Fiber management arrangement and method for additive manufacturing system
AssigneeContinuous Composites Inc.
InventorsColin Hugh Hambling, Trevor David Budge
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method is disclosed for severing a continuous reinforcement from a print head at conclusion of an event during fabrication of a composite structure. The method may include moving the print head a distance away from the composite structure that provides clearance for a cutting mechanism between an outlet of the print head and the composite structure, and responsively causing the cutting mechanism to make a first cut of the continuous reinforcement at a boundary of the composite structure. The method may also include moving the print head to a waste discard location, and responsively causing the cutting mechanism to make a second cut of the continuous reinforcement at a desired distance offset from the outlet of the print head.
Claims19
A method of severing a continuous reinforcement from a print head at conclusion of an event during fabrication of a composite structure, the method comprising:
- moving an outlet of the print head away from the composite structure to provide clearance for a cutting mechanism between the outlet of the print head and the composite structure;
- responsively causing the cutting mechanism to make a first cut of the continuous reinforcement at a first distance away from the outlet of the print head;
- moving the print head to a waste discard location;
- and
- responsively causing the cutting mechanism to make a second cut of the continuous reinforcement at a second distance away from the outlet of the print head, the second distance being different from the first distance.
A method of severing a continuous reinforcement from a print head at conclusion of an event during fabrication of a composite structure, the method comprising:
- moving an outlet of the print head a distance away from the composite structure to provide a clearance between the outlet and the composite structure;
- moving a cutting mechanism through the clearance toward the continuous reinforcement;
- and causing the cutting mechanism to sever the continuous reinforcement at a distance away from the outlet of the print head to leave a tail of the continuous reinforcement extending out of the outlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.