CN110884116B

CN110884116B - Photocuring 3D printing system and printing method

Info

Publication number: CN110884116B
Application number: CN201911348706.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 季鹏凯
Original assignee: Yuanzhi Technologies Shanghai Co ltd
Current assignee: Yuanzhi Technologies Shanghai Co ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-28
Filing date: 2019-12-24
Publication date: 2021-10-19
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-24
Also published as: CN110901058B; CN110901057B; CN110901057A; CN109605737A; CN110884116A; CN110901058A

Abstract

The printing system comprises a material carrier and a material spreader, wherein the material spreader is of a rotary drum structure, at least part of the material spreading side of the material spreader is a light transmission area, the material spreader and the material carrier perform relative translational motion, photosensitive printing materials are spread on the material carrier opposite to the light transmission area, when the spread photosensitive printing materials are still in an extruded state, light beams penetrate through the light transmission area and selectively irradiate the photosensitive printing materials opposite to the light transmission area according to three-dimensional model information to be printed to form a solidified layer, the material spreader and the material carrier can move vertically relative to each other, the distance between the material spreader and the material carrier is enlarged in the printing process, and the solidified layer is stacked layer by layer on the material carrier to form a solidified model. The invention can realize the synchronous operation of material spreading and illumination curing, is beneficial to improving the speed and printing precision of 3D printing, has wider application range, and is beneficial to reducing the equipment cost and the production cost.

Description

Photocuring 3D printing system and printing method

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of 3D printing, and particularly relates to a photocuring 3D printing system and a printing method.

Background

The existing photo-curing printing method mainly uses laser or DLP Light source to irradiate photosensitive resin to form a cured layer, and the cured layer is stacked layer by layer to form a three-dimensional model, such as sla (stereo Lithography apparatus) or DLP (digital Light processing) photo-curing printing method. For slurries in which a photosensitive resin is mixed with other powder materials, a method similar to that of sls (selective Laser sintering) or 3DP (powder spreading on a powder bed and then selective spraying of an adhesive layer upon layer to make a model) is generally adopted, the paste-like photosensitive printing material is first scraped flat and then irradiated with a light beam to form a cured layer, and then the above processes are repeated to stack the cured layers until the three-dimensional model is printed.

Since the spreading and the light curing are performed in a time-sharing manner, the printing speed is affected, and in addition, the thickness of the paste-like photosensitive printing material, such as a thick and prize-like printing material formed by photosensitive resin or photosensitive resin and other powder materials, is easily affected by various factors, such as the gap between the scrapers, the moving speed of the scrapers, the temperature or vibration of the material carrier (printing platform), the viscosity and surface characteristics of the printing material, or the component formula of the printing material, the pressure of the paste-like printing material, and the like, so that the thickness precision of the spreading layer and the precision of the three-dimensional model are affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a photocuring 3D printing system and a photocuring printing method, so that the material spreading and photocuring are synchronously carried out, and the 3D printing speed and the printing precision are improved.

The technical scheme adopted by the invention for solving the technical problem is to provide a photocuring 3D printing system, which comprises a material carrier and a material spreader, wherein the material spreader is of a drum type structure, at least part of the material spreading side of the material spreader is a light transmission area, the material spreader and the material carrier perform relative translational motion, a photosensitive printing material is spread on the material carrier opposite to the light transmission area, and when the spread photosensitive printing material is in a squeezed state, a light beam penetrates through the light transmission area and selectively irradiates the photosensitive printing material opposite to the light transmission area according to three-dimensional model information to be printed to form a curing layer, the material spreader and the material carrier can move vertically relative to each other, the distance between the material spreader and the material carrier is enlarged during printing, and the curing layer is stacked layer by layer on the material carrier to form a curing model.

A photocuring 3D printing system comprises a material carrier and a material spreader, wherein the molding surface of the material carrier is a circular or annular plane, the material spreader is of a round table-shaped rotary drum structure, at least part of the material spreading side of the material spreader is a light transmission area, one or more material spreaders are arranged on the molding surface side of the material carrier around the central axis of the material carrier, the material spreader and the material carrier rotate relatively around the central axis to enable the material spreader and the material carrier to move in a relative translation mode, photosensitive printing materials are laid on the material carrier opposite to the light transmission area, when the laid photosensitive printing materials are still in an extruded state, light beams penetrate through the light transmission area and selectively irradiate the photosensitive printing materials opposite to the light transmission area according to three-dimensional model information to be printed to form a cured layer, and the material spreader and the material carrier can move vertically relative to each other, in the printing process, the distance between the material spreader and the material carrier is enlarged, and the solidified layers are stacked layer by layer on the material carrier to form a solidified model.

The end of the material spreader with the smaller diameter faces to the central axis of the material carrier, and the material spreader and the material carrier generate relative translational motion and simultaneously keep matched autorotation.

The photosensitive printing material pre-printing device comprises a material spreading device, and is characterized by further comprising an auxiliary material spreading device and an imaging printing head, wherein the auxiliary material spreading device is arranged on the outer side of the material spreading device, so that a pre-printing material layer is formed on the surface of the material spreading device by the photosensitive printing material, then the pre-printing material layer is paved on the material carrier through the material spreading device, and the imaging printing head is arranged relative to the circumferential surface of the material spreading device and can form an imaging layer on the pre-printing material layer through the imaging printing head.

The imaging printing head is a color nozzle which is arranged opposite to the circumferential surface of the material spreading device and can form an imaging layer of color pigment on the preprinting material layer through the color nozzle.

The imaging printing head is an electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly, the electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly comprises a rotatable developing drum, the developing drum is arranged on the circumferential surface of the material spreading device, and an imaging layer formed by selective printing on a preprinting material layer can be the developing material layer through the electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly.

The formation of image is beaten printer head and is included a plurality of electromagnetism formation of image and beat printer head assembly and rotatable conveying drum, electromagnetism formation of image beats printer head assembly and includes the global setting of the relative conveying drum of rotatable developing drum and a plurality of developing drum, the global setting of the relative glassware of conveying drum, beat printer head assembly through a plurality of electromagnetism formation of image and can be for compound development material layer and pass through the conveying drum with compound development material layer conveying to the predrint material layer adsorption bonding on glassware and the spreading ware surface.

The spreading device is arranged on the other side of the spreading device relative to the material carrier or in front of the material carrier in the relative translational motion direction.

The device also comprises a printing material recoverer for absorbing and removing the redundant photosensitive printing material on the surface of the curing layer.

At least two material spreading devices work simultaneously, each material spreading device is used for spreading photosensitive printing materials with different colors or different colors, and each material spreading device is used for simultaneously carrying out matched material spreading and selective illumination curing on the same material spreading layer to obtain a cured layer with different colors or different colors.

At least two spreading devices work simultaneously, the positions of the spreading materials of the adjacent spreading devices in the height direction are different by the thickness of one spreading layer, and each spreading device simultaneously spreads and selectively cures different spreading layers.

The material spreading devices work simultaneously, the distance between the spreading side of each material spreading device and the material carrier is arranged in equal height, the material spreading devices are arranged in equal intervals around the central axis, the material spreading devices and the material carrier rotate continuously and relatively around the central axis, meanwhile, the material spreading devices and the material carrier generate continuous relative vertical motion, and the material spreading devices spread different material spreading layers and perform selective illumination curing respectively and simultaneously.

The light source is arranged outside the material spreading device, light beams selectively generated by the light source are reflected to the direction adjusting reflector arranged inside the material spreading device by the rotary polygonal prism, and the direction adjusting reflector reflects the light beams to selectively irradiate the photosensitive printing material towards the direction of the material carrier.

And when the feeding piston at one side is used for feeding, the feeding piston at the other side is used for receiving redundant photosensitive printing materials.

The material spreading device can also be a rotary drum type material spreading device with a peripheral surface provided with a point light source array, and the point light source array selectively works according to the information of the three-dimensional model to be printed to selectively irradiate and solidify the photosensitive printing material during layer printing.

The spreading device is arranged in the material box, a photosensitive printing material is arranged in the material box, the spreading device is partially immersed in the photosensitive printing material, a preprinting material layer is formed outside the liquid level of the photosensitive printing material by the rotation of the spreading device, and the photosensitive printing material is paved between the spreading device and the material carrier.

The spreading device comprises a cylindrical LCD mask layer, and the LCD mask layer is selectively transparent according to selective irradiation of light beams.

A photocuring 3D printing method uses the photocuring 3D printing system, and comprises the following steps: during printing, the material carrier continuously rotates, so that a spreader and the material carrier perform relative translational motion, the spreader performs continuous rotation matched with the relative translational motion, the material carrier continuously moves towards a direction far away from the spreader, so that the distance between the spreader and the material carrier is enlarged, the spreader stacks photosensitive printing material on the material carrier in a spiral form, and one or more spreading layers in a spiral form are formed on the material carrier; in the process of forming the continuous spiral-shaped paving layer, the light beam selectively irradiates the paving layer in the extruded state opposite to the light-transmitting area through the light-transmitting area to form a solidified layer, and the solidified layer is stacked layer by layer on the material carrier to form a solidified model.

The number of the material spreaders is N, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, when N is greater than 1, the distance between each material spreader and the material carrier is arranged in equal height, and each material spreader is arranged around the central axis in equal intervals; and the material carrier continuously moves for a distance of N times of the thickness of the material spreading layer in the direction away from the material spreading device when rotating for one circle.

Advantageous effects

Firstly, in the invention, as the spreading and the light curing are carried out simultaneously, the printing speed can be faster; by adopting the printing mode of continuous spiral material spreading and simultaneous curing, the material spreader and the material carrier can realize relative horizontal movement by continuous relative vertical movement and continuous relative rotation around an axis without reciprocating movement in the printing process, so that the printing process in a spiral form can be realized, the printing speed and the stability of the printing process can be greatly improved, and the printing precision is favorably improved; in addition, a plurality of printing heads can be arranged to spread and print materials along the same or different spreading layers at the same time, so that the printing speed is further increased, and meanwhile, the molding of the composite material printing model can be realized.

Secondly, the gap between the spreading device and the curing model (related to the thickness of the spreading layer) can be accurately controlled through a device setting or control system, the photosensitive printing material is selectively irradiated and formed by light beams when the thickness of the spreading layer is completely controlled, and after the spreading device is separated from the curing layer, the thickness of the curing layer is not changed or is slightly changed, so that more accurate printing of the three-dimensional model can be realized; in addition, the photosensitive printing material is solidified and formed in the extruded state, so that the density and the strength of the printed three-dimensional model can be improved.

Thirdly, the spreading device is of a rotary drum structure, and is separated from the solidified layer in a rotating and stripping mode in the printing process, so that the separation efficiency of the spreading device and the solidified layer can be improved, the influence of the separation of the spreading device and the solidified layer on the structural precision of the solidified layer can be reduced, the printing precision and the printing speed can be improved, and the operation reliability of the device can be improved; in addition, can also be used for reducing the isolation layer of solidified layer and paver adhesion at the global setting of paver, can be favorable to improving more and print precision and printing speed, improved the device to the adaptability of the more viscous photosensitive printing material.

Fourthly, the imaging printing head can be arranged on the outer side of the circumferential surface of the rotary drum type material spreading device, and can be a color spray head or an electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly, so that rapid pattern or color model printing can be realized.

Fifthly, since the photosensitive printing material on the spreading side of the spreader is cured by light in a controlled state, the influence of external factors such as ambient temperature and vibration on the printing precision is greatly reduced, and the printing device is more suitable for being applied to occasions where the installation base of the printing device is moving, such as ships, trains or airplanes.

Sixth, the invention can realize feeding while spreading and photocuring by immersing the feeder or the feeder part in the bin, thereby avoiding the need of spreading photosensitive printing material on the material carrier, realizing control of feeding amount, greatly reducing the usage amount of photosensitive printing material, simplifying the equipment structure, reducing the equipment bearing requirement, and being beneficial to reducing the equipment cost and the device operation cost.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram (state one) of embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram (state two) of embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 4 of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 5 of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 6 of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 7 of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 8 of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a schematic axial view of the structure of embodiment 9 of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a schematic top view of embodiment 9 of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a schematic top view of the structure according to embodiment 10 of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a schematic sectional structure view along the direction B-B in fig. 11 or 12.

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 11 of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram (state one) of embodiment 12 of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram (state two) of embodiment 12 of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a rotary spreader having an array of point light sources on its periphery.

Fig. 18 is a schematic structural view of embodiment 13 of the present invention.

Fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of embodiment 14 of the present invention.

Fig. 20 is a schematic structural view of embodiment 15 of the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a schematic structural view of embodiment 16 of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The invention will be further illustrated with reference to the following specific examples. It should be understood that these examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Further, it should be understood that various changes or modifications of the present invention may be made by those skilled in the art after reading the teaching of the present invention, and such equivalents may fall within the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Example 1

A photocuring 3D printing system as shown in fig. 1 includes a material carrier 3 and a spreader 11. The material spreader 11 is a drum structure, at least a partial region of the material spreading side of the material spreader 11 is a light transmission region 12, the material spreading side is the side of the material spreader 11 opposite to the material carrier 3, that is, the bottom of the material spreader 11 shown in fig. 1, and the specific part of the material spreader 11 corresponding to the material spreading side is dynamically changed along with the rotation of the material spreader 11. The transparent area 12 is arranged on the drum, for example, the drum is transparent, the transparent area 12 can be made of a transparent material, or the spreader 11 can be made of a transparent material, the transparent area 12 can transmit a light beam (or electromagnetic wave), and the light beam 29 can irradiate the photosensitive printing material 4 below the transparent area 12 through the transparent area 12. During printing, a driver (not shown in fig. 1) drives the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 to move in a translational motion relative to each other, i.e., the spreader 11 moves along the first arrow 101, or the material carrier 3 moves in a direction opposite to the first arrow 101, so as to lay a thin layer of the photosensitive printing material 4 on the material carrier 3, and when the laid photosensitive printing material 4 (i.e., the layer of the spread material) is still in a compressed state between the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 or the already-cured printing material on the material carrier 3 (i.e., when the photosensitive printing material 4 is below the light-transmitting area 12 in the figure), the light beam 29 emitted by the light source (not shown in fig. 1) penetrates the light-transmitting area 12 on the spreader 11 and selectively irradiates the photosensitive printing material 4 opposite to the light-transmitting area 12 according to the three-dimensional model information to be printed to form the cured layer 41. After printing one layer, the driver (not shown in fig. 1) drives the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 to move vertically relative to each other, i.e. the material carrier 3 moves along the second arrow 102, or the spreader 11 moves along the direction opposite to the second arrow 102, so that the distance between the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 is increased by a preset distance, for example, the distance of the layer thickness, and then the above process is repeated, and the solidified layers 41 are stacked and combined layer by layer to form a solidified model (i.e. a three-dimensional model or a three-dimensional object) and fixed on the material carrier 3. The relative vertical movement and the relative translational movement between the spreader 11 and the material carriers 3 can also be performed simultaneously, for example while a drive (not shown in fig. 1) drives the spreader 11 and the material carriers 3 in a relative translational movement, and simultaneously in a continuous relative vertical movement, as can be seen in the embodiment shown in fig. 10. In the printing process, the spreading and curing are carried out simultaneously, the printing speed is high, the photosensitive printing material is already cured substantially when leaving the spreading device, and the influence on the printing precision caused by the change of the thickness of the photosensitive printing material when leaving the spreading device can be avoided. Of course, the solidified layer 41 may be selectively irradiated by an additional light source to enhance the solidification degree of the solidified layer 41 and enhance the strength of the printed three-dimensional model (i.e. solidified model or three-dimensional object), and since the solidified layer 41 is already solidified to a certain degree in a state of controlled thickness, the precision of the model is not affected by the subsequent solidification process.

Referring to fig. 1, during printing, the spreader 11 may rotate in the direction of the third arrow 103 (or, of course, in the opposite direction of the third arrow 103, this rotation is defined as the rotation of the spreader 11), and the photosensitive printing material 4 is applied to the material carrier 3 with a relative translational movement of the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3, for example, the movement of the spreader 11 in the direction of the first arrow 101 is schematically illustrated, and at the same time, the light beam 29 penetrates the spreader 11 and selectively irradiates the photosensitive printing material 4 in a pressed state according to the three-dimensional model information, thereby forming the solidified layer 41. The spreader 11 in the form of a drum can facilitate separation of the solidified layer 41 from the light-transmitting zone 12 (i.e., the drum surface), which facilitates improvement of printing speed and printing accuracy. The light source 2 (not shown in fig. 2) may be arranged inside the spreader 11 in a drum configuration or outside the spreader 11, and transmits the light into the spreader 11 through a mirror group (e.g., a mirror or a lens). In addition, a separation layer 46 may be further disposed on the surface (i.e., the circumferential surface) of the drum (i.e., the spreader 11) for reducing adhesion between the solidified layer 41 and the transparent area 12, and further increasing the speed of separating the spreader 11 from the solidified layer 41.

Example 2

The embodiment shown in fig. 2 is different from embodiment 1 in that an auxiliary scraper 13 may be provided outside the spreader 11, and the photosensitive printing material 4 is first formed into a preprinted material layer 42 on the surface of the drum (i.e., the spreader 11), then is spread onto the material carrier 3 via the drum, and is irradiated by the light beam 29-1 to form a cured layer 41. Since the photosensitive print 4 has already formed the preprint layer 42 in advance at the time of drum laying, laying in this way can further improve the laying accuracy and speed of the drum 11. Alternatively, the preprinted material layer 42 may be selectively irradiated with the light beam 29-2 in advance according to the three-dimensional model information to be slightly cured, and then irradiated with the light beam 29-1 while being pressed by the drum to form the cured layer 41 and be stacked and bonded with the previous cured layer. Of course, other light beams may be disposed between the light beams 29-2 and 29-1 to selectively irradiate the pre-print material layer 42 according to the three-dimensional model information, so that the illumination intensity can be reasonably adjusted, and the pre-print material layer 42 is not completely cured before reaching the pressed state below the rotary drum, thereby facilitating the combination with the previously cured layer. Optimally, the rotating speed of the spreader 11 and the moving speed of the material carrier 3 can be reasonably matched, so that the spreader drum 11 and the material carrier 3 only roll purely, the pre-printed material layer 42 is guaranteed to be laid on the material carrier 3 without folds, and the spreading precision is improved. The auxiliary scraper 13 in fig. 2 is in the form of a scraper, but can of course also be in the form of a roller, as shown in fig. 3.

Example 3

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the difference from fig. 3 is that auxiliary scrapers 13 are provided on both left and right sides of the drum spreader 11, and which auxiliary spreader 13 is operated is determined according to the relative movement direction of the material carriers 3 and the spreader 11, so that both spreading and curing can be performed while moving in both directions. For example, in fig. 3, the carrier 3 moves along the first arrow 101, or the rotary drum moves along the direction opposite to the first arrow 101, the spreader 11 rotates along the third arrow 103, the auxiliary scraper 13-1 operates, and forms a pre-printed material layer on the right side of the spreader 11, the pre-printed material layer is spread on the carrier 3 through the spreader 11, and is irradiated and cured by the light beam 29-1 to form the cured layer 41, and the pre-printed material layer on the right side can also be pre-cured by the light beam 29-2. After one layer is printed, the material carrier 3 moves downwards by a layer thickness distance along the second arrow 102, and then the next layer is printed by moving along the direction of the first arrow 101 as shown in fig. 4, or the rotary drum moves along the direction opposite to the first arrow 101, the spreader 11 rotates reversely, that is, rotates along the third arrow 103 as shown in fig. 4, and simultaneously, the auxiliary scraper 13-2 on the left side works to form a preprinted material layer on the left side of the spreader 11, and the preprinted material layer is spread on the material carrier 3 by the spreader 11 and is irradiated and cured by the light beam 29-1 to form a cured layer 41, and the preprinted material layer on the left side can also be pre-cured by the light beam 29-3. The above steps are repeated until the printing is finished. Therefore, the material can be paved and printed in the reciprocating motion process of the material carrier 3, and the printing speed is improved. In addition, fig. 3 and 4 also illustrate that the auxiliary scraper 13 takes the form of a roller. In addition, fig. 3 and 4 also illustrate the presence of feeders 18, such as the right-hand feeder 18-1 and the left-hand feeder 18-2, which can work together with the corresponding auxiliary scrapers 13.

Example 4

As an alternative to the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the material carrier 3 is moved in a cyclic reciprocating motion along a rectangular path 107 in the direction of the first arrow 101, and the spreader 11 may be kept rotating along the third arrow 103 at all times during printing. Simplifying the control and structural complexity of the spreader 11.

Example 5

Referring to fig. 6, the spreader 11 can reciprocate horizontally to the left and right along the first arrow 101, or the material carrier 3 can reciprocate horizontally to the right and left along the first arrow 101, a feeder 18 is disposed on the other side of the spreader 11 opposite to the material carrier 3, when the spreader 11 moves in the direction of the first arrow 101, the spreader 11 rotates in the direction of the third arrow 103, the printing material 4 sent out by the feeder 18 is sent to the surface of the drum spreader 11 to the left in the figure, the pre-printing material layer 42 formed by the auxiliary scraper 13-1 is sent to the material carrier 3, and the light beam 29 irradiates through the spreader 11 to form the solidified layer 41. It is also possible to arrange an imaging print head opposite the circumference of the spreader 11 and to be able to form an imaging layer on the preprint layer 42 by means of said imaging print head, which is illustrated in fig. 6. The imaging printhead may be a color printhead 83 that selectively places an imaging layer of color pigment on the preprint layer 42, such as with color printhead 83-1, to form a colored preprint layer 42, which is cured by the light beam 29 to form a colored cured layer 41. After one layer of printed material carrier 3 moves a set distance, such as a layer thickness distance, along a second arrow 102, then the material spreader 11 moves in the direction opposite to the first arrow 101, the material spreader 11 rotates counterclockwise along a third arrow 103, the printed material 4 sent by the feeder 18 is sent to the surface of the material spreader 11 and carried to the right side to form a preprinted material layer, an image forming layer of color pigment can be selectively arranged on the preprinted material layer by using a color nozzle 83-2 on the right side to form a colored preprinted material layer 42, the colored preprinted material layer 42 is sent to the material carrier 3, a colored cured layer 41 is formed by irradiation of the light beam 29, and the colored cured model 5 is formed by stacking layer by layer. It is of course also possible to first apply the color pigments to the surface of the spreader 11 by means of the color nozzle 83-2 and then form a preprinted layer, which is covered with the color pigments and then irradiated by the light beam 29 through the spreader 11 to form the colored cured layer 41 as the spreader rotates between the carrier 3 and the spreader 11. In this way, feeding can be realized by only one feeder when the spreader 11 rotates forward and backward, accurate feeding can be realized by controlling the feeding rate of the feeder 18, saving material is facilitated, a large amount of printing materials 4 on the material carrier 3 or in the material box 68 in advance are not needed to be in an idle state as shown in fig. 1 or fig. 19, and application cost can be reduced. Alternatively, if the material carrier 3 is moved using the rectangular path 107 of fig. 5, the spreader 11 may not necessarily be rotated in the reverse direction during printing, but may be kept rotated in one direction, and only one color head may be provided, for example only 83-1. Of course, the preprint layer 42 in this embodiment can be implemented in other embodiments of the present invention.

The light source 2 in fig. 6 may be an elongated LED array or LCD screen, and reference may also be made to light source 2-1 or 2-2 in fig. 13. Utilize the colored shower nozzle to form the colored preprinting bed on the spreading device 11 and then lay to the position between spreading device 11 and the material carrier 3 and form colored cured layer 41 by the light beam 29 shines solidification and lays on the material carrier 3 through spreading device 11, the processes such as colored printing, spreading and illumination solidification are all gone on simultaneously, can effectively promote the printing speed of colored model, in addition through the thickness of accurate control preprinting bed, and the position between colored shower nozzle and the spreading device 11 and relative motion are accurate control easily, can effectively promote the printing precision of colored cured model 5. The color pigment can be arranged at any position of the preprinting material layer of each layer, even on both sides of the preprinting material layer, and the printing of the rich color model is facilitated.

Example 6

Fig. 7 illustrates a method of printing a pattern or color model that combines electromagnetic imaging technology with the spreader 11. The imaging print head is an electromagnetic imaging print head assembly 72, the electromagnetic imaging print head assembly 72 selectively adsorbs the developing material 86 in the developer 78 to the developing drum 62, and the formed imaging layer is a developing material layer 88 along with the rotation of the developing drum 62, for example, the developing material layer 88 formed by the electromagnetic imaging print head assembly 72 in the figure is adsorbed to the spreader 11, the developing material layer 88 is schematically adsorbed to the preprinting material layer 42 on the spreader 11 in the figure, but the developing material layer 88 may be adsorbed to the spreader 11 first, and then the preprinting material layer 42 is laid on the spreader 11. It is also contemplated that a plurality of electromagnetic imaging printhead assemblies 72 may be provided to each deliver a layer of developer material 88 onto the spreader 11, and that a multi-color print may be formed using a plurality of electromagnetic imaging printhead assemblies 72. A bias device 36 is disposed inside the spreader 11 corresponding to the electromagnetic imaging printhead assembly 72, and the bias device 36 has a high voltage or magnetic field to attract the developer layer 88 to the spreader 11. Optimally, the electromagnetic imaging print head assembly 72 and the spreader 11 are synchronously matched, that is, the developing drum 62 and the spreader 11 rotate synchronously and roll relatively, so that the transfer precision of the developing material layer 88 is improved.

Also illustrated in fig. 7 is that the carrier 3 may move along a trajectory 107 such that the spreader 11 and the electromagnetic imaging printhead assembly 72 may not move, simplifying printhead construction and control. Of course, each time the material carrier 3 is circulated along the trajectory 107, the whole will move along the third arrow 103 by a set distance, for example, by one layer thickness. Alternatively, the spreader 11 and the electrographic printhead assembly 72 may be moved in opposite directions along the track, and the spreader 11 and the electrographic printhead assembly 72 may be moved a set distance, such as a layer thickness distance, in the direction opposite the second arrow 102 for each cycle of movement. Of course, this movement of the material carrier 3 can also be used in other embodiments.

Example 7

Fig. 8 illustrates that the imaging printhead may include multiple electromagnetic imaging printhead assemblies 72 that are synchronously engaged with the transport drum 92, i.e., the developer drum 62 and the transport drum 92 are synchronously rotated and roll relative to each other, thereby improving the accuracy of transferring the developer layer 88. The developer layers 88 of each of the electromagnetic imaging printhead assemblies 72 are transferred to the transfer drum 92 in corresponding positions to match each other, and the image layers formed on the transfer drum 92 in accordance with the layer pattern of the pre-cure mold 5 are formed as a color composite developer layer, which is then transferred to the spreader 11 for color pattern printing. Similarly, the material spreader 11 and the conveying drum 92 are synchronously matched, that is, the material spreader 11 and the conveying drum 92 rotate synchronously and roll relatively, so that the transfer precision of the composite developing material layer is improved. The adoption of the mode of the conveying drum 92 can realize the matching and laying of the developing material layer 88 of each layer with different colors or materials more accurately, and because the relative position and the rotating speed between each developing drum 62 and the conveying drum 92 are controlled more easily and accurately, more accurate layer color arrangement can be realized, more accurate color model printing is realized, the structure is more compact, multiple colors are printed simultaneously, and the color printing speed is higher.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, transport biasing devices having a voltage or magnetic field are disposed inside the transport drum 93 at locations corresponding to the respective developer drums 62 for attracting the respective developer layers to the transport drum 92, such as transport biasing device 94-1 disposed corresponding to the electromagnetic imaging printhead assembly 72-1, transport biasing device 94-2 disposed corresponding to the electromagnetic imaging printhead assembly 72-2, and transport biasing device 94-3 disposed corresponding to the electromagnetic imaging printhead assembly 72-3. The figure also shows that the conveying drum 92 transfers the composite developing material layer on the surface of the conveying drum to the material spreading device 11 to be combined with the preprinting material layer 42 and is conveyed downwards through the rotation of the material spreading device 11, a biasing device 36 is arranged at the position corresponding to the composite developing material layer on the inner side of the material spreading device 11 and is used for adsorbing the composite developing material layer onto the material spreading device 11, and when the preprinting material layer 42 rotates between the material spreading device 11 and the material carrier 3, the light beam 29 selectively irradiates towards the material carrier 3 through the material spreading device 11 to solidify the composite developing material layer and the preprinting material layer 42 together.

An additional solidifier 22 can be further provided in the schematic of fig. 8, and the additional solidifier 22 can irradiate or heat towards the direction of the material carrier 3, so as to continuously solidify the printing material layer which is already laid on the material carrier 3, thereby accelerating the printing speed, and being beneficial to further fusion between the pigment and the solidified layer 41, for example, the added color particle pigment can be reheated after the model is formed, and is better combined with the photosensitive resin after being melted.

In the invention, an electrostatic imaging technology (xenograph), an ion injection imaging technology (ionograph) or a magnetic imaging technology (magnetic) is generally referred to as an electromagnetic imaging technology, and a device for realizing electromagnetic imaging is called an electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly. The following description deals with the electromagnetic imaging technology mainly based on the electrostatic imaging technology (or called electrophotography), and please refer to fig. 7 and 8:

1) in the charging process, the photosensitive developing drum 62 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow thereof, and the surface of the developing drum 62 is charged with a negative charge (or a positive charge) by the charger 74. The charger may be a corona wire, corotron, scorotron, charge roller, or other charging means.

2) In the exposure imaging process, the developing engine 76 performs selective scanning irradiation on the surface of the developing drum 62 while the developing drum rotates. The surface layer 66 of the developing drum 62 is attached with a photoconductive material, and has a high resistivity without being irradiated with light. When the resistivity is significantly reduced at the place irradiated with light, the surface charge is conducted through the conductive body 64 and disappears. The charges of the portions not illuminated remain unchanged, i.e., an electrostatic latent image is formed. The development engine 76 may use a laser beam or a led (light emitting diode), or other light source capable of selectively controlling the irradiation point to form a dot matrix bitmap on the surface of the development drum 62. The photoconductive material may employ selenium, cadmium sulfide, zinc oxide, Organic Photoconductor (OPC), amorphous silicon, zinc oxide, or the like.

For embodiments employing ion injection (ionograph), the charger 74 and the development engine 76 are replaced by devices that selectively deposit charge on the development drum surface layer 66. The developing engine 76 is an ion or charge injector, that is, while the developing drum 62 rotates, the developing engine 76 selectively injects ions into the surface layer 66 of the developing drum 62 according to the three-dimensional model information to form a charge deposit, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface layer 66. The charger 4 can be omitted by adopting the ion injection mode, and the surface layer 66 does not need to adopt a light guide material, so that the structure is simplified.

3) The developing process, the process of forming a real image from the electrostatic latent image, is completed by using the principles of charge like repulsion and opposite attraction. The developer 78 contains a print material (i.e., developer 86) that is typically a powder material, such as a polymer or thermoplastic, that is negatively (or positively) charged by friction or other means. When the surface portion of the developing drum 62 bearing the electrostatic latent image is rotated to the developing device 78, the developing device 78 applies a negative (or positive) bias voltage to the portion (i.e., the portion of the electrostatic latent image) to which light is applied, since the negative charge is neutralized, so that the powder bearing the negative (or positive) charge on the developing device 78 jumps to the exposed area of the developing drum. The dark areas (unexposed areas) on the drum remain negatively (or positively) charged, repel negatively (or positively) charged powder, do not adhere, and form an image on the drum 62 where the image formed by the developer 86 is visible, i.e., form a developer layer 88. The developer layer 88 may be formed by using a portion of the developing drum 62 where electric charges are neutralized, or the developer layer 88 may be formed by using a portion of the developing drum 62 where electric charges are not neutralized.

4) The transfer process (i.e., the process of directly or indirectly transferring the developer layer 88 from the developer drum 62 to the spreader 11), fig. 7 shows the direct transfer of the developer layer 88 to the spreader 11 by the developer drum 62, and fig. 8 shows the indirect transfer of the developer layer 88 to the spreader 11 via the transfer drum 92.

5) Further, in some embodiments, the electromagnetic imaging printhead assembly 72 may also include a cleaning process to clean the surface of the developer drum 62. The first cleaner 80 cleans the residual print material that is not completely transferred from the surface of the developer drum 62 so that there is a clean developer drum surface in the next print cycle.

6) Further, in some embodiments, the electromagnetic imaging printhead assembly 72 may also be configured to perform a de-charging process after the cleaning process and before the charging process. The charger 74 also functions to dissipate electricity when charging the developing drum. Preferably, however, a separate charge remover 82 may be provided to remove the charge from the developer drum 62 and then the charger 74 may charge the surface of the developer drum 62 with a layer of charge. Suitable devices for eliminating the electricity include an exposure device for exposing the developing drum to light, or a corona eliminating device for charging the developing drum with a reverse polarity to eliminate the residual charge on the developing drum, or a high voltage alternating current corotron (corotrons) and/or a scorotron (scorotron), a rotating dielectric roller with an electrical conductor inside and a high voltage alternating current, or a combination thereof.

For an electromagnetic imaging printhead assembly implemented using magnetic imaging technology (Magnetgraph), the basic process is similar to that described above, except that the developer drum 62 may be a magnetic drum, the surface layer 66 of the developer drum 62 is a magnetic material layer composed of a magnetic material, and the developer engine 76 is an imaging head, and the magnetic state of each point on the surface is selectively changed in the magnetic material layer according to three-dimensional model information, such as by creating an array of magnetized regions in the surface layer 66 of the magnetic material to form recording dots that form a latent magnetic image. When the developing drum 62 rotates to the developing device 78, the magnetic pigment 86 having magnetization in the developing device 78 is selectively attracted to the surface of the developing drum 62 according to the latent magnetic pattern, the pigment is attracted to the surface layer 66 of the developing drum 62, the developing layer 88 of the developed pattern is formed, and then, the pattern is transferred to the spreader 11. The function of the first cleaning device 80 is the same as described above. In some embodiments, a demagnetizer may be provided to restore the magnetic state of the surface layer 66 of the development drum 62 to the original state. The above process is then repeated with the periodic rotation of the developing drum until the pattern printing is completed. By using the magnetic imaging technique, the surface layer 66 of the magnetic drum (i.e., the developing drum 62) has high hardness and longer service life, and the magnetic recording dots have a permanent memory function, i.e., the magnetic latent image formed by the magnetic recording dots can be used repeatedly in a periodic manner, so that the charger 74 can be omitted, and the structure can be simplified.

Example 8

Referring to fig. 9, three printheads are illustrated printing simultaneously. Auxiliary scrapers 13, such as auxiliary scrapers 13-1,13-2 and 13-3, respectively, can also be provided correspondingly, and feeders 18, such as feeders 18-1,18-2 and 18-3, respectively, can also be provided correspondingly. The dispenser 11-1 and the light source 2-1 form a cured layer 41-1, the dispenser 11-2 and the light source 2-2 form a cured layer 41-2, the dispenser 11-3 and the light source 2-3 form a cured layer 41-3, and three cured layers are printed and stacked simultaneously.

The multiple material spreading devices 11 are adopted for spreading and printing simultaneously, the positions of the material spreading directions of the adjacent material spreading devices 11 are different by the thickness of one material spreading layer, and the position height of the front material spreading device is lower than that of the rear material spreading device. Lay when so can realizing the multilayer bed material layer and print when multilayer curing layer 41, promote print speed by a wide margin.

Example 9

Referring to fig. 10, the molding surface of the material carrier 3 is a circular or annular plane, the material spreader 11 in the drawing is in a circular truncated cone shape, and one end with a small diameter faces the direction of the central axis 109 (or one end with a large diameter is far away from the central axis 109), the taper of the circular truncated cone shaped material spreader 11 is designed reasonably, so that the material spreader 11 and the corresponding position of the molding surface of the material carrier 3 can keep pure rolling, for example, pure rolling matching is realized with the material spreader 11 at every position along the radius direction of the material carrier 3, smooth material spreading can be realized, the material spreading layer is not folded and stacked, and the printing precision is improved. In fig. 10, two embodiments of the spreader 11 are illustrated, the material carriers 3 are driven by the power source 61 to rotate around the central axis 109 along the first arrow 101 (this rotation may be defined as a relative revolution between the spreader 11 and the material carriers 3), so as to realize a relative translational movement between the material carriers 3 and the spreader 11, and also to move along the second arrow 102 under the drive of the power source 62 so as to realize a relative vertical movement between the material carriers 3 and the spreader, the spreader 11-1 is driven by the power source 63 to rotate along the third arrow 103, and the spreader 11-2 is driven by the power source 64 to rotate along the fourth arrow 104 and around the axis 108 (this rotation may be defined as a self-rotation of the spreader). Optimally, the spreader 11 keeps its rotation matched to the relative translational movement, i.e. the direction of rotation of the spreader 11 about the axis 108 matches the direction of relative rotation between the material carrier 3 and the spreader 11 about the central axis 109, e.g. both are rotated in the direction shown in fig. 10, so that the direction of movement of the part of the spreader 11 closest to the material carrier 3 is the same as the direction of movement of the corresponding part of the material carrier 3, a purely rolling fit between the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 can be achieved, and no wrinkles of the print 4 during spreading affect the printing accuracy. It is also illustrated that a plurality of printing patterns 5 are printed simultaneously along the circumference of the carrier 3, as indicated by the dashed lines. The spreader 11-1 and the corresponding light source 2 form a solidified layer 41-1, and the spreader 11-2 and the corresponding light source 2 form a solidified layer 41-2. Cured layer 41-1 and cured layer 41-2 are bonded to each other in a stacked manner. It is also possible, like the embodiment in fig. 2 or 3, to provide auxiliary spreaders 13 for each spreader 11, for example spreader 11-1 is provided with auxiliary spreader 13-1 and spreader 11-2 is provided with auxiliary spreader 13-2, and it is also possible to provide a feeder on each auxiliary spreader. Of course, the auxiliary spreaders 13-1 and 13-2 may be changed to the feeders 18-1 and 18-2 as shown in FIG. 11.

The simultaneous spreading and printing of multiple spreaders 11 may increase the printing speed. For each rotation of the material carrier 3 along the first arrow 101, i.e. after printing for one layer, the material carrier 3 moves stepwise along the second arrow 102 by a set distance, e.g. for the case of using one spreader, the material carrier 3 moves rapidly by one layer thickness, for the case of printing simultaneously with two spreaders, the material carrier 3 moves rapidly by two layer thicknesses, and so on. In addition, it is also possible to adopt a spiral-type spreading and printing manner, that is, when the material carrier 3 continuously rotates along the first arrow 101 and simultaneously moves along the second arrow 102, the photosensitive printing material 4 is stacked on the material carrier 3 in a spiral manner, one or more spiral-type spreading layers are formed on the material carrier 3, and assuming that the speed of the material carrier 3 rotating along the first arrow 101 is constant and the thickness of the spreading layer or the solidified layer is uniform, the speed of the material carrier 3 moving along the second arrow 102 in the case of two spreaders simultaneously printing is twice as fast as that in the case of one spreader, and so on. The arrangement can realize continuous spreading, for example, the spreading layers spread by the spreader 11-1 and the spreader 11-2 can be continuously spread along a spatial spiral line shown by a two-dot chain line in fig. 10, and the printing efficiency and the printing precision can be further improved because there is no process of switching or reciprocating the spreader 11 between different layers. In some embodiments, an additional curing device 22 may be further provided, for example, the additional curing device 22-1 is provided corresponding to the cured layer 41-1, and the additional curing device 22-2 is provided corresponding to the cured layer 41-2, so as to further enhance the curing degree of the cured layer 41, and also improve the printing speed.

Fig. 11 is a top view of fig. 10, and is different from fig. 10 in that the additional solidifier 22 may be in a fan shape, and the nozzles of the additional solidifier 22 are arranged in a fan shape, and since the linear velocities at different radial positions of the material carrier 3 are different, the linear velocity at the position with the larger radius is larger, and the number of nozzles at the position with the larger radius is also larger in the fan shape, so that the linear velocity increased along with the increase of the radius can be compensated, the utilization rate of each nozzle can be utilized more uniformly, and the printing efficiency is improved. The individual nozzles of the additional solidifier 22 can also be point light sources, such as LEDs, LED lasers, light source points on LCD screens, etc., or can be liquid nozzles.

During the specific printing process, the carrier 3 and the spreader 11 perform relative translational motion around the central axis 109, for example, the material carrier 3 continuously rotates, so that the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 perform relative translational motion, and simultaneously, the distance between the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 is increased, for example, the material carrier 3 continuously moves away from the spreader 11, the spreader 11 stacks the photosensitive printing material 4 on the material carrier 3 in a spiral form, and one or more spreading layers in a spiral form are formed on the material carrier 3; in the process of forming the paving layer in the form of continuous spiral, the light beam 29 selectively irradiates the paving layer in the pressed state opposite to the light-transmitting area 12 of the paving machine 11 through the light-transmitting area 12 to form a solidified layer 41, and the solidified layers 41 are stacked layer by layer on the material carrier 3 to form the solidified model 5. In such a way, the reciprocating motion of the material carrier 3 can be eliminated, and the reciprocating motion and the reciprocating rotation of the material spreading device 11 can also be eliminated, so that the printing speed can be greatly increased, and the running stability of the device can be improved. The number of the material spreaders 11 may be 1 or more, when the plurality of material spreaders 11 are circumferentially arranged along the central axis 109, the optimal material spreaders 11 are circumferentially arranged around the central axis 109 at equal intervals (for example, at equal intervals or at equal angles), and the intervals between the material spreaders 11 and the material carriers 3 are at equal heights, and when multiple layers are printed, a plurality of material spreaders with equal thickness can be formed simultaneously, and the equal distance between each material spreader and the material carriers 3 means that the material spreaders are all at the same height, and the tangency between each material spreader 11 and the plane parallel to the material carriers 3 can be maintained, which greatly facilitates the installation, debugging and maintenance of the printing system. If the number of the material spreading devices 11 is N, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and when N is greater than 1, the distance between each material spreading device 11 and the material carrier 3 is arranged at the same height, and each material spreading device 11 is arranged around the central axis 109 in a circumferentially and equally-divided manner, then optimally, the speed of the material carrier 3 moving continuously in the direction away from the material spreading devices 11 is: the material carrier 3 moves by N times of the printing layer thickness towards the direction far away from the material spreading device 11 every time the material carrier rotates by one circle, the printing layer thickness can be the thickness of the material spreading layer or the solidified layer 41, and the printing speed can be greatly improved by arranging a plurality of material spreading devices 11. In a preferred embodiment of the present embodiment, the rotational speeds of the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 can be reasonably matched so that the spreader drum 11 and the material carrier 3 do not slide substantially, but only roll purely. The arrangement is such as to ensure that the layer of clothing applied to the material carrier 3 can be positioned accurately.

In addition, it is also possible to look at fig. 9 as a side view in fig. 10 and to use an embodiment with three circular truncated cone shaped spreaders 11 and to arrange the forming surface of the material carrier 3 in fig. 9 as a circular or annular plane and to rotate it along the first arrow 101 in fig. 10, the three spreaders 11-1, 1-2 and 11-3 and the corresponding light sources 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3 simultaneously forming three successive spiral shaped solidified layers 41-1, 41-2 and 41-3 and being fed separately by the feeders 18-1,18-2 and 18-3. Assuming that the speed of rotation of the material carriers 3 along the first arrow 101 is constant and the thickness of the spreading or solidified layers is uniformly equal, the speed of movement of the material carriers 3 along the second arrow 102 is three times that of the case of one spreader in the case of simultaneous printing by three spreaders, which can further increase the printing speed.

In addition, the embodiment in fig. 7 or 8 can also be applied to the spiral printing mode shown in fig. 10, and fig. 7 or 8 can also be regarded as a side view of fig. 10. Optimally, the developing drum 62 or the conveying drum 92 is also correspondingly manufactured into a circular truncated cone shape, so that the synchronous rotation between the developing drum 62 and the conveying drum 92, or between the developing drum 62 and the material spreader 11, or between the conveying drum 92 and the material spreader 11 can be realized, the mutual pure rolling is realized, the transfer precision of the developing material layer 88 is improved, and the high-speed color model printing can be realized.

Example 10

Fig. 12 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of example 9, in which a print material recovery unit 19-1 may be further provided at a downstream position of the round-truncated-cone-shaped spreader 11-1 to suck the print material that is not solidified (i.e., the excess photosensitive print material 4), and to keep the printing process clean, especially when a plurality of material models are printed, so that uncontrolled mixing of a plurality of materials can be avoided, and the setting and solidification of each material can be controlled more precisely. The color spray head 83-1 can be arranged at the downstream (or upstream) of the material spreader 11-1 to spray color pigment on the cured layer 41-1, so that color model printing is realized, and the laying, curing and color printing of the photosensitive printing material are simultaneously performed, so that the printing speed of the printing model 5 can be greatly improved, particularly the printing speed of the color model can be greatly improved. When a plurality of spreaders 11, such as spreaders 11-1 and 11-2 in the figure, are used, a plurality of print recyclers or color nozzles may be provided, for example, a print recycler 19-2 may be provided downstream of the spreader 11-2, and a color nozzle 83-2 may be provided downstream (or upstream) of the spreader 11-2, to further increase the printing speed of the composite or color model.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view, corresponding to FIG. 11 or FIG. 12, taken along the direction B-B, and shows elongated light sources 2-1 and 2-2, which may be an array of point light sources arranged in stripes, and which are disposed in spreaders 11-1 and 11-2, respectively, and also refer to light source 2 shown in FIG. 5. When the material spreading devices 11-1 and 11-2 rotate, the light sources 2-1 and 2-2 do not rotate and always face the material carrier 3. The point array light sources 2 arranged in a stripe shape may be selectively switched on and off according to the three-dimensional model information to emit light beams and irradiate the photosensitive printing material 4 through the light-transmitting area of the dispenser 11. In addition, fig. 13 shows that an outer jacket cylinder 39, and in some embodiments, an inner jacket cylinder 37, may be provided on the outside of the material carrier 3. The outer sleeve cylinder 39 or the inner sleeve cylinder 37 can limit the space for spreading and printing, and is beneficial to stable spreading of photosensitive printing materials.

Example 11

Fig. 14 shows that at least two applicators 11 are operated simultaneously, each applicator 11 applying a photosensitive printing material of a different color or color and simultaneously applying a matching application and a respective selective light curing of the same application to obtain a cured layer 41 of a different color or color. For example, the spreader 11-1 in the figure lays and selectively solidifies to obtain solidified layer 41-1, the printing material recoverer 19-1 arranged at the downstream position of the spreader 11-1 sucks the printing material which is not solidified to form a cavity, the spreader 11-2 continues laying and solidifying at the position of the cavity to obtain solidified layer 41-2, and the printing material recoverer 19-2 arranged at the downstream position of the spreader 11-2 can suck the printing material which is not solidified. The plurality of materials are laid and cured simultaneously to obtain a cured layer 41 of the composite material, and the composite material printing model 5 is obtained by printing the cured layer of the composite material layer by layer.

Of course, this embodiment can also be realized by means of spiral printing as described in embodiment 9, in which the spreaders 11-1 and 11-2 are continuously rotated while the material carrier 3 is continuously rotated about the central axis 109 along the first arrow 101 and continuously moved along the second arrow 102, to perform the spiral-formed printing of the composite material on the material carrier 3. The printing process does not have reciprocating motion, can promote combined material's printing speed and the stationarity of printing process by a wide margin, does benefit to and promotes the printing precision.

Example 12

Fig. 15 and 16 show that on the basis of the printing system described above, feeding pistons are provided on both the left and right sides of the material carrier 3, and when one feeding piston is used for feeding, the other feeding piston is used for receiving the excess photosensitive printing material 4, and the feeding pistons on both sides alternate back and forth. As shown in fig. 15, the spreader 11 is at the rightmost end, the right feeding piston 36 moves upwards to push out the photosensitive printing material 4, the spreader 11 starts moving leftwards to scrape the photosensitive printing material 4 leftwards to form a spread layer to be spread on the material carrier 3, the spread layer in a squeezing state below the spreader 11 is solidified according to the information of the printing model 5, the spreader 11 moves to the position of the left feeding piston 38, and the left feeding piston 38 moves downwards to recycle the redundant printing material above the left feeding piston 38; the spreader 11 moves to the leftmost end, as shown in fig. 16, then the left feeding piston 38 moves upwards to push out the photosensitive printing material 4, the spreader 11 starts moving to the right, the printing material 4 is pushed to the right to be spread on the material carrier 3, meanwhile, the spreading layer in a state of being squeezed under the spreader 11 is solidified according to the information of the printing model 5, the spreader 11 moves to the position of the right feeding piston 36, the right feeding piston 36 moves downwards, the redundant printing material is recovered to the position above the right feeding piston 36, and the spreader 11 moves to the rightmost end, as shown in fig. 15; repeating the steps in the above way until the three-dimensional model printing is completed. An applicator 70 may be further provided to apply a lubricating layer to the surface of the applicator 11, or the applicator 70 may permeate a polymerization inhibitor (e.g., oxygen) into the applicator 11 so that the applicator 11 can be more easily separated from the cured layer 41.

As shown in the above-described embodiments, the outer surface of the spreader 11 of the drum structure may be cylindrical or truncated cone. The spreader 11 and the light source 2 may constitute a print head, which may also include a color nozzle and may also include a print material recycler. The photosensitive printing material 4 on the material carrier 3 can be cancelled, and the spreader 11 can be provided by the feeder 18 relative to the photosensitive printing material 4 in front of the material carrier 3 moving horizontally, so that the use amount of the printing material can be greatly reduced, the structure of the device is simplified, the bearing requirement of the device is reduced, and the application cost is reduced.

The material spreading device 11 shown in fig. 17 may also be used in the material spreading device in the foregoing embodiments, where fig. 17 illustrates the material spreading device 11 having the point light source array 28 disposed on the peripheral surface thereof, for example, the point light source array such as an LED, or an LCD screen, or a display screen such as an OLED is disposed on the peripheral surface of the material spreading device 11 in an array, and the light-sensitive printing material is selectively cured by controlling the operation of the corresponding point light source according to the three-dimensional model information and the material spreading device operation position information. In this way, the internal structure of the dispenser 11 and the manner of beam propagation can be greatly simplified, for example, the diameter of the dispenser 11 can be smaller, which is more advantageous for simplifying the structural printing device.

Example 13

Fig. 18 illustrates a method and a construction for irradiating a layer of paving material through a paver 11 by means of a reflection control beam 29, a light source 2, for example a laser, emits a beam 29-1 which is directed to a polygonal prism 69, for example a prism of the type shown in the figure with a 6-sided polygon 69, the polygonal prism 69 is rotated in accordance with a fifth arrow 105 and reflects the beam 29-1 by means of an edge, the reflected beam 29-2 is directed to a steering mirror 65, the steering mirror 65 reflects the beam 29-2 in the direction of the material carrier 3, the emitted beam 29-3 is directed through a transparent housing of the paver 11 in the direction of the material carrier 3, and the optimum beam 29-3 is directed towards the material carrier 3 in a direction perpendicular to the surface (i.e. the circumferential surface) of the paver 11 or perpendicular to the material carrier 3. With the rotation of the polygon prism 69, the light beam 29-2 irradiates different positions of the direction adjusting reflector 65, so that the reflected light beam 29-3 scans along the direction (left and right direction in the figure) of the rotating shaft 108 of the material spreader 11 in the figure, the light source 2 emits the light beam 29-1 at the position with the printing model 5, the corresponding light beam 29-3 irradiates the printing material layer for solidification, the light source 2 does not emit the light beam at the position without the printing model 5, and with the relative translational motion of the material spreader 11 and the material carrier 3, the material spreading of a whole layer and the simultaneous selective light irradiation solidification can be completed, and the printing of one layer is formed; the carrier 3 is then moved a set distance, e.g. one layer thickness, along the second arrow 102, and the dispenser 11 is then used for laying down the next layer and for curing by selective irradiation, layer upon layer until the printing of the printing material pattern 5 is completed.

By adopting the mode, the light source 2 can be arranged outside the spreading device 11, the selection, the arrangement and the heat dissipation of the light source 2 are facilitated, for example, the light source 2 with higher power can be selected, and the printing speed and the operation reliability of the system are facilitated to be improved. In addition, only the direction adjusting reflector 65 can be arranged in the material spreading device 11, devices such as a light source and the like do not need to be arranged, the structure of the material spreading device 11 is favorably reduced, the diameter of the material spreading device 11 is reduced, and the size of the whole device is reduced. In addition, the polygon prism 69 is a polygon, preferably a regular polygon, which increases the scanning speed of the light beam 29-3, for example, the light beam 29-3 scans n times along the axis 108 of the spreader 11 every time the n-deformed polygon prism 69 rotates. In addition, the reflecting surface of the direction-adjusting reflector 65 can be a curved surface, and the curved surface is designed reasonably so that the light beam 29-3 is always perpendicular to the molding surface of the material carrier 3 in the scanning process.

Example 14

Fig. 19 shows that the spreader 11 includes a cylindrical LCD mask layer 26 disposed on the circumferential surface thereof, the light source 2 is disposed inside the spreader 11, the LCD mask layer 26 is controlled to selectively transmit light according to the layer information of the printing pattern 5, the light beam 29 emitted by the light source 2 is selectively transmitted through the LCD mask layer 26 and irradiated toward the material carrier 3, the material spreading side is selectively cured to obtain a cured layer 41, and the cured printing pattern 5 is bonded to the material carrier 3. The dispenser 11 may also include a transparent support layer 27 for reinforcement, and the transparent support layer 27 may also be disposed outside the LCD mask layer 26 to protect the LCD mask layer 26 and improve the strength and reliability of the dispenser 11.

Fig. 19 also shows that the material carrier 3 is arranged above and the spreading device 11 is arranged below the material carrier 3, i.e. the spreading side of the spreading side 11 is above. The printing mould 5 is fixed in combination on the lower surface of the material carrier 3 and can move with the material carrier 3 along the second arrow 102. The spreader 11 is disposed in the bin 68, the photosensitive printing material 4 is disposed in the bin 68, the spreader 11 is partially immersed in the photosensitive printing material 4, and the spreader 11 rotates along the third arrow 103 to drive the printing material 4 to form the pre-print material layer 42 on the surface of the printing material protruding from the liquid surface of the photosensitive printing material 4. By adopting the mode, the printing material 4 does not need to be filled on the material carrier 3, the accumulation or falling of the printing material 4 to the material carrier 3 is reduced, the application of the printing material is reduced, the cost is reduced, and the equipment is easier to maintain.

Example 15

Fig. 20 schematically illustrates the use of the spreader 11 shown in fig. 18 for irradiating the print material layer through the spreader 11 by reflecting the control beam 29, and the use of the spiral printing method shown in fig. 10 for printing. E.g. the material carrier 3 is rotated along the first arrow 101 while being moved along the second arrow 102, e.g. continuously along the second arrow 102, the printing material 4 is continuously applied onto the material carrier 3 while the light beam 29 is rapidly scanned and selectively irradiated in the left-right direction in the figure, forming the printing model 5. The spreader 11 is configured in a truncated cone shape, and the diameter of the spreader in the direction away from the central axis 109 is large, which is more suitable for the arrangement of the steering mirror 65 and the polygon prism 69, and is more suitable for the realization of the method and the structure for irradiating the printing material layer through the spreader 11 by reflecting the control beam 29.

Example 16

Fig. 21 shows that on the basis of fig. 20, several spreaders 11 can be provided to increase the printing speed or to achieve the printing of the composite material, and the material carriers 3 can be arranged above and the spreaders 11 below. Fig. 19 can be regarded as a schematic cross-sectional view a-a of fig. 21, for example, the dispenser 11 of fig. 21 can be an embodiment with an LCD mask layer 26 on the surface, and of course, the light source of fig. 21 can be any other means for achieving selective illumination.

It should be noted that, in the present invention, the relative translational motion between the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 may implement the laying of the photosensitive printing material 4 on the material carrier 3, that is, forming a laying layer, which may be the translational motion of the spreader 11, the material carrier 3 being stationary, or the translational motion of the material carrier 3, the material spreader 11 being stationary, or the material carrier 3 and the spreader 11 being simultaneously in translational motion, and the translational motion of the material carrier 3 or the spreader 11 refers to the movement along the first arrow 101 direction or the opposite direction in each figure, or the movement along the horizontal direction, or the movement along the direction parallel to the molding surface of the material carrier 3. The relative vertical movement between the spreader 11 and the material carrier 3 can realize the layer-by-layer stacking of the solidified layers 41 to form a solidified model (i.e. a three-dimensional model or a three-dimensional object), i.e. the spreader 11 can move vertically, the material carrier 3 is not moved, or the material carrier 3 moves vertically, the spreader 11 is not moved, or the material carrier 3 and the spreader 11 move vertically at the same time, and the vertical movement of the material carrier 3 or the spreader 11 refers to the movement along the direction of the second arrow 102 or the opposite direction in the figure, or the movement along the vertical direction, or the movement along the direction perpendicular to the molding surface of the material carrier 3. The shaping surface of the carrier body 3 is the surface of the carrier body 3 that can receive a layer of a paver or a solidified layer 41.

The surface of the light-transmitting region 12 of the spreader 11 on the side of the photosensitive printing material 4 (i.e., the outer surface of the roller-shaped spreader 11) in each embodiment may also be provided with a self-lubricating material such as polytetrafluoroethylene, or an oil-containing material to prevent adhesion of the preprinted material layer (cured layer) on the light-transmitting region 12. Let the pre-printed material layer (the solidified layer) of solidification break away from with stone spreader 11 that can be quick for printing speed also does benefit to and promotes the printing precision.

As shown in the foregoing embodiments, the light source 2 of the present invention may be DLP projection, or may be an LCD screen or LED array disposed on the transparent region of the spreader 11, or may be a laser source, which selectively irradiates the photosensitive printing material in the pressed state through a lens set by passing the laser through the transparent region 12 of the spreader 11, or other light sources capable of selectively irradiating.

The photocuring printing device and the printing method can be used for liquid photosensitive resin materials, can be any resin liquid for initiating polymerization reaction by illumination, can also be mixed liquid or slurry of photosensitive resin and other liquid or powder, such as ceramic powder, metal powder, plastic powder or other powder materials, and can also be used for mixing cells, medicines, pigments and the like in resin.

For the mixed slurry of the photosensitive resin and the metal powder or the ceramic powder, a green culture model (green part) can be made by the 3D printing method of the present invention in combination with a PIM method such as metal powder injection molding (MIM) or ceramic powder injection molding (CIM), and then degreased and sintered (Sintering) to form parts such as metal or ceramic. The photocuring printing device or the printing method can be used for quickly printing plastic or resin models and customizing metal or ceramic parts, biomedicine or other models more efficiently.

The description uses directional terms such as "above," "below," "left," "right," etc., for convenience in description based on the specific drawings, and not for limitation of the invention. In practical applications, the actual left or right position may differ from the drawings due to the spatial shift of the structure as a whole. But such variations are intended to be within the scope of the invention. While the above embodiments are optional embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art may make various changes or modifications without departing from the general concept of the present invention, and such changes or modifications should fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. The utility model provides a photocuring 3D printing system which characterized in that: the printing device comprises a material carrier (3) and a material spreader (11), wherein the material spreader (11) is of a rotary drum structure, at least partial area of the material spreading side of the material spreader (11) is a light transmission area (12), the material spreader (11) and the material carrier (3) perform relative translational motion, a photosensitive printing material (4) is spread on the material carrier (3) opposite to the light transmission area (12), when the spread photosensitive printing material (4) is still in a pressed state, a light beam (29) penetrates through the light transmission area (12) and selectively irradiates the photosensitive printing material (4) opposite to the light transmission area (12) according to three-dimensional model information to be printed to form a solidified layer (41), the material spreader (11) and the material carrier (3) can perform relative vertical motion, the distance between the material spreader (11) and the material carrier (3) is enlarged during printing, and the solidified layer is stacked on the material carrier (3) by the solidified layer (41) to form a solidified model, the photosensitive printing material pre-printing device is characterized by further comprising an auxiliary scraper (13) and an imaging printing head, wherein the auxiliary scraper (13) is arranged on the outer side of the material spreading device (11), so that a pre-printing material layer (42) is formed on the surface of the material spreading device (11) by the photosensitive printing material (4), then the photosensitive printing material is laid on the material carrier (3) through the material spreading device (11), and the imaging printing head is arranged relative to the circumferential surface of the material spreading device (11) and can form an imaging layer on the pre-printing material layer (42) through the imaging printing head.

2. The utility model provides a photocuring 3D printing system which characterized in that: the photosensitive printing material printing device comprises a material carrier (3) and a spreading device (11), wherein the forming surface of the material carrier (3) is a circular or annular plane, the spreading device (1) is of a circular table-shaped drum type structure, at least part of the spreading side of the spreading device (11) is a light transmission area (12), one or more spreading devices (11) are arranged on the forming surface side of the material carrier (3) in a surrounding mode around a central axis (109) of the material carrier (3), the spreading device (11) and the material carrier (3) rotate relatively around the central axis (109) to enable the spreading device (11) and the material carrier (3) to move in a relative translation mode, photosensitive printing materials (4) are laid on the material carrier (3) relative to the light transmission area (12), and when the laid photosensitive printing materials (4) are still in a squeezed state, light beams (29) penetrate through the light transmission area (12) and selectively irradiate the photosensitive printing materials (4) relative to the light transmission area (12) according to three-dimensional model information to be printed The device comprises a solidified layer (41), a material spreader (11) and a material carrier (3) which can move vertically relative to each other, wherein in the printing process, the distance between the material spreader (11) and the material carrier (3) is enlarged, the solidified layer (41) is stacked layer by layer on the material carrier (3) to form a solidified model, the device further comprises an auxiliary scraper (13) and an imaging printing head, the auxiliary scraper (13) is arranged outside the material spreader (11), photosensitive printing material (4) forms a preprinting material layer (42) on the surface of the material spreader (11) and then is laid on the material carrier (3) through the material spreader (11), and the imaging printing head is arranged relative to the peripheral surface of the material spreader (11) and can form an imaging layer on the preprinting material layer (42) through the imaging printing head.

3. A photocuring 3D printing system as recited in claim 2, wherein: the end of the material spreader (11) with the smaller diameter faces the central axis (109) of the material carrier (3), and the material spreader (11) keeps matched autorotation while generating relative translational motion with the material carrier (3).

4. The photocuring 3D printing system of claim 1, wherein: the imaging printing head is a color nozzle which is arranged opposite to the circumferential surface of the material spreader (11) and can form an imaging layer of color pigment on the preprinting material layer (42) through the color nozzle.

5. The photocuring 3D printing system of claim 1, wherein: the imaging printing head is an electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly (72), the electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly (72) comprises a rotatable developing drum (62), the developing drum (62) is arranged relative to the circumferential surface of the material spreader (11), and an imaging layer formed on the preprinting material layer (42) through selective printing of the electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly (72) is a developing material layer (88).

6. The photocuring 3D printing system of claim 1, wherein: the imaging printing head comprises a plurality of electromagnetic imaging printing head assemblies (72) and a rotatable conveying drum (92), each electromagnetic imaging printing head assembly (72) comprises a rotatable developing drum (62) and the circumferential surface of the corresponding conveying drum (92) of the corresponding developing drum (62), the circumferential surface of the corresponding spreading device (11) of the corresponding conveying drum (92) is provided, and the imaging layers formed by selective printing on the surface of the corresponding conveying drum (92) can be a composite developing material layer through the corresponding electromagnetic imaging printing head assemblies (72), and the composite developing material layer is conveyed to the pre-printing material layer (42) on the surface of the corresponding spreading device (11) and bonded with the pre-printing material layer (42) on the surface of the corresponding spreading device (11) through the corresponding conveying drum (92).

7. A photocuring 3D printing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: the material spreading device further comprises a feeder (18), and the feeder (18) is arranged on the other side, opposite to the material carrier (3), of the material spreading device (11) or in front of the material carrier (3) in the translational motion direction.

8. A photocuring 3D printing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by: and a printing material recoverer for absorbing the redundant photosensitive printing material (4) on the surface of the curing layer (41).

9. A photocuring 3D printing system as recited in claim 8, wherein: at least two material spreading devices (11) work simultaneously, each material spreading device (11) is used for spreading light-sensitive printing materials (4) with different colors, and each material spreading device (11) simultaneously carries out matched material spreading and selective illumination curing on the same material spreading layer to obtain a cured layer (41) with different colors.

10. A photocuring 3D printing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: at least two material spreading devices (11) work simultaneously, the positions of the material spreading directions of the adjacent material spreading devices (11) are different by the thickness of one material spreading layer, and each material spreading device (11) respectively and simultaneously carries out material spreading and selective illumination curing on different material spreading layers.

11. A photocuring 3D printing system as recited in claim 2, wherein: at least two material spreading devices (11) work simultaneously, the distance between the material spreading side of each material spreading device (11) and the material carrier (3) is arranged in equal height, each material spreading device (11) is arranged around the central axis (109) in an equal interval mode, the material spreading devices (11) and the material carrier (3) rotate continuously and relatively around the central axis (109), meanwhile, continuous relative vertical movement is generated between the material spreading devices (11) and the material carrier (3), and each material spreading device (11) is used for spreading materials and selectively irradiating and curing different material spreading layers simultaneously.

12. A photocuring 3D printing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: the light source (2) is arranged outside the material spreader (11), and the light beam (29) selectively generated by the light source (2) is reflected by a rotating polygonal prism (69) to a direction-adjusting reflector (65) arranged inside the material spreader (11), and the direction-adjusting reflector (65) reflects the light beam (29) to selectively irradiate the photosensitive printing material (4) towards the material carrier (3).

13. The photocuring 3D printing system of claim 1, wherein: and the opposite two sides of the material carrier (3) are respectively provided with feeding pistons which alternately ascend and descend in a reciprocating mode, and when the feeding piston at one side is used for feeding, the feeding piston at the other side is used for receiving redundant photosensitive printing materials (4).

14. A photocuring 3D printing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: the material spreading device (11) can also be a rotary drum type material spreading device (11) with a peripheral surface provided with a point light source array, and the point light source array selectively works according to the three-dimensional model information to be printed to selectively irradiate and solidify the photosensitive printing material (4) during layer printing.

15. A photocuring 3D printing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: spreading ware (11) sets up in workbin (68), be provided with photosensitive printing material (4) in workbin (68), spreading ware (11) part submerge in photosensitive printing material (4), through spreading ware (11) rotate and form in advance in the outside of photosensitive printing material (4) liquid level and print the material layer (42) and lay photosensitive printing material (4) between spreading ware (11) and material carrier (3).

16. A photocuring 3D printing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: the spreader (11) comprises a cylindrical LCD mask layer (26), and the LCD mask layer (26) is selectively transparent according to selective irradiation of a light beam (29).

17. A photocuring 3D printing method characterized by using the photocuring 3D printing system of claim 2, comprising the steps of: during printing, the material carrier (3) continuously rotates, so that a spreader (11) and the material carrier (3) perform relative translational motion, the spreader (11) continuously rotates matched with the relative translational motion, the material carrier (3) continuously moves away from the spreader (11), so that the distance between the spreader (11) and the material carrier (3) is enlarged, the spreader (11) stacks photosensitive printing material (4) on the material carrier (3) in a spiral form, and one or more spreading layers in a spiral form are formed on the material carrier (3); in the process of forming the paving layer in the continuous spiral form, the light beam (29) selectively irradiates the paving layer in the pressed state opposite to the light-transmitting area (12) through the light-transmitting area (12) to form a solidified layer (41), and the solidified layers (41) are stacked layer by layer on the material carrier (3) to form a solidified model (5).

18. The photocuring 3D printing method of claim 17, wherein: the number of the material spreading devices (11) is N, N is an integer greater than or equal to 1, when N is greater than 1, the distances between the material spreading devices (11) and the material carrier (3) are arranged in equal height, and the material spreading devices (11) are arranged around the central axis (109) in an equally-divided manner; the material carrier (3) continuously moves for a distance of N times of the thickness of the material spreading layer in the direction away from the material spreading device (11) when rotating for one circle.