Background
3D printing, one of the rapid prototyping technologies, is a technology for constructing an object by using an adhesive material such as powdered metal or plastic based on a digital model file and by printing layer by layer. The 3D printing is usually implemented by a digital technology material printer, and is often used for manufacturing models in the fields of mold manufacturing, industrial design, and the like, and then gradually used for direct manufacturing of some products, and there are already parts printed by using this technology. The technology has applications in jewelry, footwear, industrial design, construction, engineering and construction (AEC), automotive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering, firearms, and other fields.
The currently mainstream 3D printing technology mainly includes four technologies, namely, a light curing molding technology (SLA), a three-dimensional powder bonding technology (3DP), a selective laser sintering technology (SLS), and a fused deposition rapid prototyping technology (FDM). Among them, fused deposition rapid prototyping (FDM), also called fuse deposition, is a technique in which a filament-like hot-melt material is heated to melt and extruded through a nozzle having a fine nozzle. When the three-dimensional computer model thermal-melting material cutting machine works, the distances among all layers are determined firstly, the three-dimensional computer model is sliced by the computer to generate a path, then the spray head moves to discharge under the control of the computer according to the path, the hot-melting material is adhered to the workbench or the solidified layer surface of the previous layer, the workbench moves downwards by one layer distance when the layer is solidified, the layer-by-layer manufacturing is repeated until the last layer is formed, and the final finished product is formed by the layer-by-layer accumulation of the material.
In order to facilitate the printing of the finished product, the finished product is taken down from the workbench (namely, the printing bottom plate), the hot-melt material is generally selected from materials with moderate adhesion, so that when the height of the printed product is higher, the bottom surface of the printed product is easily tilted with the contact part of the workbench, and then the printing head cannot accurately print according to a preset track, so that the printed product cannot meet the expected requirement. Meanwhile, the FDM technique generally has a problem that the material wire must be continuously fed during printing, and the forming time of FDM is generally long, if the contact part of the bottom surface of the printed product and the workbench is tilted, not only the model of the former formed part is scrapped, but also the material wire is continuously fed, which causes a lot of waste of the material (according to the expected computer model, the feeding is stopped only when the printing is completely finished).
Disclosure of Invention
To solve the problems in the prior art, a method for automatically interrupting the feeding of the 3D printer is needed to be provided, so that the problem that the material waste is caused because the material wire of the printing head cannot be stopped to continue feeding when the printed model bottom surface of the existing 3D printer is tilted is solved.
In order to achieve the above object, the inventor provides a method for automatically interrupting the continuous feeding of a 3D printer, where the 3D printer includes a transparent printing bottom plate, a printing head positioning system, a stepping driver, and a control system; the transparent printing bottom plate is provided with MxN light detection areas, each light detection area is internally provided with a light sensor, and the light sensors are used for detecting the brightness change information of the light detection areas; the method comprises the following steps:
the printing head positioning system detects coordinate position information of a current printing head, wherein the coordinate position information comprises X coordinate information, Y coordinate information and Z coordinate information; the X coordinate information and the Y coordinate information are coordinate information projected to the transparent printing bottom plate by the printing head, and the Z coordinate information is height information of the printing head relative to the transparent printing bottom plate;
after receiving a Z coordinate information change signal sent by a printing head positioning system, the control system starts a light sensor in the light detection area; the Z coordinate information change signal is a signal generated when the printing head starts from the transparent printing bottom position and the Z coordinate information changes for the first time;
when detecting that the brightness value in the photo detection area exceeds a preset brightness value, the light sensor sends a light change signal to the control system;
the control system receives light change signals transmitted by the light sensor and controls the printing head to stop moving and discharge through the stepping driver.
Further, the method comprises the steps of:
when the control system receives a Z coordinate information change signal sent by the printing head positioning system, the control system obtains printing model bottom surface information according to the moving track of the printing head on the transparent printing bottom plate and starts a light sensor in a light detection area where the printing model bottom surface information is located; and the bottom surface information of the printing model is determined according to the change condition of the X coordinate information and the change condition of the Y coordinate information of the printing head on the transparent printing bottom plate.
Further, the method comprises the steps of:
the control system judges whether the number of the light sensors which transmit light change signals to the control system exceeds a preset number, if so, the stepping driver controls the printing head to stop moving and discharging, and otherwise, the stepping driver controls the printing head to continue moving and discharging.
Further, the method comprises the steps of:
the control system sends out prompt information when the printing head is controlled by the stepping driver to stop moving and discharge.
Different from the prior art, the method for automatically interrupting the continuous feeding of the 3D printer is applied to the 3D printer with the transparent printing bottom plate, MxN light detection areas are arranged on the transparent printing bottom plate, a light sensor is arranged in each light detection area, and the light sensors are used for detecting the brightness change information of the light detection areas; the method comprises the following steps: the printing head positioning system detects coordinate position information of a current printing head, wherein the coordinate position information comprises X coordinate information, Y coordinate information and Z coordinate information; the X coordinate information and the Y coordinate information are coordinate information projected to the transparent printing bottom plate by the printing head, and the Z coordinate information is height information of the printing head relative to the transparent printing bottom plate; after receiving a Z coordinate information change signal sent by a printing head positioning system, the control system starts a light sensor in the light detection area; the Z coordinate information change signal is a signal generated when the printing head starts from the transparent printing bottom position and the Z coordinate information changes for the first time; when detecting that the brightness value in the photo detection area exceeds a preset brightness value, the light sensor sends a light change signal to the control system; the control system receives light change signals transmitted by the light sensor and controls the printing head to stop moving and discharge through the stepping driver. The invention can judge whether the bottom surface of the current printing model has the edge warping phenomenon or not by detecting the light brightness change between the bottom surface of the printing model and the printing bottom plate, and controls the printing head to stop discharging continuously when the edge warping phenomenon occurs, thereby achieving the purpose of saving materials.
Detailed Description
To explain technical contents, structural features, and objects and effects of the technical solutions in detail, the following detailed description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with the embodiments.
Referring to fig. 1, the present invention provides a 3D printer, which includes a transparent printing substrate 101, wherein the transparent printing substrate 101 is provided with MxN photo detection regions 103, and each photo detection region 103 is provided with a light sensor 102. The printing bottom plate is designed to be transparent, so that the light sensor can capture light in time when the brightness in the light detection area is changed. The size and density of the light detection area can be adjusted according to actual needs.
The 3D printer further comprises:
the printing head is arranged above the transparent printing bottom plate and used for feeding the wire material to an extruder motor of the heater, and the extruder motor is a stepping motor. The printhead typically includes an extruder including an extruder motor having an output gear that engages and drives the filament of printing material forward into a heating unit. The extruder motor may be any suitable type of motor, such as a stepper motor controlled by a stepper driver. The heating unit is used for melting the wires, the heated wires can be output through a nozzle of the printing head, and then layer-by-layer printing is started.
The printing head positioning system is used for acquiring coordinate position information of the printing head, and the coordinate position information comprises X coordinate information, Y coordinate information and Z coordinate information; the X coordinate information and the Y coordinate information are coordinate information projected to the transparent printing bottom plate by the printing head, and the Z coordinate information is height information of the printing head relative to the transparent printing bottom plate. The 3D printer is carried out based on slices in the printing process, and the computer determines the path of each slice according to the three-dimensional computer model, namely the preset coordinate change information of each slice. In the practical application process, the coordinate position information of the printing head continuously changes along with the movement of the printing head, so that the printing head positioning system can feed the current coordinate position information of the printing head back to the control system in real time, and the control system can acquire the printing progress of the current model and the current coordinate position information of the printing head.
A stepper driver connected to the extruder motor and capable of controlling operation of the extruder motor. The control system is used for controlling the operation of the stepping driver according to the change of the coordinate position information transmitted by the printing head positioning system and the light change signal transmitted by the light sensor.
In short, the control system can determine the bottom surface information of the printing model according to the coordinate position information transmitted by the printing head positioning system, and can judge whether the bottom surface of the current printing model has the edge warping phenomenon according to the light change signal transmitted by the light sensor in the printing process. When the light sensor detects that the brightness of the photo-detection area originally lower than the preset brightness value becomes higher than the preset brightness value, it indicates that the edge warping phenomenon occurs in the portion of the photo-detection area originally covered by the material wire (i.e. the bottom surface of the printing model, because the portion is covered by the material wire, the brightness value detected by the covered portion of the photo-detection area is darker than that detected by the uncovered portion). When the bottom surface of the printing model is detected to have the edge warping phenomenon, the control system controls the printing head to stop discharging continuously (specifically, the control system can control the extruder motor through the stepping driver), so that the purpose of saving materials is achieved.
In order to save power consumption and better determine the time when the light sensor starts to detect the light change, in some embodiments, the control system includes a sensor control circuit, and the sensor control circuit is used for turning on the light sensor in the light detection area after receiving a Z coordinate information change signal sent by the printing head positioning system; the Z coordinate information change signal is a signal generated when the printing head starts from the transparent printing bottom position and the Z coordinate information changes for the first time. The printing process of the 3D printer is to print layer by layer, namely the printing head moves in an X-Y plane to finish the printing operation in the plane, then the Z coordinate information of the printing head is adjusted, and the printing is continued in the X-Y plane where the adjusted Z coordinate information is located, and the steps are repeated until the model is finally printed. Based on the characteristic of the 3D printer, the signal generated when the printing head changes from the transparent printing bottom position and the first Z coordinate information can be used as a mark for completing the bottom printing of the model to be printed. The sensor control circuit starts the light sensor below the light detection area after the bottom surface of the model to be printed is printed, and then judges whether the bottom surface of the model to be printed has the edge warping phenomenon or not by judging whether the light sensor detects that the brightness value of the light detection area is changed from dark to bright or not. Through the scheme, the opportunity for the light sensor to start to detect the change of light can be well determined, so that the detection of whether the edge is warped is started after the bottom surface of the model is printed, on one hand, misjudgment is not easy to occur, and on the other hand, power consumption is also saved.
In order to further reduce power consumption, in some embodiments, the control system further includes a main controller, where the main controller is configured to obtain the bottom surface information of the printing model according to a moving track of the printing head on the transparent printing bottom plate when the sensor control circuit is configured to receive a Z coordinate information change signal sent by the printing head positioning system, and turn on the light sensor in the light detection area where the bottom surface information of the printing model is located through the sensor control circuit; and the bottom surface information of the printing model is determined according to the change condition of the X coordinate information and the change condition of the Y coordinate information of the printing head on the transparent printing bottom plate. In short, after the bottom surface of the model is determined, only the light sensor below the light detection region covered by the bottom surface of the model needs to be turned on. The light sensor below the light detection area uncovered by the bottom surface of the model can be selected not to be started, so that the purpose of saving power consumption is achieved. For example, the bottom surface 201 of the printing model in fig. 2 is a triangle with a shaded portion, the sensor control circuit only needs to turn on the light sensor below the light detection region covered by the triangle.
In some embodiments, the light sensor is configured to send a light change signal to the control system when detecting that the brightness value in the photo detection area exceeds a preset brightness value. The control system is used for the light variation signal transmitted by the light sensor to control the operation of the stepping driver and comprises: the control system is used for controlling the extruder motor to stop working through the stepping driver according to the light change signal transmitted by the light sensor. Preferably, the 3D printer further comprises a prompt unit, and the control system is further configured to control the extruder motor to stop working through the step driver, and send a prompt message through the prompt unit. The prompt message comprises voice prompt message, image prompt message, video prompt message, light prompt message and the like. Can inform the bottom surface of user's current model through the tip phenomenon of having taken place to stick up the limit, avoid continuing extravagant material silk, the printer has stopped continuing the ejection of compact to the user takes measures to solve. For example, the user may remove a previously formed portion of the obsolete model from the printing substrate and reset to start a new printing operation.
In the practical application process, when the density of the photo detection area is high, if the bottom surface of the model is slightly tilted, the whole printing of the model above is not affected, otherwise, if the bottom surface of the model is obviously tilted, the whole printing model is likely to be scrapped if the printing is continued, and in consideration of the two conditions, in some embodiments, the control system is further used for judging whether the number of the light sensors for transmitting the light change signal exceeds the preset number, if so, the extruder motor is controlled to stop working through the step driver, otherwise, the extruder motor is not controlled to stop working by the step driver. In short, the light change signal is sent out to indicate that the light sensors below a certain light detection area detect that a part of the bottom surface of the model covering the light detection area is tilted, and if the number of the light sensors transmitting the light change signal exceeds a preset number, the light change signal indicates that a large part of the bottom surface of the model is tilted at the moment, the printing head needs to be stopped immediately to continue discharging and printing, so that a large amount of loss of the material wire is avoided, and the extruder motor is controlled by the stepping driver to stop working.
Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically interrupting the feeding of the 3D printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The 3D printer comprises a transparent printing bottom plate, a printing head positioning system, a stepping driver and a control system; the transparent printing bottom plate is provided with MxN light detection areas, each light detection area is internally provided with a light sensor, and the light sensors are used for detecting the brightness change information of the light detection areas; the method comprises the following steps:
firstly, the printing head positioning system detects the coordinate position information of the current printing head in the step S301, wherein the coordinate position information comprises X coordinate information, Y coordinate information and Z coordinate information; the X coordinate information and the Y coordinate information are coordinate information projected to the transparent printing bottom plate by the printing head, and the Z coordinate information is height information of the printing head relative to the transparent printing bottom plate;
then step S302 is entered, after the control system receives a Z coordinate information change signal sent by the printing head positioning system, the light ray sensor in the light detection area is started; the Z coordinate information change signal is a signal generated when the printing head starts from the transparent printing bottom position and the Z coordinate information changes for the first time;
then, step S303 is carried out, when the light sensor detects that the brightness value in the light detection area exceeds the preset brightness value, a light change signal is sent to the control system;
and then, the control system receives the light change signal transmitted by the light sensor in step S304, and controls the print head to stop moving and discharge through the stepping driver.
The invention determines whether the bottom surface of the current printing model is printed or not by detecting the change of the Z coordinate information of the printing head, and starts the light detection sensor below the light detection area of the transparent printing bottom plate under the condition that the bottom surface of the printing model is printed, if the light sensor detects that the brightness value in the light detection area exceeds the preset brightness value, the light detection area originally covered by the bottom surface of the model is changed from dark to bright, namely the bottom surface of the model generates a raised edge phenomenon relative to the printing bottom plate, and at the moment, the control system controls the printing head to stop moving and discharge through the stepping driver, thereby achieving the purpose of saving materials.
In certain embodiments, the method comprises the steps of: when the control system receives a Z coordinate information change signal sent by the printing head positioning system, the control system obtains printing model bottom surface information according to the moving track of the printing head on the transparent printing bottom plate and starts a light sensor in a light detection area where the printing model bottom surface information is located; and the bottom surface information of the printing model is determined according to the change condition of the X coordinate information and the change condition of the Y coordinate information of the printing head on the transparent printing bottom plate. In short, after the bottom surface of the model is determined, only the light sensor below the light detection region covered by the bottom surface of the model needs to be turned on. The light sensor below the light detection area uncovered by the bottom surface of the model can be selected not to be started, so that the purpose of saving power consumption is achieved.
In certain embodiments, the method comprises the steps of: the control system judges whether the number of the light sensors which transmit light change signals to the control system exceeds a preset number, if so, the stepping driver controls the printing head to stop moving and discharging, and otherwise, the stepping driver controls the printing head to continue moving and discharging. In short, the light change signal is sent out to indicate that the light sensors below a certain light detection area detect that a part of the bottom surface of the model covering the light detection area is tilted, and if the number of the light sensors transmitting the light change signal exceeds a preset number, the light change signal indicates that a large part of the bottom surface of the model is tilted at the moment, the printing head needs to be stopped immediately to continue discharging and printing, so that a large amount of loss of the material wire is avoided, and the extruder motor is controlled by the stepping driver to stop working.
In certain embodiments, the method comprises the steps of: the control system sends out prompt information when the printing head is controlled by the stepping driver to stop moving and discharge. The prompt message comprises voice prompt message, image prompt message, video prompt message, light prompt message and the like. Can inform the bottom surface of user's current model through the tip phenomenon of having taken place to stick up the limit, avoid continuing extravagant material silk, the printer has stopped continuing the ejection of compact to the user takes measures to solve. For example, the user may remove a previously formed portion of the obsolete model from the printing substrate and reset to start a new printing operation.
It should be noted that the above embodiments are only examples of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments once they know the basic inventive concept of the present invention, so that although the above embodiments have been described herein, they do not limit the scope of the present invention, and all equivalent structures or equivalent processes using the contents of the present specification and drawings, or directly or indirectly using other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.