A wire feeding device of a 3D printer and a 3D printer

Abstract

This invention belongs to the field of additive manufacturing technology, and particularly relates to a filament feeding device and a 3D printer. The device includes a main body with a fixed disk and a rotating turntable. The fixed disk has a drive roller and two straight grooves, while the turntable has two inclined grooves. A sliding block is slidably connected to both the straight and inclined grooves, and a driven roller is mounted on the sliding block. The turntable is connected to a worm gear drive mechanism. The drive roller and the two driven rollers together form a three-point support and clamping structure for the filament. The rotation of the turntable drives the two driven rollers to move radially synchronously, adapting to filaments of different diameters. A ring-shaped PTC heating device is provided at the filament outlet for continuous online drying of the filament. This invention achieves stable filament feeding through a three-point clamping structure, avoiding filament damage and deformation. It also integrates a synchronous drying function, effectively solving the problem of moisture absorption in the printing filament. It has the advantages of stable clamping, strong adaptability, and good drying effect.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of additive manufacturing technology, and particularly relates to a filament feeding device for a 3D printer and a 3D printer. Background Technology

[0002] Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is one of the most widely used 3D printing technologies. Its basic principle is to heat thermoplastic filament to a molten state and then extrude it layer by layer through a nozzle to form a 3D model. The filament feeding device is the core feeding part of an FDM printer. Its function is to stably and accurately deliver the filament from the trolley to the print head, directly affecting printing accuracy, forming quality, and printing success rate.

[0003] Existing filament feeding devices typically employ a single drive roller coupled with a clamping roller. A spring provides clamping force, causing the clamping roller to press the filament against the drive roller surface. The friction generated by the rotation of the drive roller propels the filament forward. This structure has several problems: uneven clamping force distribution, with the clamping force concentrated on one side, easily leading to unilateral deformation of the filament, especially for flexible filaments (such as TPU), causing flattening and breakage. Insufficient clamping force can cause slippage. Furthermore, the single-wheel drive method has limited driving force, making it difficult to meet the feeding requirements of high-speed printing or high-viscosity engineering plastics (such as PA and PC). The clamping mechanism is mostly a fixed structure, unable to adapt to variations in filament diameter tolerances. Users often need to manually adjust or replace parts when changing filaments of different diameters, making the operation cumbersome. The drive and driven rollers are mostly cylindrical structures, making line contact with the circular cross-section filament. This small contact area results in limited friction, leading to wear after long-term use and further reducing the reliability of filament feeding. Meanwhile, the filament is prone to absorbing moisture from the air during storage and use. When the filament is damp, it will produce defects such as bubbles and hydrolysis when it melts at high temperature, resulting in reduced interlayer bonding, rough surface, and stringing. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a filament feeding device and a 3D printer for a 3D printer, so as to solve the technical problems of poor clamping stability, difficulty in adapting to filaments of different diameters, and the impact of moisture on printing quality in the existing filament feeding devices of FDM 3D printers.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a filament feeding device for a 3D printer and a 3D printer in the following specific technical solution:

[0006] A filament feeding device and a 3D printer are disclosed, comprising a main body; a filament inlet is provided in the middle of the lower side of the main body, and a filament outlet is provided on the upper side opposite to the filament inlet;

[0007] The main body device is fixedly equipped with a fixed plate, and an active roller for driving the filament to move is provided on one side of the fixed plate. The active roller is driven by a drive motor provided on one side.

[0008] A turntable is rotatably installed inside the fixed plate. Two straight slide grooves are opened on the fixed plate. The two straight slide grooves are equidistantly distributed in a triangular pattern with the drive roller. An inclined slide groove is opened in the turntable corresponding to the two straight slide grooves. A sliding block is slidably connected in both the straight slide grooves and the inclined slide grooves.

[0009] A worm gear is fixedly connected to the turntable on the other side of the inclined slide groove. An adjustment motor is installed on one side of the fixed plate inside the main device. The output shaft of the adjustment motor is connected to a worm and a worm wheel. The turntable is driven to rotate inside the fixed plate through the worm and worm wheel transmission. The sliding block is pushed to move synchronously along the straight slide groove through the inclined slide groove.

[0010] The center of the fixed plate and the turntable are provided with a wire feeding channel corresponding to the wire inlet and the wire outlet. The active roller is set opposite to the wire feeding channel, and the two sliding blocks are rotatably set with driven rollers extending in the direction of the wire feeding channel. The active roller and the two driven rollers together form a three-point support and clamping structure for the wire material passing through the wire feeding channel.

[0011] Furthermore, the two straight chutes are symmetrically arranged around the wire feeding channel, and the extension direction of the straight chutes points towards the wire feeding channel. The driven roller is driven by the sliding block to move synchronously in the direction close to or away from the wire.

[0012] Furthermore, the two inclined slides are arranged radially relative to the turntable. When the turntable rotates, the two inclined slides synchronously push the corresponding sliding blocks, so that the two driven rollers synchronously approach or move away from the wire feeding channel.

[0013] Furthermore, the clamping area formed by the active roller and the two driven rollers is coaxial with the yarn feeding channel. The three-point support keeps the yarn in the center during the conveying process, preventing the yarn from being flattened or damaged and deformed.

[0014] Furthermore, both the driving roller and the driven roller are arc-shaped rollers with a central diameter smaller than the diameters of the two end sections, and the arc-shaped edges are adapted to the outer circumference shape of the filament; both the driving roller and the driven roller are replaceable structures to adapt to filaments of different diameters.

[0015] Furthermore, the curved edge surfaces of the driving roller and the driven roller are provided with anti-slip textures to increase the pushing friction between them and the filament.

[0016] Furthermore, an annular PTC heating device for online continuous drying of the filament is provided at the filament outlet position.

[0017] Furthermore, the annular PTC heating device is arranged around the outside of the yarn outlet, and the heating temperature is adjustable, removing moisture from the yarn in real time during the yarn conveying process.

[0018] A 3D printer includes a gantry support, a print head, a base plate, a feed rack, and a material tray. The printer has a three-axis moving structure, driven by multiple moving motors. The print head can move in both vertical and horizontal directions, and the base plate can move longitudinally. The feed rack is located on one side of the printer, and the material tray is rotatably mounted on the feed rack. A filament feeding device according to any one of claims 1-8 is fixedly installed on one side of the gantry support. The filament enters the inlet of the filament feeding device from the material tray, is conveyed by the filament feeding device, and is output from the outlet, and guided to the print head through a connecting hose.

[0019] The filament feeding device and 3D printer of the present invention have the following advantages:

[0020] By setting an active roller and two driven rollers on a fixed plate, and utilizing the linkage mechanism of a turntable, straight slide rail, and inclined slide rail, the two driven rollers can synchronously move closer to or further away from the filament feeding channel, forming a three-point support and clamping structure for the filament together with the active roller. Compared to the single-sided clamping method in existing technologies, the three-point clamping ensures that the filament is subjected to uniform force during the feeding process and remains centered at all times. This avoids the flattening or breakage deformation of the filament caused by single-sided clamping, and provides sufficient driving force to effectively prevent filament slippage, significantly improving filament feeding stability and printing success rate.

[0021] By adjusting the motor-driven worm gear, the turntable rotates, which in turn drives two driven rollers to move radially synchronously through the cooperation of inclined and straight sliding grooves. This allows the clamping area to automatically adjust according to changes in the filament diameter. Simultaneously, both the driving and driven rollers employ a replaceable arc-shaped roller structure, allowing users to replace the rollers to fit the filament diameter or quickly adapt to tolerance differences between different batches of filament using the adjustment mechanism. This solves the problems of cumbersome manual adjustments and low adaptation accuracy in existing technologies, improving the equipment's versatility and applicability.

[0022] A ring-shaped PTC heating device is installed at the filament outlet of the filament feeding device. This heating device surrounds the filament outlet channel and continuously heats and dries the filament online just before it enters the print head. Compared with the existing drying method that uses a separate drying hopper, the drying process of this invention is adjacent to the print head, effectively avoiding the problem of secondary moisture absorption of the dried filament during long-distance transportation. At the same time, drying and filament feeding are integrated into the same device, requiring no additional space and reducing equipment cost and complexity. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the wire feeding device of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the internal structure of the wire feeding device of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 For the present invention Figure 2 Enlarged view of region A in the middle;

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the turntable mounting structure of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the worm gear mounting structure of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the installation structure of the 3D printer and filament feeding device of the present invention;

[0029] The markings in the diagram are as follows: 1. Main body; 2. Fixed plate; 3. Drive roller; 4. Drive motor; 5. Turntable; 6. Straight slide rail; 7. Inclined slide rail; 8. Sliding block; 9. Worm gear; 10. Adjusting motor; 11. Worm; 12. Driven roller; 13. Annular PTC heating device; 14. Gantry bracket; 15. Printing nozzle; 16. Base plate; 17. Feeding rack; 18. Material tray; 19. Connecting hose. Detailed Implementation

[0030] To better understand the purpose, structure, and function of this invention, the following detailed description of a filament feeding device and a 3D printer according to the present invention, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is provided.

[0031] like Figure 1-6 As shown, the present invention provides a filament feeding device and a 3D printer for a 3D printer, including a main body device 1; a filament inlet is provided in the middle of the lower side of the main body device 1, and a filament outlet is provided on the upper side opposite to the filament inlet.

[0032] The main body device 1 is fixedly equipped with a fixed disk 2. A drive roller 3 for driving the filament to move is provided on one side of the fixed disk 2. The drive roller 3 is driven by a drive motor 4 provided on one side.

[0033] A turntable 5 is rotatably installed inside the fixed plate 2. Two straight slide grooves 6 are opened on the fixed plate 2. The two straight slide grooves 6 are equidistantly distributed in a triangular circumferential direction with the drive roller 3. An inclined slide groove 7 is opened in the turntable 5 corresponding to the two straight slide grooves 6. A sliding block 8 is slidably connected in both the straight slide grooves 6 and the inclined slide grooves 7.

[0034] A worm gear 9 is fixedly connected to the turntable 5 on the other side of the inclined slide 7. An adjustment motor 10 is provided in the main device 1 on one side of the fixed plate 2. The output shaft of the adjustment motor 10 is connected to a worm 11 that meshes with the worm gear 9. The turntable 5 is driven to rotate in the fixed plate 2 through the worm 11 and the worm gear 9. The inclined slide 7 pushes the sliding block 8 to move synchronously along the straight slide 6.

[0035] The center positions of the fixed disk 2 and the turntable 5 are provided with wire feeding channels corresponding to the wire inlet and wire outlet. The active roller 3 is set relative to the wire feeding channel. The two sliding blocks 8 are both extended and rotated in the direction of the wire feeding channel, and the driven rollers 12 are provided. The active roller 3 and the two driven rollers 12 together form a three-point support and clamping structure for the wire material passing through the wire feeding channel.

[0036] Combination Figure 1-6 As shown, the specific setup includes: main body device 1, which is box-shaped in general. A wire inlet is provided in the middle of its lower side for feeding wire, and a wire outlet is provided on the upper side opposite to the wire inlet for feeding wire. A wire conveying path is formed between the wire inlet and the wire outlet.

[0037] A fixed disk 2 is fixedly installed inside the main body device 1. The fixed disk 2 has a disc-shaped structure, and a wire feeding channel is opened along the axial direction at its center. The wire feeding channel is aligned with the wire inlet and outlet of the main body device 1, forming a channel for the wire to pass through the fixed disk 2. A drive roller 3 for driving the wire is provided on one side of the fixed disk 2. The rotating shaft of the drive roller 3 is connected to the output shaft of the drive motor 4 on one side. When the drive motor 4 is running, it drives the drive roller 3 to rotate around its own axis.

[0038] A turntable 5 is rotatably mounted inside the fixed disk 2. The turntable 5 is coaxial with the fixed disk 2 and can rotate relative to the fixed disk 2 around its central axis. Two straight slide grooves 6 are formed on the fixed disk 2, and these two straight slide grooves 6 are equidistantly distributed circumferentially in a triangle with the drive roller 3. That is, the drive roller 3 is located at one of the clamping points, and the two straight slide grooves 6 are located at the other two clamping points. An inclined slide groove 7 is formed on the turntable 5 corresponding to the positions of the two straight slide grooves 6. The inclined slide groove 7 is inclined at an angle relative to the radial direction of the turntable 5. A sliding block 8 is slidably connected to each straight slide groove 6 and its corresponding inclined slide groove 7. The sliding block 8 is located in both the straight slide groove 6 and the inclined slide groove 7 and can slide along the extension direction of the straight slide groove 6.

[0039] A worm gear 9 is fixedly connected to the turntable 5 on the side facing away from the inclined slide groove 7. The worm gear 9 is coaxial with the turntable 5 and rotates synchronously with it. Inside the main device 1, on one side of the fixed disk 2, an adjusting motor 10 is installed. A worm 11 is connected to the output shaft of the adjusting motor 10. The worm 11 extends into the fixed disk 2 and meshes with the worm gear 9 to form a worm gear 9-worm gear 11 transmission pair. When the adjusting motor 10 is started, it drives the worm gear 9 to rotate through the worm 11, thereby driving the turntable 5 to rotate around its axis inside the fixed disk 2.

[0040] Both the fixed disk 2 and the turntable 5 have a wire feeding channel at their center, which is coaxially arranged with the wire inlet and outlet of the main device 1, allowing the wire to pass through axially. The drive roller 3 is positioned opposite the wire feeding channel, with its roller surface facing the wire inside the channel. Two sliding blocks 8 extend towards the wire feeding channel, and each sliding block 8 has a driven roller 12 rotatably mounted on it. The axis of the driven roller 12 is parallel to the axis of the drive roller 3. The drive roller 3 and the two driven rollers 12 together form a three-point support and clamping structure for the wire passing through the wire feeding channel. The drive roller 3 and the two driven rollers 12 contact the surface of the wire from three different directions, achieving stable clamping and driving of the wire.

[0041] During operation, when a yarn feeding operation is required, the drive motor 4 starts, driving the active roller 3 to rotate. The active roller 3 drives the yarn forward along the yarn feeding channel through friction. The two driven rollers 12 are passively rotated under the influence of the yarn, providing support and guidance for the yarn. When it is necessary to adapt to yarns of different diameters, the regulating motor 10 starts, driving the worm wheel 9 to rotate via the worm gear 11. The worm wheel 9 drives the turntable 5 to rotate relative to the fixed plate 2. When the turntable 5 rotates, the two inclined grooves 7 on it rotate accordingly. Since the sliding block 8 is located in both the straight groove 6 and the inclined groove 7, the inclined groove wall of the inclined groove 7 pushes the sliding block 8 to slide along the extension direction of the straight groove 6. This causes the two sliding blocks 8 to drive the driven rollers 12 on them to synchronously move closer to or away from the central axis of the yarn feeding channel, realizing the synchronous adjustment of the clamping distance between the two driven rollers 12 and the active roller 3, thereby adapting to yarns of different diameters. Because the worm gear 9 and worm 11 transmission pair have self-locking characteristics, the turntable 5 can maintain a stable position after adjustment, ensuring a constant clamping force.

[0042] The two straight grooves 6 are symmetrically arranged around the wire feeding channel, and the extension direction of the straight grooves 6 points towards the wire feeding channel. The driven rollers 12 are driven by the sliding block 8 to move synchronously in the direction of approaching or moving away from the wire. When the sliding block 8 slides along the straight grooves 6, the driven rollers 12 move in the direction of approaching or moving away from the wire, ensuring that the two driven rollers 12 are always facing the surface of the wire during the adjustment process, so as to achieve uniform clamping.

[0043] The two inclined slide grooves 7 are radially inclined relative to the turntable 5. When the turntable 5 rotates, the two inclined slide grooves 7 synchronously push the corresponding sliding blocks 8, so that the two driven rollers 12 synchronously approach or move away from the wire feeding channel. When the turntable 5 rotates, the two inclined slide grooves 7 synchronously push the corresponding sliding blocks 8, so that the two sliding blocks 8 slide synchronously along their respective straight slide grooves 6, thereby realizing that the two driven rollers 12 synchronously approach or move away from the wire feeding channel, ensuring that the wire remains in the center position during the clamping process.

[0044] The clamping area formed by the active roller 3 and the two driven rollers 12 is coaxial with the wire feeding channel. The three-point support keeps the wire in the center during the conveying process, avoiding flattening or damage and deformation of the wire. At the same time, the three-point support structure provides sufficient driving friction force to effectively prevent the wire feeding from slipping.

[0045] Both the driving roller 3 and the driven roller 12 are arc-shaped rollers with a central diameter smaller than the diameters of the two end sections, and the arc-shaped edges are adapted to the outer circumference shape of the filament. Both the driving roller 3 and the driven roller 12 are replaceable structures to adapt to filaments of different diameters.

[0046] The curved edge surfaces of the driving roller 3 and the driven roller 12 are provided with anti-slip textures. These anti-slip textures can be knurled, mesh-like, or grooved, etc., to increase the pushing friction between the roller and the filament, further preventing slippage under high-speed or high-resistance conditions, and ensuring the continuity and stability of the filament feeding.

[0047] A ring-shaped PTC heating device 13 is installed at the yarn outlet for continuous online drying of the yarn. It surrounds the outer side of the yarn outlet and uses PTC thermistor material for the heating element, providing automatic temperature control. The heating temperature of the ring-shaped PTC heating device 13 can be adjusted according to the yarn material. During the yarn output process, the ring-shaped PTC heating device 13 continuously heats and dries the yarn online, removing moisture absorbed during storage or transportation. This drying method effectively avoids secondary moisture absorption during long-distance transportation of the dried yarn, and the drying and yarn feeding functions are integrated into the same main unit 1, requiring no additional space.

[0048] like Figure 6 As shown, the present invention also provides a 3D printer including the above-mentioned filament feeding device. The 3D printer includes a gantry support 14, a printing nozzle 15, a base plate 16, a feed rack 17, and a material tray 18. The printer has a three-axis moving structure, driven by multiple moving motors. The printing nozzle 15 can move bidirectionally in both vertical and horizontal directions, and the base plate 16 can move longitudinally, realizing three-dimensional relative motion between the printing nozzle 15 and the base plate 16. The feed rack 17 is located on one side of the printer, and the material tray 18 is rotatably mounted on the feed rack 17 for winding and storing filament. The above-mentioned filament feeding device is fixedly installed on one side of the gantry support 14. The filament is drawn out from the material tray 18, enters the filament inlet of the filament feeding device, is stably conveyed by the three-point support clamping structure inside the filament feeding device, and is output from the filament outlet. It is then guided to the printing nozzle 15 via a connecting hose 19, where the printing nozzle 15 extrudes the molten filament onto the base plate 16 for layer-by-layer printing.

[0049] During the operation of the aforementioned 3D printer, the filament feeding device stably conveys the filament, while the annular PTC heating device 13 dries the filament before it enters the printing nozzle 15 online. This ensures the filament remains dry before melting and extrusion, effectively preventing printing defects caused by moisture in the filament and improving printing quality and forming accuracy. Simultaneously, by adjusting the rotation of the turntable 5 driven by the motor 10, the clamping distance between the two driven rollers 12 and the driving roller 3 can be quickly and synchronously adjusted. This allows the filament feeding device to adapt to filaments of different diameters without the need for manual replacement or adjustment of parts, enhancing the ease of operation and applicability of the equipment.

[0050] It is understood that the present invention has been described through some embodiments, and those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes or equivalent substitutions can be made to these features and embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, under the teachings of the present invention, these features and embodiments can be modified to adapt to specific situations and materials without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, and all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims of this application are within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A filament feeding device for a 3D printer and a 3D printer, characterized in that, Includes a main body device (1); the main body device (1) has a wire inlet in the middle of its lower side and a wire outlet in the upper side opposite to the wire inlet; The main device (1) is fixedly provided with a fixed disk (2), and a drive roller (3) for driving the filament to move is provided on one side of the fixed disk (2). The drive roller (3) is driven by a drive motor (4) provided on one side. A turntable (5) is rotatably installed inside the fixed disk (2). Two straight slide grooves (6) are opened on the fixed disk (2). The two straight slide grooves (6) and the drive roller (3) are equidistantly distributed in a triangular circumferential direction. An oblique slide groove (7) is opened in the turntable (5) corresponding to the two straight slide grooves (6). A sliding block (8) is slidably connected in the straight slide grooves (6) and the oblique slide grooves (7). A worm gear (9) is fixedly connected to the turntable (5) on the other side of the inclined slide (7). An adjustment motor (10) is provided in the main device (1) on one side of the fixed plate (2). The output shaft of the adjustment motor (10) is connected to a worm (11) that meshes with the worm gear (9). The turntable (5) is driven to rotate in the fixed plate (2) through the worm gear (11) and the worm gear (9). The two sliding blocks (8) are pushed to move synchronously along the straight slide (6) through the inclined slide (7). The center positions of the fixed disk (2) and the turntable (5) are provided with a wire feeding channel corresponding to the wire inlet and the wire outlet. The active roller (3) is set relative to the wire feeding channel. The two sliding blocks (8) are both extended and rotated in the direction of the wire feeding channel and are provided with driven rollers (12). The active roller (3) and the two driven rollers (12) together form a three-point support and clamping structure for the wire material passing through the wire feeding channel.

2. The filament feeding device and 3D printer of a 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that, The two straight grooves (6) are arranged symmetrically around the wire feeding channel, and the extension direction of the straight grooves (6) points to the wire feeding channel. The driven roller (12) is driven to move synchronously along the direction close to or away from the wire material by the sliding block (8).

3. The filament feeding device and 3D printer of a 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that, The two inclined slides (7) are radially inclined relative to the turntable (5). When the turntable (5) rotates, the two inclined slides (7) synchronously push the corresponding sliding blocks (8) so that the two driven rollers (12) synchronously approach or move away from the wire feeding channel.

4. The filament feeding device and 3D printer of a 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that, The clamping area formed by the active roller (3) and the two driven rollers (12) is coaxial with the wire feeding channel. The three-point support keeps the wire in the center during the conveying process, avoiding flattening or damage and deformation of the wire.

5. The filament feeding device and 3D printer of a 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that, Both the active roller (3) and the driven roller (12) are arc-shaped rollers with a central diameter smaller than the diameters of the two end sections, and the arc-shaped edges are adapted to the outer circumference shape of the filament. Both the active roller (3) and the driven roller (12) are replaceable structures to adapt to filaments of different diameters.

6. The filament feeding device and 3D printer of a 3D printer according to claim 5, characterized in that, The arc-shaped edge surfaces of the driving roller (3) and the driven roller (12) are provided with anti-slip textures to increase the pushing friction between them and the filament.

7. The filament feeding device and 3D printer of a 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outlet is equipped with an annular PTC heating device (13) for online continuous drying of the filaments.

8. The filament feeding device and 3D printer of a 3D printer according to claim 7, characterized in that, The annular PTC heating device (13) is arranged around the outside of the filament outlet, and the heating temperature is adjustable. It removes moisture from the filament in real time during the filament conveying process.

9. A 3D printer, comprising a gantry support (14), a print head (15), a base plate (16), a feed rack (17), and a material tray (18); the printer is a three-axis moving structure, driven by multiple moving motors, wherein the print head (15) can move in both vertical and horizontal directions, and the base plate (16) can move longitudinally; the feed rack (17) is disposed on one side of the printer, and the material tray (18) is rotatably disposed on the feed rack (17); characterized in that: The gantry bracket (14) is fixedly provided with a wire feeding device as described in any one of claims 1-8; the wire material is fed from the feed tray (18) into the wire feeding device inlet, and after being conveyed by the wire feeding device, it is output from the wire outlet and guided to the printing nozzle (15) through the connecting hose (19).

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