Filament guide mechanism for filament spool container
AssigneeStratasys, Inc.
InventorsThomas L. Taatjes, Patrick W. Turley, Martin G. Zalusky, Thomas P. Paul
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A container comprising a housing that is configured to rotatably mount a filament supply spool, and a filament guide mechanism mountable within a channel of the housing, where the filament guide mechanism comprises a filament pathway configured to guide the filament from the filament supply spool rotatably mounted in the interior chamber, and a sensor configured to detect the presence of the filament through at least a portion of the filament pathway.
Claims19
A container for delivering a filament of a material to a digital manufacturing system, the container comprising:
- a container housing defining an interior chamber that is configured to rotatably mount a filament supply spool, the container housing including a channel extending between the interior chamber and an exterior surface of the container housing;
- an electrical connection having a first contact accessible from the exterior surface of the container housing and a second contact disposed in the channel of the container housing;
- and
- a filament guide mechanism mountable within the channel, the filament guide mechanism comprising:
- a filament pathway configured to guide the filament from the filament supply spool rotatably mounted in the interior chamber;
- a sensor configured to detect the presence of the filament through at least a portion of the filament pathway;
- an opening along the filament pathway located downstream alone the filament pathway from the sensor, the opening being configured to receive a drive wheel of the digital manufacturing system while the filament guide mechanism is mounted within the channel of the container housing;
- and
- an electrical contact in signal communication with the sensor, the electrical contact being configured to interface with the second contact while the filament guide mechanism is mounted within the channel of the container housing.
A filament guide mechanism for use in a filament supply container having a channel extending between an interior chamber of the filament supply container and an exterior surface of the filament supply container, and an electrical connection between the channel and the exterior surface, the filament guide mechanism comprising:
- a mechanism body configured to be mounted in the channel of the filament supply container, the mechanism body defining a filament pathway extending between an inlet end and an outlet end of the mechanism body;
- a sensor retained by the mechanism body, and configured to detect the presence of a filament received in the filament pathway;
- an opening in the mechanism body at a location between the inlet end and the outlet end, and downstream from the sensor along the filament pathway, the opening being configured to receive a drive wheel of the digital manufacturing system while the filament guide mechanism is mounted within the channel of the filament supply container;
- and
- an electrical contact in signal communication with the sensor, the electrical contact being configured to interface with the electrical connection of the filament supply container the while the filament guide mechanism is mounted within the channel of the filament supply container.
A container for delivering a filament of a material to a digital manufacturing system, the container comprising:
- a container housing defining an interior chamber and having an exterior surface;
- a channel having an interior end located adjacent to the interior chamber and an exterior end located adjacent to the exterior surface;
- a lateral opening in the container housing at a location along the channel between the interior end and the exterior end, the lateral opening being configured to receive a drive wheel of the digital manufacturing system while the container is mounted in the digital manufacturing system;
- a first electrical contact accessible from the exterior surface of the container housing;
- and
- a second electrical contact disposed in the channel at a location along the channel between the interior end of the channel and the lateral opening in the container housing, the second electrical contact being in signal communication with the first electrical contact, and configured to communicate with a sensor mountable within the channel wherein the channel is configured to receive a filament guide mechanism, the filament guide mechanism being a component that retains the sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.