CN112387985A - Closed-loop powder circulation system for additive manufacturing equipment and control method thereof - Google Patents
Closed-loop powder circulation system for additive manufacturing equipment and control method thereof Download PDFInfo
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- CN112387985A CN112387985A CN202011231181.0A CN202011231181A CN112387985A CN 112387985 A CN112387985 A CN 112387985A CN 202011231181 A CN202011231181 A CN 202011231181A CN 112387985 A CN112387985 A CN 112387985A
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
- B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
- B33Y10/00—Processes of additive manufacturing
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
- B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
- B33Y40/00—Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
- B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
- B33Y50/00—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
- B33Y50/02—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
Abstract
A closed-loop powder circulating system for additive manufacturing equipment and a filtering method thereof are provided, wherein the system comprises a powder storage tank, a fan, a separation tank, a vibrating screen, a controller and a powder return tank, the closed-loop powder circulating system is under the protection of inert gas, and when the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, the fan is started to enable powder in the powder storage tank to be conveyed to at least one powder feeding tank under the protection of the inert gas; when the controller receives a powder return instruction, the fan is started to convey the powder of the powder return tank and/or the powder of at least one powder overflow cylinder to the separation tank under the protection of inert gas, and the powder is recovered to the powder storage tank after the separation treatment of the separation tank and the screening treatment of the vibrating screen; moreover, the problem of safe conveying of the active powder is solved, potential safety hazards caused by manual contact of the active powder are avoided, and the beneficial effects of high working efficiency and high safety are achieved.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of three-dimensional object manufacturing, in particular to a closed-loop powder circulating system for additive manufacturing equipment and a control method thereof.
Background
The Additive Manufacturing technology (AM for short) is an advanced Manufacturing technology with the distinct characteristics of digital Manufacturing, high flexibility and adaptability, direct CAD model driving, rapidness, rich and diverse material types and the like, and has a very wide application range because the Additive Manufacturing technology is not limited by the complexity of the shape of a part and does not need any tool die. The development of selective laser sintering technology, which is one of additive manufacturing technologies, is also very rapid in recent years, and the main processes thereof are: the powder feeding device sends a certain amount of powder to a working table, the powder paving roller paves a layer of powder material on the upper surface of a formed part of the mechanism, the heating device heats the powder to a set temperature, and the vibrating mirror system controls the laser to scan the powder layer of the solid part according to the section outline of the layer, so that the powder is melted and is bonded with the formed part below; after one layer of cross section is sintered, the working table is lowered by the thickness of one layer, the powder spreading roller is used for spreading a layer of uniform and compact powder on the working table, the scanning sintering of the cross section of a new layer is carried out, and the scanning and stacking of a plurality of layers are carried out until the whole part is manufactured.
The existing additive manufacturing equipment generally adopts manual powder adding, but the powder storage tank of the additive manufacturing equipment is higher in position, so that the manual powder adding difficulty is high; moreover, after the powder overflowing cylinder is full, the powder overflowing cylinder needs to be manually cleaned, so that the labor intensity of operators is increased, and dust appears in the working environment, so that the health of the operators is also influenced to a certain extent.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to solve the technical problems in the prior art, the invention provides a closed-loop powder circulating system for additive manufacturing equipment and a control method thereof, wherein the closed-loop powder circulating system can automatically supply and return powder and realize the recycling of the powder.
A closed loop powder circulation system for additive manufacturing equipment comprises a powder storage tank, a fan, a separation tank, a vibrating screen and a controller, and a powder return tank for recovering the powder in the powder cleaning platform, wherein the fan is respectively connected with the separation tank, the powder storage tank and the powder return tank through pipelines, and at least one powder feeding tank and at least one powder overflowing tank which are positioned in the additive manufacturing equipment are connected, the separation tank is respectively connected with the powder feeding tank, the powder overflowing tank and the powder returning tank through pipelines, the separation tank is connected with the powder storage tank through a vibrating screen, so that the powder storage tank, the fan, the separation tank, the vibrating screen, the powder return tank, the powder feeding tank and the powder overflow tank form a closed-loop circulating system, the closed loop circulating system is provided with a charging port for charging inert gas so as to lead the inert gas to circulate in the closed loop circulating system, when the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, starting the fan to convey the powder in the powder storage tank to at least one powder feeding tank under the protection of inert gas; and when the controller receives a powder return instruction, the fan is started to convey the powder in the powder return tank and/or the powder in at least one powder overflow cylinder to the separation tank under the protection of inert gas, and the powder is recovered to the powder storage tank after the separation treatment of the separation tank and the screening treatment of the vibrating screen.
As a further preferable scheme of the present invention, the system further comprises a first pressure detection sensor for detecting an inlet/outlet pressure of the blower to determine whether the closed loop circulation system is blocked; the separating tank is also provided with an exhaust valve and a second pressure sensor for detecting the pressure in the closed-loop circulating system, so that the exhaust valve is opened when the detected pressure is overlarge.
As a further preferable scheme of the present invention, a weighing sensor is disposed in the powder storage tank, and is configured to weigh powder in the powder storage tank to prompt an operator whether to add powder into the powder storage tank.
As a further preferable scheme of the invention, a first high material level switch and a first low material level switch are sequentially arranged on the powder overflow cylinder from top to bottom, and when the first high material level switch detects powder, a powder return instruction is reminded to be sent; and when the first low material level switch detects that the powder is lack, the powder return is stopped.
As a further preferable scheme of the invention, a second high material level switch and a second low material level switch are sequentially arranged on the powder storage tank from top to bottom, and when the second high material level switch detects powder, the powder adding is reminded to stop; and when the second low level switch detects powder, the powder storage tank is indicated to contain certain powder.
As a further preferable scheme of the invention, a third high material level switch and a third low material level switch are sequentially arranged on the powder feeding tank from top to bottom, and when the third high material level switch detects powder, the powder feeding is reminded to stop; and when the third low material level switch detects that powder is lacking, the third low material level switch reminds the user to send a powder feeding instruction.
The invention also provides a control method of the closed-loop powder circulation system for the additive manufacturing equipment, which comprises the following steps:
when the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, the closed-loop circulating system is inflated by inert gas through a pipeline so as to perform inert gas protection on the whole closed-loop circulating system;
forming a closed loop system by a fan, a powder storage tank, at least one powder feeding tank and a separation tank, and starting the fan to convey the powder in the powder storage tank to the at least one powder feeding tank under the protection of inert gas;
when the controller receives a powder return instruction, the closed-loop circulating system is inflated by inert gas through a pipeline so as to perform inert gas protection on the whole closed-loop circulating system;
and controlling the fan, the powder return tank and/or the at least one powder overflow tank, the separation tank, the vibrating screen and the powder storage tank to form a closed-loop system, starting the fan to convey the powder of the powder return tank and/or the powder of the at least one powder overflow tank to the separation tank under the protection of inert gas, and recovering the powder to the powder storage tank after separation treatment of the separation tank and screening treatment of the vibrating screen.
As a further preferable scheme of the invention, the method comprises the following steps before the inert gas is used for filling the closed-loop circulating system through the pipeline:
judging whether the closed loop circulating system is in an idle state and whether an inflation valve is opened;
when the closed loop circulating system is in an idle state and the inflation valve is not opened, the inflation valve is opened so that the inert gas inflates the closed loop circulating system through the pipeline;
when the closed-loop circulating system is in an idle state and the inflation valve is opened, the inflation valve is kept open, so that the inert gas inflates the closed-loop circulating system through the pipeline.
As a further preferable scheme of the present invention, before turning on the blower, the method further comprises:
and detecting and judging the oxygen content in the closed-loop circulating system, starting the fan when the oxygen content reaches a set value, and otherwise, continuing to wait.
As a further preferable aspect of the present invention, the method further comprises:
when powder is lacked in the powder feeding tank, a powder feeding instruction is sent to the controller; and
and when the powder in the powder overflow cylinder or the powder return tank is full, sending a powder return instruction to the controller.
The closed-loop powder circulating system comprises a powder storage tank, a fan, a separating tank, a vibrating screen, a controller and a powder return tank for recovering powder in a powder cleaning platform, wherein the fan is started under the protection of inert gas when the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, so that the powder in the powder storage tank is conveyed to at least one powder feeding tank under the protection of the inert gas; when the controller receives a powder return instruction, the fan is started to convey the powder of the powder return tank and/or the powder of at least one powder overflow cylinder to the separation tank under the protection of inert gas, and the powder is recovered to the powder storage tank after the separation treatment of the separation tank and the screening treatment of the vibrating screen, so that the automatic powder feeding and powder return functions in the additive manufacturing equipment construction process are realized, the equipment is not stopped midway, and the working efficiency of the equipment is improved; moreover, the problem of safe conveying of the active powder and the potential safety hazard caused by manual powder contact are solved, and the device has the beneficial effects of high working efficiency and high safety; in addition, the residual powder is recycled after being processed by the vibrating screen, so that the using amount of the powder is greatly saved, and the utilization rate of the powder is improved.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of one embodiment of a closed loop powder circulation system for an additive manufacturing apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a partial external view of one embodiment of a closed loop powder circulation system for an additive manufacturing apparatus of the present invention;
fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of fig. 2.
In the drawings, the reference numbers:
1. an inflation valve, 2, an inflation inlet, 3, a powder feeding tank, 4, a separation tank, 5, a fifth pneumatic butterfly valve, 6, a powder returning tank, 7, a powder overflowing cylinder, 8, a powder storage tank, 9, a first low material level switch, 10, a first high material level switch, 11, a pipeline, 12, a fan, 13, a second low material level switch, 14, a second high material level switch, 15, a third low material level switch, 16, a third high material level switch, 17, an oxygen sensor, 18, an exhaust valve, 19, a second pressure sensor, 20, a first pneumatic butterfly valve, 21, a second pneumatic butterfly valve, 22, a weighing sensor, 23, a third pneumatic butterfly valve, 24, a fourth pneumatic butterfly valve, 25, an air outlet, 26, a filter core differential pressure sensor, 27, a powder adding inlet, 28, a first pressure sensor, 29, a fourth high material level switch, 30, a sixth pneumatic butterfly valve, 31, a fourth low material level switch, 32 and a seventh pneumatic butterfly valve, 33. an eighth pneumatic butterfly valve 34, a ninth pneumatic butterfly valve 35, a vibrating screen 36 and a powder cleaning table.
Detailed Description
In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a more particular description of the invention will now be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the appended drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
As shown in fig. 1-3, the closed-loop powder circulation system for additive manufacturing equipment comprises a powder storage tank 8, a fan 12, a separation tank 4, a vibrating screen 35, a controller, and a powder return tank 6 for recovering powder in a powder cleaning table 36, wherein the fan 12 is respectively connected with the separation tank 4, the powder storage tank 8, the powder return tank 6, and at least one powder feeding tank 3 and at least one powder overflowing tank 7 which are located in the additive manufacturing equipment through pipelines 11, the separation tank 4 is respectively connected with the powder feeding tank 3, the powder overflowing tank 7 and the powder return tank 6 through pipelines 11, the separation tank 4 is connected with the powder storage tank 8 through the vibrating screen 35, so that the powder storage tank 8, the fan 12, the separation tank 4, the vibrating screen 35, the powder return tank 6, the powder feeding tank 3 and the powder overflowing tank 7 form a closed-loop circulation system, the closed-loop circulation system is provided with an inflation inlet 2 for filling inert gas, so that the inert gas circulates in the closed-loop circulation system, when the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, the fan 12 is started to enable the powder in the powder storage tank 8 to be conveyed to the at least one powder feeding tank 3 under the protection of inert gas; and when the controller receives a powder return instruction, the fan 12 is started to convey the powder in the powder return tank 6 and/or the powder in the at least one powder overflow tank 7 to the separation tank 4 under the protection of inert gas, and the powder is recovered to the powder storage tank 8 after the separation treatment of the separation tank 4 and the screening treatment of the vibrating screen 35.
In a specific implementation, as shown in fig. 1, the charging port 2 is disposed between the fan 12 and the separation tank 4, and the system further includes a first pressure sensor 28, which is configured to detect an inlet/outlet pressure of the fan 12 to determine whether the closed-loop circulation system is blocked, for example, if a pressure value is large, it is determined that the closed-loop circulation system is blocked, and at this time, an operator needs to be notified to handle the closed-loop circulation system.
The separating tank 4 is also provided with an exhaust valve 18 and a second pressure sensor 19 for detecting the pressure in the closed-loop circulating system, so that when the pressure is detected to be too high, the exhaust valve 18 is opened to avoid damage to the separating tank 4, and the high pressure can damage a pipeline and influence the powder feeding efficiency, and can also influence the normal operation of a host machine.
Preferably, the separation tank 4 is provided with a tail gas filtering device for filtering the gas delivered to the separation tank 4 and exhausting the filtered gas to the air through the exhaust valve 18, so as to avoid environmental pollution.
Be equipped with weighing sensor 22 in the powder storage tank 8 for weigh the powder in the powder storage tank 8, whether suggestion operating personnel need add powder in to the powder storage tank 8. A second high material level switch 14 and a second low material level switch 13 are sequentially arranged on the powder storage tank 8 from top to bottom, and when the second high material level switch 14 detects powder, the powder adding is reminded to stop; and when the second low level switch 13 detects powder, it indicates that the powder storage tank 8 has a certain amount of powder. A third high material level switch 16 and a third low material level switch 15 are sequentially arranged on the powder feeding tank 3 from top to bottom, and when the third high material level switch 16 detects powder, the powder feeding is reminded to stop; and when the third low material level switch 15 detects that powder is lacking, the powder feeding instruction is reminded to be sent.
Specifically, a first high material level switch 10 and a first low material level switch 9 are sequentially arranged on the powder overflow cylinder 7 from top to bottom, and when the first high material level switch 10 detects powder, a powder return instruction is sent in a reminding manner; and when the first low material level switch 9 detects that the powder is lack, the powder return is stopped. A fourth high material level switch 29 and a fourth low material level switch 31 are sequentially arranged on the powder return tank 6 from top to bottom, and when the fourth high material level switch 29 detects powder, a powder return instruction is sent in a reminding manner; and when the fourth low material level switch 31 detects that powder is lacking, the powder return is reminded to stop.
In a specific implementation, the number of the powder feeding tanks 3 is two or more, and the number of the powder overflowing cylinders 7 is one or two, and it should be noted that the number of the powder feeding tanks 3 and the powder overflowing cylinders 7 is determined according to specific requirements, and is not limited herein. The pipe 11 is preferably a transparent corrugated hose.
The invention also provides a control method of the closed-loop powder circulation system for the additive manufacturing equipment, which comprises the following steps:
when the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, the closed-loop circulating system is inflated by inert gas through the pipeline 11 so as to perform inert gas protection on the whole closed-loop circulating system;
forming a closed-loop system (which can be realized by controlling the opening or closing of a pneumatic butterfly valve arranged among all components) by a fan 12, a powder storage tank 8, at least one powder feeding tank 3 and a separation tank 4, and starting the fan 12 to convey the powder in the powder storage tank 8 to the at least one powder feeding tank 3 under the protection of inert gas;
when the controller receives a powder return instruction, the closed-loop circulating system is inflated by inert gas through the pipeline 11 so as to perform inert gas protection on the whole closed-loop circulating system;
the fan 12, the powder return tank 6 and/or the at least one powder overflow tank 7, the separation tank 4, the vibrating screen 35 and the powder storage tank 8 are controlled to form a closed loop system (which can be realized by controlling the opening or closing of a pneumatic butterfly valve arranged between each component), the fan 12 is started, so that the powder of the powder return tank 6 and/or the powder of the at least one powder overflow tank 7 are conveyed to the separation tank 4 under the protection of inert gas, and are recovered to the powder storage tank 8 after the separation treatment of the separation tank 4 and the screening treatment of the vibrating screen 35.
In one embodiment, prior to charging the closed loop circulation system with inert gas through line 11, comprises:
judging whether the closed loop circulating system is in an idle state and whether the inflation valve 1 is opened or not;
when the closed loop circulating system is in an idle state and the inflation valve 1 is not opened, the inflation valve 1 is opened so that the inert gas inflates the closed loop circulating system through the pipeline 11;
when the closed loop circulation system is in an idle state and the inflation valve 1 is opened, the inflation valve 1 is kept opened, so that the inert gas inflates the closed loop circulation system through the pipeline 11.
In another specific implementation, before turning on the fan 12, the method further includes:
and detecting and judging the oxygen content in the closed-loop circulating system, starting the fan 12 when the oxygen content reaches a set value, and otherwise, continuing to wait.
Specifically, the method further comprises:
when powder is absent in the powder feeding tank 3, a powder feeding instruction is sent to the controller, for example, when a third low material level switch on the powder feeding tank 3 is turned off, which indicates that powder is absent in the powder feeding tank 3, a powder feeding instruction request can be sent to the controller by the additive manufacturing equipment, and of course, the controller can also detect that the third low material level switch 15 is turned off, that is, the default controller receives the powder feeding instruction; and
when the powder in the powder overflow cylinder 7 or the powder return tank 6 is full, sending a powder return instruction to the controller, for example, when a first high-material switch of the powder overflow cylinder 7 is turned on; or the fourth high material level switch 29 of the powder returning tank 6 is lightened; certainly, the manual operation of the HMI material loading and powder returning interface can activate the powder returning request, the additive manufacturing equipment sends the powder returning instruction request to the control, and similarly, the controller can detect that the material level switches are lightened, and the powder returning instruction is received by default.
In order to make the technical solution of the present invention better understood and realized by those skilled in the art, the technical solution of the present invention is described in detail with a preferred embodiment below.
As shown in fig. 1, the closed-loop powder circulation system for an additive manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment operates in two modes: a powder feeding mode and a powder returning mode.
1. Powder feeding mode:
a second high material level switch 14 and a second low material level switch 13 are arranged on the powder storage tank 8 from top to bottom. The powder storage tank 8 is opened and powder is added to the powder storage tank 8 through a manual valve at the powder adding port 27 of the powder storage tank 8. When the second low material level switch 13 is lightened, a certain amount of powder is contained in the powder storage tank 8; when the second high level switch 14 is turned on, indicating that the powder storage tank 8 is full of powder, the powder adding is stopped, and the manual valve at the powder adding port 27 needs to be closed.
Still be equipped with weighing sensor 22 in the powder storage tank 8, its mainly used detects the powder weight in the new powder storage tank 8 to make the system judge the weight of the interior powder of powder storage tank 8 according to powder weight, whether suggestion operating personnel need add powder in the powder storage tank 8.
The powder feeding tanks 3 on the additive manufacturing equipment are two, and the structure of each powder feeding tank 3 is the same. Each feeding tank is provided with a third high material level switch 16 and a third low material level switch 15, the upper part of each feeding tank is provided with a first pneumatic butterfly valve 20, and the lower part of each feeding tank is provided with a second pneumatic butterfly valve 21 (the second pneumatic butterfly valve 21 is normally closed, and the influence of gas filling on a cavity of the material increase manufacturing equipment is mainly avoided). When the third low material level switch 15 of the powder feeding tank 3 is turned off, which indicates that the powder in the powder feeding tank 3 is little, the additive manufacturing equipment sends a powder feeding instruction. And when the closed loop circulating system is in an idle state, executing a powder feeding instruction.
When the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, the inflation valve 1 is opened (the inflation valve 1 is arranged in the closed-loop circulating system), and the inert gas inflates the closed-loop circulating system through the pipeline 11 to protect the whole closed-loop circulating system by the inert gas.
The separation tank 4 is provided with a second pressure sensor 19 for detecting the pressure of the closed loop circulation system, and when the pressure is detected to be excessive, an exhaust valve 18 at the top of the separation tank 4 is opened. The separation tank 4 is also provided with a filter element differential pressure sensor 26 for detecting the filter element differential pressure, and if the filter element differential pressure value is too high, the filter element in the separation tank 4 is subjected to automatic back flushing. Note here that: the number of blowback is also limited, and after N blowbacks, the pressure of closed loop circulation system is still frequent high, then the filter core of knockout drum 4 that needs to be changed this moment.
After the powder feeding tank 3 is inflated for a period of time (the inflation valve 1 may not be closed, the inert gas is continuously inflated, or the inert gas may be inflated once at intervals of time), the first pneumatic butterfly valve 20 at the upper part of the powder feeding tank 3 is opened. When the oxygen content of the closed-loop circulation system reaches a set value, the pressure value reaches the set value and the corresponding valve to be opened is opened, the ninth pneumatic butterfly valve 34 at the lower part of the powder storage tank 8 is opened, and the fan 12 of the closed-loop circulation system starts to work. The powder dropped from the ninth pneumatic butterfly valve 34 at the lower part of the powder storage tank 8 is conveyed to the powder feeding tanks 3 (one or more powder feeding tanks 3 can be fed as required) through the pipeline 11 by the wind from the fan 12 through the pipeline 11. Here, the air in the powder feeding tank 3 returns to the separation tank 4 of the closed-loop circulation system through the pipeline 11 by passing through the first pneumatic butterfly valve 20 at the upper part of the powder feeding tank 3, and then returns to the inlet of the fan 12 through the charging valve 1 by passing through the separation tank 4, so that a closed-loop circulation system is formed.
When the third low material level switch 15 on the powder feeding tank 3 is turned on, the powder feeding tank 3 is prompted to contain certain powder, when the third high material level switch 16 on the powder feeding tank 3 is turned on, the powder feeding tank 3 is indicated to be full of powder, the system is reminded to stop powder feeding, at the moment, the ninth pneumatic butterfly valve 34 at the lower part of the powder storage tank 8 needs to be closed, and after a certain time delay, the first pneumatic butterfly valve 20 at the upper part of the powder feeding tank 3 is closed.
2. Powder return working mode
When the powder stored in the powder overflow cylinder 7 is full, the first high material level switch 10 on the powder overflow cylinder 7 is turned on to remind that a powder return instruction is sent, or the powder stored in the powder return tank 6 is full, namely the fourth material level switch on the powder return tank 6 is turned on, or manual operation of an HMI (human machine interface) feeding and powder return interface activates a powder return request. When the closed loop circulating system is in an idle state, whether the inflation valve 1 in the closed loop circulating system is opened or not is judged, and if the inflation valve 1 in the closed loop circulating system is not opened, the inflation valve 1 needs to be opened to start inflation. When the oxygen content in the closed-loop circulation system reaches a set value, the wind pressure reaches, the first pneumatic butterfly valve 20 on the powder feeding tank 3 is closed, and the third pneumatic butterfly valve 23 at the lower part of the powder overflowing cylinder 7, the seventh pneumatic butterfly valve 32 at the lower part of the powder returning tank 6 and the fifth pneumatic butterfly valve 5 at the lower part of the separation tank 4 are opened.
And an oxygen sensor 17 is arranged at the top of the separation tank 4 and used for detecting the oxygen content in the closed-loop circulating system and judging whether the oxygen content reaches a set value. When the conditions are met, the fan 12 is started, the fourth pneumatic butterfly valve 24 at the lower part of the powder overflow cylinder 7 is started, and/or the eighth pneumatic butterfly valve 33 at the lower part of the powder return tank 6 is started, at this time, the air from the air outlet 25 of the fan 12 conveys the powder falling from the powder overflow cylinder 7 into the separation tank 4 through the fourth pneumatic butterfly valve 24 (the fourth pneumatic butterfly valve 24 is arranged between the powder overflow cylinder 7 and the fan 12, is closed in the powder feeding mode, and is opened when the powder return is needed) through the pipeline 11, or conveys the powder falling from the powder return tank 6 into the separation tank 4 through the eighth pneumatic butterfly valve 33 (the eighth pneumatic butterfly valve 33 is arranged between the powder return tank 6 and the fan 12, is closed in the powder feeding mode, and is opened when the powder return is needed) through the pipeline 11, and the powder falls into the vibrating screen 35 through the separation tank 4 and is recovered to the powder storage tank 8 after being subjected to the screening treatment of the vibrating screen 35. At this time, it should be noted that the sixth pneumatic butterfly valve 30 between the separation tank 4 and the powder storage tank 8 is in an open state. The separation tank 4 is communicated with an air inlet of a fan 12 through a pipeline 11 and an inflation valve 1, and a closed-loop circulating system is formed.
The powder overflowing cylinder 7 (including the front and rear powder overflowing cylinders 7) works as follows:
1 represents the on of the material level switch (with signal), and 0 represents the off of the material level switch (without signal)
Powder sieving mode:
in the manual mode: and starting a powder sieving function, introducing air into the vibrating screen 35, inflating (opening an inflation valve 1), opening a fifth pneumatic butterfly valve 5 at the lower part of the separating tank 4, simultaneously opening a feeding mechanism at the lower part of the vibrating screen 35, and stopping sieving the powder when detecting that a material level signal on the vibrating screen 35 disappears, which indicates that the vibrating screen 35 has too little powder. Closing the sieve for vibration, delaying for a certain time, closing the ultrasonic vibration, and stopping powder sieving.
The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments described above are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.
The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.
Claims (10)
1. A closed-loop powder circulating system for additive manufacturing equipment is characterized by comprising a powder storage tank, a fan, a separating tank, a vibrating screen, a controller and a powder return tank for recovering powder in a powder cleaning platform, wherein the fan is respectively connected with the separating tank, the powder storage tank, the powder return tank, at least one powder feeding tank and at least one powder overflowing tank in the additive manufacturing equipment through pipelines, the separating tank is respectively connected with the powder feeding tank, the powder overflowing tank and the powder return tank through pipelines, the separating tank is connected with the powder storage tank through the vibrating screen so that the powder storage tank, the fan, the separating tank, the vibrating screen, the powder return tank, the powder feeding tank and the powder overflowing tank form a closed-loop circulating system, the closed-loop circulating system is provided with an inflating port for filling inert gas so that the inert gas circulates in the closed-loop circulating system, and when the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, the fan is started, so that the powder in the powder storage tank is conveyed to at least one powder conveying tank under the protection of inert gas; and when the controller receives a powder return instruction, the fan is started to convey the powder in the powder return tank and/or the powder in at least one powder overflow cylinder to the separation tank under the protection of inert gas, and the powder is recovered to the powder storage tank after the separation treatment of the separation tank and the screening treatment of the vibrating screen.
2. The closed-loop powder circulation system for an additive manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a first pressure detection sensor for detecting an inlet-outlet pressure of a blower to determine whether the closed-loop circulation system is clogged; the separating tank is also provided with an exhaust valve and a second pressure sensor for detecting the pressure in the closed-loop circulating system, so that the exhaust valve is opened when the detected pressure is overlarge.
3. The closed-loop powder circulation system for an additive manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein a weighing sensor is disposed in the powder storage tank for weighing the powder in the powder storage tank to prompt an operator whether the powder needs to be added into the powder storage tank.
4. The closed-loop powder circulation system for the additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, wherein a first high material level switch and a first low material level switch are sequentially arranged on the powder overflow cylinder from top to bottom, and when the first high material level switch detects powder, a powder return instruction is sent; and when the first low material level switch detects that the powder is lack, the powder return is stopped.
5. The closed-loop powder circulation system for the additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, wherein a second high material level switch and a second low material level switch are sequentially arranged on the powder storage tank from top to bottom, and when the second high material level switch detects powder, the powder feeding is stopped; and when the second low level switch detects powder, the powder storage tank is indicated to contain certain powder.
6. The closed-loop powder circulation system for the additive manufacturing equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a third high material level switch and a third low material level switch are sequentially arranged on the powder feeding tank from top to bottom, and when the third high material level switch detects powder, the powder feeding is stopped; and when the third low material level switch detects that powder is lacking, the third low material level switch reminds the user to send a powder feeding instruction.
7. A control method for a closed loop powder circulation system of an additive manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising:
when the controller receives a powder feeding instruction, the closed-loop circulating system is inflated by inert gas through a pipeline so as to perform inert gas protection on the whole closed-loop circulating system;
forming a closed loop system by a fan, a powder storage tank, at least one powder feeding tank and a separation tank, and starting the fan to convey the powder in the powder storage tank to the at least one powder feeding tank under the protection of inert gas;
when the controller receives a powder return instruction, the closed-loop circulating system is inflated by inert gas through a pipeline so as to perform inert gas protection on the whole closed-loop circulating system;
and controlling the fan, the powder return tank and/or the at least one powder overflow tank, the separation tank, the vibrating screen and the powder storage tank to form a closed-loop system, starting the fan to convey the powder of the powder return tank and/or the powder of the at least one powder overflow tank to the separation tank under the protection of inert gas, and recovering the powder to the powder storage tank after separation treatment of the separation tank and screening treatment of the vibrating screen.
8. The method of claim 7, comprising, prior to charging the closed loop powder circulation system with the inert gas via the conduit:
judging whether the closed loop circulating system is in an idle state and whether an inflation valve is opened;
when the closed loop circulating system is in an idle state and the inflation valve is not opened, the inflation valve is opened so that the inert gas inflates the closed loop circulating system through the pipeline;
when the closed-loop circulating system is in an idle state and the inflation valve is opened, the inflation valve is kept open, so that the inert gas inflates the closed-loop circulating system through the pipeline.
9. The method of controlling a closed loop powder circulation system for an additive manufacturing apparatus of claim 8, further comprising, prior to turning on the fan:
and detecting and judging the oxygen content in the closed-loop circulating system, starting the fan when the oxygen content reaches a set value, and otherwise, continuing to wait.
10. The method of controlling a closed loop powder circulation system for an additive manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, further comprising:
when powder is lacked in the powder feeding tank, a powder feeding instruction is sent to the controller; and
and when the powder in the powder overflow cylinder or the powder return tank is full, sending a powder return instruction to the controller.
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Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN112792353A (en) * | 2021-04-01 | 2021-05-14 | 陕西斯瑞新材料股份有限公司 | Method for 3D printing of copper and copper alloy by using irregular powder |
| CN113634770A (en) * | 2021-06-30 | 2021-11-12 | 湖南云箭集团有限公司 | Closed-loop powder supply system for metal additive manufacturing equipment |
| EP4151391A1 (en) | 2021-09-15 | 2023-03-22 | Sinterit Sp. z o.o. | A pbf printer with a powder circulation system |
-
2020
- 2020-11-06 CN CN202011231181.0A patent/CN112387985A/en active Pending
Cited By (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN112792353A (en) * | 2021-04-01 | 2021-05-14 | 陕西斯瑞新材料股份有限公司 | Method for 3D printing of copper and copper alloy by using irregular powder |
| CN113634770A (en) * | 2021-06-30 | 2021-11-12 | 湖南云箭集团有限公司 | Closed-loop powder supply system for metal additive manufacturing equipment |
| EP4151391A1 (en) | 2021-09-15 | 2023-03-22 | Sinterit Sp. z o.o. | A pbf printer with a powder circulation system |
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