KR20190007637A - Apparatus for recycling 3D printer filament - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for reproducing a filament discarded after being used in a 3D printer, comprising: a main body (10) having a space for storing the filament; a feeding means for classifying and feeding the filament on the main body (10); a molding means for crushing, melting, pressing, and wrapping the fed filament; and a control means for controlling the feeding means and the molding means. Therefore, the present invention is effective in classifying the filament discarded in the 3D printer on the basis of a comparatively thin and simple structure of a desktop type and to reproduce a processed filament through each set process, thereby being environmentally friendly.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a filament regenerating apparatus for a 3D printer,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filament regenerating apparatus for a 3D printer, and more particularly, to a filament regenerating apparatus for a 3D printer for recycling a filament discarded in a 3D printer on the basis of a relatively thin and compact structure.

While the domestic 3D printer technology is showing gradual growth, the demand for filament is more than 98%. In recent years, corn starch-type filaments, coffee-type filaments, and wood-type filaments have appeared in consideration of the environmental friendliness of 3D printer filaments. On the other hand, in the 3D printer output, in addition to the final output, the parts where the support and the support are removed are not clean, so that a failure is calculated. Regeneration of such waste filament is also recognized as a method for enhancing environmental friendliness.

As prior art documents which can be referred to in this connection, there are known Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2015-0096078 (Prior Document 1) and Korean Patent Registration No. 1679322 (Prior Document 2).

In the prior art 1, there are provided a receiving portion for accommodating the manufactured thermoplastic product, a heating portion for heating the receiving portion to melt the product, a pressing portion for pressing the receiving space to push the melted product through the outlet, and a power supply for operating the pressing portion. . Therefore, the waste product is collected and melted and regenerated as a filament, thereby minimizing the consumption cost of the filament.

The prior art document 2 discloses a waste plastic raw material supply unit including a loading part, a crushing unit for crushing and receiving a waste plastic raw material of PET material to form a crushed chip, an extruding unit for melting and extruding the filament, And includes a take-up winding unit. As a result, waste plastic is used for regeneration, and an effect of implementing an environmentally friendly function is expected.

However, according to the above-mentioned prior art documents, there is room for improvement in terms of improving the usability in small and medium sized manufacturing sites using 3D printers.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2015-0096078 entitled "filament regenerating device for 3D printer" (published on Aug. 25, 2015). Korean Patent Publication No. 1679322 entitled " Device for manufacturing filament for 3D printer using waste plastics "(Open date: December 6, 2016)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide filament regenerating apparatus for a 3D printer, which regenerates filaments discarded in a 3D printer based on relatively small- Device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus for regenerating filaments after being used in a 3D printer, the apparatus comprising: a body having a space for storing the filaments; Feeding means for classifying and feeding filaments on the main body; Molding means for crushing, melting, extruding, and winding the fed filament; And control means for controlling the feeding stage and the forming means.

In the detailed construction of the present invention, the main body is provided with a plurality of reservoirs for separately storing resin filaments including ABS, and other filaments including PLA.

In the detailed construction of the present invention, the feeding means is characterized by comprising a material detector for detecting the composition and color of the filament, and a water amount detector for detecting the stored amount of the filament.

As a detailed configuration of the present invention, the molding means is characterized by further comprising a physical property adjuster for causing a change in physical properties of the melter, the extruder, or the filaments therebetween.

According to a detailed configuration of the present invention, the control means performs intermittent or continuous processes of the feeding means and the molding means in accordance with the selection through the operation portion of the controller.

As described above, according to the present invention, filaments discarded in a 3D printer are classified based on a comparatively thin and simple structure of a desktop type, and are reproduced through a predetermined process, thereby securing eco-friendliness.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a playback apparatus according to the present invention,
2 is a configuration diagram showing a playback apparatus according to the present invention in a plan view
3 is a block diagram showing the control means of the reproducing apparatus according to the present invention

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

The present invention proposes an apparatus for regenerating a filament to be discarded after use in a 3D printer.

The main body 10 according to the present invention has a structure having a space for storing the filament. The main body 10 may be formed in a lightweight thin-walled structure having a desktop shape, and may have a castor for movement on its bottom surface. In FIG. 1, a first reservoir 13 and a second reservoir 14 connected to the first inlet 11 and the second inlet 12, respectively, are illustrated. A plurality of input ports and a reservoir are for regenerating different kinds of filaments.

As a detailed configuration of the present invention, the main body 10 is provided with a plurality of reservoirs for separately storing resin filaments including ABS, and other filaments including PLA. ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) filaments are inexpensive, easy to process, and are most commonly used because of their excellent impact resistance and heat resistance. The resin filaments including the ABS are accommodated in the first reservoir 13 through the first inlet 11 on the upper surface. PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) filament is harmless to the human body by mixing the resin liquid with starch of corn or potato, but it is weak in heat resistance and flame retardancy, and is difficult to be surface treated or painted. The PLA filament is accommodated in the second reservoir 14 through the second inlet 12. Other filaments such as coffee scraps, wood, etc. can be accommodated in the second reservoir 14 or a separate reservoir.

On the other hand, the first inlet 11, which is used most frequently, is disposed at the center of the upper surface of the main body 10, and the second inlet 12 is provided on the upper surface side of the main body 10, Respectively. Each of the switches 26 is provided below the first and second storage tanks 13 and 14 and the regenerated raw materials contained in the one storage tank are dropped through the chute 28 and put into a subsequent process.

Further, according to the present invention, the feeding means classifies and feeds filaments on the main body 10. The classification of the filament by the feeding means influences the properties and quality of the regenerated filament. On the desktop type body 10, the feeding means can add automatic sorting based on passive sorting.

In the detailed construction of the present invention, the feeding means includes a material detector (21) for detecting the composition and color of the filament, and a water amount detector (22) for detecting the stored amount of the filament. The material detector 21 can select materials and colors using near infrared rays (NIR) of an appropriate wavelength range. It is practical that the material classification is practically implemented to the extent that the non-receiving material filament is distinguished, and the color classification is realized by the three primary colors (RGB) capable of mixing and melting. The water amount detector 22 detects whether the amount of the recycled raw material accommodated in the storage container is sufficient for the subsequent process, and can be implemented by a load sensor installed on the bottom surface of the storage container or an optical sensor installed on the upper side.

2, the first reservoir 13 and the second reservoir 14 are disposed one by one, but may be divided into a plurality of (for example, three or more) reservoirs for separately storing the regenerated raw materials. An air space for sorting is formed between the first inlet 11 and the reservoir 13 (14) on both sides.

The feeding means may further include a classifier 24 together with the material detector 21 on the lower side of the first inlet 11. The sorter 24 is configured to send the non-discharge filament mischarged to the first charging port 11 to the second reservoir 14. [ Of course, when it is difficult to sort for simplification of the configuration associated with the desktop-shaped main body 10, an alarm may be output to cause manual classification by the user.

Further, according to the present invention, the shaping means crushes, melts, extrudes, and winds the fed filament. Although the crusher 31 is shown in FIG. 1 as being installed inside the reservoirs 13 and 14, it may be provided inside the chute 28 so as to be spaced apart from the reservoirs 13 and 14. An extruder 35 having a pressurizing cylinder is provided below the melting machine 32 and a take-up reel is installed at one side of the exciter 25, And a winder 37 for supporting the winder is installed. The take-up reel can be drawn out through the opening 17 formed at one side of the main body 10. Of course, in order to simplify the construction, the winder 37 may require manual operation in part.

In the detailed construction of the present invention, the molding means is characterized by further comprising a physical property adjuster (33) for causing a change in physical properties of the filament between the melter (32), the extruder (35) The physical property adjuster 33 prevents the property of the filament from being deteriorated in the course of producing the filament with the regenerated raw material. In the case of ABS filaments, a thickener or a surfactant can be mixed. In the case of PLA filaments, a low-melting-point biodegradable resin having a low melting point can be mixed. In FIG. 1, the physical property adjuster 33 is connected to the extruder 35, but it is also possible to arrange the physical property adjuster 33 dispersively on the upper side.

On the other hand, a cooler 38 is provided between the extruder 35 and the winder 37 to enhance the physical properties (strength) of the filament. The cooler 38 is a method of forcibly blowing air (atmosphere), but a cooling temperature can be varied by emphasizing a thermoelectric element or the like.

In addition, according to the present invention, the control means controls the feeding point and the forming means. The control means is based on a controller 42 equipped with a microprocessor, a memory and an input / output interface. A material detector 21, a water amount detector 22, an operation unit 44, and the like are connected to the input interface of the controller 42. The crusher 31, the melter 32, the extruder 35, the winder 37, the drive unit 46, the display unit 48, etc. are connected to the output interface of the controller 42 Lt; / RTI >

The control means is characterized in intermittently or continuously performing the respective steps of the feeding means and the molding means in accordance with the selection through the operation portion 44 of the controller 42. [ The operation unit 44 has an input key for selecting the automatic mode and the manual mode by the controller 42. [ As an example of the automatic mode, when the amount of regenerated raw material set in the first reservoir 13 is received, the switch 26 is opened, and the regenerated filament is wound on the take-up reel of the take-up machine 37 through melting and extrusion. In the case of the manual mode, it is intermittently processed according to the instruction of the user in the set process unit. For example, according to the intermittent process, the crushed recycled raw material can be discharged without melting and extruding.

On the other hand, the controller 42 applies the operation power by the automatic mode or the manual mode selection of the operation unit 44 through the driving unit 46 and displays the operation state through the display unit 48. [ The driving unit 46 and the display unit 48 preferably include means for generating an alarm in an audiovisual manner.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended that such variations and modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.

10: main body 11: first inlet
12: second inlet port 13: first reservoir
14: second reservoir 17: opening
21: Material detector 22: Quantity detector
24: Classifier 26: Actuator
28: Chute 31: Crusher
32: Melting unit 33: Property controller
35: Extruder 37: Winder
38: cooler 42: controller
44: Operation part 46:
48:

Claims (5)

An apparatus for regenerating a filament to be discarded after use in a 3D printer, comprising:
A body 10 having a space for storing the filament;
Feeding means for classifying and feeding filaments on the main body 10;
Molding means for crushing, melting, extruding, and winding the fed filament; And
And control means for controlling the feeding and feeding means and the forming means. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the main body (10) is provided with a plurality of reservoirs for separately storing resin filaments including ABS, and other filaments including PLA. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the feeding means comprises a material detector (21) for detecting the composition and color of the filament, and a water amount detector (22) for detecting the amount of filament storage. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the forming means further comprises a physical property adjuster (33) for causing a change in the physical properties of the filament between the melter (32), the extruder (35) and the filament. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the control means intermittently or continuously performs the respective steps of the feeding means and the molding means according to the selection through the operation portion (44) of the controller (42).

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