3D Printer Nozzle Tab for Cementitious Bead Shaping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems for constructing buildings with cementitious materials face challenges in printing structures that can cure, dry, retain high design quality, and maintain structural integrity and strength.
Innovation Solution
A three-dimensional printer nozzle and assembly with a unique design featuring a body with an inlet, outlet, and flow path, including a tab that extends outwardly from the outlet, allowing for the dispensing and shaping of cementitious materials with a non-uniform cross-sectional shape, enabling the creation of elongated beads with polygonal or trapezoidal cross-sections, which are then stacked to form building structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional extrusion systems are used for cementitious materials, then construction can be performed with traditional methods, but the ability to print structures with high design quality and structural integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle is segmented into distinct functional zones: a body portion for material delivery and a tab portion for shaping. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the body for efficient material flow and the tab for precise geometric control of the extruded cementitious material.
Solution Approach 2:
The nozzle design incorporates dynamic shaping capabilities through the tab portion, which can be positioned and configured to create varying cross-sectional shapes (rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular) in the extruded material. This dynamic adaptability enables high design quality without requiring completely different nozzle designs for each shape.
2Productivity
If conventional construction methods are used, then traditional building processes can be followed, but construction time and labor requirements are excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle design enables continuous extrusion of cementitious material without interruption or need for repositioning. The integrated tab portion continuously shapes the material as it exits, maintaining uninterrupted material deposition and eliminating idle time between extrusion segments, thereby significantly increasing construction productivity.
3Shape
If standard nozzle designs are used, then manufacturing is simpler, but the ability to create polygonal or trapezoidal cross-sections is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The tab portion of the nozzle is designed with asymmetric geometry relative to the body portion. This asymmetry is intentional and enables the extrusion of non-circular cross-sections (rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular) from the cementitious material. The tab's offset positioning and angled surfaces directly imprint the desired asymmetric shapes onto the extruded material.
4Reliability
If conventional extrusion nozzles are used, then material flow is straightforward, but shaping capability and structural integrity are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle design merges the material delivery function (body portion) and the shaping function (tab portion) into a single integrated component. This combination ensures that structural integrity is maintained throughout the extrusion process, as the tab is structurally connected to the body and works in unison to deliver and shape the material in one continuous action.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a nozzle for a three-dimensional printer. The nozzle comprises a body comprising an inlet, an outlet, and a flow path connecting the inlet and the outlet. The body comprises a leading side and a trailing side opposite the leading side. A tab positioned adjacent to the outlet extends outwardly relative to the trailing side of the body.