公开(公告)号：WO2018200306A1

公开(公告)日：2018-11-01

申请号：PCT/US2018/028343

申请日：2018-04-19

Applicant: DESKTOP METAL, INC.

Inventor： TITCHENER, Paul

IPC: B33Y30/00 ,  B22F3/00 ,  B33Y40/00 ,  B29C64/255 ,  B29C64/321

CPC classification number: B29C64/321 ,  B22F3/008 ,  B29C64/118 ,  B29C64/255 ,  B33Y10/00 ,  B33Y30/00 ,  B33Y40/00

Abstract: An apparatus, and corresponding method, feeds build material, in the form of rods, to a drive system in a three-dimensional (3D) printing system. The apparatus dispenses a rod (150) to a media tray (160) and into a first groove defined by a flipper arm (166). The flipper arm is in a substantially horizontal position supported by a bottom ridge (867) of the media tray. The flipper arm is rotated away from the bottom ridge and toward a stopper (162) coupled to the flipper arm and the media tray. The stopper defines a second groove. The apparatus deposits the rod into the drive system via a feed shaft formed by the first and second grooves of the flipper arm and stopper, respectively. The apparatus enables high-speed 3D printing using the rods by overcoming challenges in loading the rods due to brittleness of the rods.