Filament replacement mechanism for 3D printer and 3D printing system
AssigneeShenzhen Tuozhu Technology Co., Ltd.
InventorKaiwang Tian
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various embodiments provide a filament replacement mechanism for a 3D printer and a 3D printing system. In those embodiments, the filament replacement mechanism includes: a support; a filament guide unit disposed on the support and including a plurality of secondary filament guide tubes and a filament guide opening connecting with the plurality of secondary filament guide tubes, where the filament guide opening is configured to be jointed with a main filament guide tube of the 3D printer, and a plurality of filament replacement units disposed on the support.
Claims20
A filament replacement mechanism for a 3D printer, the filament replacement mechanism comprising:
- a support;
- a filament guide unit disposed on the support and comprising a plurality of secondary filament guide tubes and a filament guide opening connecting with the plurality of secondary filament guide tubes, wherein the filament guide opening is configured to be jointed with a main filament guide tube of the 3D printer;
- and
- a plurality of filament replacement units disposed on the support, each of the plurality of filament replacement units comprises:
- a supporting shaft assembly rotatably connected to the support and configured to be in contact with a rim of a corresponding filament spool so as to support the corresponding filament spool;
- and
- a loading and unloading mechanism configured to drive a filament wound around the corresponding filament spool to enable the filament to be guided into the main filament guide tube via one corresponding secondary filament guide tube of the plurality of secondary filament guide tubes so as to perform a loading operation, and configured to drive the corresponding filament spool to rotate such that the filament withdrawn from the main filament guide tube via the filament guide unit is rewound around the corresponding filament spool so as to perform an unloading operation;
- and, wherein the filament guide unit further comprises a multi-channel member connecting the plurality of secondary filament guide tubes to the filament guide opening;
- an auxiliary extrusion wheel is disposed inside the multi-channel member.
A 3D printing system, comprising:
- a 3D printer;
- and
- a filament replacement mechanism comprising:
- a support;
- a filament guide unit disposed on the support and comprising a plurality of secondary filament guide tubes and a filament guide opening connecting with the plurality of secondary filament guide tubes, wherein the filament guide opening is configured to be jointed with a main filament guide tube of the 3D printer;
- and
- a plurality of filament replacement units disposed on the support, each of the plurality of filament replacement units comprises:
- a supporting shaft assembly rotatably connected to the support and configured to be in contact with a rim of a corresponding filament spool so as to support the corresponding filament spool;
- and
- a loading and unloading mechanism configured to drive a filament wound around the corresponding filament spool to enable the filament to be guided into the main filament guide tube via one corresponding secondary filament guide tube of the plurality of secondary filament guide tubes so as to perform a loading operation, and configured to drive the corresponding filament spool to rotate such that the filament withdrawn from the main filament guide tube via the filament guide unit is rewound around the corresponding filament spool so as to perform an unloading operation;
- and, wherein the filament guide unit further comprises a multi-channel member connecting the plurality of secondary filament guide tubes to the filament guide opening;
- an auxiliary extrusion wheel is disposed inside the multi-channel member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.