A material dispensing device includes a material storage unit that stores a material therein and has an outlet portion at a lower portion thereof, and a dispensing unit that dispenses the material dispensed from the outlet portion to an outside with at least a part of the material being plasticized. The material dispensing device includes a remaining amount detection unit that detects a remaining amount of the material stored in the material storage unit from above the material storage unit. A three-dimensional shaping device includes the material dispensing device that dispenses a material for shaping, and a stage on which the material dispensed from the material dispensing device is stacked.

Injection molding plastic parts includes furnishing resin material to a screw barrel having a rotatable screw therewithin, rotating the screw to work the resin material into a molten state, furnishing additive such as liquid color or another additive to the screw barrel interior at a first rate during screw rotation and driving the screw longitudinally from a first position to a second position to force an additive-resin material mixture resulting from screw rotation into a mold while furnishing additive with resin to the screw barrel interior at a second additive addition rate.

A plasticizing device includes: a material storage unit having a charging port and configured to store pellet-shaped resin pellets; a plasticizing unit having a supply port in communication with the charging port and configured to plasticize at least a part of the resin pellets to generate a shaping material; a coupling pipe having a coupling path coupling the charging port and the supply port; a first material sensor configured to detect a remaining quantity of the resin pellets in the coupling path; and a control unit. The material storage unit includes a material supply mechanism configured to supply the resin pellets to the coupling path, and when the remaining quantity of the resin pellets detected by the first material sensor is less than a first reference value, the control unit controls the material supply mechanism to supply a predetermined quantity of the resin pellets to the coupling path.

An injection molding machine 1 includes a cylinder 11, a hopper 14 attached to the cylinder 11 and configured to supply a molding material into the cylinder 11, and a material supply apparatus 4 configured to supply the molding material to the hopper 14. A tank 31 of the material supply apparatus 4 is connected to the hopper 14 via a hose 54. The material supply apparatus 4 is connected to a container 57 in which the molding material is stored via a hose 51. The molding material can be transported from the container 57 to the material supply apparatus 4 through the hose 51, and the molding material can be transported from a tank 30 of the material supply apparatus 4 to the hopper 14 through the hose 54.

A feeder according to an embodiment includes: a weight-type feeder including a hopper to which a raw material is supplied, and a discharging port from which the raw material is discharged; and a volume-type feeder including a hopper to which the raw material discharged from the discharging port is supplied, and a discharging port from which the raw material is discharged. The volume-type feeder repeats the discharging of the raw material from the discharging port and the stopping of the discharging, and the weight-type feeder continuously discharges the raw material from the discharging port to the hopper during which the discharging of the raw material from the discharging port and the stopping of the discharging are performed.