Pellet extruder for composite thermoplastic 3D printing

Request more information or a quotation

Or are you

Looking for a complete system including robot?
Light weight & Easy to mount
The extruder is engineered to be lightweight for the sole purpose of mounting it on a robotic arm. While several different types of robotic arms are available on the market today, we aim to be able to install the extruder on most types, weighing in at a little under 29 kilograms.
Multi materials
The extruder is able to use a wide variety of materials ranging from PP to PPS filled with carbon or glass fibres. A steady flow of plastic pellets to the barrel is achieved by blowing  air from the 25kg container through a maximum of 20 meters transportation hose, in to the inlet located at the top of the extruder assembly.
High production output and low cost
Using pellets materials for 3D printing is cheaper than using filaments reducing operational and part cost. Another benefit of using pellets for 3D printing is the higher outputs than filament based machines. Depending on the material this extruder can reach outputs of up to 12kg/hr
High Torque stable control system
With an Siemens servo motor as a drive system we obtain maximum stability and reliability. Extremely high torques are readily available because of the implemenation of a 20:1 planetary gearbox. The combination of a servo motor and a planetary gearbox make the drive system the best performance possible.
Easy to Swap nozzle 
The nozzle is located at the very end of the extruder barrel. The lowered complexity for the geometry of the nozzle allows for a variety of types to be installed. Nozzle sizes can range from 2mm up to 12mm depending on your application.
Stand alone
The whole system is operated through a Siemens touchscreen, which runs our specifically designed software. This software is the result of years of experience in plastics extrusion, 3D printing, and machinery development. When needed the extruder can be operated as a stand alone unit. It is also possible to connect this system to your robot or machine. This gives your robot the control over the extruder.
Weight extruder < 29kg / 64lbs
Total height 920mm / 34”
With 230mm / 9”
Depth 340mm / 13.5”
Screw diameter 25mm / ”
Compression ratio 1:3
Mounting on robot aluminium mount
Nozzle-bracket dist. 435mm / 7.1”
Heat zones 4
Cooling zone 1 (material inlet)
Heat control Siemens PID
Cooling water cooled
Control system Siemens S7-1200
Human machine interface Siemens KTP-700
Software CEAD custom
Power Servo motor 0.75 kw
Drive system Siemens servo motor
Heating power 1,7kw
Extruder control RPM, servo motor
RPM control Internal controllable by HMI or Externally with 0-10v or 4-20ma or externally connected to your robot / system
Material transport Integrated
Material storage >25kg / >55lbs
Material transport max. distance 20 meter (10 meter is standard)
Material transport control system Automatic by CEAD custom software
See prices and request information
Extruder temperatures
All different heating zones are controllable through the touchscreen. Motor and screw RPM are also shown. The extruder includes several safety features for reliable and safe operation.
Complete control
In the settings menu the user has control over the system. Limits can be programmed as well as controlling both funnel temperature and material transport.
Recipes, storing different settings
Printing with a variety of materials, locations and weather conditions, involve different settings for different materials. So called ‘Recipes’ are saveable presets of settings for the system. This allows for a quick set up when starting the machine with a known material. All recipes can be both exported and imported through USB connection ports which allows for easy sharing.
Logging of the process
A variety of sensors keep track of the temperatures along the different heating zones during set intervals. The extruder speed set point and realtime speed are monitored as well. All this information will be displayed real time and consequently logged to storage. The operator can save the logged files on a usb stick. This allows for quality control, troubleshooting, optimization and streamlining the process.
Materials
We are constantely trying to proces new materials on this extruder. With the high temperature and high torque design we can virtually process all avalaible materials. This is a list of tested materials, contact us if you would like to test your material on our system.
Material Filler material
ABS Thermocomp ac004xxar1 20% Carbon fiber
ABS Thermocomp af004xxar1 20% Glass fiber
Arnite (PET) 50% Glass fiber
Nylon PA6 10% Carbon fiber
PE –
PET-G –
PET 30% Glass fiber
PESU, electrafill 1810 Carbon fiber
PP 30% Glass fiber
PP 50% Glass fiber
PPS 30% Carbon fiber
PEEK 30% Carbon fiber
CEAD is a 3D printer equipment manufacturer and developer of the Continuous Fibre Additive Manufacturing technology. CEAD recently launched the CFAM Prime, the worlds biggest 3D printer able to produce composite parts. Continuous fibres are combined with thermoplastics in order to print these large and high-strength objects.
The Robot extruder is one of the products CEAD has in it’s portfolio, the Robot extruder was developed parallel to developing the CFAM technology.
Request more information or a quotation