Foldable 3D Printer Plate Mechanism for Portability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional 3D printers are cumbersome and difficult to carry due to their fixed base plates, limiting their portability and precision when folded and deployed.
Innovation Solution
A portable 3D printer design featuring an upper surface plate, vertical support plate, and lower surface plate that can be rotated and folded at precise angles to form a thin film structure, allowing for accurate 3D printing and easy carrying, with integrated moving means and electronic circuits for motor control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional 3D printers use fixed base plates, then structural stability is improved, but portability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The 3D printer is divided into multiple separable components including a base unit, a vertical support plate that can be folded, and a printing head assembly. This segmentation allows the printer to be disassembled into compact parts for easy carrying while maintaining structural stability when assembled for printing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The vertical support plate is designed with dynamic folding capability, allowing it to transition between extended and retracted positions. This dynamic structure enables the printer to adapt between a stable extended configuration for printing and a compact folded configuration for portability, resolving the contradiction between structural stability and ease of carrying.
2Ease of operation
If the 3D printer is folded and deployed, then portability is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical support plate incorporates preliminary positioning features and guide structures that ensure accurate alignment when folded and deployed. These pre-designed alignment mechanisms automatically establish the correct geometric relationships between components, guaranteeing printing precision regardless of the folding state.
Solution Approach 2:
The design utilizes controlled parameter changes in the folding mechanism, where specific angles and positions are maintained during folding to preserve the relative spatial relationships between the printing head, support plate, and base. This ensures that even when folded, the critical dimensional parameters required for precise printing are maintained.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the vertical support plate is rotated at 270° or more, then structural flexibility is improved, but device complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The vertical support plate employs an asymmetric folding mechanism with strategically placed hinges and connection points. This asymmetric design enables the plate to achieve multiple stable positions including rotations of 270° or more, providing structural flexibility for various printing orientations while avoiding the need for complex symmetric mechanisms that would require multiple identical components and control systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A portable 3D printer where the upper surface plate and the lower surface plate are rotated upward and downward at an angle of 270°, respectively, and the upper surface plate, the lower surface plate and the vertical support plate are adjacent to the respective first, second, third and further oblique plates. The adjacent portion is 0-90° such that the summations of the internal angles of the adjacent portions become a right angle of 90° thereby to provide a stable 3D printer when it is used and to be folded as a thin film structure when it is carried.