the unit cost, realizes the miniaturization of the 3D printer, and minimizes the number of parts for motor control. It maintains low cost and simplifies the process for maintenance, reduces the cost by minimizing the use of extruder bundles for material ejection to one, lowers the power use for material melting, minimizes the frequency of failures, and cam for material selection. In order to simplify the structure of the handle, spring, etc., the material transfer motor and its parts directly move to implement a structure that can compress and transfer materials, thereby minimizing the mechanisms such as cams, handles, and springs that must be used as many as the number of materials. Its purpose is to provide a multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder that reduces the frequency of occurrence and facilitates maintenance.

In the device for selecting and supplying filaments for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention to achieve the above object is installed in an FDM type 3D printer to select and supply a filament, the 3D printer A frame part installed on the body of the frame, a material transfer guide part provided in the frame part, and a plurality of filaments whose installation location and transfer direction are determined by the material transfer guide part are installed so as to be spaced apart from each other in the left and right directions. A filament, a single material selection motor fixed to the frame part, and a lead screw that extends in a left and right direction by combining with the material selection motor, and rotates forward or reverse when the material selection motor is operated, and the lead screw A nut part that is penetrated by and the inner circumferential surface is screwed with the outer circumferential surface of the lead screw so that when the lead screw rotates, the nut part moves linearly in the left and right direction, and the nut part is integrally combined with the nut part to move linearly in the left and right direction with the nut part A single material supplying transfer motor coupled with the motor block body and the transfer motor block body and moving in the left and right direction together with the transfer motor block body, and the material supplying transfer motor are combined to extend in the left and right directions. , When the material supply transfer motor is operated, the material transfer gear is selected from among the filaments as a single material transfer gear integrally coupled with a rotation shaft portion that rotates forward or reverse and the rotation shaft portion is rotated. And a material transfer gear for transferring the selected filament by moving to the position of one of the filaments and then rotating the material transfer gear while pressing the selected filament.

In addition, it is preferable to include an upper plate portion and a lower plate portion installed at an interval between the upper and lower plates, and a support plate portion connecting the upper plate portion and the lower plate portion vertically.

In addition, a plurality of material transfer bearings are rotatably installed at intervals in the left and right directions on the support plate portion of the frame part, and the material transfer bearings are installed to correspond one-to-one with the filaments, and the material transfer gear is selected for the filament. It is preferable that the selected filament is sandwiched between the material transfer gear and the material transfer bearing when rotated while pressed.

In addition, the convex and convex portions formed at the edge of the frame portion are rotatably coupled to the material selection concave-convex guide and the transfer motor block body portion formed by repeatedly crossing the convex portion and the concave-convex guide for material selection when moving in the left and right direction. The material selection roller further comprises a material selection roller configured to move while passing over the irregularities formed in the material selection irregularity guide in a close contact, and when the material selection roller is located in the concave portion of the material selection irregularity guide, the material When the transfer gear is in close contact with the filament and the material selection roller is located in the convex portion of the material selection uneven guide, it is preferable that the material transfer gear is configured to be separated from the filament.

In addition, among the transfer motor block body parts, the material selection roller and the material supply transfer motor are combined and the remaining parts of the transfer motor block body are configured to be spaced apart or reduced, and an elastic member between them Is installed, and when the material selection roller is located in the convex portion of the uneven guide, the elastic member expands and the material transfer gear is separated from the filament, and the material selection roller is disposed with the concave portion of the uneven guide. When moving to a corresponding position, it is preferable that the material selection roller is inserted into the concave portion of the uneven guide by the contracting force of the elastic member so that the material transfer gear is in close contact with the filament.

In addition, it is preferable that a groove is recessed so that the filament can be inserted into an outer circumferential surface of a portion of the material transfer gear that contacts the filament.

In addition, a plurality of conveying tubes that serve as a conveying passage for the filaments supplied according to the rotation of the material conveying gear, and each end of which is connected to the frame by different positions, and a plurality of conveying tubes are connected to all of the plurality of conveying tubes. A single multi-tube combiner for collecting the outlet of the conveying tube in one place, a single single tube for guiding the material discharged from the multi-tube combiner, and a single heater and temperature connected to the outlet of the single tube It is preferred to further comprise a single extruder bundle with sensors.

As described above, according to the multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention, the conventional modules using a variety of materials have a complex structure by adding motors or extruder bundle mechanisms as many as the number of materials. On the other hand, in the present invention, various colors and materials can be used using only a minimum number of parts, and due to a simplified and optimized structure, manufacturing and production costs can be lowered, and supply prices can be lowered. Competitiveness can be increased, and the parts production process can be simplified, which can shorten the product production period.Simplified material selection and supply mechanism structure are applied to minimize the cause of problems by using a small number of parts, making maintenance easier. The extruder bundle for melting and extruding materials is simplified into one, so that the material cost for the extruder bundle is reduced and maintenance is easy, and the use of one extruder bundle makes it possible to occur due to the difference in nozzle height when using multiple nozzles. It has the advantage of preventing output quality degradation and output failure.

1A to 1C are perspective views showing a 3D printer using a variety of materials according to the prior art.
2 and 3 are perspective views showing a multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention.
Figure 4 is a rear view showing a multi-filament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention.
5 is a bottom view showing a multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention.
6 is a partial perspective view of a multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figures 2 and 3 are perspective views of the device according to the invention, Figure 4 is a rear view of the device according to the invention, Figure 5 is a bottom view of the device according to the invention, Figure 6 is a transfer motor block of the device according to the invention Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a multi-tube combiner of the device according to the present invention, and Fig. 8 is a state diagram of use of the device according to the present invention.

The multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention includes a frame part 100, a material transfer bearing 121, a material selection motor 300, a lead screw 310, a nut part ( 400), transfer motor block body part 500, material selection roller 510, elastic member 520, material supply transfer motor 600, rotation shaft part 610, material transfer gear 700, multi-tube (800), a multi-tube combiner (900), a single tube (1000), it is configured to include an extruder bundle (1100).

The frame portion 100 is configured to include an upper plate portion 110a, a lower plate portion 110b, and a support plate portion 120.

The upper plate portion 110a and the lower plate portion 110b are plate-shaped members that extend widely in the horizontal direction, and the upper plate portion 110a and the lower plate portion 110b are positioned in equilibrium with an interval from each other up and down.

Material selection uneven guides 112a and 112b are formed at the rear edge of each of the upper plate portion 110a and the lower plate portion 110b. The material selection uneven guides 112a and 112b refer to a structure formed by repeatedly intersecting the convex portion and the concave portion while going in a straight left and right direction, and thereby, the concave portion is configured to be positioned at regular intervals.

The support plate portion 120 is a wall that is vertically erected to connect the upper plate portion 110a and the lower plate portion 110b, and the support plate portion 120 is the rear wall of the frame portion 100 on which the material transfer bearing 121 is installed. The material selection motor 300 is installed and includes a left side wall and a right side wall of the frame unit 100 supporting the leadscrew 310.

A plurality of material transfer guides 111a and 111b, which are holes formed through the upper plate portion 110a and the rear end portion of the lower plate portion 110b, are formed at regular intervals along a straight left and right direction. The material transfer guide portions 111a and 111b are formed as many as the number of multifilaments 200. The reason why three circular holes are formed per material transfer guide (111a, 111b) is that the middle hole among the three holes is a hole through which one of the transfer tubes 800 passes, and the holes on both sides of the hole fix the transfer tube 800. It is a hole for fastening the screw for

In the case of this embodiment, the filaments 200 are five types of filaments having different colors, so there are a total of five transfer tubes 800, which are the transfer paths of the filaments 200, and the five transfer tubes 800 are in the left and right directions. It is installed at intervals along the line, and each transfer tube 800 is installed at the rear portion of the frame unit 100 so as to extend long in the vertical direction.

The material transfer bearing 121 is a member of a roller structure that is rotatably installed on the support plate 120, and is installed in a plurality at intervals along the left and right directions, one filament 200 for each position corresponding to the installation position of the filament 200. ) Are installed.

The transfer tube 800 is fixed to the frame portion 100 while passing through the material transfer guide portions 111a and 111b of the upper plate portion 110a and the lower plate portion 110b, and the filament 200 is inside the transfer tube 800 Passing by.

As a part immediately behind the material transfer bearing 121, in the front part of the material transfer gear 700, the transfer tube 800 is cut up and down by a certain length and removed, so the filament 200 is removed from the part where the transfer tube 800 is removed. It is not surrounded by the transfer tube 800 and is exposed to the outside as it is.

The transfer tube 800 is removed between the upper plate portion 110a and the lower plate portion 110b so that the filament 200 fits simultaneously with the material transfer gear 700 and the material transfer bearing 121 at the portion where the filament 200 is exposed. In this case, the filament 200 enters the groove 710 of the material transfer gear 700, so that the filament 200 transfer action is stably performed according to the rotation of the material transfer gear 700.

One material selection motor 300 is provided and is fixedly installed on the support plate 120 of the frame 100.

The leadscrew 310 is coupled with the rotation center of the material selection motor 300 and extends in the left and right direction and rotates forward or reverse by the operation of the material selection motor 300.

The nut part 400 is penetrated by the leadscrew 310 and the inner circumferential surface is screwed with the outer circumferential surface of the leadscrew 310 to linearly move in the left or right direction according to the direction in which the leadscrew 310 rotates.

The transfer motor block body portion 500 is integrally coupled with the nut portion 400 between the upper plate portion 110a and the lower plate portion 110b of the frame portion 100 to move in the left and right direction with the nut portion 400 It consists of a first part of the negative and a second part of the rear part that is integrally combined with the material supplying transfer motor 600 and moves in the left and right direction together with the material supplying transfer motor 600.

The first part and the second part of the transfer motor block body part 500 are connected to each other by a fitting structure so that when the first part moves in the left and right direction, the second part also forms a mass together with the first part. It moves, but it has a structure connected so that it can flow a certain distance in the forward and backward direction.

More specifically, the first part and the second part are interconnected by an elastic member 520 which is a plurality of coil springs extending in a forward and backward direction, so that the second part is in the front and rear direction with respect to the first part. It is configured to be able to move elastically within a certain range.

One transfer motor 600 for material supply is provided and is fixedly installed on the second part of the transfer motor block body 500 to move in the left and right directions together with the transfer motor block body 500.

The rotation shaft part 610 is coupled with the rotation center of the material supplying transfer motor 600 and extends in the left and right direction, and rotates forward or reverse according to the operating direction of the material supplying transfer motor 600.

The material transfer gear 700 is integrally coupled with one end of the rotation shaft 610 to provide one, and when it is in contact with the filament 200 and rotates forward by the operation of the material supply transfer motor 600, the filament ( 200) is transferred to supply the selected filament 200 to the multi-tube combiner 900, and when the filament 200 is rotated in reverse to replace the filament 200, the previously supplied filament 200 is transferred in the opposite direction to bundle the extruder. It serves to retreat the filament 200 that has reached up to 1100 to the transfer tube 800.

A groove 710 is formed around the outer circumferential surface of a portion of the material transfer gear 700 in contact with the filament 200 so that the filament 200 can be inserted.

Material selection rollers 510 are installed so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis, one at the upper end of the second part of the transfer motor block body 500 and one at the lower end of the transfer motor block body 500. When moving in the left-right direction together with the part 500, it is configured to move while passing over the irregularities formed in the material selection irregularities guides 112a and 112b in a state in close contact with the material selection irregularities guides 112a and 112b.

When the material selection roller 510 is located in the concave portion of the material selection uneven guides 112a, 112b, the material transfer gear 700 is in close contact with the filament 200 by the pulling force of the elastic member 520, When the material selection roller 510 is located in the convex portion of the material selection uneven guides 112a and 112b, the elastic member 520 is configured to expand and the material transfer gear 700 is separated from the filament 200.

The reason why the material transfer gear 700 is configured to move while slightly moving back and forth when the material transfer gear 700 moves from side to side is because the filament 200 is slightly inserted into the groove 710 of the material transfer gear 700 so that the material is intact in this state. This is because when the transfer gear 700 moves left and right, the material transfer gear 700 may hit the filament 200 and the filament 200 may be broken or damaged. Therefore, the material selection roller 510 rides over the irregularities of the material selection irregularities guides 112a and 112b so that the material transfer gear 700 can move forward only when the filament 200 is pressed.

The conveying tube 800 is a conveying passage for the filaments 200 supplied according to the rotation of the material conveying gear 700, and is provided with as many as the number of filaments 200, each end of which is a different material conveying guide part 111a, While passing through 111b), it is connected to the frame unit 100 by varying its position.

One multi-tube combiner 900 is provided, and one end of all of the plurality of conveying tubes 800 is inserted into the interior of the multi-tube combiner 900 so that the outlet of the plurality of conveying tubes 800 is It consists of gathering in places.

One single tube 1000 is provided, and guides the movement of the filament 200 as a conveying passage for one filament 200 discharged from the multi-tube combiner 900.

The extruder bundle 1100 is provided with one, is connected to the outlet of the single tube 1000 and has a single heater and a temperature sensor to melt and discharge the filament 200.

The operation of the multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention configured as described above will be described as follows.

Similar to a general CNC, 3D printers are positioned based on the X,Y values given by a motor driver, melt the plastic material called filament at high temperature, extrude the material through an extruder with a nozzle, and additionally use the Z value one by one. It is a device that is stacked and stacked.

Unlike a 3D printer that usually uses one or two materials, the present invention is designed to use multiple materials and is configured to extrude a desired color or various materials.

The operation sequence is to first insert various materials into the inlet at the bottom of the transfer tube 800, and then move the X, Y, Z motors according to the X, Y, Z values of the G code for 3D printer, and transfer the filament specified in the G code. It passes through the tube 800, the multi-tube combiner 900, and the single tube 1000 in order to the extruder bundle 1100, passes through a high-temperature heater, and extrudes through a nozzle.

When the filament 200 needs to be replaced, the used filament passes through the extruder bundle (1100), the single tube (1000), and the multi-tube combiner (900) in order, and retreats to the transfer tube (800), and the filament (200) to be supplied next. ) Is transferred until it is inserted into the extruder bundle 1100 again.

At this time, the filament 200, which was held between the material transfer bearing 121 and the material transfer gear 700, which was just used for replacement of the filament 200, is retracted by the rotation of the material supply transfer motor 600, and then the material is selected. When the lead screw 310 is rotated by operating the motor 300, the transfer motor block body 500 and the parts coupled thereto move along the material selection uneven guides 112a and 112b to move the material to the next selected filament 200. After positioning the transfer gear 700, the selected filament 200 is transferred and inserted up to the extruder bundle 1100.

The filaments 220 that are not used when the material is replaced retreat to the transfer tube 800, which is the rear end of the multi-tube combiner 900 and waits. The multi-tube combiner 900 has a funnel-shaped internal structure as shown in FIG. 7 so that the materials of the five conveying tubes 800 move smoothly to the single tube 1000.

As described above, the present invention has been described only for preferred specific examples, but it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and modifications within the scope of the present invention based on the above specific examples are possible. And it is natural that the modifications belong to the appended claims.

100: frame portion 110a: upper plate portion
110b: lower plate portion 111a, 111b: material transfer guide portion
112a, 112b: material selection uneven guide 120: support plate
121: material transfer bearing 200: filament
300: material selection motor 310: lead screw
400: nut part 500: transfer motor block body part
510: material selection roller 520: elastic member
600: feed motor for material supply 610: rotating shaft part
700: material transfer gear 710: groove
800: transfer tube 900: multi-tube combiner
1000: single tube 1100: bundle of extruders

Claims (7)

In the device installed in the FDM type 3D printer to select and supply filaments,
A frame portion installed on the body of the 3D printer;
A material transfer guide provided on the frame portion;
A plurality of filaments whose installation positions and transfer directions are determined by the material transfer guide, and are spaced apart from each other in left and right directions;
A single material selection motor fixed to the frame portion;
A lead screw coupled with the material selection motor and extending in a left and right direction, and rotating forward or reverse when the material selection motor is operated;
A nut portion which is penetrated by the leadscrew and has an inner peripheral surface screwed to the outer peripheral surface of the leadscrew, so that when the leadscrew rotates, the nut part moves linearly in a left and right direction;
A transfer motor block body integrally coupled with the nut portion to move linearly in the left-right direction together with the nut portion;
A single material supply transfer motor coupled to the transfer motor block body portion and moving in a left and right direction together with the transfer motor block body portion;
A rotation shaft portion coupled with the material supplying transfer motor and extending in a left and right direction, and rotating forward or reversely when the material supplying transfer motor is operated;
As a single material transfer gear integrally coupled with the rotation shaft part, the material transfer gear is moved to a position of the selected one of the filaments by rotation of the lead screw, and then the material transfer gear is selected. A single material transfer gear for transferring the selected filament by rotating while pressing the filament;
A concave-convex guide for selecting a material formed by repeatedly crossing the convex portion and the concave portion formed at the edge of the frame portion; And
Includes a material selection roller configured to rotatably be coupled to the transfer motor block body part, and to move while moving over the irregularities formed in the material selection irregularities guide while in close contact with the material selection irregularities guide when moving in the left and right direction. Is composed of
Of the transfer motor block body, the material selection roller and the material supply transfer motor are combined and the rest of the transfer motor block body is configured to be spaced apart or reduced, and an elastic member is installed therebetween. Because
When the material selection roller is located in the convex portion of the uneven guide, the elastic member expands and the material transfer gear is separated from the filament,
When the material selection roller moves to a position corresponding to the concave portion of the concave-convex guide, the material selection roller is inserted into the concave portion of the concave-convex guide by the contracting force of the elastic member, so that the material transfer gear is in close contact with the filament. Multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder, characterized in that it is configured to be. The method of claim 1,
The frame part,
A multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder, comprising: an upper plate portion and a lower plate portion installed at an interval between the upper and lower plates, and a support plate portion connecting the upper plate portion and the lower plate portion vertically. The method of claim 2,
A plurality of material transfer bearings are installed rotatably at intervals in the left and right directions on the support plate portion of the frame part, the material transfer bearings are installed to correspond to the filaments one-to-one, and the material transfer gear is pressed down the selected filament. FDM type 3D printer multi-filament selection and supply device using a single extruder, characterized in that the filament selected when rotated in is fitted between the material transfer gear and the material transfer bearing. delete delete The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
FDM type 3D printer multi-filament selection and supply device using a single extruder, characterized in that the groove is depressed so that the filament can be inserted into the outer circumferential surface of a portion of the material transfer gear in contact with the filament. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A plurality of conveying tubes which serve as conveying passages for the filaments supplied according to the rotation of the material conveying gear, and each end thereof is connected to the frame in different positions;
A single multi-tube combiner connected to all of the plurality of conveying tubes so that the outlets of the plurality of conveying tubes are gathered in one place;
A single single tube guiding the material discharged from the multi-tube combiner; And
Multi-filament selection and supply device for FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder, characterized in that the configuration further comprises a single extruder bundle connected to the outlet of the single tube and having a single heater and a temperature sensor.

Images