CN111421810A

CN111421810A - Additive manufacturing intelligent platform solution

Info

Publication number: CN111421810A
Application number: CN201910963574.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 路迪
Original assignee: Shanghai Youyao Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Youyao Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-26
Filing date: 2019-10-11
Publication date: 2020-07-17
Also published as: IT201900015021A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a manufacturing method for manufacturing an exterior or interior trim element of an automobile via a 3D printer, the 3D printer comprising a bed (3) and an actuation head (1) for depositing a molten filament, the manufacturing method comprising the following steps: -providing a removable plate (4) with reference seats and/or grooves (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) and positioning the plate on the bed via a shape coupling involving the reference seats and/or grooves; -depositing filaments on a plate (4) to obtain a printed object (D); -separating the plate (4) from the bed with an object (D); -positioning and/or recessing the plate (4) on a work table (13) of the automated machine (12) via a shape coupling involving a reference seat, thereby performing a post-printing operation on the printed object (D), wherein the 3D printer and/or a control unit of the automated machine (12) infers the position of the plate (4) on the basis of the shape coupling.

Description

Additive manufacturing intelligent platform solution

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional printer, and particularly to a structure of a material extrusion part of a three-dimensional printer (3D printer) for producing a three-dimensional molded object having a fused deposition modeling method.

Background

Many three-dimensional printing techniques use additive processes in which an additive manufacturing apparatus forms a continuous layer of parts on top of a previously deposited layer some of these techniques use extrusion printing in which an extruder discharges molten build material, such as heated and softened plastics, e.g., ABS, nylon, P L a, tpu, in a predetermined pattern.

One challenge facing the operation of three-dimensional object printers includes proper alignment of the extruder with the underlying surface that receives the molten material to form the three-dimensional printed object. In many printers, an extruder discharges a first layer of molten build material onto a flat receiving build and forms each successive layer of build material over the outer layer of the partially completed three-dimensional object. During operation, if the extruder deviates from a parallel orientation with the underlying receiving member, the face of the extruder may distort the shape of the molten material, which may reduce the quality of the three-dimensional printed object. Therefore, improvements to three-dimensional object printers that enable measurement and correction of angular deviations in multi-nozzle extruders would be beneficial.

Disclosure of Invention

The problems posed by the known art have been solved with the method according to the invention.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an automotive exterior or interior visible element by 3D printing by filament deposition, said manufacturing method essentially comprising the steps of providing a removable plate; coupling a shape to a 3D printing machine via standoffs and grooves (such as reference pins and slots); separating the plate from the bed at the end of the printing process; attaching a plate with an unfinished 3D printed object to a table via shape coupling positioning with a reference support and a protrusion; a process is provided for the automatic removal of the material of the printed object after printing, wherein the deposition head of the printer and the actuating work elements involved in said automatic process after printing are controlled by an electronic control unit, which considers the position of the reference support and the recess on the bed and the worktable, respectively.

This is particularly useful when the 3D object is complex or requires additional manufacturing steps, such as including insert and/or robotic milling and/or priming and/or painting, it is important to maintain alignment and accuracy of positioning throughout the manufacturing process. This is particularly true for panels or skins in plastic material that are to be attached to the infrastructure or frame portions of an automobile.

For example, a side door of an automobile may have a structural frame, such as a metal cross beam and other similar molded elements, to which a 3D printed cover shell is attached to have the final appearance of the side door. Such housings were initially manufactured via 3D printing, but after the printing process, additional steps need to be applied to the housing in order to provide the final shape and/or precision and/or texture to the housing.

The above-described method has proven to be carried out such that any housing of a motor vehicle can be produced accordingly. Thus, a car having a properly designed infrastructure that includes a structural pivot subframe (e.g., for doors, tub covers, exterior and interior trim, etc.) may be completely covered by a molded shell or wrap that is attached to the infrastructure or the structural pivot subframe. Such housings are initially manufactured via 3D printing in plastic material and are therefore customizable. Subsequent manufacturing steps then provide the final shape and texture of the shell for mounting on the infrastructure or sub-frame. One example of a housing fixedly attached to the infrastructure is a front fender that partially defines a front light socket and a roof of the vehicle. The manufacturing process is also suitable for automotive interior components, such as instrument panels.

According to a preferred embodiment, the post-printing process comprises local melting or machining to embed the insert into the printed object.

The insert may be a threaded insert, for example, for attaching a printed object by a threaded connection or a snap or quick-connect.

According to a preferred embodiment, the post-printing process comprises a chip removal process to smooth the surface of the printed object.

This applies to both the outer and inner shells of the car.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, prior to 3D printing, a part file of the object to be printed is selected from a predefined library of part files via a web-based platform.

This is particularly useful for providing a customer willing to purchase a car with a fully customized exterior and/or interior of the car before purchasing the car.

According to a preferred embodiment, the removable plate has at least one hole and at least a slot to block and define a position on the bed. For added precision, additional slots are added, which are transverse, preferably perpendicular, to the at least one slot. One or more holes and slots couple with a corresponding set of two (three) pins on the bed to define a shape coupling to precisely position the plate on the bed. The pin coordinates in the x-y plane (z-axis being the vertical direction substantially perpendicular to the bed and plate) are measured and stored in the control unit of the 3D printer and the control unit of any other machine tool or robot arm involved in one or more post-printing processes.

Drawings

The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a 3D printer including a deposition bed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a deposition bed for use in a manufacturing system and process according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an example of a 3D printing element laid down on the deposition bed of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a 3D printing station according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the main steps of the manufacturing process provided by the print station according to FIG. 4; and is

Fig. 6 is a flow chart of the manufacturing process of fig. 5.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows an overview of the deposition process employed in the present invention, namely depositing filaments 2 of molten material (e.g. plastic or metal) via an active head 1 to form a subsequent layer on a deposition bed 3. The head 1 may deposit one or more filaments simultaneously, and typically, but not exclusively, travels at a fixed z-axis (i.e., vertical) position during deposition, so as to deposit planar layers at a time.

According to the invention, the removable plate 4 (fig. 2) is positioned on the bed via positioning abutments and/or grooves in order to define the exact position of the plate 4 on the bed. Preferably, but not exclusively, the plate 4 defines a centring hole 5 coupled with a centring pin 6 on the bed 3. This prevents translation of the plate 4, and in addition, the plate 4 defines at least one elongated slot, preferably a pair of elongated slots 7, 8, to mate with opposing pins 9, 10 on the bed 3. When the elongated slots are paired, the elongated slots are each elongated orthogonally to one another. The positioning seats and/or

recesses

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ensure that the position of the plate 4 is sufficiently accurate when the plate 4 is mounted on the bed 3, and thus the 3D printed object D (fig. 3) deposited on the plate 4 is pointwise at a known position.

After deposition, the plate 4 may be removed for additional manufacturing steps, including but not limited to any of the following:

-robotic milling: placing the plate 4 on the base of a robotic milling machine (for example a machine tool) to improve the smoothness of the surface of the object D of "step-like" texture resulting from the deposition technique;

-insert embedding: placing the plate 4 on the base of the work station and then locally heat fusing or machining to provide an insert seat for attachment to a subframe or chassis of the vehicle, for example by screwing or snapping;

-priming: applying a layer of binding substance, for example by spraying, to facilitate the adhesion of the paint;

-painting;

3D scanning each (or random) printed object for quality control inspection.

The above may in particular be performed on a flexible robot station according to fig. 4, wherein when suitably equipped the robot arm 12 may be controlled to apply any of the above, and the rotary table 13 provides a plurality of positions for the plate 4 by including e.g. a set of angularly

equidistant centering pins

6, 9, 10, wherein the plate 4 may be positioned during post-processing after printing.

Fig. 5 shows an example of the complete manufacturing process according to fig. 1, wherein the plate 4 is coupled to the bed 3 of the printer P. After printing, an untrimmed printed object D is placed on the table 13, for example, by an operator, and the robot arm 12 is equipped with a milling tool in order to smooth the surface of the printed object D (detail "a") in order to finish the object. In this case, no painting is required.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the 3D printing provides customization of the car cover or cladding so that the car can be personalized. Preferably, the network-based platform collects preferences regarding multiple shells (e.g., any shells) attached to the infrastructure or sub-frame of the automobile to be manufactured. Customization may also extend to an interior within the automobile, such as the dashboard or another interior trim. Furthermore, a potential customer may also carry his/her own component files, which will be checked whether they fit with the attachment interfaces on the infrastructure and/or the sub-frame.

To provide a proper fit with non-customized elements of the automobile, such as the infrastructure, customization is provided via selection of part files from a library of adapted part files.

Claims

1. Manufacturing method for manufacturing an exterior or interior trim element of an automobile via a 3D printer, the 3D printer comprising a bed (3) and an actuation head (1) for depositing a molten filament, the manufacturing method comprising the steps of:

-providing a removable plate (4) having reference seats and/or grooves (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) and positioning the plate on the bed via a shape coupling involving the reference seats and/or grooves;

-depositing said filaments on said plate (4) to obtain a printed object (D);

-separating the plate (4) from the bed with the object (D);

-positioning and/or recessing the plate (4) on a work-table (13) of an automated machine (12) via a shape coupling involving the reference support, so as to perform a post-printing operation on the printed object (D),

wherein a control unit of the 3D printer and/or the automated machine (12) infers a position of the plate (4) based on the shape coupling.

2. Manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the seat comprises a reference pin (6, 7, 8) and the recess comprises at least one hole (5) and a slot (9; 10) defining a shape coupling with the pin.

3. A manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein the holes and the slots are defined by the plate (4) and the pins are carried by the bed and the table.

4. Manufacturing method according to any one of claims 2 or 3, wherein the plate (4) defines a further slot for a corresponding pin, and wherein the at least one slot and the further slot are elongated in a transverse, preferably perpendicular, direction.

5. Manufacturing method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the post-printing process comprises a chip-removing operation to smooth the surface of the object (D).

6. Manufacturing method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the post-printing process comprises local thermal melting or local machining to embed a coupling insert in the object (D), the coupling insert preferably being for a screw coupling or snap coupling.

7. The method of manufacturing according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the filaments are plastic filaments.

8. The manufacturing method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of receiving an uploaded part file for 3D printing the object via a web-based platform to enable further customization of the car by a customer.