A new Chinese patent application suggests ELEGOO is exploring a lighter way to switch multiple FFF toolheads.
The document is CN122425890A, assigned to Shenzhen Intelligent Pie Technology Co., Ltd., which is ELEGOO’s Shenzhen operating entity. It was published on July 21, 2026. The title translates roughly as “FDM multi nozzle quick switching bracket.”
The basic idea is a rotating, lifting nozzle carrier. Several nozzle bodies are mounted around a circular assembly plate. A motor turns the plate to bring the desired nozzle into position, and a lifting mechanism moves the selected nozzle into contact with a feed tube. The patent also describes positioning magnets and a ring shaped positioning sensor to tell the printer control system when the plate has reached the correct station.
In other words, this is not a filament switching system in the Bambu Lab AMS or Prusa MMU sense. It is more like a tool changing mechanism, but packaged as a compact rotating bracket carrying several hot end or nozzle modules.
The claimed improvement is reduced weight. The bracket body is described as carbon fiber composite rather than a traditional metal structure. The patent argues that existing metal nozzle supports are heavy, which increases inertia during switching and hurts positioning response.
Any mass mounted on a moving printhead has consequences: acceleration, ringing, belt loads, motor sizing, and the amount of time needed to settle after a tool change. A multi nozzle carrier can quickly become a penalty if the mechanism adds too much moving weight.
The patent’s mechanism uses bevel gears, a spline rod and spline tube arrangement, bearings, an electric telescoping rod, guide tubes, rollers, and clamps for holding different nozzle bodies. It also includes a feed tube with a sealing ring intended to reduce leakage when the selected nozzle connects to the feed path.
There is even a dust protection scheme. Idle nozzle interfaces can be covered by a shield and a spring loaded cap mechanism that opens as the nozzle switching motion occurs.
A rotating cartridge of prepared nozzles could give 3D printer operators faster access to different colors, materials, or nozzle sizes without pushing every change through a single hotend. That could reduce purging, simplify some material transitions, and make nozzle specific setups more practical.
In multi nozzle FFF, the mechanical switch is only part of the system. The machine also has to manage inactive nozzle contamination, thermal stability, Z alignment, XY offsets, slicing logic, and repeatable re engagement after many cycles.
The patent suggests ELEGOO is thinking about a more compact and lighter multi nozzle architecture. If the company can turn this into a reliable mechanism with good calibration and clean material handling, it could be useful for their desktop printers that have frequent material or color changes.
Via Espacenet
