Rod feeder for three-dimensional (3D) printing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11135774-B2
Application number	US-201815957338-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 19, 2018
Priority date	Apr 24, 2017
Publication date	Oct 5, 2021
Grant date	Oct 5, 2021

Abstract

An apparatus, and corresponding method, feeds build material, in the form of rods, to a drive system in a three-dimensional (3D) printing system. The apparatus dispenses a rod to a media tray and into a first groove defined by a flipper arm. The flipper arm is in a substantially horizontal position supported by a bottom ridge of the media tray. The flipper arm is rotated away from the bottom ridge and toward a stopper coupled to the flipper arm and the media tray. The stopper defines a second groove. The apparatus deposits the rod into the drive system via a feed shaft formed by the first and second grooves of the flipper arm and stopper, respectively. The apparatus enables high-speed 3D printing using the rods by overcoming challenges in loading the rods due to brittleness of the rods.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cartridge comprising:
a housing configured to be received by a three-dimensional printer, the housing having an interior region for storing a plurality of rods of building material;
a rotatable roller located at a downstream end of the housing and in communication with the interior region, wherein the roller has a slot extending along a length of the roller, and wherein the slot is configured to receive at least a portion of a first rod of the plurality of rods therein, so that when the first rod is received within the slot, a length of the first rod extends along the length of the roller;
a ramp located within the interior region, wherein the ramp is angled so as to direct the plurality of rods toward the roller;
wherein the roller is configured to rotate from a first position to a second position, wherein, in the first position, the slot is oriented within the interior region to receive the first rod, and, in the second position, the slot of the roller is oriented away from the interior region to dispense the first rod from the cartridge to the three-dimensional printer, and wherein the cartridge is configured to removably couple to the three-dimensional printer; and
a flipper arm configured to receive the first rod and rotate to deposit the first rod to a feed shaft.

2. The cartridge of claim 1 , further comprising the plurality of rods of building material stored within the housing, wherein the building material includes at least one of a binder or a metal powder.

3. The cartridge of claim 2 , wherein the each of the plurality of rods has a latitudinal axis that is oriented parallel with the slot of the roller.

4. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the ramp is a first ramp, and wherein the cartridge further comprises a second ramp within the interior region and angled so as to direct the plurality of rods toward the roller.

5. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the roller includes a protrusion along at least a portion of a circumference of the roller.

6. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the slot is a first slot, and wherein the roller further includes a second slot.

7. The cartridge of claim 6 , wherein the second slot is located opposite of the first slot.

8. The cartridge of claim 1 , further comprising a radio-frequency identification tag configured to contain electronically-stored information about the cartridge.

9. The cartridge of claim 8 , wherein the information includes at least one of a number of the plurality of rods contained in the cartridge, a type of the building material of the plurality of rods, a manufacturer of the plurality of rods, or a quantity of the plurality of rods that have been dispensed.

10. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a housing exit, and wherein the roller is configured to deliver the first rod received in the slot to the housing exit when the roller is in the second position.

11. A cartridge comprising:
a housing configured to be received by a three-dimensional printer, the housing having an interior region for storing a plurality of rods of building material;
a housing exit configured to permit one of the plurality of rods to pass from the interior region to a region exterior of the housing; and
a rotatable roller having a slot oriented along a length of the roller, wherein the slot is configured to receive at least a portion of the one of the plurality of rods, and wherein rotation of the roller causes the slot to move from a first position to a second position, wherein, in the first position, the slot fluidly communicates with the interior region and is configured to receive the one of the plurality of rods, and wherein, in the second position, the slot fluidly communicates with the housing exit to dispense the one of the plurality of rods to the housing exit, and wherein the cartridge is configured to removably couple to the three-dimensional printer; and
a flipper arm configured to receive the one of the plurality of rods and rotate to deposit it to a feed shaft.

12. The cartridge of claim 11 , further comprising the plurality of rods of building material stored in the interior region, wherein the building material includes a metal powder.

13. The cartridge of claim 11 , wherein the each of the plurality of rods has a latitudinal axis that is oriented parallel with the slot of the roller.

14. The cartridge of claim 11 , wherein the interior region includes at least one ramp angled so as to direct the plurality of rods toward the roller.

15. The cartridge of claim 11 , wherein the interior region includes at least two ramps angled so as to direct the plurality of rods toward the roller.

16. The cartridge of claim 11 , wherein the roller includes a protrusion along at least a portion of a circumference of the roller.

17. The cartridge of claim 11 , wherein the slot is a first slot, and wherein the roller further includes a second slot.

18. The cartridge of claim 17 , wherein the second slot is located opposite of the first slot.

19. A cartridge for a three-dimensional printer, the cartridge comprising:
a housing having an interior region;
a plurality of rods of building material located within the interior region, wherein the building material includes a metal powder; and
a rotatable roller located at a downstream region of the housing, wherein the roller includes a slot dimensioned to receive a length of one of the plurality of rods within it, and wherein rotation of the roller transfers the one of the plurality of rods from the interior region to a region exterior of the housing to dispense the one of the plurality of rods from the housing; and
a flipper arm configured to receive the one of the plurality of rods and rotate to deposit it to a feed shaft.

20. The cartridge of claim 19 , wherein the interior region includes at least one ramp angled so as to direct the plurality of rods toward the roller.

21. The cartridge of claim 19 , wherein the roller includes a protrusion along at least a portion of a circumference of the roller.

22. The cartridge of claim 19 , wherein the cartridge is configured to be received by a three-dimensional printer.

Assignees

• Desktop Metal Inc

Inventors

• Titchener Paul

Classifications

• B22F10/39

  Traceability, e.g. incorporating identifier into a workpiece or article · CPC title

• B22F12/38

  Housings, e.g. machine housings · CPC title

• B22F12/90

  Means for process control, e.g. cameras or sensors · CPC title

• B22F10/18

  by mixing binder with metal in filament form, e.g. fused filament fabrication [FFF] · CPC title

• B33Y40/00

  Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling · CPC title