Abstract
This invention describes several mechanisms that increase the value and usability of 3D printing and assembly machines.
Claims
1. A positioning system comprising a plurality of carriages running along and magnetically coupled to or through a multiplicity of surfaces that are capable of positioning tools or pick and place mechanisms concurrently and independently around a common working volume.
2-17. (canceled)
18. A positioning system as per claim 1 wherein the carriages further comprise a multiplicity of omnidirectional wheels that can be driven to move it in any direction on a first side of one of the surfaces and each of the carriages is magnetically coupled to a tool or carrier positioned on a second side of the one of the surfaces.
19. A positioning system as per claim 1 wherein the carriages are constrained between two substantially parallel ones of the surfaces in such a way that they can only move in a single plane and each of the carriages is magnetically coupled to a tool or carrier positioned below a lower one of the substantially parallel ones of the surfaces and the product is printed and assembled below the lower one of the substantially parallel ones of the surfaces.
20. A positioning system as per claim 1 wherein the carriages are constrained between two substantially parallel ones of the surfaces in such a way that they can only move in a single plane and each of the carriages is magnetically coupled to a tool or carrier positioned above an upper one of the substantially parallel ones of the surfaces and the product is suspended and printed and assembled above the upper one of the substantially parallel ones of the surfaces.
21. A positioning system as per claim 1 wherein two of the surfaces are made from or coated with an electrically conductive material so that they can be electrified to supply the carriages with power either through their wheels or a separate electrical pick up.
22. A positioning system as per claim 1 wherein two of the surfaces incorporate a capacitive positioning system so that the machine into which it is built can calculate the position and orientation of each of the carriages.
23. A positioning system as per claim 1 wherein the carriages are mounted on a multiplicity of omni-directional wheels or swiveling castors that run along two opposing ones of the surfaces between which one or more of the carriages are located so that when one or more of the omni-directional wheels are driven the one or more of the carriages moves and drags one or more tools or toolheads to which the one or more of the carriages are coupled.
24. (canceled)
25. A positioning system as per claim 1 wherein one of the surfaces has a first set of parallel equidistant grooves running along it in one direction and an opposing one of the surfaces has a second set of parallel equidistant grooves running along it in a substantially non-parallel direction and each of the carriages has a multiplicity of castellated wheels that allow them to engage with and roll across the first set of parallel equidistant grooves on the one of the surfaces but be pushed sideways along the second set of parallel equidistant grooves in the opposing one of the surfaces.
26-32. (canceled)
33. A mechanism that holds a product being built which can be positioned in a substantially horizontal plane when it is in use but can then be moved into a largely vertical plane for storage when it is not in use.
34. A mechanism as per claim 33 that holds dispensers for tools and materials and components in a position at an edge of a build area when a machine is in use but then moves them into another position when the machine is not in use.
35. A mechanism as per claim 33 that is mounted to a wall and configured to hold a positioning system in the substantially horizontal plane when it is use but then move it into the largely vertical plane against the wall for storage when it is not in use.
36-43. (canceled)
44. A tool that dispenses loops of material onto or into a product being built on a 3D printer to add tensile strength to one or more printed parts.
45. A tool as per claim 44 comprising means for cutting the loops from a tube of a material.
46. A tool as per claim 45 wherein the tube of the material is formed by winding layers in a circular path to facilitate minimal cutting through strands of the material when cutting the loops from the tube of the material.
47. An apparatus comprising a multiplicity of food storage containers and food preparation tools and material deposition and component placement carriages that are magnetically coupled to a plurality of motor driven carriages on the other a side of a sheet of material so that the food storage containers and food preparation tools are segregated to protect the motor driven carriages and their components from water and other fluids used to clean the food storage containers and food preparation tools.
48-52. (canceled)
53. An apparatus as per claim 47 further comprising: means to cut or grate food ingredients comprising a rotary disc with quadrants equipped with differently shaped blades and apertures so that it can be spun backward and forwards to carry out different operations without a tool change; and one or moving blades, wash jets, or graters mounted on an output aperture of one or more of the food storage containers or one or more of the component placement carriages or motor driven carriages.
54. An apparatus as per claim 53 wherein one of the quadrants of the rotary disc does not comprise any apertures so that the disc can be rotated into a position where one or more of the food storage containers is sealed off from a build and cutting area whilst it is being washed.
Description
[0043] This invention will now be illustrated by means of ten figures.
[0044] FIG. 1 shows a cartridge supported between two surfaces a multiplicity of free and driven castellated wheels so that it can move in a plane and guide a magnetically coupled tool holder along the underside of the lower surface.
[0045] FIG. 2 shows the construction of an omniwheel which is commonly used in the manufacture of robots.
[0046] FIG. 3 shows a similar mechanism to that shown FIG. 1 but with the castors replaced by omnidirectional wheels.
[0047] FIG. 4 is the view from above a surface showing a multiplicity of actuator driven carriages that can be independently positioned which are magnetically coupled to carriages below the surface.
[0048] FIG. 5 is the view from below the surface showing a multiplicity of carriages that are magnetically coupled to driven carriages above the surface. The carriages are equipped with tools or material deposition or component positioning mechanisms.
[0049] FIG. 6 shows a rotary print mechanism with dual shaft motors mounted on the carriages that move along radial shafts resisting a twisting force applied to it by a tool.
[0050] FIG. 7 shows a pick and place unit mounted on a carriage picking a component from a pigeonhole in a storage unit mounted adjacent to a print bed.
[0051] FIG. 8 shows the mechanism holding the carriages and the mechanism holding the product being printed and the storage system for tools and components and materials partly folded away out of the living space.
[0052] FIG. 9 shows the arrangement of the food storage and preparation and cleaning elements of a machine with a magnetically coupled carriages.
[0053] FIG. 10 shows the arrangement of the food storage and preparation and cleaning elements of a machine with a rotary positioning system.
[0054] FIG. 11 shows the motor and guide shaft elements of a rotary positioning system.
[0055] FIG. 1 depicts a carriage 1 supported by toothed wheels 2 that engage with a grooved surface 3 below it and toothed wheels 4 that engage with a surface 5 which also has grooves which are aligned perpendicular to those on the surface 3. This carriage is magnetically coupled through the surface 3 to a carriage 6 upon which are mounted tools such as the material depositing nozzle 7 shown. When the wheels 2 rotate the carriage is driven in a direction which means that the grooves on the surface 5 slide through the teeth on the wheels 4. Similarly when the wheels 4 are rotated then move the carriage 1 in a direction which means that the grooves on the surface 2 slide through the teeth on the wheels 2. In this way the carriage 1 can be moved precisely without any risk of slippage because the frictional bond between the wheels and surface is broken.
[0056] FIG. 2 depicts an omni directional wheel as commonly used by robots comprising of a disc 8 with castellated outer surface into which rollers 9 are mounted to allow the wheel to move sideways. A central hole 10 enables the wheel to be mounted onto an axle. This drawing is only included to define the term onnidirectional wheel.
[0057] FIG. 3 depicts a carriage similar to that shown in FIG. 1 with omnidirectional wheels 11 that run against an upper surface 12 and a lower surface 13. This is similarly magnetically coupled to a carriage 14 that runs along the opposite side of the surface 13. Using omnidirectional wheels eliminated the need to have grooved surfaces. If the surfaces 12 and 13 are separated by an optimal distance and the rollers of the omnidirectional wheels 11 and surfaces 12 and 13 are coated with high friction materials then there should be adequate friction to minimise the risk of slippage.
[0058] FIG. 4 is a top view showing driven carriages 18 each with three omni directional wheel that run on a surface 15. Each carriage 18 is coupled to a carriage below the surface 15 with two magnets 17 which means that it can control both the position and direction of the carriage to which it is coupled. The surface 15 has cartridges 16 on either side of the surface from which the lower carriages can pick up and drop of tools or components or materials or material containers.
[0059] FIG. 5 shows a view of the a surface 18 with cartridges 19 and 20 and 21 and 22 and 23 and 24 that contain a multiplicity of components or tools or materials or material containers. On this surface 18 run carriages 25 that are couples via two magnets 26 each to driven carriages on the other side of the surface 18. The carriages pick up tools or components of materials or material containers 27 using effectors 28.
[0060] FIG. 6 is a three dimensional view showing the pigeonhole design of the cartridges 29 that hold the material deposition tools 30 with integral material containers and other components and other tools. The cartridges 29 are mounted next to the surface 31 upon which a product 32 is being printed and assembled. Surfaces 33 and 34 move vertically on lead screws 35 are electrified to supply power to the motorised carriages 36. The magnetically coupled carriages 37 under the surface 31 have electromagnet or suction cup equipped pick and place mechanisms to manipulate the components or tools or materials or material containers 39 as required.
[0061] FIG. 7 shows how the pick and place a passive or motorised carriage 40 would operate to pick tools or components or materials or material containers 48 from a cartridge 41. As the carriage 40 mounted on wheels 42 travelling on the surface 43 moved towards the cartridge 41 a cam follower wheel 44 would strike and then roll down the cam 45. This would rotate the linkage 46 anticlockwise about the pivot point 47 to position the end effector 49 into a pick up position to retrieve an item 48 from the cartridge. When the direction of travel was reversed the cam follower wheel 44 would travel back up the cam aided by the spring or elastic band 50 until it hit an end stop at the desired position. The means for attaching the object to the end effector could be an magnetic or suction or gripping. This arrangement would work equally well if reorientate so that the carriage was travelling on top of the surface 43 as opposed to beneath it.
[0062] FIG. 8 shows how the components of the magnetically coupled 3D print and assembly machine could be folded away when not in use making it better suited to home printing at night using living space that would be freed up in the day. Brackets 51 would be fixed to a building ideally against a wall. The build surface 52 together with the lower surface 53 and upper surface 54 that hold the magnetically coupled driven carriages 55 and passive carriages 56 would pivot upwards or downwards to move them parallel to the frame 51. The cartridge containing tools and components and materials would ideally pivot horizontally to move so that it was also out of the way. The cartridges 56 could optionally be removed and stored separately. As the cartridges 55 are sandwiched between the surfaces 53 and 54 they would be held in place even if the surfaces were moved into a vertical position.
[0063] FIG. 9 shows a system whereby food ingredients 61 in a cartridge 60 may be gravity fed into the side of a print and assembly machine through apertures 62 whilst being processed by a tool 63 that is both a gate and a cutter. In the case of an ingredient such as carrots 64 the tool 65 would either incorporate multiple apertures with sharp edges to grate or slice the ingredient. In the case of a vegetable such as a lettuce 66 the tool 67 would incorporate a single large aperture with sharp edges. The surface 59 would hold a container 58. The carriages that would pack and place the whole or cut food ingredients are not shown as they would have obscured the required detail in this figure.
[0064] FIG. 10 shows how a food preparation unit could be incorporated into a 3D printing and assembly machine where there is vertical axis over the build plate with rotary or linear travel. In this case ingredients 70 are placed into tubes 71 that are mounted above a rotating blade 72 that is driven clockwise or anticlockwise by a motor 73. This slices or grates material from the ingredient 70 into the container 74. The build surface can be moved on pulleys 75 to bring a new container into position when one is full. Sauce can also be pumped into the container from a nozzle 76.
[0065] FIG. 11 shows a simple and compact mechanism for keeping a 3D print or component pick and place head 80 aligned to a vertical axis where there is a requirement to keep the mechanism narrow. A carriage 80 has a dual shaft motor 81 fixed to it. Pulleys 82 and 83 are mounted onto the upper and lower shafts of the motor. Pulley 82 engages with a rack or belt 84. Pulley 83 engages with a rack or belt 85. A guide 86 is provided along which rollers on the carriage 80 run to support its weight and that of the print head 78. The mechanism helps to stop the twisting of the print head even if there is drag from the deposited material 79.
