WO2022124488A1

WO2022124488A1 - Multifilament selection and supply device for fdm-type 3d printer using single extruder

Info

Publication number: WO2022124488A1
Application number: PCT/KR2021/004792
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김형권
Original assignee: 주식회사 스텔라무브
Priority date: 2020-12-07
Filing date: 2021-04-16
Publication date: 2022-06-16
Also published as: KR102232492B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multifilament selection and supply device for a 3D printer. A multifilament selection and supply device for an FDM-type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention comprises: a frame part installed to a body of the 3D printer; a material transfer guide part provided to the frame part; a plurality of filaments, the installation positions and transfer directions of which are determined by the material transfer guide part, and which are installed to be positioned while being spaced apart from each other in the left-right direction; a single material selection motor fixed to the frame part; a lead screw coupled to the material selection motor to extend in the left-right direction and normally rotating or reversely rotating when the material selection motor operates; a nut part penetrated by the lead screw and having an inner circumferential surface screw-coupled to the outer circumferential surface of the lead screw to linearly move in the left-right direction when the lead screw rotates; a transfer motor block body part integrally coupled to the nut part to linearly move in the left-right direction together with the nut part; a single transfer motor for supplying a material, which is coupled to the transfer motor block body part to move in the left-right direction together with the transfer motor block body part; a rotating shaft part coupled to the transfer motor for supplying a material to extend in the left-right direction and normally rotating or reversely rotating when the transfer motor for supplying a material operates; and a material transfer gear which is a single material transfer gear integrally coupled to the rotating shaft part, and moves, through rotation of the lead screw, to the position of one filament selected among the filaments and then rotates in a state of having pressed the selected filament so as to transfer the selected filament.

Description

Multifilament selection and feeding device for FDM method 3D printer using single extruder

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

Among 3D printers, the FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) method is a method of laminating plastic materials such as ABS and PLA by spraying them from a nozzle. The advantages of the FDM method are that the device and material are cheaper than other 3D printer methods, have excellent scalability, and have a relatively simple configuration.

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

However, the FDM type 3D printer is equipped with as many motors as the number of materials to transport the materials used for printing, which increases the product cost and causes difficulties in maintenance due to the complicated structure. There is a disadvantage in that the control interface for control and the addition of motor driver parts are required due to the old motor.

In addition, the addition of a relatively large motor among the 3D printer parts requires that the overall size of the 3D printer be increased or the number of materials that can be used to miniaturize the overall size must be limited. The disadvantage is that an additional extruder bundle structure is required.

As another prior art, US 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 device for using a plurality of materials.

However, the above extrusion device requires as many extruder bundles as the number of heaters and temperature sensors to melt the material, and to melt the material at a high temperature, a plurality of extruder bundles including the extruder, heater, temperature sensor, and nozzle must be added. The structure of the extruder bundle selection structure for material selection is attached to the circular disk, and the material is fed while the circular disk is rotated. .

In addition, when using multiple nozzle bundles, there is inevitably a difference in height between the nozzles due to the manufacturing process or replacement of parts. Also, problems may occur during material transport, which may reduce the quality of the output and lead to output failure. There is a problem that this 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, and as many cams as the number of materials for material selection and supply , springs, and the like are provided.

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

The present invention has been devised to solve the problems of the prior art, and the present invention minimizes the use of an additional motor for material transport to lower the unit cost, realize miniaturization of the 3D printer, and minimize the number of parts for motor control. Keeps the unit cost low, simplifies the process for maintenance, minimizes the use of one extruder bundle for discharging material, lowers unit cost, lowers 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 move directly to realize a structure that can compress and transfer the material, thereby minimizing the mechanism such as cam, handle, and spring that must be used as much as the number of materials. An object of the present invention 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.

The filament selection and supply device for FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention for achieving the above object is installed in the FDM type 3D printer to select and supply the filament, the 3D printer A frame part installed on the body of the, a material transport guide part provided in the frame part, and a plurality of filaments whose installation location and transport direction are determined by the material transport guide part, installed so as to be spaced apart from each other in the left and right directions a filament to be used, a single material selection motor fixed to the frame part, a lead screw that extends in the left and right direction in combination with the material selection motor, and rotates forward or reverse when the material selection motor operates; A nut part penetrated by a nut 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 is integrally coupled with the nut part and moves linearly in the left and right direction together with the nut part. A motor block body and a single transfer motor for material supply that is coupled with the transfer motor block body and moves in the left and right direction together with the transfer motor block body, coupled with the transfer motor for material supply and extending in the left and right direction , When the feeding motor for material supply is operated, a rotation shaft unit that rotates forward or reverse rotation and a single material conveying gear integrally coupled with the rotating shaft unit, wherein the material conveying gear is selected from among the filaments by rotation of the lead screw One of the filaments is moved to the position and then the material feed gear is configured to include a material feed gear for transferring the selected filament by rotating while pressing the selected filament.

In addition, it is preferable to be configured to include an upper plate part and a lower plate part installed at intervals in the vertical direction, and a support plate part connecting the upper plate part and the lower plate part up and down.

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 selects the filament Preferably, the filament selected when rotated while being pressed is sandwiched between the material feed gear and the material feed bearing.

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

In addition, the portion of the transfer motor block body portion to which the material selection roller and the transfer motor for material supply are coupled and the remaining portion of the transfer motor block body portion are configured to be spaced apart or reduced from each other, and an elastic member therebetween is installed, so that when the material selection roller is positioned on the convex portion of the uneven guide, the elastic member expands, the material transfer gear separates from the filament, and the material selection roller moves with the concave portion of the uneven guide When moving to a corresponding position, the material feeding gear is preferably configured to be in close contact with the filament while the material selection roller is inserted into the concave portion of the concave-convex guide by the contracting force of the elastic member.

In addition, the outer peripheral surface of the portion in contact with the filament of the material feeding gear is preferably grooved so that the filament can be fitted.

In addition, a plurality of transport tubes that become transport passages of the filaments supplied according to the rotation of the material transport gear and are connected to each other at different positions in the frame, and a plurality of transport tubes connected to all of the transport tubes A single multi-tube combiner for bringing the outlets of the transfer tube to 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 outlets of the single tube Preferably, it further comprises a single extruder bundle having a sensor.

As described above, according to the multifilament selection and supply device for the FDM method 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention, the conventional multi-material-using modules have a complex structure with as many motors or extruder bundle mechanisms as the number of materials are added. On the other hand, the present invention can use a variety of colors and materials using only a minimum number of parts, and can lower production and production costs and lower supply prices due to a simplified and optimized structure, thereby reducing the price in the 3D printer part. Competitiveness can be increased and parts production process can be simplified to shorten product production period, and by applying a simplified material selection and supply mechanism structure, fewer parts are used, which minimizes the cause of problems and facilitates maintenance. By simplifying the extruder bundle for material melting and extrusion into one, material cost reduction and maintenance are easy for the extruder bundle, and by using one extruder bundle, when using multiple nozzles, It has the advantage of being able to prevent output quality deterioration 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 apparatus for an FDM method 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a rear view showing a multifilament selection and supply device for FDM method 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention.

5 is a bottom view showing a multifilament selection and supply apparatus for an FDM method 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention.

6 is a partial perspective view of a multifilament selection and supply apparatus for an FDM method 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention.

100: frame part 110a: upper plate part

110b: lower plate part 111a, 111b: material transfer guide part

112a, 112b: material selection uneven guide 120: support plate part

121: material transfer bearing 200: filament

300: material selection motor 310: lead screw

400: nut part 500: transfer motor block body part

510: roller for material selection 520: elastic member

600: feeding motor for material supply 610: rotating shaft part

700: material feed gear 710: groove

800: transport tube 900: multi-tube combiner

1000: single tube 1100: extruder bundle

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

2 and 3 are a perspective view of a 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 of the perspective view, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the multi-tube combiner of the device according to the present invention, Figure 8 is a state diagram of the use of the device according to the present invention.

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

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

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

The material

selection uneven guides

112a and 112b are formed at the rear edge of each of the upper plate part 110a and the lower plate part 110b. The material selection

uneven guides

112a and 112b refer to a structure in which convex portions and concave portions are repeatedly crossed while going in the left and right straight directions, and thus the concave portions are positioned at regular intervals.

The support plate part 120 is a wall erected vertically to connect the upper plate part 110a and the lower plate part 110b. The support plate part 120 is the rear wall of the frame part 100 in which the material transfer bearing 121 is installed. It is configured to include a part forming the left side wall and the right side wall of the frame part 100 on which the material selection motor 300 is installed and supporting the lead screw 310 .

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

In the present embodiment, since the filament 200 is five types of filaments having different colors, there are also five transfer tubes 800, which are transfer passages of the filament 200, in total, and the five transfer tubes 800 are in the left and right directions. It is installed at intervals along and each transfer tube 800 is installed in the rear portion of the frame portion 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 for each position corresponding to the installation position of the filament 200 . ) is 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 . is passing through

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

In the portion where the transfer tube 800 is removed between the upper plate part 110a and the lower plate part 110b and the filament 200 is exposed, the filament 200 meets the material transfer gear 700 and the material transfer bearing 121 at the same time. In this case, the filament 200 enters the groove 710 of the material transfer gear 700 and 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 part 120 of the frame part 100 .

The lead screw 310 is coupled with the rotation center of the material selection motor 300 to extend long in the left and right directions, and rotates forward or reverse by the operation of the material selection motor 300 .

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

The transfer motor block body part 500 is integrally coupled with the nut part 400 between the upper plate part 110a and the lower plate part 110b of the frame part 100 and moves in the left and right direction together with the nut part 400. It consists of a first part of the part and a second part of the rear part which is integrally coupled with the feed motor 600 for material supply and moves in the left and right direction together with the feed motor 600 for material supply.

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 is also a lump together with the first part However, it has a structure connected so that it can flow by a predetermined distance in the front-rear direction.

In more detail, the first part and the second part are interconnected by an elastic member 520 that is a plurality of coil springs extending long in the front and rear directions, so that the second part is moved in the front-rear direction with respect to the first part. It is configured to be elastically movable within a certain range.

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

The rotary shaft unit 610 is coupled with the rotation center of the feed motor 600 for material supply and extends long in the left and right directions, and rotates forward or reverse depending on the operating direction of the feed motor 600 for material supply.

The material feeding gear 700 is integrally coupled with one end of the rotating shaft portion 610 to provide one, and when the filament ( 200) to supply the selected filament 200 to the multi-tube combiner 900, and to reverse rotation for replacement of the filament 200, the previously supplied filament 200 is transferred in the opposite direction to the extruder bundle It serves to retract the filament 200 that has reached the 1100 to the transfer tube 800 .

A groove 710 is formed around the outer peripheral surface of the part in contact with the filament 200 of the material transfer gear 700 so that the filament 200 can be fitted.

The material selection roller 510 is installed rotatably about a vertical axis, such as one at the upper end of the second part of the transfer motor block body 500 and one at the lower end, rotatably around the vertical axis, the transfer motor block body When moving in the left and right direction together with the part 500, it is configured to move while crossing the unevenness formed in the uneven guide for material selection in a state in close contact with the

uneven guides

112a and 112b for material selection.

When the material selection roller 510 is positioned in the concave portion of the material selection

uneven guides

112a and 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 positioned on the convex portion of the material selection

uneven guides

112a and 112b, the elastic member 520 expands and the material transfer gear 700 is configured to be separated from the filament 200 .

The reason why the material feed gear 700 is configured to move while moving slightly back and forth when moving left and right is because the filament 200 is pressed into the groove 710 of the material feed gear 700 while being lightly inserted into the material in this state. This is because when the feed gear 700 moves left and right, the material feed gear 700 collides with the filament 200 and the filament 200 may be cut or damaged. Therefore, the material selection roller 510 rides over the unevenness of the material selection

uneven guides

112a and 112b, so that only when the filament 200 is pressed, the material feeding gear 700 is configured to move forward.

The transfer tube 800 is provided as a transfer passage for the filament 200 supplied according to the rotation of the material transfer gear 700, and is provided with a plurality as many as the number of the filaments 200, each of which has a different material transfer guide part 111a, 111b) and connected to the frame part 100 at different positions while passing through.

One multi-tube combiner 900 is provided, and one end of all of the plurality of transfer tubes 800 is inserted into the multi-tube combiner 900 so that the outlet of the plurality of transfer tubes 800 is one. It is made up to be grouped together.

The single tube 1000 is provided with one, and guides the movement of the filament 200 as a transport passage of 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 apparatus for the FDM method 3D printer using a single extruder according to the present invention configured as described above will be described as follows.

Similar to general CNC, the 3D printer sets the position based on the X and Y values given by the motor driver, melts the plastic-type material called a filament at a high temperature, extrudes the material through an extruder with a nozzle, and additionally uses the Z value to extrude the material one layer at a time. It is a device that stacks up and stacks up.

Unlike 3D printers that usually use one or two materials, the present invention is designed to use several 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, 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, and then passes through the extruder bundle 1100, passes through a high-temperature heater, and is extruded through the nozzle.

When replacement of the filament 200 is necessary, 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 to be supplied next (200) ) is transferred until it is inserted into the extruder bundle 1100 again.

At this time, the filament 200, which was intertwined between the material transfer bearing 121 and the material transfer gear 700, which was used just before for replacing the filament 200, is retracted by the rotation of the transfer motor 600 for material supply, 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, and the material is transferred to the filament 200 to be selected next. After positioning the feed gear 700 , the selected filament 200 is transferred and inserted up to the extruder bundle 1100 .

Filaments 220 that are not used when replacing the material retreat to the transport tube 800, which is the rear end of the multi-tube combiner 900, and wait. The multi-tube combiner 900 has an internal structure in the shape of a funnel as shown in FIG. 7 , so that the materials of the five transfer tubes 800 are smoothly moved to the single tube 1000 .

As in the above description, the present invention has been described only with respect to preferred specific examples, but it is apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention based on the above specific examples. and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

In the device for selecting and supplying a filament installed in a 3D printer of the FDM method,

a frame part installed on the body of the 3D printer;

a material transport guide provided in the frame part;

A plurality of filaments having an installation position and a transport direction determined by the material transport guide, the filaments spaced apart from each other in the left and right directions;

a single material selection motor fixed to the frame part;

a lead screw extending in the left and right direction in combination with the material selection motor, which rotates forward or reverse when the material selection motor operates;

a nut part penetrated by the lead screw and having an inner circumferential surface screwed with an outer circumferential surface of the lead screw to move linearly in a left and right direction when the lead screw rotates;

a transfer motor block body that is integrally coupled with the nut and linearly moves in the left and right directions together with the nut;

a single transfer motor for supplying material coupled to the transfer motor block body and moving in the left and right direction together with the transfer motor block body;

a rotating shaft portion extending in the left and right direction in combination with the material supplying motor for forward rotation or reverse rotation when the material supplying conveying motor operates;

As a single material feed gear integrally coupled with the rotation shaft, the material feed gear is moved to the position of the filament selected from among the filaments by rotation of the lead screw, and then the material feed gear is selected. a single material feeding gear for feeding the selected filament by rotating it while pressing the filament;

an uneven guide for material selection formed by repeatedly crossing a convex portion and a concave portion formed at an edge of the frame portion; and

A roller for material selection is rotatably coupled to the body of the transfer motor block, and is configured to move over the unevenness formed on the uneven guide for material selection in a state in close contact with the uneven guide for material selection when moving in the left and right direction is composed by

A portion of the transfer motor block body to which the material selection roller and the material supply transfer motor are coupled and the remaining portion of the transfer motor block body are configured to be spaced apart or reduced from each other, and an elastic member is installed therebetween being made,

When the material selection roller is positioned on the convex portion of the concave-convex guide, the elastic member expands and the material transfer gear separates from the filament,

When the material selection roller moves to a position corresponding to the concave portion of the concave-convex guide, the material transfer gear is in close contact with the filament while the material selection roller is inserted into the concave portion of the concave-convex guide by the contracting force of the elastic member. Multifilament selection and supply device for FDM method 3D printer using a single extruder, characterized in that it is configured to be so.
The method of claim 1,

The frame part,

A multifilament selection and supply device for FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder, characterized in that it comprises an upper plate part and a lower plate part installed at intervals in the top and bottom, and a support plate part connecting the upper plate part and the lower plate part up and down.
3. The method of claim 2,

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 portion, the material transfer bearings are installed to correspond one-to-one with the filaments, and the material transfer gear is pressed against the selected filament The filament selected when rotating in the FDM method using a single extruder, characterized in that sandwiched between the material feed gear and the material feed bearing, multifilament selection and supply device for 3D printers.
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

A multifilament selection and supply device for FDM type 3D printer using a single extruder, characterized in that a groove is formed in an outer circumferential surface of a portion in contact with the filament among the material transfer gear so that the filament can be inserted.
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

a plurality of transport tubes serving as transport passages for the filaments supplied according to the rotation of the material transport gear, each end of which is connected to the frame at a different position;

a single multi-tube combiner connected to all of the plurality of transfer tubes to bring the outlets of the plurality of transfer tubes to one place;

a single single tube for guiding the material discharged from the multi-tube combiner; and

Multifilament selection and supply device for FDM 3D printer using a single extruder, characterized in that it is connected to the outlet of the single tube and further comprises a single extruder bundle having a single heater and a temperature sensor.