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A project log for P1 - Buddha Tape feeder

3D printable Pick and Place tape feeder for the Arcus-3D-P1.

daren-schwenkeDaren Schwenke 07/18/2018 at 19:200 Comments

The core part of this idea was a 3D printed drive wheel with a spool supporting both edges of the tape.

I also wanted to implement the cover tape removal using the same motion which advanced the tape, and not require weights or motors to take up the slack.

I started by pulling the specifications for the various tape sizes, which is summed up by this page.

From this I generated 3 parts in OpenSCAD, all of which print flat with no overhangs.

All three parts are retained in precise alignment by a press fit onto a skateboard bearing.  The press fit works over a larger useable range because the center hole was modeled as having flats, by limiting the resolution of the cylinder.  Similarly, the drive sprocket was modeled with a cylinder with 2x the number of facets as the number of drive teeth.

The outer wheels were modeled with a taper to press on both edges of the tape, centering it and forcing it to ride against the bottom side of the cover plate.  The wheels are designed to flex slightly at the rim to make up for small variations in tape width.

 The idler wheel can be printed in four sizes to accommodate four widths of tapes.

So the hard part is done.  It grabs the tape nicely and the centering works.

Now to build the rest of the mechanism around that.

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