Triangular cross-section peristaltic conveyor for transporting powders at high speed in printers

ABSTRACT

Powder-based materials are widely used in various applications such as printing. In printing, low shear force and high-speed conveyance at low temperatures are required to prevent creating defects in materials. In a previous study, we developed a transportation device based on the human intestinal tract that successfully transported highly viscous and solid–liquid fluid mixes and powder material. In this study, we developed a tubular peristaltic conveyor capable of transporting powdered materials in a printer under the aforementioned conditions. The conveyor had a triangular cross-sectional area and a small air chamber to facilitate high-speed peristaltic motion. The performance of the conveyor was confirmed experimentally, and we achieved a conveyance rate of 81.5 g/s.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Biomechatronics
• pneumatic actuators
• transportation
• powder
• peristaltic motion

Notes on contributors

Yasuyuki Yamada received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from Keio University, Japan, in 2009, 2011, and 2013, respectively. From 2013 to 2014, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Tokyo Institute of Technology and was also at Keio University. From 2014 to 2015, he was Engineer at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. In 2015, he joined the Chuo University, where he is currently an assistant professor in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. He was also a visiting assistant professor at Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London in 2018. His research interests include applications of mechanism and soft actuator, design engineering, smart mechanism and bio-inspired robotic. He is a member of the RSJ, IEEE, JSME, JFPS, SICE and AAAS.

Kyota Ashigaki received his BS degrees from Chuo University, Japan, in 2017.

Shun Yoshihama received his BS and MS degrees from Chuo University, Japan, in 2015 and 2017.

Kai Negishi received his BS degrees from Chuo University, Japan, in 2018.

Koichi Kato received his BS from Tokyo University of Science in 1984. He joined Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., in 1984, and joined Ricoh Co., Ltd., in 1989, where he is currently Technology strategy manager in Integrated Product Strategy Department, Business Strategy Center, Commercial and Industrial Printing Business Group.

Taro Nakamura received the PhD degree from Shinshu University, Japan. From 1999 to 2004, he was an assistant professor at Akita Prefectural University. In 2004, he became a lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, where he became an associate professor in 2006. He is currently a professor at Chuo University, Japan. He was also a visiting professor at EPFL, Switzerland, from 2012 to 2013. His research interests include applications of soft actuator and robotics, bio-inspired robotics, and mechatronics. Nakamura won the Young Scientists’ Prize for Science and Technology from the Minister of Education, Science and Technology. He is a member of the IEEE, RSJ, and JSME.