Patent ID: 11865752
Assignee: SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A plasticizing device, comprising:
a passage defining frame that is coupled to a hopper which stores a material and that defines a supply passage to which the material is supplied from the hopper, the supply passage being elongated in an axial direction;
a plasticizing assembly that includes a screw with an introduction portion, the introduction portion communicating with the supply passage, the plasticizing assembly being configured to plasticize the material supplied from the introduction portion by rotation of the screw around a rotation axis to form a molten material; and
a sensor configured to sense in a direction along the rotation axis to detect a presence or absence of the material in the supply passage,
wherein a hole communicating with the supply passage is formed in the passage defining frame, and the sensor is disposed in the hole, and
the screw and the sensor are laterally shifted from each other when viewed along the rotation axis.