Here's an STL for measurements. Pretty much exactly what I injection molded. There are humps on the top side (face against build plate) that I cut off to help the 3D printing of this part. Added tabs, increased interference on axles, increased width of axle clamping features, increase thickness and rib thickness. The injection molded parts are made from glass filled nylon 6 material. Extremely tough.
- 70832 platform.SLDPRT
- Platform rev2 PartDaddys SeeMeCNC Solidworks Drawing
- (2.67 MiB) Downloaded 393 times
http://repables.com/r/294# (link to repables upload)
Let me share some more thoughts on this post too, seeing how some companies are finding it popular to take OBVIOUS open ideas of others and trying to patent them...
The rectangular notches and holes are features that can be used for probes, hot-end mounts, tool changers, ceramic extruders, or other OBVIOUS end-effectors of this embodiment. This embodiment is easily adaptable for use in 4, 5, and 6 axis robots. Who's OBVIOUS applications include pen plotting, pick & place, soldering, laser cutting, engraving, machining, food printing or extruding, food decorating, and decorating, such as ink jet printing or other end-effector adoption. The additional axis of rotation for the end-effector may be mounted to this platform, and/or a combination of a 4th and/or 5th rotary-tilt build surfaces, which may include a slipring or capacitive electrical connection, for ease of interchanging other attachments or build surfaces, and/or automated build platforms. Using this platform can provide quick tool-change capability, which all things listed here are OBVIOUS to CNC machine tools and robots in use today.
Now, I'm not trying to turn atoff's post into patent thread, however, I feel it's important to share these thoughts. Many things getting patents are absurd. "Non-Obvious" is a requirement to get something patented. The patent examiner will not conduct a thorough search of the internet, but you can get their email and make them aware.
I decided to write this here, because I'm sharing my work and feel it's important to point out some features because of the absurd patent applications that have been showing up.