[ Closed ] Filament Extruder - Convert pellets to filament (Page 35 of 58)

Actually, the patent does not claim any of that stuff.  You have to read the 23 claims to see what they have patented.  On closer examination, they have patented FDM 3D printing method using 1.75mm filament.  All the stuff that comes before the claims is just to explain one or more practical applications of how it can be done in prior art or within the scope of the claims.  The 23 claims define the scope of the patent.  Most of the claims are just narrowing the scope by steps, so if some claims are deemed to broad, the can still claim the narrower version.  If the claims are narrow enough, and it has not been done before, the patent examiner can grant it.

So now I am thinking that this particular patent is not for making the filament, but printing with it.  They probably tried to patent that two, but were not allowed to, by the patent examiner.  It may have been an attempt to extend the life of an older patent for 3mm FDM.

I should patent printing with 1.70mm filament too.

I agree that this patent can be ignored, because contrary to the abstract, it does not CLAIM a method of extruding high precision filament. 

However, you are very wrong about the DIY use of a patent.  It is not legal to make a patented item or use the patented method for personal use. 

Given that, it is so extremely rare for this to be enforced, that it is not really a worry.  Unless you are advertising you transgressions in a public way (hello internet), who would know. 

However, you may make a copy of a patented item for research purposes as long as you do not use it in a practical way.  The law is very clear on these points.

PLA pellets?

Price? Pellet size? Resin ID?

@Dennis

I don't know what country you're in but here in GB, afaik Europe and any free country it is absolutely fine to copy something that is already patented for your own use exclusively as long as you don't sell it.

I am in the US and it is illegal here.  What is the general wording of the GB patent law that makes it Ok? 
We have copyright law that makes it Ok to make personal copies as long as they are not distributed to anyone else.  Perhaps GB has something similar for patents?

@ronsii

USA

I ordered one of the machines that went with the "rev5" instructions. Why  did the directions say to connect an electrical wire directly from the wall socket to the chasis of the machine instead of just connecting 2 wires and wrapping them in duct tape? I got an electric shock from the machine, and am sure anyone else would if they didn't know about the wire.

Hugh Lyman won the Desktop Factory competition - http://techland.time.com/2013/03/04/how … -main-lead

No, but you can throw some masterbatch pellets into the hopper and it's colored.  I have an idea for a pellet dispenser upstream of the hopper, but I've been distracted with the other end the extruder.

Here is what I had setup at the Deezmaker get together yesterday -

It was a little tough to guide the filament to the puller without kinking it along the way, but once I got it going it settled in to a smooth loop and didn't try coiling or changing direction.  The tolerance was down to about .05, but at 210C I was still getting 1.90mm so I need to switch back to my original plug.  The hard part with this is coordinating the feed rates between the extruder and puller.  The extruder can vary by 1.5"/min so I would need to get an average feed rate over a decent length of time.  At the meetup I just kept an eye on the loop and dialed the puller speed up or down as needed.

An optical switch at the bottom of the loop is an option, but I'm not sure how I would mount it.  Also I wouldn't want the motor switching on and off because that would cause a lot of jerking around at the die.  Someone had suggested that it might be possible to take apart an optical mouse and use it to measure the speed of the filament.

Just had a brainwave:
How about powering the coiling spool/reel from the screw drive?
That has ample power to drive via a light clutch mechanism or maybe the shaft for the spool and the spool spindle hole could be the clutch in itself.
Alternatively a flat belt of some sort works like a clutch.