Abstract

In additive manufacturing, a method of adding a segment of fiber- reinforced thermoplastic filament (111). Adding a segment of filament involves three tasks: (1) determining where the segment of filament should be added, (2) depositing the segment of filament at the desired location, and (3) tamping the segment of filament to ensure adhesion and eliminate voids. Tamping the segment of filament is performed by steering a wheel along the filament. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment, the wheel is steered around a yaw axis (313) that is offset from the wheel's axis (312) by a distance s, where s is a positive real number.

IPC Classes  ?

• B29C 64/106 - Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material
• B33Y 10/00 - Processes of additive manufacturing
• B33Y 30/00 - ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING - Details thereof or accessories therefor
• B33Y 40/00 - Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling
• B29C 64/218 - Rollers
• B29C 64/321 - Feeding
• B29C 70/38 - Automated lay-up, e.g. using robots, laying filaments according to predetermined patterns