3D printing equipment capable of improving printing efficiency and 3D printing method thereof
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of 3D printing, in particular to 3D printing equipment capable of improving printing efficiency and a 3D printing method thereof.
Background
The 3DP molding process is a typical powder (or granular) material 3D printing technique, which was first proposed by the university of massachusetts in 1989 in US5204055 A1. The method comprises the specific processes of uniformly paving a layer of powder on a platform, scanning a printing head and spraying a liquid material in a specific area to bond the powder at the sprayed part together, then lowering the printing platform by a corresponding layer thickness distance, and repeating the steps until the powder paving and printing work of all layers is completed. In the prior art, powder 3D printing equipment based on the technology is generally characterized in that powder spreading and printing are sequentially completed in steps, and waiting time exists, so that a single-layer powder spreading printing period is longer, and the printing efficiency of the equipment is greatly limited. If the efficiency is to be improved, the efficiency can be only improved by the methods of increasing the printing area, improving the powder spreading and printing speed, increasing the width of the printing head and the like, but the increase of the printing area in the method can increase the manufacturing difficulty of the whole equipment and even can not be realized; the powder spreading and printing speed is difficult to be lifted after reaching a specific value; increasing the width of the printhead can greatly increase the manufacturing and maintenance costs of the device, as well as increase the difficulty of control. The method can only improve the printing efficiency of equipment to a small extent, and can not meet the requirements of industrialized popularization and application of the powder 3D printing technology.
In 2014, patent DE102014112447A1, EXone refers to a dual-station 3D printing apparatus structure, which simultaneously sand and print dual-station boxes, and can increase efficiency by a multiple compared with single-station 3D printing apparatus of the same molding size. However, the essence of the method is that the powder spreading and the printing are finished in sequence, the waiting time exists, and the efficiency is not maximized.
In 2013, patent WO2015/096826 by company Voxeljet refers to an apparatus and a method for improving printing efficiency, wherein one or more groups of powder spreading devices are arranged in parallel with a printing head, so that simultaneous powder spreading and printing and simultaneous unidirectional multi-layer and bidirectional multi-layer printing actions can be realized. However, the method still has the following problems in the implementation process: firstly, setting the powder spreading device and the printing head to move in the same direction, wherein in actual use, the moving speed of the powder spreading device is far lower than that of the printing head, so that the printing efficiency is determined by the powder spreading speed, and if the method is implemented, the printing efficiency cannot be obviously improved; secondly, the powder spreading device and the printing head are set to move in the same direction, the width of the printing head is required to be set to be the same as the effective powder spreading width of the powder spreading device, when the method is implemented, the applicable width is often controlled to be within 1 meter due to the restrictions on the aspects of manufacturing difficulty, cost, control difficulty and the like of the printing head, the effective printing size is severely restricted, and the printing efficiency is low.
Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the problem of low printing efficiency caused by mismatching of the speeds of a printing head and a powder spreading device in the 3D printing forming method in the prior art, the invention provides 3D printing equipment capable of improving the printing efficiency, and the shutdown waiting of the printing head is avoided through the specific printing direction, the powder spreading direction and the arrangement of multiple printing areas so as to improve the printing efficiency of the 3D printing equipment.
The invention aims to realize that 3D printing equipment capable of improving printing efficiency comprises a printing head and a plurality of independently-working powder spreading devices, wherein each powder spreading device corresponds to one printing area, the printing areas are sequentially arranged along the linear direction, each printing area is respectively provided with a workbench capable of independently controlling lifting, the powder spreading devices can spread powder in a reciprocating and bidirectional manner, and the bidirectional powder spreading direction of the powder spreading devices is perpendicular to the linear direction in which the printing areas are arranged; the printing direction of the printing head is perpendicular to the powder spreading direction, and the printing head can move along the powder spreading direction to realize line feed round-trip printing.
According to the 3D printing equipment, the printing head and the powder spreading devices are arranged, each powder spreading device is used for independently spreading powder to an independent printing area, and one printing head is used for printing the plurality of printing areas, so that the powder spreading sequence of each powder spreading device and the printing sequence of the printing head are reasonably configured according to the speeds of the printing head and the powder spreading devices, the printing head is enabled to continuously print without stopping, the waiting time is eliminated, the printing efficiency of the equipment is greatly improved, and the printing cost is reduced.
In order to further optimize the zoning property of each part, the printing areas are rectangular, the straight line direction of each printing area along the arrangement of the printing workbench is the length direction of the printing area, and the direction perpendicular to the length direction is the width direction of the printing area; the powder spreading direction of the powder spreading device is consistent with the width direction of the printing area, and the effective powder spreading width of the powder spreading device is equal to the length of the corresponding printing area; the length of the printing head along the powder spreading direction is more than or equal to half of the width of the printing area. In the structure of the invention, the powder spreading direction and the printing direction are perpendicular, the printing head prints back and forth along the longitudinal direction of each printing area, and each powder spreading device spreads powder from one side to the other side along the powder spreading direction, thus completing one-layer powder spreading and printing.
To facilitate temporary dwell of the printhead between print zones, the gap spacing between print zones is greater than the width of the printhead in the print direction to facilitate temporary dwell of the printhead in the gap between any adjacent print zones.
In order to ensure that the powder spreading device does not occupy the printing position of the printing head when waiting for stopping, the two sides of the powder spreading device in the width direction of the printing area are respectively provided with a stop position, when the powder spreading device is positioned at the stop positions, the vertical projection of the powder spreading device is positioned at the outer side of the printing area, the powder spreading device moves from the stop position at one side and spreads the powder to the stop position at the other side to finish one layer of powder spreading, and the powder spreading device can be suspended at the corresponding stop position or continuously returns and simultaneously spreads the powder at the next layer.
In order to further achieve the purpose of efficient printing, the invention also provides a method for 3D printing by adopting the 3D printing equipment, which comprises the following steps:
1) Arranging a 1# printing area, a 2# … N # printing area, a 1# powder spreading device corresponding to each printing area and a 2# powder spreading device … N # powder spreading device along the linear direction, wherein each powder spreading device is respectively stopped at a stop position of one of the printing areas, the length direction of the printing head is consistent with the width direction of the printing areas, and the neutral space between the printing areas is larger than the width of the printing head so as to facilitate the temporary stop of the printing head between the printing areas;
2) Setting a printing head and an initial position before each powder spreading device starts printing, wherein each powder spreading device is stopped at a stop position of one of the printing areas respectively, and the printing head is stopped at a neutral position between any two adjacent printing areas and is close to one side of the printing area in the width direction;
3) Paving bottom layer powder: firstly, suspending a printing head in an initial state, starting to reciprocate from one side to the other side of each powder spreading device from the initial position, spreading a plurality of layers of base powder layer by layer to a corresponding printing area in the moving process, and suspending each powder spreading device on a stop position of each initial position after the spreading of the base powder is completed;
4) The printing heads sequentially print above the paved bottom powder along the arrangement direction of the printing areas from the initial position, when the printing heads print to the tail ends of the N # printing areas, the printing heads move to the upper direction opposite to the upper direction of the other part of the non-printing areas along the width direction of the printing areas to sequentially print the rest part of each printing area, and meanwhile, when the complete printing of one layer of the printing areas is finished, the corresponding powder paving device starts to move from the stop position to the other stop position and paving powder to the other stop position to pause; when the printing head reversely prints to the upper part of the No. 1 printing area and finishes printing of the No. 1 printing area corresponding to the printing head, the printing head moves to the upper part of the area which is right opposite to the other side and does not print, printing is continued from the No. 1 printing area until the printing head prints to the initial position to finish printing of one powder layer, each powder paving device continuously performs next powder paving on each printed printing area, and the printing head continuously and continuously performs cyclic printing and cyclic powder paving of the next powder layer on the next printing area until printing of products of each printing area is finished.
According to the 3D printing method, the printing direction and the powder spreading direction are perpendicular to each other according to the powder spreading speed of the two-way powder spreading device and the printing speed of the printing head, and the powder spreading devices can independently spread powder in the respective areas, and uninterrupted printing of the printing head can be realized by reasonably setting the starting position of the printing head and the sequence of the powder spreading actions of the powder spreading devices, and the advancing route of the printing head is not influenced by the powder spreading and stopping of the powder spreading devices, so that the mutual waiting of the printing head and the powder spreading devices is avoided, and the printing efficiency is remarkably improved.
Further, the powder spreading device does not occupy the space above the printing area when in a stop position.
In order to further optimize the configuration of the printing speed and the powder spreading speed, when the initial position of the printing head is positioned in a neutral position between the No. 1 printing area and the No. 2 printing area, the printing speed of the printing head along the printing direction and the powder spreading speed of the powder spreading device along the powder spreading direction are as follows: when the printing head prints from the starting position to one side of the No. 1 printing area to the other side along the printing direction and then moves to the position above the remaining unprinted area of the No. 1 printing area to finish printing one layer of the No. 1 printing area, the powder spreading device at least finishes spreading powder of one layer of the corresponding printing area and stops at the stop position.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an inventive 3D printing apparatus capable of improving printing efficiency.
Fig. 2 is an initial state diagram before printing by the 3D printing apparatus of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is one of the state diagrams in the 3D printing process of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a second state diagram in the 3D printing process of the present invention.
Fig. 5 is a third state diagram in the 3D printing process according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a fourth state diagram in the 3D printing process of the present invention.
Fig. 7 is a fifth state diagram in the 3D printing process of the present invention.
Detailed Description
Example 1
As shown in fig. 1, the 3D printing device capable of improving printing efficiency of the present invention includes a printing head 1 and a plurality of powder spreading devices 2 capable of working independently, each powder spreading device 2 corresponds to a printing area 3, each printing area 3 is arranged in sequence along a straight line direction, each printing area 3 is respectively provided with a workbench capable of controlling lifting independently, each powder spreading device 2 can spread powder in two directions independently and reciprocally, and the two directions of the powder spreading devices 2 are perpendicular to the straight line direction in which the printing areas 3 are arranged; the printing direction of the printing head 1 is perpendicular to the powder spreading direction, and meanwhile, the printing head 1 can move along the powder spreading direction to realize line feed round-trip printing.
In order to further optimize the zoning of each part, each printing area 3 of the invention is generally rectangular, the straight line direction of each printing area 3 along the arrangement of the printing workbench is the length direction of the printing area 3, and the direction perpendicular to the length direction is the width direction of the printing area 3; the powder spreading direction of each powder spreading device 2 is consistent with the width direction of the printing area 3, the effective powder spreading width of the powder spreading device 2 is equal to the length of the corresponding printing area 3, one-layer powder spreading can be achieved by moving the powder spreading device 2 along the width direction, the length L1 of the printing head 1 along the powder spreading direction is greater than or equal to half of the width of the printing area, and the printing head can conveniently perform line feed once, namely, one-layer powder spreading printing can be achieved once in a reciprocating manner.
To facilitate temporary settling of the printhead 1 between the print zones, the gap spacing between print zones is greater than the width of the printhead 1 in the printing direction to facilitate temporary settling of the printhead in the gap between any adjacent print zones 3.
In order to ensure that the powder spreading device does not occupy the printing position of the printing head when waiting is stopped, the two sides of the powder spreading device 2 in the width direction of the printing area are respectively provided with stop positions, when the powder spreading device 2 is positioned at the stop positions, the vertical projection of the powder spreading device is positioned at the outer side of the printing area, the powder spreading device moves from the stop position at one side and spreads the powder to the stop position at the other side to finish one layer of powder spreading, and the powder spreading device can be suspended at the corresponding stop position or continuously returns and simultaneously spreads the powder at the next layer.
According to the 3D printing equipment, the printing head and the powder spreading devices are arranged, each powder spreading device is used for independently spreading powder to an independent printing area, one printing head is used for printing a plurality of printing areas, the powder spreading sequence of each powder spreading device and the printing sequence of the printing head are reasonably configured according to the speeds of the printing head and the powder spreading devices, continuous printing of the printing head is realized without stopping, waiting time is eliminated, and therefore printing efficiency of the equipment is greatly improved, and printing cost is reduced.
Example 2
The following describes in detail a method for performing 3D printing by using the 3D printing apparatus of the above embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, which specifically includes the following procedures:
as shown in fig. 2, first, the 1# and 2# … n# printing areas and the 1# powder spreading device and the 2# powder spreading device … n# powder spreading device corresponding to the printing areas are respectively arranged along the straight line direction, each powder spreading device is respectively stopped at the stop position of one of the printing areas, and when the powder spreading devices are at the stop position, the space above the printing areas is not occupied; the length direction of the printing head is consistent with the width direction of the printing areas, and the neutral space between the printing areas is larger than the width of the printing head so that the printing head can temporarily stay in the neutral space between the printing areas; then, setting an initial position before the printing head and each powder spreading device start printing, wherein each powder spreading device stops at a stop position of one of the printing areas respectively, and the printing head stops at a neutral position between any two adjacent printing areas and is close to one side of the width direction of the printing areas; in this embodiment, the print head initial position is located at a neutral position between the 1# printing area and the 2# printing area; when printing is started, paving a plurality of layers of bottom powder with a certain thickness in each printing area, wherein the printing head is suspended at an initial position, each powder paving device starts to reciprocate from one side to the other side from the respective initial position and paving a plurality of layers of bottom powder layer by layer to the corresponding printing area in the moving process, and each powder paving device is suspended at a stop position of the respective initial position after the bottom powder is paved; then, when the printing heads sequentially print above the laid bottom layer powder along the arrangement direction of the printing areas from the initial position, namely, the printing heads sequentially print from the 2# printing area to the tail end of the N # printing area, as shown in fig. 3, the printing of the areas corresponding to the lengths of the printing heads in the 2# to N # areas is completed, and the printing heads sequentially print the rest of the printing areas in the opposite direction from the direction of the width of the printing areas to the direction of the upper part of the other part of the non-printing area, as shown in fig. 4; simultaneously, when the complete printing of one layer of the printing area is finished, the corresponding powder spreading device starts to move from the stop position where the powder spreading device is positioned to the other stop position and spreads powder to the other stop position for suspension, as shown in fig. 5; when the printing head reversely prints to the upper part of the No. 1 printing area and finishes printing the No. 1 printing area corresponding to the printing head, as shown in fig. 6, the printing head moves to the upper part of the area which is right opposite to the other side and does not print, and printing is continued from the No. 1 printing area until the printing head finishes printing a powder spreading layer to the initial position, as shown in fig. 7; so far, each powder spreading device successively spreads the powder of the next layer to each printed area, the printing head continuously continues to circularly print the next powder spreading layer to the next printed area, and each powder spreading device successively circularly spreads the powder until the printing of the products of each printed area is completed.
In the method of the invention, the initial position of the printing head is not limited to the gap between the No.1 printing area and the No.2 printing area, but also can be arranged in the space between any adjacent printing areas, and the printing head is arranged on one side along the powder spreading direction so as to conveniently finish the printing of one powder spreading layer in a reciprocating way. In order to facilitate the optimal setting of the printing speed and the powder spreading speed, in this embodiment, when the starting position of the printing head is located in the gap between the 1# printing area and the 2# printing area, the printing speed of the printing head along the printing direction and the powder spreading speed of the powder spreading device along the powder spreading direction should satisfy: when the printing head prints from the starting position to one side of the No.1 printing area to the other side along the printing direction and then moves to the position above the remaining unprinted area of the No.1 printing area to finish printing one layer of the No.1 printing area, the powder spreading device at least finishes spreading powder of one layer of the corresponding printing area and stops at the stop position.
According to the 3D printing method, the printing direction and the powder spreading direction are perpendicular to each other according to the powder spreading speed of the two-way powder spreading device and the printing speed of the printing head, and the powder spreading devices can independently spread powder in the respective areas, and uninterrupted printing of the printing head can be realized by reasonably setting the starting position of the printing head and the sequence of the powder spreading actions of the powder spreading devices, and the advancing route of the printing head is not influenced by the powder spreading and stopping of the powder spreading devices, so that the mutual waiting of the printing head and the powder spreading devices is avoided, and the printing efficiency is remarkably improved.