(12) INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION PUBLISHED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT)

(19) World Intellectual Property

Organization
International Bureau
(10) International Publication Number
(43) International Publication Date WO 2015/189661 Al
17 December 2015 (17.12.2015) PO PCT

(51) International Patent Classification: AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BN, BR, BW, BY,
B29C 67/00 (2006.01) BZ, CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM,
DO, DZ, EC, EE, EG, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT,
(21) International Application Number: HN, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IR, IS, JP, KE, KG, KN, KP, KR,
PCT/IB20 14/062 163 KZ, LA, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LY, MA, MD, ME,
(22) International Filing Date: MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, NO, NZ,
12 June 2014 (12.06.2014) OM, PA, PE, PG, PH, PL, PT, QA, RO, RS, RU, RW, SA,
SC, SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, ST, SV, SY, TH, TJ, TM,
(25) Filing Language: English TN, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN, ZA, ZM,
(26) Publication Language: English ZW.

(71) Applicant: RHOMBUS INTERNATIONAL TECHNO¬ (84) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every
LOGIES LIMITED [JP/CN]; 13/F, Amber Commercial kind of regional protection available): ARIPO (BW, GH,
Building, 70 Morrison Hill Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong, GM, KE, LR, LS, MW, MZ, NA, RW, SD, SL, SZ, TZ,
Hong Kong none (CN). UG, ZM, ZW), Eurasian (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, RU, TJ,
TM), European (AL, AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK,
(72) Inventor: HISHIKI, Teruo; 1-60-13 Palos Shin-nakano, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LT, LU, LV,
Room 305, Wada, Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Japan, Sugin- MC, MK, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, SK, SM,
ami-ku, Tokyo 166-0012 (JP). TR), OAPI (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GQ, GW,
KM, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG).
(74) Agent: IVARSSON, Bengt; Flat 8B Block 20, Park Is
land, Ma Wan, NT, Hong Kong none (CN). Published:
(81) Designated States (unless otherwise indicated, for every with international search report (Art. 21(3))
kind of national protection available): AE, AG, AL, AM,

(54) Title: EXTRUDER FOR FUSED FILAMENT FABRICATION 3D PRINTER

(57) Abstract: Disclosed is an improved extruder head for a fused filament fabrication 3D printer. It would be beneficial with a thin
ner nozzle diameter and higher extrusion speed without slippage in the feeding mechanism. The proposed improved extruder head
enables extrusion of thinner extruded material at a higher extrusion speed without any slippage in filament feeding mechanism,
thereby allowing higher overall building speed of the 3D printer with high quality build. Higher feed-rate of the filament material is
achieved by increased usable friction between pinch wheel and filament by increasing the grippable area of the filament. This is done
by feeding the filament into the feeding mechanism at an angle different to the outlet angle and routing it around the pinch wheel,
back supported by a plurality of support rollers, so that the filament is in frictional contact with the pinch wheel along a greater part
of its circumference, thereby increasing the surface contact area between the pinch wheel and the filament. Owing to non-slippage of
the filament feeder, nominal volume of extruded material is exactly the same as desired volume with high filament feeding rate. Due
to compact feeding mechanism, total mass of extruder kept small enough to enable higher acceleration of the printing nozzle result
ing higher printing speed. Owing to horizontal loading of the filament material, feed roll can be mounted just above the extruder for
smooth filament supply and compact size of 3D printer
DESCRIPTION

Extruder for Fused Filament Fabrication 3D Printer

Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to additive manufacturing systems, more particularly the extrusion
head mechanism, or extruder, of a fused filament fabrication system.

Background Art
[0002] Fused Filament Fabrication is one of several known methods of 3D printing, where
physical components can be manufactured directly from a 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design)
model using an additive approach where material is deposited on a horizontal building surface
layer by layer. Such layers are typically between 0.05 to 1.0 mm thick depending on the
technology used and interpreted by translating 'slices' of the 3D CAD model into movement of
an extrusion head for depositing material. In fused filament fabrication, the deposition
technology is extrusion of polymer via an extruder, whereby a polymer filament is fed by a
feeding unit into a heated nozzle and extruded in melted form into a string through a vertically
oriented nozzle onto the horizontal building surface. The space between the printing nozzle and
the building surface determines the layer thickness. By moving the printing nozzle relative to the
building surface in the horizontal X and Y directions, whilst feeding building material at a
controlled rate, a build layer can be completed, after which movement of the nozzle relative to
the building surface one layer thickness in the positive Z direction allows printing of the next X-Y
layer on top of the previously printed layer, and so on. Each new extruded bead of plastic fuses
and bonds to the previously deposited material in X , Y and Z directions, making it possible to
gradually build up physical objects based on the 3D CAD model.
Several examples of the above type of 3D printers exists in the Art. Expired US patent no
US5121329 Crump by Stratasys describes the basic form of manufacturing 3D models using
extrusion of fluid materials through a printing nozzle, whereby the extruded fluid material
solidifies onto to a building surface upon a drop of temperature. The above patent also teaches
the use of a flexible filament building material housed on a supply spool, whereby the filament is
drawn off the spool by two feed rollers and into a heated nozzle, causing the filament to melt
and pass through the nozzle by the pressure created by the feed rollers. US5764521 Batchelder
et. al. describes an alternative method of feeding building material using a feeding screw.
US5968561 Batchelder et. al. discloses improvements in the relative movement of the extrusion
nozzle and the build platform.
A common aim for 3D printers is to achieve the finest possible build resolution in the shortest
possible time. In the case of a 3D printer based on the fused filament fabrication, the resolution
of the build is proportional to the nozzle diameter and layer thickness. The speed of the build is
proportional to the speed of extrusion of molten material from the nozzle which is determined by
nozzle area and maximum volume of extruded molten material per second. Extrusion speed is
determined by volume of extruded molten material divided by area of extruded molten string of
material. In fact as the resolution of the build is doubled by smaller size of the nozzle, the speed
of the build slows down by a factor 4 . This resolution vs. build speed dilemma makes speed of
extrusion a critical factor in improvement.
A key subsystem in a fused filament fabrication 3D printer is the extruder. One type of extruder
is the screw type, described in US5764521 , where polymer material is fed into a heated feeder
with a rotating feeding screw, which is able to extrude molten polymer at high pressure through
to a nozzle. Although this type is typically capable of achieving high extrusion pressure, an
important drawback is its weight which limits acceleration in the x-y plane and therefore overall
printing speed. Another drawback is the large size of the screw mechanism, which makes it
difficult to install into the 3D printer. A different type of extruder more commonly and preferably
used consists of a 'cold' end having a filament feeder unit and a 'hot' end having a heated
extrusion nozzle. The feeder pulls filament material off a supply roll and feeds it by pressure into
the heated nozzle which consists of essentially a heated tube. The feeder unit design is critical,
and several variants are known: The most commonly used method is to feed the filament in a
straight line between a driven pinch wheel and a sprung pressure plate or idler wheel. The pinch
wheel can be knurled, toothed, hobbed or otherwise treated to increase the friction and
therefore traction force applicable on the filament. For example, a toothed pinch wheel where
the tooth profile is concave to provide a line contact with the filament instead of a point contact
would be preferable. Extrusion of thinner melted material at higher feed-rates is desired for high
resolution and faster build speed. Both increased resolution and increased extrusion speed
result in higher nozzle pressure relative to the grippable surface area of the filament and
therefore the available friction between the filament and the feeding device. The gap between
theoretical and actual extrusion speed increases due to slippage in the feeding device. Current
technology of 3D printers is limited to extrusion of around 10 cm /s which is equivalent to 80
mm/sec extrusion speed with a 0.4 mm diameter nozzle, using ABS material. Over this limit
slippage becomes unacceptable, which can lead to poor quality and build interruptions. It would
be beneficial if the technology could allow thinner nozzle diameter and higher extrusion speed
by means of higher feed rate of the filament material without slippage in the feeding mechanism.
It would also be beneficial is the construction was compact and lightweight, thereby enabling
fast acceleration and a higher printing speed as a result.

Summary of Invention
[0003] Disclosed is an improved extruder head for a fused filament fabrication 3D printer, which
has a lightweight construction and enables extrusion of thinner extruded material at a higher
extrusion speed without any slippage in filament feeding mechanism, thereby allowing higher
overall building speed of the 3D printer. Higher feed-rate of the filament material is achieved by
increased usable friction between pinch wheel and filament by increasing the grippable area of
the filament. This is done by feeding the filament into the feeding mechanism at an angle
different to the outlet angle and routing it around the pinch wheel, back-supported by a plurality
of support rollers, so that the filament is in frictional contact with the pinch wheel along a greater
part of its circumference, thereby increasing the surface contact area between the pinch wheel
and the filament. Owing to non-slippage of the filament feeder, nominal volume of extruded
material is exactly the same as desired volume with high filament feeding rate.
 Brief Description of Drawings
[0004] Fig. 1 shows a schematic layout of a 3D printer indicating the extruder head in relation to
other key components.
Fig. 2 shows a 3D view of the extruder
Fig. 3 shows an exploded view of the extruder
Fig. 4 shows an exploded view of the extruder cold end
Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectional drawing of the extruder
Fig. 6 shows a detail of the extruder hot end.
Fig. 7 shows an embodiment with 180 degree filament contact angle

Table of Components
1 Stepping motor 2 1 Heater
2 Motor mount 22 Nozzle
3 Extruder body 23 Filament
4 Worm gear 24 Filament outlet direction
5 Extruder bracket 25 Cold end
6 Cooling fan 26 Hot end
7 Cold end heat sink 27 3D printer
8a Cover A , 8b cover B 28 Filament roll
9 , 9a - 9f Support rollers 29 Building surface
10 Pinch wheel 30 Filament contact angle v
11 Pinch wheel shaft 3 1 Support roller centre distance d
12 Worm wheel 32 Horizontal beam
13 Worm wheel bearing 33 Vertical beam
14 Filament inlet 34 Filament roll support beam
15 Pinch wheel bearing 35 Building surface linear guide
16 Hot end pipe 36 Partly molten polymer
17 Thermal insulator 37 Molten polymer
18 Hot end heat sink 38 Extruded string of molten polymer
19 Heater block 39 Filament guide groove
20 Temperature sensor 40 Filament guide tube
4 1 Filament inlet direction
Description of Embodiments
[0005] Referring to Fig 1 , according to the preferred embodiment, there is provided a 3D printer
27 having a horizontal build surface 29 movable in the horizontal Y direction guided by linear
guide 35, and an extruder head 3 arranged on a horizontal beam 32 to be movable in the
horizontal x and vertical z directions, and a filament feed roll 28 arranged on support beam 34
above the maximum movement of extruder body 3 on a rotation axle in order to freely dispense
of filament indicated at 23 on demand into the extruder body 3 via filament inlet 14.

[0006] Moving to Fig 2 and Fig 3 , the extruder head generally comprises a cold end 25 and a
hot end 26. The cold end comprises an extruder body 3 which houses a filament feed unit for
pulling filament 23 off feed roll 28 and pushing it into the hot end 26 via hot end pipe 16 into
heater block 19 where it is liquefied by heat created by heater 2 1 . Temperature is monitored by
a temperature sensor 20 and fed back into a computer control unit which is not shown.
Connected to the cold end is a stepping motor 1, mounted on a motor mount 2 which is
connected to the extruder body 3 . Attached to motor mount 2 is a cold end heat sink 7 and
cooling fan 6 .

[0007] Now referring to Fig 4 and 5 for details of the extruder body 3 and the feeder unit. Inside
the extruder body 3 is arranged a worm gear 4 driven by stepping motor 1. The worm gear 4
drives worm wheel 12 which is connected to pinch wheel 10 via pinch wheel shaft 1 1 . The pinch
wheel 10 is equipped with gripping means, preferably teeth, to maximise the pulling or pushing
force on the filament 23. Arranged outside pinch wheel 10 on machined shafts are preferably
three support rollers generally indicated at 9 . The support rollers 9a, 9b and 9c in the preferred
embodiment are preferably ball bearings of the same size and preferably distributed equally
along an arc shape at equal centre distances d 3 1 from pinch wheel 10 and spaced from the
pinch wheel 10 so that the gap between them forms a conduit suitable to receive and guide a
filament 23 tight enough to give the pinch wheel 10 appropriate driving friction against filament
23. There may be an additional guide groove 39 to help the filament finding its way through the
filament conduit. The centre points of the support rollers 9a and 9c and the centre point of pinch
wheel 10 define a filament contact angle v 30. The filament contact angle v 30 is what defines
the total grippable area by pinch wheel 10 on the filament 23. The force between pinch wheel 10
and filament 23 is defined by the gap between support rollers 9a, 9b, 9c and pinch wheel 10.
The gap is smaller than the size of the filament 23, which forces the pinch wheel 10 to dig into
the filament against the support force of support wheels 9a - 9c. Therefore what defines the total
available pulling or pushing force of pinch wheel 10 on filament 23 is defined by the filament
contact angle v and the gap between pinch wheel 10 and support rollers 9a, 9b and 9c.

[0008] Now referring to Fig 5 for details of the hot end. Filament 23 is pushed out from the
feeding unit along a filament outlet direction indicated at 24, into the hot end pipe 16. Hot end
pipe leads the filament 23 from the cold end 25, where it is in a solid state, into the hot end 26
where it is liquefied by heat generated by heater 2 1 inside heater block 19 and finally extruded
in liquid form through nozzle 22. To isolate the cold end 25 from the higher temperatures in the
hot end 26, there is a hot end heat sink 18 to remove heat from the top end of hot end pipe 16,
and a thermal insulator 17 to insulate the extruder body 3 from remaining heat in hot end pipe
16 and hot end heat sink 18.

[0009] In another embodiment of the extruder body 3 , it should be obvious for anybody skilled in
the art that the number of support rollers generally indicated at 9 may vary depending on the
size of them or the filament contact angle 30 desired. Therefore the distance between support
rollers 9 may be shorter or longer depending on need. For example, instead of using three
support rollers 9a, 9b and 9c, it is imaginable that four or five support rollers could be used to fill
the desired filament contact angle v 30, if the individual rollers size was smaller and adequate to
fill the space available under filament contact angle v 30. Equally, it is imaginable that only two
support rollers may be used as long as the filament contact angle v 30 is longer than if using
only one support roller. In case a greater filament contact angle 30 is required, for example 180
degrees, as many as six support rollers 9 may be needed, as indicated in figure 7 . Support roller
9e may in this case, having 6 support rollers 9 giving a filament contact angle v 30 of 180
degrees, have to be larger to allow a sufficiently large bending radius of filament 23.

[0010] In yet another embodiment of the extruder body 3 , it is imaginable that the support rollers
generally indicated at 9 may be substituted by a general support means of low friction. For
example, an arc-shaped guide designed to support the filament 23 over a filament contact angle
v 30 but relying in low friction against the filament 23 whilst still providing sufficient pressure
against pinch wheel 10. Such low friction could for example be achieved by a PTFE coat or
highly polished surface on a steel guide.

[0011] In still another embodiment of the extruder body 3 , it should be well known by someone
skilled in the art that friction between pinch wheel 10 and filament 23 could be maximised in a
number of ways, for example the surface of the pinch wheel 10 could be knurled, toothed,
hobbed or having a concave tooth profile, or otherwise surface treated to increase friction.

[0012] In a final embodiment of the extruder body 3 , the support rollers 9 or support means may
be spring loaded to provide a controlled pressure against pinch wheel 10.
CLAIMS

Claim 1:
A n extruder head for a 3D printer of the fused filament fabrication type, having a filament feeder
comprising of a filament inlet, a driven pinch wheel, and a plurality of support rollers arranged
outside the pinch wheel to form an arc-shaped filament conduit between pinch wheel and
support rollers, the support rollers being spaced from the pinch wheel to receive and guide a
filament along the filament conduit in frictional contact with the pinch wheel, the centre points of
the two outermost support rollers and the pinch wheel defining a filament contact angle to
maximise the usable friction area between pinch wheel and filament material.

Claim 2 :
A feeder unit according to Claim 1, where the filament contact angle is between 30 and 180
degrees.

Claim 3 :
The feeder unit according to Claim 1, where the pinch wheel is knurled, hobbed or toothed to
give optimal traction of the filament.

Claim 4 :
The feeder unit according to Claim 1, where at least one of the support rollers is spring loaded
towards the pinch wheel.

Claim 5 :
The feeder unit according to Claim 1, where the distance between at least one support roller
and the pinch wheel is adjustable.

Claim 6 :
The feeder unit according to Claim 1, where guide means are provided along the arc-shaped
filament conduit to guide the filament to initially find the correct path through the filament
conduit.

Claim 7 :
A n extruder head for a 3D printer of the fused filament fabrication type, having a filament feeder
comprising of a filament inlet, a driven pinch wheel, and support means arranged outside the
pinch wheel to form an arc-shaped filament conduit between pinch wheel and support means,
the support means being spaced from the pinch wheel to receive and guide a filament along the
filament conduit in frictional contact with the pinch wheel, the arc-length of the support means
defining a filament contact angle.
Claim 8 :
A feeder unit according to Claim 7 , where the filament contact angle between 30 and 180
degrees.

Claim 9 :
The feeder unit according to Claim 7 , where the pinch wheel is knurled, hobbed or toothed to
give optimal friction to the filament.

Claim 10:
The feeder unit according to Claim 7 , where the support means is spring loaded towards the
pinch wheel.

Claim 1 1 :
The feeder unit according to Claim 7 , where the distance between the support means and the
pinch wheel is adjustable.
 INTERNATIONAL SEARCH REPORT International application No.
PCT/IB2014/062163
A. CLASSIFICATION OF SUBJECT MATTER
Int.Cl. B2 9C67 / 0 0 ( 2 0 0 6 . 0 1 ) i

According to International Patent Classification (IPC) or to both national classification and IPC
. FIELDS SEARCHED
Minimum documentation searched (classification system followed by classification symbols)
Int.Cl. B2 9C67 / 0 0

Documentation searched other than minimum documentation to the extent that such documents are included in the fields searched

Electronic data base consulted during the international search (name of data base and, where practicable, search terms used)

C . DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED TO BE RELEVANT

Category Citation of document, with indication, where appropriate, of the relevant passages Relevant to claim No.

A JP 2009-532244 A (STRATASYS, INC.) 2009.09.10, 1-11

the whole document & JP 4851588 B & U S 2007/0228590
A l &EP 2003954 A & WO 2007/13 02 2 9 A 2 &CN 101460050
A

A JP 2000-500709A (STRATASYS, INC.) 2000.01.25, 1-11

the whole document & JP 4334619 B & U S 5764521
A & EP 869864 A & WO 1997/019798 A 2 & DE 69626131
D & A U 7671396 A & IN 190124 A & CN 1207187 A &
KR 10-0393357 B

A JP 2009-500194 A (STRATASYS, INC.) 2009.01.08, 1-11

the whole document & JP 2009-500194 A & JP 4898803
B & U S 2007/0003656 A l & EP 1901902 A & W O
2007/005236 A l & CN 101213060 A

Further documents are listed in the continuation of Box C .
* Special categories of cited documents:
"A" document defining the general state of the art which is not
considered to be of particular relevance
"E" earlier application or patent but published on or after the inter¬
national filing date
"L" document which may throw doubts on priority claim(s) or which
is cited to establish the publication date of another citation or other
special reason (as specified)
"O" document referring to an oral disclosure, use, exhibition or other
means
"P" document published prior to the international filing date but later
than the priority date claimed
Date of the actual completion of the international search
See patent family annex.
later document published after the international filing date or
priority date and not in conflict with the application but cited to
understand the principle or theory underlying the invention
document of particular relevance; the claimed invention cannot
be considered novel or cannot be considered to involve an
inventive step when the document is taken alone
document of particular relevance; the claimed invention cannot
be considered to involve an inventive step when the document is
combined with one or more other such documents, such
combination being obvious to a person skilled in the art
document member of the same patent family
Date of mailing of the international search report

02.10.2014 14.10.2014
Name and mailing address of the ISA/JP Authorized officer
4R 9 3 4 1
Japan Patent Office Kagami Nobuhiro
3-4-3, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8915, Japan Telephone No. +8 1-3-358 1-1 10 1 Ext.

Form CT I SA 10 (second sheet) (July 2009)

 INTERNATIONAL SEARCH REPORT International application No.
PCT/IB2014/062163
C (Continuation). DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED TO BE RELEVANT

Category* Citation of document, with indication, where appropriate, of the relevant passages Relevant to claim No

A JP 2010-517830 A (STRATASYS, INC.) 2010.05.27, 1-11

the whole document & JP 5039795 B & US
2008/0213419 A l & EP 2117793 A & W O 2008/100467
A l & CN 101605641 A

A JP 3-158228 A (STRATASYS, INC.) 1991.07.08, the 1-11

whole document & U S 5121329 A & U S 5340433 A &
EP 833237 A 2 & EP 426363 A 2 & DE 69033809 D & CA
2027731 A & A T 205944 T

Form PCT/ISA/210 (continuation of second sheet) (July 2009)