Filament drive mechanism for use in extrusion-based digital manufacturing systems
First Claim
1. A filament drive mechanism for use in an extrusion-based digital manufacturing system, the filament drive mechanism comprising:
- a rotatable component comprising a central hole defined at least in part by an internally-threaded surface, wherein the rotatable component is to receive a filament strand through the central hole to engage the internally-threaded surface with the filament strand; and
at least one rotation mechanism configured to rotate the rotatable component, thereby allowing the engaged internally-threaded surface to drive the filament strand through the central hole of the rotatable component.
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Abstract
A filament drive mechanism comprising a rotatable component comprising a central hole defined at least in part by an internally-threaded surface, and is configured to receive a filament strand through the central hole to engage the internally-threaded surface with the filament strand. The filament drive mechanism further comprises at least one rotation mechanism configured to rotate the rotatable component, thereby allowing the engaged internally-threaded surface to drive the filament strand through the central hole of the rotatable component.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A filament drive mechanism for use in an extrusion-based digital manufacturing system, the filament drive mechanism comprising:
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a rotatable component comprising a central hole defined at least in part by an internally-threaded surface, wherein the rotatable component is to receive a filament strand through the central hole to engage the internally-threaded surface with the filament strand; and at least one rotation mechanism configured to rotate the rotatable component, thereby allowing the engaged internally-threaded surface to drive the filament strand through the central hole of the rotatable component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A filament drive mechanism for use in an extrusion-based digital manufacturing system, the filament drive assembly comprising:
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a support component configured to be secured to an extrusion head of the extrusion-based digital manufacturing system; a first rotatable component retained by the support component with a fixed rotational axis; a second rotatable component retained by the support component, and having a central hole defined at least in part by an internally-threaded surface, wherein the second rotatable component is biased in a first direction toward the first rotatable component; and a filament tube configured to receive a filament strand, wherein the filament tube extends through the central hole of the second rotatable component, and comprises a sidewall port disposed adjacent to the internally-threaded surface, and wherein the biasing of the second rotatable component in the first direction is configured to engage the internally-threaded surface with the received filament strand within the sidewall port. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for building a three-dimensional object with a filament drive mechanism of an extrusion-based digital manufacturing system, the method comprising:
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providing a rotatable component of the filament drive mechanism, the rotatable component having a central hole defined at least in part by an internally-threaded surface; positioning the internally-threaded surface around a filament tube of the filament drive mechanism such that the internally-threaded surface is disposed at a sidewall port of the filament tube; biasing the rotatable component in a first direction to contact the internally-threaded surface with the filament tube at the sidewall port; biasing the rotatable component in a second direction that is substantially opposite of the first direction, thereby substantially aligning the internally-threaded surface with the filament tube; loading a filament strand into the filament tube such that the filament strand extends through the central hole of the rotatable component while the rotatable component is biased in the second direction; removing the bias on the rotatable component in the second direction to move the rotatable component in the first direction to engage the internally-threaded surface with the filament strand; and rotating the rotatable component to drive the filament strand through the filament tube. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification