CN113386347B

CN113386347B - 3D printing method

Info

Publication number: CN113386347B
Application number: CN202010174171.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 牟德康; 贺云; 博尔金海伦
Original assignee: Sc Tech Beijing Co ltd
Current assignee: Sc Tech Beijing Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-13
Filing date: 2020-03-13
Publication date: 2023-05-23
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-13
Also published as: CN113386347A

Abstract

A 3D printing method. The 3D printing method comprises the following steps: driving a forming platform to an initial forming position, forming a forming area between the forming platform and a release film, wherein the release film is positioned in a trough component; controlling the release film to be in a first state; providing light to illuminate the molding region to form a polymeric layer on the molding surface; controlling the release film to deform in a direction away from the forming platform, so that the polymeric layer and the release film are gradually separated from the periphery of the contact surface to the center, and meanwhile, the printing material is gradually filled along the separation gap; driving the forming platform to a next forming position; restoring the release film to the first state; providing light to illuminate the molding region to form a next polymeric layer on the molding surface; at least one next polymeric layer is formed on the molding surface. The 3D printing method is beneficial to demolding of the printing model and reflow of printing materials, and further 3D printing efficiency and 3D printing quality can be improved.

Description

3D printing method

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a 3D printing method.

Background

Digital light processing (Digital Light Procession, DLP) mode 3D printing technology is an additive manufacturing technology that uses liquid materials for 3D printing. One printing technique uses a bottom-up light projection, i.e., a light source is located at the bottom of a trough (liquid container) where the curing reaction occurs. When each layer is solidified, different printing modes can be realized by controlling the upward movement of the forming platform and the on-off of the light source.

Disclosure of Invention

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a 3D printing method, including: driving a forming platform to an initial forming position, and forming a forming area between the forming platform and a release film, wherein the release film is positioned in a trough component; controlling the release film to be in a first state so as to maintain the thickness of the printing material between the molding surface of the molding platform and the release film; providing light to illuminate a molding area to cure a printing material illuminated by the light and located between the molding land and the release film and form a polymeric layer on the molding surface; controlling the release film to deform in a direction away from the forming platform, so that the polymeric layer and the release film are gradually separated from the periphery of the contact surface to the center, and meanwhile, the printing material is gradually filled along the separation gap; driving the forming platform to a next forming position; restoring the release film to the first state; providing light to illuminate a molding area to cure a printing material illuminated by the light and located between the molding platform and the release film and form a next polymeric layer on the molding surface; at least one next polymeric layer is formed on the molding surface.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, by controlling a magnitude relationship between a pressure of the release film on a side far away from the molding platform and a pressure of the release film on a side near the molding platform, the release film is deformed or in a first state in a direction far away from the molding platform.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a breathing cavity is disposed on a side of the release film, which is close to the molding platform, and pressure of the breathing cavity is adjustable through a light-transmissive fluid. Preferably, the light transmissive fluid comprises a light transmissive gas and/or a light transmissive liquid.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a breathing cavity is disposed on a side of the release film away from the molding platform, and pressure of the breathing cavity is adjustable through a light-transmissive fluid. Preferably, the light transmissive fluid comprises a light transmissive gas and/or a light transmissive liquid.

For example, in a 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the release film is in the first state by providing a positive pressure to a breathing cavity on a side away from the molding platform; or the release film is in the first state by providing negative pressure for a breathing cavity near one side of the forming platform.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, in a case that a breathing cavity is provided on a side of the release film away from the forming platform, a transparent support plate is provided on a side of the release film away from the forming platform, the release film and the transparent support plate form the breathing cavity, and a distance between the release film and the transparent support plate in the first state is 0.05mm-5mm.

For example, in a 3D printing method provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, providing positive pressure to the respiratory cavity includes: controlling the air pressure of the breathing cavity to be equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure.

For example, in a 3D printing method provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the above-atmospheric pressure is not more than 0.1Kpa above atmospheric pressure.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the pressure of the release film on the side far from the molding platform is controlled to be smaller than the pressure of the release film on the side near the molding platform, and: the negative pressure is provided for a breathing cavity at one side far away from the forming platform so that the release film is deformed in a direction far away from the forming platform; or the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform by providing positive pressure for a breathing cavity on one side close to the forming platform.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, a breathing cavity is provided on a side of the release film away from the forming platform, and the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform by providing negative pressure to the breathing cavity, which includes: a transparent support plate is arranged on one side of the release film, which is far away from the forming platform, and the release film and the transparent support plate form the breathing cavity; negative pressure is provided for the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, so that the release film deforms towards the direction of the transparent support plate.

For example, in a 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the negative pressure is provided with a magnitude 0.1KPa to 10KPa less than the atmospheric pressure.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, an external force is applied to the release film, so that the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform or is in the first state.

For example, in a 3D printing method provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the chute assembly includes a chute including an annular frame enclosing a first opening and a second opening opposite to each other; from the setting of type membrane is in the second opening side of ring frame and cover the second opening from type membrane department is provided with the moving part, and this moving part is constructed to drive from type membrane reciprocates, through to from the type membrane application external force makes from type membrane to the direction of keeping away from the shaping platform takes place deformation or be in first state includes: and the release film is deformed in a direction far away from the forming platform or is in the first state by moving the moving part.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the moving member includes a pressing block located above the release film and an adsorption block located below the release film, where the adsorption block may drive the pressing block to move up and down. Preferably, the pressing block and the adsorption block are disposed at an edge region of the release film located at the second opening.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the trough assembly may be movable, and applying an external force to the release film to deform the release film in a direction away from the forming platform or in a first state includes: the release film is deformed or in a first state in a direction far away from the forming platform by moving the trough assembly up and down.

For example, in a 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, driving the molding platform to a next molding position includes: the modeling platform is driven to move a displacement equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer.

For example, in a 3D printing method provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, driving the modeling stage to move a displacement equal to a thickness of each polymeric layer includes: driving the forming platform to move a first distance in a direction away from the release film so that the forming platform is positioned at a middle position, and driving the forming platform to move a second distance from the middle position towards the release film so that the forming platform is positioned at a next forming position, wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance, and the difference between the first distance and the second distance is equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer; or driving the forming platform to move a distance equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer in a direction away from the release film.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the controlling the deformation of the release film in the direction away from the molding platform is performed before, during, or after the driving of the molding platform to the next molding position.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, based on a flat and tensioned state of a release film, an absolute value of a deformation amount generated by the release film in the first state is not greater than 0.5mm, optionally not greater than 0.3mm or not greater than 0.15mm.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the controlling the release film to deform in a direction away from the forming platform includes: and taking the release film in the first state as a reference, so that the deformation amount of the release film at the maximum deformation position in the direction away from the forming platform is greater than 0.1mm.

For example, the deformation amount at the maximum deformation position of the release film is controlled so as to be capable of separating the release film from the polymeric layer, that is, in the actual printing process, the deformation amount at the maximum deformation position of the release film is controlled within a range of greater than 0.1mm, and the foregoing range is controlled so as to be capable of separating the release film from the polymeric layer, for example, it is possible to control: the release film in the first state is used as a reference, so that the deformation amount at the maximum deformation position of the release film is 0.15mm or 0.2mm or 0.25mm or 0.3mm or 0.35mm or 0.4mm or 0.45mm or 0.5mm.

For example, after the release film deforms towards the direction of the transparent support plate, the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate at the maximum deformation position is 0-3mm.

The atmospheric pressure herein is the standard atmospheric pressure of the environment in which the printing process is located.

Herein, the absolute value of the deformation amount generated by the release film in the first state is not more than 0.5mm, which can be understood as: and maintaining the release film in a flat and tensioned state, or controlling the deformation amount of the release film in a direction away from the forming platform to be not more than 0.5mm, or controlling the deformation amount of the release film in a direction towards the forming platform to be not more than 0.5mm, namely, controlling the deformation amount at each point to be not more than 0.5mm.

Further, the foregoing makes the air pressure in the respiratory cavity equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure, and further controls the absolute value of the deformation amount generated by the release film towards the direction of the transparent support plate to be not greater than 0.5mm, which can be understood as: the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is maintained to be 0.05mm-5mm, or the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is maintained in a straight tensioning state, or the deformation amount of the release film generated in the direction of the transparent support plate is controlled to be not more than 0.5mm, or the deformation amount of the release film generated in the direction of the release film back to the transparent support plate is controlled to be not more than 0.5mm, or the purpose of enabling the air pressure in the breathing cavity to be higher than the atmospheric pressure is to offset the gravity of printing materials.

For example, in the 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, when providing negative pressure to the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, providing the negative pressure includes: and providing the negative pressure at a uniform speed, accelerating uniformly or decelerating uniformly so as to enable the negative pressure to reach a set value.

For example, in a 3D printing method provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, when providing positive pressure to the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, providing the positive pressure includes: the positive pressure is provided at a uniform speed, at a uniform acceleration or at a uniform deceleration so that the positive pressure reaches a set point.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description relate only to some embodiments of the present disclosure, not to limit the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 3D printing air pressure supply system provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram of a 3D printing air pressure supply system provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A is an exploded schematic view of a trough assembly in a 3D printing pneumatic supply system provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3B is another exploded schematic view of a trough assembly in a 3D printing pneumatic supply system provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the trough shown in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a trough assembly provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a trough assembly provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a 3D printing system according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method of 3D printing according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9-12 are schematic diagrams of a 3D printing system according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure in a 3D printing process;

fig. 13-16 are schematic diagrams of a 3D printing method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

17-20 are another schematic diagrams of a 3D printing method provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 21-24 are still another schematic diagrams of a 3D printing method according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of making the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without the need for inventive faculty, are within the scope of the present disclosure, based on the described embodiments of the present disclosure.

Unless defined otherwise, technical or scientific terms used in this disclosure should be given the ordinary meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The terms "first," "second," and the like, as used in this disclosure, do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another. The word "comprising" or "comprises", and the like, means that elements or items preceding the word are included in the element or item listed after the word and equivalents thereof, but does not exclude other elements or items. The terms "connected" or "connected," and the like, are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "upper", "lower", "left", "right", etc. are used merely to indicate relative positional relationships, which may also be changed when the absolute position of the object to be described is changed.

The 3D printing equipment adopting the digital light processing (Digital Light Procession, DLP) mode from bottom to top comprises a forming platform, a lifting device, a trough component, a light curing device (such as a light machine) and other structures. And a three-dimensional forming space, namely a forming area, is formed between the forming platform and the release film of the trough assembly. The liquid 3D printing material is placed in the trough component, and the ray apparatus is located from one side that the shaping platform was kept away from to the membrane in order to radiate trough component bottom, and elevating gear drive shaping platform rises and makes the printing piece solidification shaping layer by layer.

In the 3D printing process, the forming platform needs to be immersed in the liquid 3D printing material in the trough assembly, then the material between the release film and the forming platform is photo-cured by a photo-machine to form the cured material on the forming platform, namely, a layer of polymerized layer is formed, and then the forming platform needs to be lifted by a certain height to form the next polymerized layer. When the molding platform is lifted, the polymeric layer formed on the molding platform needs to be separated from the release film.

In some cases, since the release film is soft, the release film is concave under the gravity action of the liquid 3D printing material after the liquid 3D printing material is poured into the trough assembly. Too much sagging of the release film can result in the inability of the printed article to form. In addition, when the molding platform rises, a certain adhesive force still exists between the polymer layer formed on the molding platform and the release film, so that the polymer layer and the release film are not easy to separate. In addition, when the polymeric layer and the release film are separated, sufficient liquid 3D printing material needs to be filled between the polymeric layer and the release film to print the next polymeric layer. For example, the liquid 3D printing material may be fully filled by reciprocating the forming stage and waiting a certain time, however, this process often requires a longer time, thereby slowing down the speed of the 3D printing.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a 3D printing air pressure supply system, the 3D printing air pressure supply system including a chute assembly and an air pressure supply device, the chute assembly including: the trough comprises an annular frame, wherein the annular frame encloses a first opening and a second opening which are opposite to each other; the release film is arranged on the second opening side of the annular frame and covers the second opening; the transparent support plate is positioned at one side of the release film far away from the first opening; and the breathing cavity is positioned between the release film and the transparent support plate and comprises a first air vent, the first air vent is communicated with the air pressure supply device, and the air pressure supply device is configured to supply air pressure to the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate through the first air vent.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the transparent support plate is capable of transmitting light, i.e. light radiated by the optomachine.

The present disclosure provides a 3D printing air pressure supply system, where the system is a system for assisting in releasing a printing model and refluxing a liquid material through air pressure control, and an air pressure supply device in the 3D printing air pressure supply system can be controlled to provide air pressure (for example, positive pressure or negative pressure) for a respiratory cavity between a release film and a transparent support plate, so as to control the release film to be in a first state or deform in a direction away from a forming platform, or control a distance between the release film and the transparent support plate in a trough assembly, so as to prevent a concave phenomenon of the release film caused by gravity of a 3D printing material, and be favorable for separating a polymeric layer from the release film, and be favorable for rapidly filling and refluxing the liquid 3D printing material between the polymeric layer and the release film, thereby improving 3D printing speed and 3D printing quality.

The release film is a film with light transmission performance applied in 3D printing, and is made of or composed of a material with oxygen polymerization inhibition property or/and anti-sticking property.

The 3D printing air pressure supply system, the 3D printing system, and the 3D printing method of the present disclosure are described below by way of several specific embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a 3D printing pneumatic supply system provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of another 3D printing pneumatic supply system provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 3A illustrates an exploded schematic view of a trough assembly in a 3D printing pneumatic supply system provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure; fig. 4 is a schematic plan view of the trough shown in fig. 3A.

For example, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1-4, a 3D printing pneumatic supply system 100 includes a chute assembly 10 and a pneumatic supply device 20. The trough assembly 10 comprises a trough 1, a release film 3, a transparent support plate 6 and a breathing cavity 6A, wherein the trough 1 comprises an annular frame 110, the annular frame 110 encloses a first opening 101 and a second opening 102 which are opposite to each other, and the first opening 101 is a filling port of liquid 3D printing material; the release film 3 is disposed on a side of the ring frame 110 where the second opening 102 is located and extends beyond the second opening 102 to cover the second opening 102. For example, the release film 3 is an oxygen impermeable film or an oxygen barrier film, e.g., in some examples, the release film 3 is impermeable to oxygen, and further may be impermeable to all gases. The release film 3 is used for bearing liquid 3D printing materials; the transparent support plate 6 is positioned at one side of the release film 6 away from the first opening 101; the breathing cavity 6A is located between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6, and is a cavity formed by the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 as upper and lower bottom surfaces. The breathing chamber 6A comprises a first vent, which communicates with the air pressure supply device 20, the air pressure supply device 20 being configured to provide air pressure to the breathing chamber 6A between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 through the first vent.

For example, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the air pressure supply device 20 includes a first air port 202, a second air port 203, an air pressure source 201, and an air path switching device 204.

The first gas port 202 communicates with a gas source 2021 for inputting gas to the gas pressure source 201. The gas source 2021 may provide the gas required for the gas pressure supply 20. For example, the gas source 2021 may be the atmosphere or a gas supply device containing a desired gas. For example, when the gas source 2021 is the atmosphere, the first gas port 202 may be directly connected to the atmosphere, and in this case, the gas source is air provided by the air pressure supply device; alternatively, in some examples, the gas source 2021 may be a gas supply device that accommodates a desired gas, in which case the gas supply device supplies the gas accommodated by the gas supply device, for example, any suitable gas such as an oxygen-containing gas, a non-oxygen-containing gas, an inert gas, or the like, to the gas pressure supply device as long as the gas does not react with the materials such as the release film 3 and the transparent support 6.

For example, the second port 203 is in gas communication with the breathing chamber 6A via the first port for providing a certain gas pressure to the breathing chamber 6A. For example, in some embodiments, a first ventilation hole (described later) is provided on the transparent support plate 6, and at this time, the first ventilation hole may be used as the first ventilation hole, and the second ventilation hole 203 is connected to the breathing cavity 6A between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 through the first ventilation hole on the transparent support plate 6, so as to provide pressure for the breathing cavity 6A between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6.

For example, the air pressure source 201 is connected to the first air port 202 and the second air port 203. For example, the air pressure source 201 includes an air inlet 2011 and an air outlet 2012, the air inlet 2011 being in gaseous communication with either the first air port 202 or the second air port 203, the air outlet 2012 being for exhausting air from within the air pressure source 201. Whereby the air pressure supply device 20 can achieve the effect of providing positive or negative pressure by means of the air pressure source 201. For example, in some embodiments, the air pressure source 201 comprises an air pump, such as a micro air pump, for example, that can provide an air pressure of about 0.02MPa and an air flow of about 0.5L.

For example, the gas path switching device 204 is connected to the gas inlet 2011, the first gas port 202, and the second gas port 203, and the gas path switching device 204 is configured to switch the gas communication of the gas inlet 2011 to the first gas port 202 or the second gas port 203. The air path switching device 204 can control the operation mode of the air pressure source 201 so that the air pressure supply device 20 provides positive pressure or negative pressure.

For example, in some embodiments, the air outlet 2012 may also be switched into air communication with the second air port 203 or the first air port 202 by the air path switching device 204. Whereby the auxiliary pneumatic supply 20 provides a positive or negative pressure.

For example, the gas path switching device 204 is also connected to the gas outlet 2012, and configured to switch the gas communication of the gas outlet 2012 to the first gas port 202 or the second gas port 203. For example, when the gas path switching device 204 gas-communicates the gas inlet 2011 with the first gas port 202, the gas outlet 2012 is switched to gas communication to the second gas port 203, and at this time, the gas pressure source 201 may input gas from the first gas port 202 through the gas inlet 2011 and output gas from the second gas port 203 through the gas outlet 2012, so that the gas pressure supply device 20 provides positive pressure to the gas pressure to be controlled, and the gas pressure supply device 20 operates in positive pressure mode. For example, when the gas path switching device 204 gas-communicates the gas inlet 2011 with the second gas port 203, the gas outlet 2012 is switched to gas communication to the first gas port 202, and at this time, the gas pressure source 201 may input gas from the second gas port 203 through the gas inlet 2011 and output gas from the first gas port 202 through the gas outlet 2012, so that the gas pressure supply device 20 provides negative pressure to the gas pressure to be controlled, and the gas pressure supply device 20 works in the negative pressure mode. At this time, when the air pressure supply device 20 is switched between the positive pressure mode and the negative pressure mode, the air in the air source 2021 flows reciprocally in the air pressure source 201 of the air pressure supply device 20 and the trough assembly 10.

For example, in some embodiments, the gas circuit switching device 204 includes a two-position five-way solenoid valve that can be powered on and off to switch between a positive pressure mode and a negative pressure mode. For example, a two-position five-way solenoid valve, when energized, may place the inlet 2011 in gaseous communication with the first port 202, switching the outlet 2012 in gaseous communication with the second port 203 to provide positive pressure; the two-position five-way electromagnetic valve can switch the air outlet 2012 to be communicated with the first air port 202 when the air inlet 2011 is communicated with the second air port 203 in air when the power is off, so as to provide negative pressure. Alternatively, the two-position five-way solenoid valve may switch the air outlet 2012 to be in air communication with the second air port 203 when the air inlet 2011 is in air communication with the first air port 202 to provide positive pressure when the power is off; when the two-position five-way electromagnetic valve is electrified, the air inlet 2011 can be communicated with the second air port 203 in a gas way, and the air outlet 2012 is switched to be communicated with the first air port 202 in a gas way, so that negative pressure is provided.

For example, in some embodiments, the air pressure supply device further includes a three-way pipe 211, wherein the three-way pipe 211 is disposed between the two-position five-way solenoid valve and the air pressure source 201, so as to implement a pipe connection between the two-position five-way solenoid valve and the air pressure source 201.

For example, as shown in fig. 1, tee 211 includes a first end 2111, a second end 2112, and a third end 2113. The two-position five-way solenoid valve includes a first vent 2041, a second vent 2042, a third vent 2043, a fourth vent 2044, and a fifth vent 2045. For example, a first end 2111 of the three-way pipe 211 is connected to the air outlet 2012 of the air pressure source 201, a second end 2112 of the three-way pipe 211 is connected to the first air port 2041 of the two-position five-way solenoid valve, a third end 2113 of the three-way pipe 211 is connected to the fifth air port 2045 of the two-position five-way solenoid valve, and the third air port 2043, the fourth air port 2044 and the second air port 2042 of the two-position five-way solenoid valve are connected to the first air port 202, the second air port 203 and the air inlet 2011, respectively.

For example, in some embodiments, the air pressure supply device further includes a controller 213, the controller 213 may control the mode of operation of the air pressure supply device 20. For example, the controller 213 is configured to control the gas path switching device 204 to communicate the gas outlet 2012 with the second gas port 203 and the gas inlet 2011 with the first gas port 202, and to control the gas pressure source 201 to input gas from the first gas port 202 through the gas inlet 2011 and output gas to the second gas port 203 through the gas outlet 2012 to provide positive pressure to the gas pressure device to be controlled.

For example, in some embodiments, the controller 213 is further configured to control the gas circuit switching device 204 to communicate the gas inlet 2011 with the second gas port 203 and the gas outlet 2012 with the first gas port 202, and to control the gas pressure source 201 to input gas from the second gas port 203 and through the gas inlet 2011 and output gas to the first gas port 202 through the gas outlet 2012 to provide negative pressure to the gas pressure device to be controlled.

For example, in some embodiments, the air pressure source 201 includes an air pump 2013, and the controller 213 is further configured to control the rotational speed and rotational time of the air pump 2013 to control the magnitude of the positive or negative pressure provided by the air pressure source 201. At this time, the rotation speed and rotation time of the air pump 2013 may be determined according to the actual situation such as the air pressure required by the air pressure to-be-controlled device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

For example, in some embodiments, the controller 213 is further configured to control the air pressure source 201 to alternately provide positive and negative pressure, thereby creating an alternating positive and negative pressure pattern (alternatively referred to as an intermittent pattern) to match the operating conditions of the air pressure device to be controlled. For example, the controller 213 may also control the air pressure source 201 to continuously provide positive pressure or negative pressure, thereby forming a constant positive pressure mode or a constant negative pressure mode to match the working state of the air pressure device to be controlled.

For example, in some embodiments, the air pressure supply device 20 may further include an air filter 205, the air filter 205 being disposed between the first air port 202 and the air path switching device 204 to filter the air input from the air source 2021. Thus, the gas entering the gas pressure supply device 20 is pure required gas, and the gas supplied by the gas pressure supply device 20 is also pure required gas, so as to avoid that impurities possibly occurring in the gas of the gas pressure source 201 pollute the gas pressure supply device 20 and the gas pressure to-be-controlled device.

For example, in some embodiments, the air filter 205 may be electrically connected to the controller 213, at which time the controller 213 is further configured to control the air filter 205 to operate to purge gas entering the air pressure supply 20 when positive pressure is provided. For example, the controller 213 may also be configured to control the air filter 205 to operate to purge the gas entering the gas source 2021 when negative pressure is provided to facilitate the recycling of the gas.

For example, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the air pressure supply device 20 further includes a pressure detection port 207 and a pressure sensor 208, and the breathing chamber 6A further includes a second air vent, and the pressure detection port 207 is connected to the breathing chamber 6A between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 through the second air vent, so that the pressure sensor 208 can detect the air pressure in the breathing chamber 6A through the second air vent. For example, in some examples, the first vent and the second vent are disposed on opposite sides of the breathing chamber 6A. For example, in other examples, the first vent and the second vent may also be disposed on the same side of the breathing chamber 6A.

For example, in some embodiments, the transparent support plate 6 is provided with a first ventilation opening and a second ventilation opening (described later), which are provided on opposite sides of the transparent support plate 6, and thus serve to implement the above-described first ventilation opening and second ventilation opening. For example, in another embodiment, a first ventilation opening and a second ventilation opening may be provided on the gasket 4 between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6, so as to implement the first ventilation opening and the second ventilation opening. The positions of the first vent and the second vent are not particularly limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

For example, the top film plate 7 (described below) of the trough assembly 10 may have

vents

610A and 611A therein in communication with the first and second vents, respectively, for connection to the pneumatic supply 20, and the second vent 203 and the pressure sensing vent 207 may be in communication with the

vents

610A and 611A, respectively, for example, in gaseous communication with the

vents

610A and 611A via connecting tubes, connectors, etc. Alternatively, the top film plate 7 may not have a vent thereon, but the first vent and the second vent are exposed to the space where the trough assembly is located, for example, the space of the 3D printing system located below the trough assembly, and the second vent 203 and the pressure detection port 207 are connected to the space located below the first vent and the second vent or directly contact the first vent or the second vent by a connection, for example, a connection pipe, so as to provide positive pressure or negative pressure to the breathing chamber.

For example, in some embodiments, the pressure sensor 208 may be electrically connected to the controller 213, where the pressure sensor is configured to provide a value of the air pressure within the breathing chamber to the controller 213, and the controller 213 is configured to control the rotational speed of the air pump of the air pressure source 201 based on the air pressure value to vary the amount of air pressure provided to the breathing chamber. Therefore, the air pressure supply device 20 can adjust the rotation speed of the air pressure source 201 in real time to control the pressure supply state, the pressure supply size and the like of the air pressure supply device 20 in real time so as to accurately match the working state of the trough assembly 10.

For example, in some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the air pressure supply device 20 may further include a throttle valve 209, a first end of the throttle valve 209 being in communication with the pressure sensing port 207 and a second end of the throttle valve being in communication with the atmosphere or gas collection device 210. The throttle valve 209 can control the flow of gas into and out of the tank assembly 10 from the pneumatic supply device 20. For example, when the gas source 2021 is the atmosphere such that the gas provided by the gas source 2021 is air, the second end of the throttle valve may be in communication with the atmosphere; when the gas source 2021 is a gas supply device that contains the desired gas, the second end of the throttle valve may be in communication with the gas collection device 210 to collect the gas discharged from the gas pressure supply device 20. For example, the gas collected by the gas collection device 210 may be recycled or uniformly treated to avoid air pollution.

For example, in some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the pneumatic supply 20 further includes another tee 212, the tee 212 being configured to connect the pressure sensing port 207, the pressure sensor 208, and the throttle 209. For example, tee 212 includes a fourth end 2121, a fifth end 2122, and a sixth end 2123, fourth end 2121 being connected to pressure sensing port 207, fifth end 2122 being connected to pressure sensor 208, and sixth end 2123 being connected to throttle 209, thereby effecting a plumbing connection between pressure sensing port 207, pressure sensor 208, and throttle 209.

For example, in some embodiments, the air pressure supply device 20 may further include a temperature control device 214, where the temperature control device 214 may be disposed between the second air port 203 and the air path switching device 204, for example, disposed near the second air port 203, for example, disposed on a pipeline near the second air port 203, for controlling the temperature of the air output from the second air port 203.

For example, the temperature control device 214 may include a temperature sensor that may monitor the temperature of the gas flowing out of the second gas port 203, and a temperature control element that may heat or cool the gas flowing out of the second gas port 203 according to the temperature monitored by the temperature sensor. For example, when the temperature sensor monitors that the temperature of the gas flowing out of the second gas port 203 is greater than the set value, the temperature control element cools until the temperature sensor monitors that the temperature of the gas flowing out of the second gas port 203 reaches the predetermined value; alternatively, when the temperature sensor monitors that the temperature of the gas flowing out of the second gas port 203 is less than the set value, the temperature control element heats up until the temperature sensor monitors that the temperature of the gas flowing out of the second gas port 203 reaches the predetermined value. For example, the predetermined values may be based on the actual requirements of the trough assembly 10, as embodiments of the present disclosure are not specifically limited thereto.

In the above-mentioned air pressure supply device 20, the air path switching device 204 can control the switching between the first air port 202 and the second air port 203 and the air inlet 2011 and the air outlet 2012 of the air pressure source 201, so as to achieve the technical effect of providing positive pressure or negative pressure by the air pressure supply device 20, thereby realizing different pressure supply modes. In the above embodiments, the two-position five-way valve is taken as the air path switching device 204 as an example, and in other embodiments of the disclosure, the air path switching device 204 may also be implemented in other forms, and the specific form of the air path switching device 204 is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the disclosure.

For example, in some embodiments, in addition to the first and

second gas ports

202, 203 described above, the gas pressure supply device may include a third gas port 301 as shown in fig. 2, the third gas port 301 being in gas communication with the atmosphere or a gas collection device for collecting gas output from the gas pressure source 201. For example, the outlet 2012 may be switched in gaseous communication with the second port 203 or the third port 301. In contrast to the above-described embodiment, the air outlet 2012 of this embodiment is not switched to communicate with the air source 2021, so that in the case where the air pressure supply device provides negative pressure, the air output from the air pressure source 201 does not enter the air pressure source 2021, but enters the atmosphere or the air collecting device through the third air port 301. Thereby maintaining the purity of the gas in the gas pressure source 2021.

At this time, the gas path switching device 204 is configured to switch the gas communication of the gas inlet 2011 to the first gas port 202 or the second gas port 203, and also configured to switch the gas outlet 2012 to the second gas port 203 or the third gas port 301. For example, when the gas inlet 2011 is in gas communication with the first gas port 202, the gas outlet 2012 is switched to gas communication to the second gas port 203, and when the gas inlet 2011 is in gas communication with the second gas port 203, the gas outlet 2012 is switched to gas communication to the third gas port 301.

Thus, in this embodiment, under the control of the controller 213, the gas path switching device 204 may communicate the gas outlet 2012 with the second gas port 203 and the gas inlet 2011 with the first gas port 202, and control the gas pressure source 201 to input gas from the first gas port 202 through the gas inlet 2011 and output gas to the second gas port 203 through the gas outlet 2012 to provide positive pressure to the device to be controlled (i.e., the respiratory cavity). The air path switching device 204 may also communicate the air inlet 2011 with the second air port 203 and the air outlet 2012 with the third air port 301 under the control of the controller 213, and control the air pressure source 201 to input air from the second air port 203 through the air inlet 2011 and output air to the third air port 301 through the air outlet 2012, so as to provide negative pressure for the air pressure device (i.e. the breathing chamber) to be controlled. Whereby the pneumatic supply means 20 provides positive or negative pressure to the trough assembly 10.

For example, in other embodiments, the air circuit switching device 204 of the air pressure supply device 20 may include two air circuit switching sub-devices, namely a first air circuit switching sub-device and a second air circuit switching sub-device. The first gas path switching sub-means is connected to the gas inlet 2011, the first gas port 202, and the second gas port 203, and is configured to switch the gas inlet 2011 to be in gas communication with the first gas port 202 or the second gas port 203. The second gas path switching sub-device is connected to the gas outlet 2012, the second gas port 203, and the first gas port 202, and configured to switch gas communication of the gas outlet 2012 to the first gas port 202 or the second gas port 203. Whereby it is also possible to realise that the pressure supply means provide a positive or negative pressure to the trough assembly 10.

For example, in other embodiments, when the gas circuit switching device 204 includes the third gas port 301, the first gas circuit switching sub-device is connected to the gas inlet 2011, the first gas port 202, and the second gas port 203, and configured to switch the gas inlet 2011 to communicate with the first gas port 202 or the second gas port 203. The second gas path switching sub-device may also be connected to the gas outlet 2012, the second gas port 203, and the third gas port 301, and configured to switch the gas communication of the gas outlet 2012 to the second gas port 203 or the third gas port 301. Whereby it is also possible to realise that the pressure supply means provide a positive or negative pressure to the trough assembly 10, in particular the breathing chamber.

For example, in the above embodiment, the first air path switching sub-device and the second air path switching sub-device may be two-position three-way electromagnetic valves or other devices capable of achieving the above functions. Embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to a particular form of the air path switching subassembly 204.

For example, the controller 213 may be any type of control device, including, for example, a single-chip microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device, CPLD), etc., for example, the controller 213 may include a memory and a processing unit, where instructions are stored in the memory, and when the processing unit executes the instructions stored in the memory, the controller performs the above control procedure, for example, controls the air path switching device to perform air path connection switching. Of course, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and the controller 213 may also include any other suitable hardware, firmware, software or combination thereof having processing computing capabilities, as long as the corresponding functions can be implemented. For example, the controller 213 may further include a resistor, a capacitor, an inductor, etc. to cooperate to achieve a corresponding function.

For example, in some embodiments, the first ventilation holes 610 on the transparent support plate 6 are located at a peripheral portion of the transparent support plate 6. For example, the number of the first ventilation holes 610 may be plural, and the first ventilation holes 610 are uniformly distributed at the peripheral portion of the transparent support plate 6.

For example, the release film 3 may be made of a non-adhesive material (such as a fluorine material, etc.), that is, the release film 3 may be a non-adhesive film, and the release film using the non-adhesive material realizes the release effect by using the non-adhesive property between the release film and the material of the printed matter. In addition, the release film is an oxygen barrier film, that is, is impermeable to oxygen, and further, may be impermeable to any gas, so that the tightness of the breathing chamber 6A can be ensured.

For example, the transparent support plate 6 may be made of glass or high light-transmitting plastic. The transparent support plate 6 can prevent the feed liquid poured into the feed trough 1 from excessively sinking the release film due to the action of gravity, and reduce plastic deformation or long-term creep deformation of the release film 3 under high pressure during printing, so that the service life of the release film 3 is prolonged.

For example, the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 is 0.05mm to 5mm at normal pressure, i.e. one standard atmospheric pressure, e.g. the distance is formed by a spacer between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6. For example, in one example, the release film 3 may be spaced from the transparent support plate 6 by 0.3mm; for example, in another example, the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 may be 0.5mm or the like.

For example, as shown in fig. 3A and 4, the trough 1 may be configured to include only one ring of the annular frame 110, one end of the annular frame 110 encloses the first opening 101, the other end of the annular frame 110 encloses the second opening 102, and the annular frame 110 is a four-wall trough assembly. The annular frame 110 of the trough 1 comprises an inner side wall 111 and an outer side wall 112 connected to each other. A first end of the inner sidewall 111 surrounds the first opening 101 and a second end of the inner sidewall 111 surrounds the second opening 102.

For example, the outer side wall 112 may include a hand button opening 113 to facilitate placement, installation, and securement of the trough assembly. For example, the first opening 101 may have a rectangular shape, and the button opening 113 may be located on the outer sidewall 112 where the short side of the first opening 101 is located.

For example, as shown in fig. 3A, the first opening 101 is located at the upper end of the trough 1, the second opening 102 is located at the lower end of the trough 1, the release film 3 is disposed at the lower end of the trough 1, and the size of the release film 3 is larger than the size of the second opening 102 to completely cover the second opening 102. For example, the peripheral edge of the release film 3 may be fixed at a position other than the second end of the inner side wall 111. The orthographic projection of the second opening 102 of the trough 1 in a plane parallel to the transparent support plate 6 is located in the orthographic projection of the release film 3 in this plane, and the orthographic projection of the release film 3 in this plane is located in the orthographic projection of the first opening 101 of the trough 1 in this plane.

For example, the size of the space between the transparent support plate 6 and the release film 3 may be 0.05 mm to 5 mm in a direction perpendicular to the transparent support plate 6. For example, the size of the space between the transparent support plate 6 and the release film 3 may be 0.05 to 2 mm or 0.1 to 0.5 mm.

For example, the trough assembly 10 may also include a spacer 4 between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6. By arranging the spacer 4 between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6, a space can be formed between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6, and the spacer 4, the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 together form a breathing cavity 6A. For example, the spacing between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6, i.e. the thickness of the breathing chamber 6A, may be adjusted by selecting the thickness of the spacer 4.

For example, the spacer 4 may have a ring shape, and the area surrounded by the ring-shaped spacer 4 is the above-described pitch. For example, the shape of the spacer 4 may be a circular ring shape, a square ring shape, or the like, and the ring shape thereof may be determined according to the shape of the trough. For example, the gasket may be in the shape of a closed loop or may be in the shape of a non-closed loop, i.e., a loop that includes a notch. Embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the shape of the gasket being annular, for example, when the shape of the second opening of the trough is approximately rectangular, the gasket may also include or be a bar shape located on only two opposite sides of the rectangle, or may include or be a block structure located at four corners of the rectangle, and the shape and position of the gasket may depend on the shape of the opening of the trough, and of course, the shape of the gasket may be a regular shape or an irregular shape. For example, when the number of the spacers is plural, the plural spacers may be uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction of the second opening, or may be unevenly distributed along the circumferential direction of the second opening.

For example, in the above embodiment, the transparent support plate 6 has the first ventilation hole 610 and the second ventilation hole 611 as the first ventilation hole and the second ventilation hole of the breathing chamber 6A. For example, in other embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the pad 4 may have a first vent and a second vent therein, thereby forming a first vent and a second vent of the breathing chamber 6A. Embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the formation locations of the first and second vents of the breathing chamber 6A.

For example, as shown in fig. 3A, the front projection of the gasket 4 on the release film 3 does not overlap with the front projection of the ventilation hole 610 on the release film 3.

As is apparent from the above description, a breathing chamber 6A is formed between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 and in the region surrounded by the gasket 4, and the breathing chamber 6A may communicate with the air pressure supply device 20 through the first ventilation hole 610 in the transparent support plate or the first ventilation hole in the gasket 4. The air pressure supply device 20 can input or output the breathing cavity 6A through the first air holes 610 or the first air holes in the gasket 4, and air pressure generated by air can be applied on the release film 3, so that the concave amount of the release film 3 when the trough 1 is filled with liquid is reduced.

For example, the thickness of the spacer 4 may be 0.05 mm to 5 mm. For example, the thickness of the spacer 4 may be 0.15 mm, 2 mm or 3 mm. The thickness of the spacer 4 is not limited in this embodiment, and may be adjusted according to actual requirements to satisfy print quality and print success rate.

For example, the material of the gasket 4 may comprise plastic.

For example, as shown in fig. 3A, the trough assembly 10 may further include a film-pressing plate 5, the film-pressing plate 5 being located on a side of the release film 3 remote from the trough 1 to secure the release film 3 to a portion of the annular frame 110 surrounding the second opening 102. For example, the film pressing plate 5 may fix the peripheral edge portion of the release film 3 to the bottom of the ring frame 110 by the first fastener 8. For example, the first fastening member 8 may be a bolt, a pin, or the like to be coupled and fastened to each other.

For example, the film-pressing plate 5 has a third opening 501 opposite to the second opening 102, the third opening 501 being for exposing an illumination area of the release film 3. For example, the film pressing plate 5 includes a ring of first fixing portions surrounding the third opening 501, a first portion of the first fixing portions may press the release film 3 onto the ring frame 110, and a second portion of the first fixing portions located outside the first portion may be provided with fastening holes for penetrating the first fastening members 8 to fix the film pressing plate 5 at the bottom of the trough 1.

For example, the orthographic projection of the transparent support plate 6 in a plane parallel to the transparent support plate 6 is located in the orthographic projection of the third opening 501 in the plane, i.e. the transparent support plate 6 may pass through the third opening 501 during installation or be installed in the third opening 501 so as to be in contact with the gasket 4.

For example, the orthographic projection of the opening in the middle of the gasket 4 in the plane parallel to the transparent support plate 6 is located within the orthographic projection of the third opening 501 of the film pressing plate 5 in the plane, that is, the orthographic projection of the gasket 4 in the plane overlaps with the orthographic projection of the third opening 501 in the plane, so that the gasket 4 can be attached to the transparent support plate 6 and a space is formed between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6.

For example, fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a trough assembly provided in accordance with an example of an embodiment provided by the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 5, the orthographic projection of the gasket 4 in the plane parallel to the transparent support plate 6 falls into the orthographic projection of the second opening 102 in the plane, and the orthographic projection of the gasket 4 in the plane overlaps with the orthographic projection of the film pressing plate 5 in the plane, so that the film pressing plate 5 can support the gasket 4 while fixing the release film 3 on the side of the second opening 102 of the chute 1 (i.e., the bottom of the chute 1).

For example, the orthographic projection of the third opening 501 in the above plane is located in the orthographic projection of the second opening 102 in the above plane to support the gasket 4.

Of course, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and the front projection of the gasket 4 in the above plane and the front projection of the ring frame 110 in the above plane may also overlap, and the front projection of the third opening 501 in the above plane may be located in the front projection of the second opening 102 in the above plane or may be located outside the front projection of the second opening 102 in the above plane. Therefore, the film pressing plate can fix the release film and the gasket at the bottom of the trough. At this time, in order to ensure that the gasket can be positioned between the release film and the transparent support plate, the gasket material can be flexible.

For example, the material of the die plate 5 may include an aluminum alloy or structural steel.

For example, as shown in fig. 3A, the trough assembly may further include a sealing ring 2, where the sealing ring 2 is located on a side of the release film 3 facing the trough 1 and cooperates with the film pressing plate 5 to fix the release film 3. The friction force of the sealing ring can fix the release film so as to ensure that the release film is not loosened when the release film is tensioned later. The sealing ring can also play a sealing role on feed liquid to prevent the feed liquid from leaking. For example, the seal ring 2 may be made of nitrile rubber, silicone rubber or fluororubber.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may secure a release film via a feed channel, a seal ring, a film-pressing plate, and a first fastener. For example, the release film can be directly fixed to the trough by a seal ring, a film pressing plate and a first fastener; the release film can also be fixed on the film pressing plate, and then the release film is fixed on the trough through the film pressing plate, which is not limited in the disclosure.

For example, when the front projection of the gasket in a plane parallel to the transparent support plate overlaps the front projection of the film-pressing plate in the plane, the release film and the gasket may be fixed by the trough, the seal ring, the film-pressing plate, and the first fastener.

For example, as shown in fig. 3A, the trough assembly may further include a top film plate 7 located on a side of the transparent support plate 6 away from the release film 3, the top film plate 7 including an annular protrusion 710, the annular protrusion 710 contacting a surface of the transparent support plate 6 and supporting the transparent support plate 6 toward the first opening 101, i.e., the top film plate 7 is used to support the transparent support plate 6. The orthographic projection of the transparent support plate 6 in a plane parallel to the transparent support plate 6 falls within the orthographic projection of the second opening 102 in the plane.

For example, the top film plate 7 may have

vents

610A and 611A thereon, which communicate with the vents 610 and 611, respectively, of the transparent support plate 6, for connection with the air pressure supply device 20. The second port 203 and the pressure detection port 207 may be in communication with the

vents

610A and 611A, respectively, for example, by a connection tube, a connector, or the like, in gaseous communication with the

vents

610A and 611A. Alternatively, the top film plate 7 may not have a vent thereon, but the first vent and the second vent are exposed to the space where the trough assembly is located, for example, the space of the 3D printing system located below the trough assembly, and the second vent 203 and the pressure detection port 207 are connected to the space located below the first vent and the second vent or directly contact the first vent or the second vent by a connection, for example, a connection pipe, so as to provide positive pressure or negative pressure to the breathing chamber.

For example, the annular protrusion 710 surrounds the fourth opening 701, and the orthographic projection of the fourth opening 701 in the above plane is located in the orthographic projection of the third opening 501 of the film pressing plate 5 and the second opening 102 of the trough 1 in the plane. That is, the dimensions of the annular protrusion 710 and the transparent support plate 6 are smaller than those of the second opening 102 and the third opening 501. Therefore, in the process of installing the trough component, after the position of the release film is fixed by the film pressing plate, the top film plate can drive the transparent supporting plate to push up the release film so that the release film is tensioned. For example, the release film is provided with a fixing surface after being fixed by the film pressing plate, and the top film plate and the transparent supporting plate can upwards push the fixing surface of the release film by 1-10 mm. For example, the jack-up tension in this embodiment may be 2 millimeters.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the top film panel 7 has a vent 610A therein that communicates with a first vent of the breathing chamber 6A and a vent 611A therein that communicates with a second vent of the breathing chamber 6A to facilitate gas communication with the pressure supply 20.

For example, as shown in fig. 3B, in other embodiments, the trough assembly 10 may further include a seal ring 9 and a seal ring 10. For example, a sealing ring 9 is provided between the transparent support plate 6 and the top film plate 7 to seal a gap that may exist between the transparent support plate 6 and the top film plate 7 after assembly of the trough assembly 10. A sealing ring 10 is provided between the top film plate 7 and the trough 1 to seal the gap between the top film plate 7 and the trough 1 after assembly of the trough assembly 10. Therefore, the sealing ring 9 and the sealing ring 10 can further seal the trough assembly 10, so that after the trough assembly 10 is assembled, a closed space is formed between the transparent support plate 6 and the release film 3 except for a plurality of ventilation holes in the transparent support plate 6 or ventilation holes in the gasket, and no air leakage phenomenon is generated.

For example, as shown in fig. 5, when the front projection of the gasket 4 in the plane parallel to the transparent support plate 6 overlaps with the front projection of the film pressing plate 5 in the plane, and the front projection of the gasket 4 in the plane is completely located in the front projection of the second opening 102 in the plane, the film pressing plate 5 supports the gasket 4 before the film pressing plate 7 drives the transparent support plate 6 to push up the release film 3. In the process that the top film plate 7 drives the transparent support plate 6 to upwards prop up the release film 3, the transparent support plate 6 is firstly contacted with the gasket 4, then the gasket 4 and the release film 3 are jacked up together by the transparent support plate 6, namely, the gasket 4 is not supported by the film pressing plate 5 any more, but is supported by the transparent support plate 6 and the top film plate 7, and the gasket 4, the transparent support plate 6 and the top film plate 7 together realize the tensioning of the release film 3 so that the release film 3 has better flatness.

The present example is not limited thereto, and when a portion of the gasket is fixed between the film pressing plate and the annular frame, the top film plate drives the transparent support plate to push up the release film, and in the process of pushing up the release film, the portion of the other portion of the gasket, which is in contact with the transparent support plate, is deformed, so that the release film and the top film plate are tensioned together, and the release film has better flatness.

For example, fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional structure of a trough assembly provided in accordance with another example of an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 6, the front projection of the gasket 4 in the plane parallel to the transparent support plate 6 does not overlap with the front projection of the film-pressing plate 5 in this plane, i.e. the front projection of the gasket 4 in the above-mentioned plane is located entirely in the front projection of the third opening 501 of the film-pressing plate 5 in this plane, so that the gasket 4 is supported by the transparent support plate 6 arranged subsequently.

For example, the release film 3 is fixed at the bottom of the trough 1 by the film pressing plate 5, the sealing ring 2 and the first fastening piece 8, the film pressing plate 7 supports the transparent support plate 6 and the gasket 4 positioned on one side of the transparent support plate 6 facing the release film 3, and the release film 3 is tensioned by pushing the release film 3 upwards. For convenience of illustration, the seal ring 2 is not shown in fig. 4.

Of course, the embodiment of the disclosure is not limited to the implementation of tensioning the release film by pushing the release film upward by using the top film plate, and the release film with the fixed position by the film pressing plate can be aligned with the top film plate, the position of the top film plate is not moved, and the release film moves downward to be contacted with the top film plate and then moves downward for a certain distance to realize tensioning of the release film. The tensioning amount of the release film in this embodiment can be adjusted according to the thickness and the area of the release film, which is not limited herein.

For example, the top film sheet may be made of an aluminum alloy or structural steel.

For example, as shown in fig. 3A, the top film plate 7 further includes a ring of second fixing portions 720 located outside the annular protrusion 710, and a surface of the second fixing portions 720 away from the transparent support plate 6 is parallel to the transparent support plate 6, and the surface may be a mounting surface of the trough assembly. In the tensioning process of the release film, the release film can be controlled to be parallel to the mounting surface of the trough component by controlling the transparent support plate to be parallel to the surface of the top film plate, which is far away from the transparent support plate.

For example, the second fixing portion 720 of the top film plate 7 may be provided with a fixing hole corresponding to the second fastener, so that the top film plate is fixed on the second opening side of the trough by the second fastener, for example, the second fixing portion of the top film plate may be fixed on the bottom of the annular frame of the trough to realize fixing of the transparent support plate. For example, the second fastener may be a bolt, a pin, or the like to connect and fasten to each other.

Therefore, the trough component provides enough support for the release film 3 so that the release film 3 is in a better working state; in addition, a certain distance is formed between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6, and a certain space is formed, thereby being matched with the air pressure supply device 20 to optimize the 3D printing process.

For example, in some embodiments, the air pressure supply device 20 further includes a pressure detection port 207, at this time, the transparent support plate 6 is provided with a second ventilation hole 611 (as a second ventilation hole of the breathing chamber 6A), the pressure detection port 207 is communicated to the breathing chamber 6A between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 through the second ventilation hole 611, and the first ventilation hole 610 and the second ventilation hole 611 are provided at opposite sides of the transparent support plate 6.

For example, as described above, the air pressure supply device 20 may be controlled to provide positive pressure so that the release film 3 is not deformed or is less deformed in the direction of the transparent support plate 6, for example, if the less deformation is to maintain the deformation amount of the release film 3 to be not more than 0.5mm, alternatively, not more than 0.3mm or not more than 0.15mm, so that the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 is maintained at 0.05mm to 5mm. At this time, the air pressure supply device 20 maintains the space between the transparent support plate 6 and the release film 3, for example, by supplying sufficient air to the breathing chamber 6A between the transparent support plate 6 and the release film 3. In addition, the positive pressure can prevent the release film 3 from sagging.

For example, the air pressure supply device 20 may be controlled to provide positive pressure so that the air pressure in the breathing chamber is equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure, and further control the absolute value of the deformation amount generated by the release film toward the transparent support plate to be not more than 0.5mm, which may be understood as: the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is maintained to be 0.05mm-5mm, or the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is maintained in a natural state, or the deformation amount of the release film generated in the direction of the transparent support plate is controlled to be not more than 0.5mm, or the deformation amount of the release film generated in the direction of the release film back to the transparent support plate is controlled to be not more than 0.5mm, or the air pressure in the breathing cavity is enabled to be higher than the atmospheric pressure, so that the purpose of counteracting the gravity of liquid materials is achieved.

For example, the air pressure supply device 20 may also be controlled to provide negative pressure, so that the release film 3 deforms in the direction of the transparent support plate 6, so as to reduce the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 or force the bonding part (i.e. the polymeric layer) of the release film and the printing model to separate gradually from the edge to the central area; simultaneously, the liquid automatically flows and fills the region between the polymeric layer and the release film under the action of pressure. For example, the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 at the maximum deformation is reduced to be in the range of 0mm to 3 mm. In other words, the air pressure supply device 20 provides negative pressure, for example, by extracting air between the transparent support plate 6 and the release film 3. Therefore, the distance between the release film 3 and the support plate 6 is reduced, so that the polymeric layer formed by 3D printing can be separated from the release film 3 as soon as possible; in addition, the distance between the release film 3 and the support plate 6 is reduced, and the distance between the release film and the polymeric layer is increased, so that the speed of filling the 3D printing material between the release film and the polymeric layer can be increased, the 3D printing speed is further increased, and the 3D printing efficiency is improved.

In the description of the present disclosure, "positive pressure" refers to a state in which the pressure on the controlled side of the air pressure apparatus to be controlled is higher than or equal to the pressure on the opposite side, for example, a pressure state corresponding to the pressure higher than or equal to the normal pressure (i.e., one standard atmospheric pressure) +the gravity of the printing material, "negative pressure" refers to a state in which the pressure on the controlled side of the air pressure apparatus to be controlled is lower than the pressure on the opposite side, for example, a pressure state corresponding to the pressure lower than the normal pressure (i.e., one standard atmospheric pressure) +the gravity of the printing material, "providing the air pressure apparatus to be controlled with negative pressure or positive pressure" refers to making the air pressure apparatus to be in the negative pressure or positive pressure state.

For example, if the pressure of the breathing chamber is being controlled, the controlled side of the device to be controlled of the air pressure may be the breathing chamber side, while the opposite side is the side of the release film opposite the breathing chamber, i.e. the side of the release film closer to the forming table, while the breathing chamber side is the side of the release film farther from the forming table, i.e. the opposite side is the side to be pressure compared with the controlled side.

For example, the "supply of negative pressure to the air pressure control device" may be such that the air pressure in the breathing chamber of the air pressure control device is 0.1KPa to 10KPa less than normal pressure. The positive pressure may be provided by the pressure in the breathing chamber in the device to be controlled being equal to or slightly greater than the normal atmospheric pressure, for example, a pressure value of about 0 to 0.1KPa greater than the normal atmospheric pressure.

For example, in some embodiments, the operation flow of the constant pressure mode of the above-described 3D printing air pressure supply system 100 is as follows.

For example, the constant pressure mode of the 3D printing air pressure supply system 100 may be used during or before curing of the 3D printing. The operation flow of this mode includes, for example: first, the air pressure source 201 is controlled to operate at a predetermined rotational speed value. For example, in providing the constant positive pressure mode, the gas path switching device 204 communicates the gas outlet 2012 with the second gas port 203 and the gas inlet 2011 with the first gas port 202, the gas pressure source 201 inputs gas from the first gas port 202 through the gas inlet 2011 and outputs gas to the second gas port 203 through the gas outlet 2012 to provide positive pressure to the space between the release film 3 and the support plate 6. For example, when the constant negative pressure mode is provided, the gas path switching device 204 communicates the gas inlet 2011 with the second gas port 203, communicates the gas outlet 2012 with the first gas port 202 (or the third gas port 301), and the gas pressure source 201 inputs gas from the second gas port 203 through the gas inlet 2011 and outputs gas from the first gas port 202 (or the third gas port 301) through the gas outlet 2011 to provide negative pressure to the space between the release film 3 and the support plate 6.

Next, a rotational speed value of the air pressure source 201 is acquired, and it is determined whether the rotational speed value reaches a predetermined value. If not, the rotational speed value of the air pressure source 201 is adjusted, and the air pressure source 201 is operated according to the new rotational speed value. If so, the air pressure sensor is used for detecting the air pressure of the transparent support plate 6 and the release film 3 through the pressure detection port to obtain an air pressure detection result, and then, whether the air pressure detection result reaches a preset air pressure value or not is judged (the preset air pressure value is measured according to the distance between the release film 3 and the support plate 6 in the positive pressure or negative pressure mode, and the preset rotating speed value can be further determined). If not, the rotational speed value of the air pressure source 201 is adjusted, and the air pressure source 201 is operated according to the new rotational speed value. If yes, the air pressure adjusting process is ended, so that the air pressure source 201 keeps the current working state until a new instruction is received.

In this way, accurate closed-loop control can be achieved, and a constant air pressure (which may be positive or negative) can be provided to the target space, and the air pressure can be determined according to factors such as the degree of tension, the area, the thickness, etc. of the release film 3, and for example, the air pressure is about 0.1KPa to 10KPa, for example, 0.1KPa to 5KPa, smaller than the standard atmospheric pressure. The positive pressure may be provided at a pressure in the breathing chamber no greater than 0.1Kpa above normal atmospheric pressure, for example, at a pressure value of about 0.01Kpa to 0.05Kpa or 0.05Kpa to 0.1Kpa, and the negative pressure may be provided at a pressure in the breathing chamber less than about 0.1Kpa to 5Kpa below normal atmospheric pressure. According to the mode, positive pressure is provided in the photo-curing stage, so that the concave of the release film caused by the gravity action of the liquid 3D printing material can be avoided, the release film can be subjected to physical deformation by providing negative pressure after photo-curing is finished and when the forming platform starts to lift, the release film is favorably separated from the cured polymer layer, the distance between the release film and the polymer layer is increased, the speed of filling the 3D printing material between the release film and the polymer layer can be increased, the 3D printing speed is further increased, and the 3D printing efficiency is improved.

For example, in some embodiments, the flow of operation of the positive and negative pressure alternating mode (alternatively referred to as intermittent mode) of the 3D printing air pressure supply system 100 described above is as follows.

For example, the alternating positive and negative pressure pattern of the 3D printing air pressure supply system 100 may be used throughout the 3D printing process. For example, after the 3D printing material filling is completed and before the photo-curing is performed, the air path switching device 204 communicates the air outlet 2012 with the second air port 203 and the air inlet 2011 with the first air port 202, the air pressure source 201 inputs air from the first air port 202 through the air inlet 2011 and outputs air to the second air port 203 through the air outlet 2012 to provide positive pressure to the space between the release film 3 and the support plate 6 and to remain in the breathing chamber during the photo-curing to provide positive pressure. For example, during the movement of the molding stage to the next molding position and the negative pressure is provided during the filling of the 3D printing material, at this time, the air path switching device 204 communicates the air inlet 2011 with the second air port 203, communicates the air outlet 2012 with the first air port 202 (or the third air port 301), the air pressure source 201 inputs air from the second air port 203 through the air inlet 2011, and outputs air from the first air port 202 (or the third air port 301) through the air outlet 2011 to provide the negative pressure to the space between the release film 3 and the support plate 6. Thus, the 3D printing air pressure supply system 100 may be in a positive-negative pressure alternating mode with the progress of the 3D printing process.

For example, the operation flow of the positive-negative pressure alternating mode includes: first, the air pressure source 201 is controlled to operate at a predetermined rotational speed value. Next, the rotational speed value of the air pressure source 201 is acquired, and it is determined whether the rotational speed feedback value reaches a predetermined value. If not, the rotational speed value of the air pressure source 201 is adjusted, and the air pressure source 201 is operated according to the new rotational speed value. If yes, the air pressure sensor is used for detecting the air pressure of the transparent support plate 6 and the release film 3 through the pressure detection port, an air pressure detection result is obtained, and whether the air pressure detection result reaches a preset air pressure value is judged. If not, the rotational speed value of the air pressure source 201 is adjusted, and the air pressure source 201 is operated according to the new rotational speed setting value. If yes, further judging whether the gas circuit switching device is required to switch the gas circuit (namely, switching positive and negative pressures). If yes, the air path switching device 204 is controlled to switch the air path, and the air pressure source 201 is controlled to work according to the new rotation speed value (or according to the current rotation speed value). If not, the air pressure adjusting process is ended, so that the air pressure source 201 keeps the current working state until a new instruction is received.

By the mode, accurate closed-loop control can be realized, and positive pressure and negative pressure can be alternately provided for a target space. From this, can provide the malleation at the solidification in-process of 3D printing, keep from the interval between type membrane and the backup pad, avoid from the concave phenomenon that the type membrane arouses because of printing material gravity to, be convenient for print piece and from type membrane 3 break away from in shaping platform motion process and filling process, and increase from the interval before type membrane and the polymerization layer, be convenient for 3D printing material fill to from the space between type membrane and the polymerization layer, thereby promote printing speed.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a 3D printing system, as shown in fig. 7, the 3D printing system 1000 includes a molding platform 200, a lifting device 300, a 3D printing air pressure supply system 100 (including a trough assembly 10 and an air pressure supply device 20) of any of the above, and a photo curing device 400. The molding stage 200 includes a molding surface 200A for forming a 3D object. For example, in some embodiments, the forming platform 200 is provided with a detachable base 200B, the surface of the base 200B is the forming surface 200A, and the 3D object may be directly formed on the forming surface 200A, so that after the 3D object is formed, the formed 3D object may be removed by detaching the base 200B from the forming platform 200, and then subjected to a subsequent operation.

The lifting device 300 is configured to drive the modeling platform 200 to move. For example, the lifting device 300 is connected to the forming platform 200 through a mechanical arm 200C to drive the forming platform 200 to move. For example, the lifting device 300 may drive the modeling platform 200 to move in a vertical direction in fig. 1 to perform 3D printing down and up.

The 3D printing air pressure supply system 100 includes a chute assembly 10 and an air pressure supply device 20. The trough assembly 10 includes an opening 101, a release film 3 and a transparent support plate 6, the opening 101 facing the molding surface 200A and being configured to provide material forming a 3D object, such as liquid 3D printing material, the release film 3 carrying the liquid 3D printing material, the release film 3 being spaced from the transparent support plate 6. The air pressure supply device 20 is configured to supply air pressure to the breathing cavity between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6, so that the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 can be controlled.

The photo-curing device 400 is configured to emit light toward the molding area to cure the material between the release film 3 and the molding stage 200 and irradiated with light, and to form a polymeric layer on the molding surface 200A. For example, the molding region is determined according to the desired shape of each polymeric layer, which is not particularly limited by the embodiments of the present disclosure.

For example, in some embodiments, the light curing apparatus 400 includes a light emitting panel (or referred to as a light engine) that includes a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array, and the plurality of pixel units can emit light in a controlled manner in regions. For example, the light emitting panel may include a plurality of light emitting regions, each of which includes one or more pixel units, so that the light can be precisely provided to the molding region by controlling the light emission of the plurality of light emitting regions, thereby making the light range more accurate. For example, the light curing apparatus 400 may be disposed on a side of the trough assembly 10 remote from the forming table 200 by the light machine bracket 400A.

For example, the plurality of pixel units may emit light in different forms such as visible light, infrared light, or ultraviolet light according to the liquid 3D printing material, and embodiments of the present disclosure are not particularly limited thereto. For example, in some examples, the plurality of pixel cells may emit ultraviolet light having a wavelength in a range, such as light having a wavelength in the range of 350-410 nm. The specific wavelength of the light may be selected according to the type of the liquid 3D printing material, i.e., light more suitable for curing the liquid 3D printing material used. For example, in some examples, the light employed is ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 405 nm.

For example, in some embodiments, the air pressure supply device 20 controls the spacing between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 by the output or input of air.

For example, in some embodiments, the pressure supply device 20 is configured to provide positive pressure to the breathing chamber 6A between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 to maintain or control the spacing between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 and to make the pressure in the breathing chamber equal to or greater than normal pressure before or while the curing operation of the light curing device 400 is performed. For example, providing positive pressure to the breathing chamber 6A between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 may maintain a spacing between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 of 0.05mm-5mm; in addition, the positive pressure is provided to avoid the sagging phenomenon of the release film 3.

For example, in some embodiments, pressure supply device 20 is further configured to provide negative pressure to breathing chamber 6A between release film 3 and transparent support plate 6 before, or simultaneously with, or after lifting device 300 drives shaping platform 200 in a direction away from release film 3 to reduce the spacing between release film 3 and transparent support plate 6, e.g., to reduce the spacing between release film 3 and transparent support plate 6 at maximum deformation to 0-3mm. Thereby facilitating detachment of the polymeric layer from the release film 3 and facilitating rapid filling of the 3D printing material into the space between the release film 3 and the polymeric layer for forming the next polymeric layer.

For example, in some embodiments, the 3D printing system may further include a material monitoring device disposed on the trough assembly, which may be configured to monitor the filling of the liquid 3D printing material between the molding platform and the release film. In addition, the material monitoring device may be further configured to monitor a level of liquid 3D printing material in the trough assembly. Specifically, for example, in some embodiments, a material monitoring device may be used to monitor the filling of the liquid between the molding surface 200A of the molding platform 200 and the release film 3, and when it is monitored that the material is not sufficiently filled, the material continues to wait for a period of time, and after the material is filled, the next operation is performed. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the kind of the material monitoring device, as long as the corresponding function can be realized. For example, in some examples, the material monitoring device may employ an optical detection device that may use a change in light after the light has passed through the space between the molding surface 200A and the release film 3 to obtain information of the liquid filling state.

For example, the material monitoring device may also monitor the liquid level of the liquid 3D printing material in the tank assembly 20, and when the liquid level of the liquid 3D printing material is lower than a predetermined level, the liquid 3D printing material in the tank assembly 20 is insufficient, and at this time, the liquid 3D printing material may be added to the tank assembly 20, so that the liquid level of the liquid 3D printing material in the tank assembly 20 is within a predetermined range, so as to meet the requirement of 3D printing.

At least one embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a method for performing 3D printing using any one of the above 3D printing systems, as shown in fig. 8, where the 3D printing method may include steps S101 to S108.

Step S101: and driving the forming platform to an initial forming position, forming a forming area between the forming platform and the release film, wherein the release film is positioned in the trough assembly.

For example, in connection with fig. 1, in a printing start stage, the lifting device 300 may be used to drive the forming platform 200 to move downward, for example, so that the forming platform 200 is located at an initial forming position, and in a subsequent printing stage until printing is completed, the lifting device may be used to drive the forming platform to move away from the release film, so that the forming platform is located at a next forming position. At this point, the molding surface 200A is positioned within the liquid 3D printing material in the trough assembly 10, a molding zone is formed between the molding platform and the release film, which is positioned in the trough assembly, for example, the spacing between the molding surface 200A and the release film 3 (i.e., the height of the molding zone) is 10 microns to 950 microns, such as 100 microns, 300 microns, 500 microns, or the like.

For example, in some embodiments, driving the modeling platform 200 to the initial position includes: the molding stage 200 is driven to move toward the release film 3 so that the molding stage 200 is located at the initial molding position. For example, after the molding stage 200 is in the initial molding position, the molding surface 200A is spaced from the release film 3 by a distance of 10 microns to 950 microns, such as 100 microns, 300 microns, 500 microns, or the like.

For example, the driving of the molding platform 200 at the initial position may use uniform linear motion or motion according to a designated motion track and speed, and the motion may be continuous or intermittent. For example, the modeling stage 200 may be driven to move at a uniform velocity of 1 micron/S to 500 microns/S along a straight line, or to accelerate along a parabola, for example at 1 micron/S ² 2000 microns/S ² With 0 as initial velocity, or with a linear velocity of 1 micron/S, for example ² 2000 microns/S ² And performing uniform deceleration motion with the initial speed of 10-1000 microns/s.

For example, at the beginning of printing, the 3D printing method may further include a step of adding liquid 3D printing material in the chute assembly 10 before step S101, which may not be included if the 3D printing material is sufficient, or may be included if the 3D printing material is not sufficient. For example, the liquid 3D printing material may include a single component or multiple components (e.g., two components or three components, etc.). When the liquid 3D printing material comprises multiple components, the multiple components may be added to the chute assembly 10 after being mixed by a mixer.

For example, in connection with fig. 1, after the molding stage 200 is in the molding position, a liquid 3D printing material is required to fill between the molding surface 200A of the molding stage 200 and the release film 3 for curing molding.

For example, the filling of the 3D printing material may be performed simultaneously with the movement (or movement) of the shaping platform, i.e. at the beginning of the printing, the filling is performed simultaneously due to the movement of the shaping platform towards the release film, and the filling process is completed when the movement of the shaping platform is completed; in the subsequent printing stage, the forming platform moves in a direction away from the release film, and the filling of the 3D printing material is performed simultaneously while the forming platform moves, wherein the filling process is performed for a duration exceeding the movement of the forming platform, that is, a period of time after the movement of the forming platform is completed, the filling of the 3D printing material is completed, or the filling of the 3D printing material and the movement of the forming platform are completed simultaneously, which are determined according to the material properties of the 3D printing material and the like.

For example, in some embodiments, a material monitoring device may be used to monitor the filling of liquid between the molding surface 200A of the molding platform 200 and the release film 3, and when insufficient filling of material is monitored, the process continues for a period of time, and after the filling of material is completed, the next operation is performed. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not limit the kind of the material monitoring device, as long as the corresponding function can be realized. For example, in some examples, the material monitoring device may employ an optical detection device that may use a change in light after the light has passed through the space between the molding surface 200A and the release film 3 to obtain information of the liquid filling state.

Step S102: the release film is controlled to be in a first state to maintain a thickness of the printing material between the molding surface of the molding platform and the release film.

For example, the release film is in a first state: based on the straight tensioning state of the release film, the absolute value of the deformation amount generated by the release film in the first state is not more than 0.5mm, namely, the deformation amount at any point is not more than 0.5mm, and the relative displacement of any point relative to the point in the straight tensioning state is not more than 0.5mm. Optionally, the release film is in a first state: the absolute value of the deformation amount generated by the release film in the first state is not more than 0.3mm or not more than 0.15mm based on the flat and tensioned state of the release film.

For example, the first state of the release film may be a state when the release film is at atmospheric pressure, or the first state may be a state when the pressure of the release film on the side far from the molding platform is greater than the pressure of the release film on the side near the molding platform, or the first state may be a state when the pressure of the release film on the side far from the molding platform is less than the pressure of the release film on the side near the molding platform.

For example, the release film is in the first state by controlling the magnitude relationship between the pressure of the side of the release film remote from the forming platform and the pressure of the side of the release film close to the forming platform.

For example, in some embodiments, a breathing cavity is provided on the side of the release film near the forming platform, and the pressure of the breathing cavity is adjustable by the light-transmitting fluid; or a breathing cavity is arranged on one side of the release film far away from the forming platform, and the pressure of the breathing cavity is adjustable through light-transmitting fluid; for example, the light transmissive fluid includes a light transmissive gas and/or a light transmissive liquid.

At the moment, the release film is in a first state by providing positive pressure for a breathing cavity at one side far away from the forming platform; or the release film is in the first state by providing negative pressure to the breathing cavity on the side close to the forming platform.

For example, in some examples, the side of the release film remote from the forming platen has a transparent support plate, the release film and the transparent support plate form a breathing chamber, at which time an air pressure supply 20 may be used to provide positive pressure to the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate to maintain or control the spacing between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 so that the release film is in a first state in which the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is 0.05mm to 5mm, thereby maintaining the thickness of the material between the forming platen and the release film, and thus during photocuring, the portion of the material may form a polymeric layer.

For example, the air pressure supply device 20 may provide positive pressure to the breathing chamber between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 to maintain the breathing chamber between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 at or above atmospheric pressure, e.g. slightly above a standard atmospheric pressure, e.g. 0-0.1Kpa above a standard atmospheric pressure.

The foregoing, make the atmospheric pressure in the breathing chamber equal to atmospheric pressure or be higher than atmospheric pressure, and then control from the absolute value of the deformation volume that the membrane produced to transparent backup pad direction is not more than 0.5mm, can understand: the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is maintained to be 0.05mm-5mm, or the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is maintained in a flat and straight tensioning state, or the deformation amount of the release film in the direction of the transparent support plate is controlled to be not more than 0.5mm, or the deformation amount of the release film in the direction of the back of the transparent support plate is controlled to be not more than 0.5mm, or the air pressure in the breathing cavity is enabled to be higher than the atmospheric pressure, so that the purpose of counteracting the gravity of liquid materials is achieved.

Step S103: light is provided to illuminate a molding region to cure a material illuminated by the light and located between the molding land and the release film and form a polymeric layer on the molding surface.

For example, light is provided using the light curing device 400 to irradiate the molding region to cure the liquid 3D printing material irradiated with light and located between the molding stage 200 and the release film 3, and a polymeric layer is formed on the molding surface 200A. For example, in some examples, the light curing device 400 may emit light in the wavelength range of 350-410 nm. The wavelength of the light may be selected according to the kind of the liquid 3D printing material, and embodiments of the present disclosure are not particularly limited thereto. For example, in some examples, the light employed is ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 405 nm.

For example, the light provided by the light curing device 400 may be continuous or intermittent, and the specific form of the light provided by the light curing device 400 is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Step S104: the release film is controlled to deform in a direction away from the forming platform, so that the polymeric layer and the release film are gradually separated from the periphery of the contact surface to the center, and meanwhile, the printing material is gradually filled along the separation gap.

For example, the release film is controlled to deform in a direction away from the forming platform, and the distance between the forming surface of the forming platform and the release film is increased. Therefore, the separation of the formed polymeric layer and the release film can be facilitated, for example, the polymeric layer and the release film are gradually separated from the edge part to the middle part, and the backflow of the printing material and the filling of the printing material into the area between the polymeric layer and the release film are facilitated, so that the formation of the next polymeric layer can be performed, the backflow speed of the printing material is further improved, and the printing process is accelerated.

For example, in some embodiments, in the process of controlling the release film to deform in a direction away from the forming platform, the absolute value of the deformation amount of the release film at the maximum deformation position in the direction away from the forming platform is greater than 0.1mm based on the release film in the first state. The bonding part of the release film and the polymeric layer (namely the printing model) can be fully forced to be gradually separated from the edge to the central area, so that the polymeric layer is gradually separated from the release film, and the material automatically flows and gradually fills the area between the polymeric layer and the release film under the action of pressure.

Here, it should be noted that the first state may refer to the front part of the specification, and refers to a state in which the absolute value of the deformation amount generated by the release film is not more than 0.5 mm; by "deformation" is meant that the distance of the same point in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the release film changes relative to the release film in an undeformed state (or flat tensioned state) or a specified reference release film. For example, the deformation amount of the first state refers to a positional change of the release film with respect to the non-deformed state, for example, the flat and tensioned state, and the deformation amount in step S104 is a positional change with respect to the first state, that is, a positional change with respect to the first state.

For example, there are various methods for controlling the deformation of the release film in a direction away from the forming stage, and embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, in some embodiments, controlling the deformation of the release film in a direction away from the forming platen may include: the release film is deformed in the direction away from the forming platform by controlling the magnitude relation between the pressure of the release film on the side away from the forming platform and the pressure of the release film on the side close to the forming platform, for example, the pressure of the release film on the side away from the forming platform is controlled to be smaller than the pressure of the release film on the side close to the forming platform; or, applying external force to the release film to deform the release film in a direction away from the forming platform; or driving the release film to move in a direction away from the forming platform so that the release film deforms in a direction away from the forming platform, and the like. Embodiments of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, those that deform the release film in a direction away from the forming platen.

For example, a breathing cavity is formed in one side, close to the forming platform, of the release film, and the pressure of the breathing cavity is adjustable through light-transmitting fluid; or one side of the release film, which is far away from the forming platform, is provided with a breathing cavity, and the pressure of the breathing cavity is adjustable through light-transmitting fluid. For example, the light transmissive fluid may be a light transmissive gas and/or a light transmissive liquid. The breathing cavity is a closed space with certain sealing performance. For example, controlling the pressure of the release film on a side away from the forming platen to be less than the pressure of the release film on a side closer to the forming platen comprises: a breathing cavity is arranged on one side of the release film far away from the forming platform, and negative pressure is provided for the breathing cavity so that the release film deforms in a direction far away from the forming platform; alternatively, in other embodiments, a breathing cavity is disposed on a side of the release film near the forming platform, and the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform by providing positive pressure to the breathing cavity.

For example, a breathing cavity is arranged at one side of the release film far away from the forming platform, and a transparent support plate can be arranged at one side of the release film far away from the forming platform under the condition that the release film is deformed in the direction far away from the forming platform by providing negative pressure for the breathing cavity, so that the release film and the transparent support plate form the breathing cavity; then, negative pressure is provided for the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, so that the release film deforms towards the direction of the transparent support plate.

For example, by providing negative pressure to the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate may include: the negative pressure in the breathing chamber is caused by outputting the gas in the breathing chamber, for example, by outputting the gas by the gas pressure supply system in the above embodiments; or the negative pressure is provided for the breathing cavity by outputting the light-transmitting liquid in the breathing cavity so that the liquid in the breathing cavity is reduced, and the liquid amount in the breathing cavity is smaller than that in the first state, namely, the release film is not deformed or the absolute value of deformation is smaller than 0.5mm, so that the negative pressure is provided for the breathing cavity.

For example, in some embodiments, a light transmissive fluid supply may be employed to provide positive or negative pressure to the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate. For example, the light transmissive fluid supply means may be configured to supply positive or negative pressure to the breathing chamber by inputting or outputting a light transmissive fluid, such as a light transmissive gas or a light transmissive liquid, to or from the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate. For example, the light transmissive fluid supply means may be a pneumatic pressure supply means that provides positive or negative pressure to the breathing chamber by inputting or outputting gas to or from the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate.

For example, in some embodiments, the magnitude of the negative pressure provided to the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate is 0.1KPa to 10KPa less than atmospheric pressure, thereby forcing the release film to deform in a direction away from the forming platen.

For example, in the case that a breathing cavity is provided on one side of the release film close to the forming platform, and the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform by providing positive pressure to the breathing cavity, a closed printing chamber can be formed on one side of the release film close to the forming platform, and the printing chamber comprises a lifting device, a forming platform, a trough assembly and other structures; then, the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform by providing positive pressure in the closed printing chamber.

For example, in some embodiments, the positive pressure provided to the enclosed print chamber is 0.1KPa-10KPa greater than atmospheric pressure, thereby forcing the release film to deform in a direction away from the forming platen.

For example, under the condition that the release film deforms in a direction far away from the forming platform or is in the first state by applying external force to the release film, a moving part can be arranged at the release film, and the external force is applied to the release film by controlling the moving part, so that the release film deforms in a direction far away from the forming platform. For example, the moving member may be any form of mechanical member that can apply a force to the release film, and the mechanical member may be, for example, a flat plate, a pressing block, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

For example, in some embodiments, a trough assembly includes a trough including an annular frame surrounding a first opening and a second opening opposite one another; from the setting of type membrane is in the second opening side of ring frame and cover the second opening from type membrane department is provided with the moving part, and this moving part constructs to drive from type membrane reciprocates, at this moment, through to from the type membrane application external force makes from type membrane to the direction of keeping away from the shaping platform take place deformation or be in first state includes: and the release film is deformed in a direction far away from the forming platform or is in the first state by moving the moving part.

For example, the moving member includes a pressing block located above the release film and an adsorption block located below the release film, where the adsorption block can drive the pressing block to move up and down, alternatively, the pressing block and the adsorption block are disposed at an edge area of the release film located at the second opening, for example, the pressing block is made of magnetic induction material, and the adsorption block is made of permanent magnetic material.

For example, when the release film deforms in a direction away from the forming platform or is in the first state by applying an external force to the release film, the trough assembly is movable, and when the release film deforms in a direction away from the forming platform or is in the first state by applying an external force to the release film, the release film comprises: the release film is deformed or in a first state in a direction far away from the forming platform by moving the trough assembly up and down.

For example, in some embodiments, when the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is 0.05mm to 5mm before the release film is deformed or when the release film is in the first state, the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate at the maximum deformation point is reduced to 0 to 3mm after the release film is deformed toward the transparent support plate. At this time, the deformation of the release film is forcing the separation of the polymeric layer and the release film, and improving the reflux speed of the printing material, so that the integrity of the release film can be maintained while the printing process is accelerated, the release film is prevented from being damaged due to overlarge tension, and the service life of the release film is prolonged.

Step S105: and driving the molding platform to the next molding position.

For example, driving the forming table to move to the next forming position includes: the modeling stage is driven to move a displacement equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer. For example, the thickness of each polymeric layer may be 10 microns to 950 microns, such as 100 microns, 300 microns, or 500 microns, etc., as embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in this regard.

For example, in some embodiments, driving the modeling stage to move a displacement equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer includes: the forming platform is driven to move a first distance in a direction away from the release film, so that the forming platform is located at the middle position, then the forming platform is driven to move a second distance from the middle position towards the release film, so that the forming platform is located at the next forming position, wherein the first distance is larger than the second distance, and the difference between the first distance and the second distance is equal to the thickness of each polymerization layer. At this moment, shaping platform reciprocating motion, 3D print mode is shock print mode, and this mode helps the backward flow and the packing of printing material, and then accelerates the backward flow and the packing speed of printing material, compares with conventional shaping platform reciprocating motion, has accelerated the backward flow of printing material through increasing shaping platform and from the distance between the type membrane in this disclosure, has promoted 3D print speed.

For example, in other embodiments, driving the modeling stage to move a displacement equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer may include: the molding platform is driven to move a distance equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer in a direction away from the release film. At this moment, the shaping platform gradually moves to the direction of keeping away from the type membrane, and 3D prints the mode and is continuous printing mode, and this mode can improve 3D printing speed, avoids the time waste that concurs shaping platform and bring, and then improves 3D printing efficiency.

For example, in some embodiments, the motion of the shaping platform in a direction away from the release film or in a direction toward the release film may be performed with uniform motion or uniform acceleration, e.g., the uniform motion may be performed at a speed of 1-500 microns/s. For example, when a uniform acceleration motion is used, the initial velocity of the uniform acceleration motion is 0, and the acceleration may be 1 μm/S ² 2000 microns/S ² . For example, the movement may be performed along a straight line or along a specified movement track, and the movement form of the forming platform 200 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is not particularly limited.

For example, in some embodiments, controlling the deformation of the release film in a direction away from the forming platen occurs before, simultaneously with, or after driving the forming platen to move to the next forming position.

For example, in some embodiments, driving the molding platform to move to the next molding position and filling material between the molding surface of the molding platform and the release film may be concurrent; the printing material can flow back and be filled between the forming surface of the forming platform and the release film while the forming platform is driven to move to the next forming position, but the filling of the printing material can be continuously longer than the movement of the forming platform according to the situation; or driving the forming platform to move to the next forming position and simultaneously carrying out filling materials between the forming surface of the forming platform and the release film, wherein when the driving of the forming platform to move to the next forming position is completed, the filling of printing materials is not completed yet, and the filling of the materials can last longer than the moving of the forming platform.

For example, in some embodiments, the filling of the printing material is performed while the release film is gradually separated from the polymeric layer on the molding surface, by controlling the release film to deform in a direction away from the molding platform so that the polymeric layer gradually separates from the release film from the periphery of the contact surface toward the center, while the printing material automatically flows under pressure to gradually fill along the separation gap between the polymeric layer and the release film, that is, to the region between the polymeric layer and the release film.

Step S106: restoring the release film to the first state.

For example, after the printing material is filled, the release film is restored to the first state, so that the release film is prevented from excessively sagging, and the curing of the printing material and the formation of the next polymer layer are performed. As described above, the first state of the release film may be: and taking the straight tensioning state of the release film as a reference, wherein the absolute value of the deformation quantity generated by the release film in the first state is not more than 0.5mm, for example, the state when the release film is at the atmospheric pressure, or the first state is the state when the pressure of the release film on the side far away from the forming platform is greater than the pressure of the release film on the side close to the forming platform, or the first state is the state when the pressure of the release film on the side far away from the forming platform is less than the pressure of the release film on the side close to the forming platform. For example, when the air pressure of the side, far away from the forming platform, of the release film is larger than the air pressure of the side, close to the forming platform, of the release film, or the pressure of the side, far away from the forming platform, of the release film is larger than the pressure of the side, close to the forming platform, of the release film by inputting the light-transmitting liquid of the side, far away from the forming platform, of the release film, so that the release film is restored to the first state.

For example, the absolute value of the amount of deformation produced by the release film in the first state is not greater than 0.5mm. At this time, the release film is in a substantially flat state, so that the thickness of the printing material between the molding surface of the molding platform and the release film is stable, and the formation of a polymeric layer with uniform thickness is facilitated.

For example, there are various ways to control the release film in the first state, and embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in this regard. For example, in some embodiments, the side of the release film remote from the forming platen has a breathing chamber, the release film being in the first state by providing positive pressure to the breathing chamber; alternatively, in other embodiments, the release film has a breathing chamber on a side of the release film adjacent to the forming platen, and the release film is in the first state by providing negative pressure to the breathing chamber.

For example, in the case that the side of the release film far away from the forming platform is provided with a breathing cavity, the side of the release film far away from the forming platform is provided with a transparent support plate, and the release film and the transparent support plate form the breathing cavity. For example, in some embodiments, in the first state, the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate is 0.05mm to 5mm.

For example, in some embodiments, the first state is maintained by providing positive pressure to a breathing chamber formed by the release film and the transparent support plate such that when the release film is in the first state, the pressure provided to the breathing chamber is equal to or greater than atmospheric pressure or a light transmissive liquid is input to the breathing chamber. For example, the superatmospheric pressure is no more than 0.1Kpa above atmospheric. The atmospheric pressure can counteract the gravity of the printing material borne by the release film, so that the phenomenon of concave generation of the release film is avoided.

The light transmissive liquid is a neutral liquid, such as water or the like, that does not affect any of the components of the printing system.

For example, in the case that a breathing cavity is provided on one side of the release film close to the forming platform, a closed printing chamber is formed on one side of the release film close to the forming platform, and the printing chamber comprises a lifting device, a forming platform, a trough assembly and other structures; then, the release film is brought into the first state by supplying negative pressure into the closed printing chamber.

For example, in some embodiments, the negative pressure is provided to the sealed print chamber such that the magnitude of the negative pressure provided to the sealed print chamber is 0.1KPa to 10KPa less than atmospheric pressure when the release film is in the first state.

For example, in some embodiments, the step of controlling the release film to deform in a direction away from the forming platform and the step of controlling the release film to be in the first state may be implemented by using the same device, and may be that a breathing cavity is disposed on a side of the release film close to the forming platform and a sealed printing chamber is formed on a side of the release film close to the forming platform, and negative pressure is provided in the sealed printing chamber to enable the release film to be in the first state, and positive pressure is provided in the sealed printing chamber to enable the release film to deform in a direction away from the forming platform. Or, there may be a breathing cavity on one side of the release film far away from the forming platform and a transparent support plate on one side of the release film far away from the forming platform, and the release film is in the first state by providing positive pressure to the breathing cavity, and is deformed in a direction far away from the forming platform by providing negative pressure to the breathing cavity.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the above two implementations may be mixed, by providing negative pressure to the closed printing chamber to make the release film in the first state, and by providing negative pressure to the breathing chamber, the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform; alternatively, the release film may be in the first state by providing positive pressure to the breathing cavity, or may be deformed in a direction away from the forming platform by providing positive pressure to the sealed printing chamber, which is not limited by embodiments of the present disclosure.

Step S107: light is provided to illuminate the molding area to cure the printed material illuminated by the light and located between the molding land and the release film and form a next polymeric layer on the molding surface.

For example, a light curing device may be used to provide light to illuminate the molding area, thereby curing the printed material illuminated by the light and located between the molding platform and the release film, and forming a polymeric layer on the molding surface. The procedure is substantially the same as step S103, and will not be described again here.

Step S108: at least one next polymeric layer is formed on the molding surface.

For example, by repeating the above steps, for example, repeating steps S104 to S107 at least once to form a multi-layered polymeric layer on a molding surface, a 3D printed object having a certain shape can be formed.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the steps S101 to S108 are only used to illustrate the operations performed by the steps, and are not used to limit the execution sequence of the steps S101 to S108, that is, the steps S101 to S108 may be executed sequentially, may be executed partially simultaneously, or may be executed in a sequence.

For example, in some embodiments, the 3D printing process of the 3D printing method may be performed by using the 3D printing system shown in fig. 7 and the 3D printing air pressure supply system described above, and the air pressure supply device is used to provide pressure for the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, so as to control the state of the release film.

For example, in the case of using the 3D printing system shown in fig. 7 and performing 3D printing using the above-described 3D printing method, after the last photo-curing step is completed and the molding stage has moved to the next molding position and the material filling is completed, the air pressure supply device 20 electric controller controls the air pressure source to gradually decrease the output pressure, and at the same time, makes the air flow into the breathing chamber reverse, that is, provides positive pressure to the breathing chamber until the breathing chamber pressure is equal to or slightly greater than the standard atmospheric pressure (normal pressure) (slightly greater than the atmospheric pressure is for the purpose of counteracting the gravity of the liquid material), and the air pressure source stops working.

For example, in some embodiments, during the provision of light to illuminate the molding region, the air pressure source 201 of the air pressure supply device 20 is deactivated to maintain the air pressure within the breathing chamber 6A at or above atmospheric pressure, such as slightly above atmospheric pressure, such as 0-0.1Kpa above atmospheric pressure. At this time, as shown in fig. 9, the air pressure in the breathing cavity 6A may counteract the gravity generated by the liquid 3D printing material 100A in the trough, so that the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 may both be kept in a substantially straight state, for example, the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 may be parallel to each other, and the interval between them may be 0.5mm-5mm. Thus, the thickness of the liquid 3D printing material 100A between the release film 3 and the molding stage is stable, and the polymeric layer 100B can be formed by photosetting.

For example, in a method provided in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, after forming a polymeric layer, before or while driving the forming platen to move away from the release film, the printing method further includes: the negative pressure is provided for the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate by the air pressure supply device, so that the release film deforms towards the direction of the transparent support plate, and the polymeric layer 100B is gradually separated from the release film.

For example, when negative pressure is provided to the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, the release film deforms in the direction of the transparent support plate, so that the bonding part of the release film and the polymeric layer (i.e. the printing model) is gradually separated from the edge to the central area, the polymeric layer is gradually separated from the release film, and the material automatically flows and is gradually filled into the area between the polymeric layer and the release film under the action of pressure.

For example, during the movement of the molding platform away from the release film, the air pressure source 201 of the air pressure supply device 20 is started to provide negative pressure for the breathing cavity 6A, and the pressure sensor 208 monitors the pressure in the breathing cavity 6A and feeds back to the controller 213, at this time, the negative pressure in the breathing cavity 6A gradually increases. For example, the negative pressure rise in the breathing chamber 6A is a stepwise smooth rise process to avoid excessive pulling force of the polymeric layer 100B and damage to the release film 3.

For example, the magnitude of the negative pressure provided is 0.1KPa-10KPa less than atmospheric pressure, or even greater. For example, the magnitude of the negative pressure may be determined according to the magnitude of the space between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6, for example, in one example, when the space between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 is 0.3mm, the magnitude of the negative pressure may be smaller than the atmospheric pressure by 10KPa; for example, when the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 is large, an excessive negative pressure is not preferably given in order to protect the life of the release film 3.

It should be noted that the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate refers to the distance between the corresponding points in the direction perpendicular to the molding surface of the molding platform, for example, in the vertical direction.

For example, when the release film 3 is subjected to negative pressure, the deformation shown in fig. 10 may be exhibited, and at this time, the release film 3 and the polymeric layer 100B are gradually separated from each other from the edge toward the central region; meanwhile, the liquid 3D printing material 100A automatically flows and fills the region where the polymeric layer 100B and the release film 3 are separated under the pressure.

For example, after the negative pressure reaches a certain value, as shown in fig. 11, the release film 3 is completely separated from the polymeric layer 100B, and the release film 3 is subjected to pressure to assume the deformed state shown in fig. 11, and at this time, the 3D printing material may be sufficiently filled between the release film 3 and the polymeric layer 100B. For example, in the process of gradually separating the release film 3 from the polymeric layer 100B, the 3D printing material can be gradually filled between the release film 3 and the polymeric layer 100B.

For example, in some embodiments, when the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 are in a substantially flat state, in the case where the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 is 0.05mm to 5mm, providing negative pressure to the breathing cavity between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 may reduce the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 at maximum deformation to 0 to 3mm, i.e., in the case shown in fig. 11, the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 at maximum deformation is reduced to 0 to 3mm. For example, in some examples, when the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 are in a substantially flat state, the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 at the maximum deformation may be reduced to 0 when the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 is 0.05 mm; when the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 is 3mm, the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 at the maximum deformation can be reduced to 1mm; when the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 is 5mm, the distance between the release film 3 and the transparent support plate 6 at the maximum deformation can be reduced to 3mm.

For example, in some embodiments, after filling material between the molding surface of the molding platen and the release film, or after the polymeric layer has been formed on the molding surface and filling material between the polymeric layer and the release film, the printing method further comprises: providing positive pressure to the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate so that the air pressure in the breathing chamber is equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure, and then restoring the release film to a first state, for example, maintaining the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate to be 0.05mm-5mm, or maintaining the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate in a flat and tensioned state, or counteracting the gravity of the material, as shown in fig. 12. Then, a curing process is performed using a photo-curing device to form a next polymer layer.

For example, in some embodiments, a positive pressure is provided to the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate such that the release film does not deform or only slightly deforms when the air pressure within the breathing chamber is equal to or above atmospheric pressure, e.g., the release film does not deform more than 0.5mm toward the transparent support plate.

For example, in some embodiments, when the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate provides negative pressure, providing the negative pressure includes: providing negative pressure at uniform speed, uniform acceleration or uniform deceleration so as to enable the negative pressure to reach a set value; when the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate provides positive pressure, providing positive pressure includes: the positive pressure is provided at a uniform speed, at a uniform acceleration or at a uniform deceleration so that the positive pressure reaches a set point. Thus, the air pressure supply device 20 can smoothly supply pressure to the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, so that the release film is prevented from being damaged or the service life of the release film is prevented from being shortened due to abrupt pressure change, and excessive pulling force on the polymeric layer is prevented.

For example, the driving of the forming platform to move away from the release film and the filling of the material between the forming surface of the forming platform and the release film may be performed simultaneously, i.e. the driving of the forming platform to move away from the release film may be performed in the process of filling the material between the forming surface of the forming platform and the release film, and since the pressure supply device 20 provides negative pressure to the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate at this time, the distance between the forming surface of the forming platform and the release film increases, thereby facilitating rapid filling of the material into the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, and thus improving the 3D printing speed.

It can be seen that in the above 3D printing method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, by providing negative pressure to the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate, the effects of separating the polymeric layer from the release film and fully filling the material and the like can be simultaneously achieved, so that continuous printing can be achieved, and material filling is not required to be completed through the reciprocating motion and waiting time of the forming platform, so that the 3D printing speed is improved. For example, the above method can more effectively exhibit the lossless separation of the polymeric layer from the release film when the contact area between the polymeric layer and the release film is large. In addition, the printing method can adopt any form of release film such as a non-oxygen permeable film or an oxygen blocking release film to realize printing, thereby widening the application range of the release film and reducing the cost.

According to the scheme disclosed by the embodiment of the disclosure, the separation of the printing model and the release film and the filling of liquid are realized by controlling the release film to deform in the direction away from the forming platform or controlling the release film to be in the first state (namely, the technical scheme of the embodiment of the disclosure is a breathing separation mode), so that the separation and backflow waiting time is greatly shortened, and the printing speed and the printing quality are improved. Specifically, the reliability of separation of the printing model and the release film can be improved, and thorough separation is realized; the speed and the capability of liquid material backflow are improved, so that the high polymer liquid material backflow filling is easier and more reliable, and the advantages are more obvious especially under the condition that the contact area between a printing model and a release film is larger; the continuous printing mode and the oscillation printing mode are satisfied, and particularly, continuous printing can be performed under the condition that an oxygen permeable release film is not needed, so that the printing speed and the printing quality are improved. The method is also particularly important, and the technical scheme can avoid using an oxygen permeable membrane release film with high price and high cost, so that the printing cost is greatly reduced.

For example, in other embodiments, providing pressure, such as positive or negative pressure, to the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate may also be accomplished by providing a transparent fluid to the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate. For example, the transparent fluid may be a gas (as in the embodiments described above) or a liquid, as long as the embodiments of the present disclosure provide the desired pressure for the breathing chamber between the release film and the transparent support plate.

For example, in other embodiments, the release film is deformed away from the forming platen or in a first state by applying an external force to the release film. For example, in some examples, a moving member is disposed at the release film, and an external force is applied to the release film by controlling the moving member so as to deform the release film in a direction away from the forming platform. At this time, the 3D printing method and the 3D printing process are as shown in fig. 13 to 16.

For example, the trough assembly includes a trough, the trough includes an annular frame enclosing a first opening and a second opening opposite to each other, a release film is disposed on the second opening side of the annular frame and covers the second opening, a moving member is disposed at the release film, the moving member is configured to drive the release film to move up and down, and the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform or in a first state by applying an external force to the release film, and the method includes: the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platform by moving the moving part or the moving part is in a first state and can be a pressing block.

For example, the moving member may include a pressing block, and further includes an adsorption block located below the release film, where the adsorption block may drive the pressing block to move up and down. Alternatively, the press block may be provided at an edge region of the release film located at the second opening.

For example, as shown in fig. 13, the pressing member may be a pressing block 30 as shown in fig. 13, and the pressing block 30 is disposed at a side of the release film 3 near the molding stage 200 for applying an external force to the release film 3. For example, in some embodiments, the compacts 30 are formed of magnetically inductive material and are placed at the side of the release film 3 near the forming table and at the second opening of the trough. For example, the compacts 30 conform to the shape of the second vent holes of the material assembly 10 in the above-described embodiments.

For example, a side of the pressing block 30 away from the molding table (i.e., a lower side in the drawing) is provided with a suction block 31 for driving the pressing block 30. For example, the magnet block 31 may be formed of a permanent magnet material to drive the pressing block 30 by magnetic attraction. For example, the suction block 31 is placed at the side of the release film away from the forming table and at the second opening of the trough. For example, the suction block 31 may be connected to a motor to move the suction block 31 by driving the motor. For example, in one example, the motor is a linear motor 32, and as shown in fig. 13, the linear motor 32 is connected to the suction block 31 and configured to drive the suction block 31 to move up and down, thereby applying an external force to the release film 3.

For example, as shown in fig. 14, after a polymeric layer is formed by photo-curing, the linear motor 32 drives the suction block 31 to move downward, the suction block 31 sucks the pressing block 30 to follow the movement, and the release film 3 is moved in a direction away from the molding stage 200, at which time the polymeric layer 100B and the release film 3 are gradually separated from the edge portion toward the middle portion. As shown in fig. 14, the polymeric layer 100B starts to gradually separate from the release film 3 from the edge, and the printing material gradually flows back to the portion where the polymeric layer 100B is separated from the release film 3.

For example, as shown in fig. 15, when the linear motor 32 moves to a predetermined position, waiting for a time of several seconds, for example, waiting for 1 to 10 seconds, the polymeric layer 100B is thoroughly separated from the release film 3, and the reflow of the printing material is completed, that is, the printing material is sufficiently filled between the release film 3 and the polymeric layer 100B. At the same time, the forming table 200 may be moved to the next forming position with the formed polymeric layer 100B.

For example, as shown in fig. 16, after the modeling stage 200 moves to a lower modeling position with the polymerized layer 100B, the linear motor 32 starts to move upward and reset, waiting for a period of seconds, for example, for 1-10 seconds, after the material to be printed and the release film 3 are stationary, photo-curing is performed to form a lower polymerized layer.

For example, in other embodiments, the release film is deformed away from the forming platen by driving the release film to move away from the forming platen. At this time, the 3D printing method and the 3D printing process are as shown in fig. 17 to 20.

For example, the trough assembly may be moved up and down, and the releasing film may be deformed in a direction away from the forming platform by applying an external force to the releasing film, or may be in a first state including: the release film is deformed or in a first state in a direction far away from the forming platform by moving the trough assembly up and down.

For example, as shown in fig. 17, a motor is disposed on a side (lower side in the drawing) of the trough away from the forming platform, and the trough is driven by the motor to move so as to deform the release film in a direction away from the forming platform. For example, the motor is a linear motor 33 shown in fig. 17, and the linear motor 33 is connected to the trough and configured to drive the trough to move, for example, to drive the trough to move up and down.

For example, as shown in fig. 18, after one polymeric layer is formed, the linear motor 33 drives the trough downward, and thus the release film 3 is moved in a direction away from the forming stage 200. At this time, as shown in fig. 18, at least the edge portion of the release film 3 is deformed in a direction away from the molding stage 200, the polymeric layer 100B starts to gradually separate from the release film 3 from the edge portion toward the intermediate portion, and the printing material gradually flows back to the portion where the polymeric layer 100B is separated from the release film 3.

For example, as shown in fig. 19, when the linear motor 33 moves to a predetermined position, waiting for a period of several seconds, for example, 1 to 10 seconds, the polymeric layer 100B is thoroughly separated from the release film 3, and the reflow of the printing material is completed, that is, the printing material is sufficiently filled between the release film 3 and the polymeric layer 100B. At the same time, the former 200 moves with the formed polymeric layer 100B to the next forming position.

For example, as shown in fig. 20, after the molding stage 200 moves to a lower molding position with the polymerized layer 100B, the linear motor 33 starts to move upward and reset, waiting for a period of several seconds, for example, 1 to 10 seconds, and after the printing material and the release film 3 are stationary, photo-curing is performed by a photo-curing device to form a lower polymerized layer.

For example, in other embodiments, the release film is deformed in a direction away from the forming platen by providing a breathing chamber on a side of the release film proximate to the forming platen and by providing positive pressure to the breathing chamber. At this time, the 3D printing method and the 3D printing process are as shown in fig. 21 to 24.

For example, as shown in fig. 21, a sealed printing chamber 40 is formed on the side of the release film close to the molding stage, and the printing chamber 40 is implemented as the above-described breathing chamber. For example, the printing chamber 40 includes therein a lifting device 300, a molding table 200, and a trough assembly 10. The printing chamber 40 is constructed as a closed space so that the state of the release film 3 can be controlled by supplying air pressure into the printing chamber 40.

For example, as shown in fig. 22, after one polymeric layer 100B is formed, the forming stage 200 is moved to the next forming position, for example, positive pressure is supplied into the printing chamber 40 by using the air pressure supply device 20, so that the release film 3 is deformed in a direction away from the forming stage 200 by the pressure of the portion of the release film that is not bonded to the polymeric layer, for example, the deformation of fig. 22 is presented, thereby forcing the release film 3 and the polymeric layer 100B to separate gradually from the edge portion toward the middle portion; meanwhile, the printing material 100A automatically flows and fills the region where the polymeric layer 100B is separated from the release film 3 under the action of pressure.

For example, as shown in fig. 23, after the polymeric layer 100B is thoroughly separated from the release film 3, and the printing material 100A is sufficiently filled between the release film 3 and the polymeric layer 100B, the air pressure supply device 20 provides negative pressure into the printing chamber 40 until the pressure in the printing chamber 40 is equal to or less than the atmospheric pressure, for example, making the pressure in the printing chamber 40 less than the atmospheric pressure can counteract the gravity of the printing material itself, so as to prevent the release film 3 from generating a sagging phenomenon under the gravity of the printing material.

For example, as shown in fig. 24, after the pressure in the printing chamber 40 is restored, the release film 3 is restored to the first state, and then the photo-curing device starts the photo-curing operation to form the next polymeric layer.

For example, in some embodiments, the 3D printing method provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure may further include: the temperature of the liquid 3D printing material in the trough assembly is controlled to maintain the temperature of the liquid 3D printing material at a suitable temperature, such as 18-30 ℃, such as 24-29 ℃, such as 25 ℃, and the like. At this time, the liquid 3D printing material may have a certain fluidity and be easily cured.

For example, the temperature of the liquid 3D printing material in the trough assembly 10 may be controlled using a temperature control device 103 provided in the trough assembly 10. For example, the heat treatment of the liquid 3D printing material may reduce the viscosity of the liquid 3D printing material, thereby improving the fluidity of the liquid 3D printing material, so that the liquid 3D printing material more easily fills the space between the release film 3 and the molding surface 200A.

For example, after the molding table 200 is placed in the next molding position, it may wait 1 second to 5 minutes, for example, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, or 1 minute, etc., to stabilize the molding table 200 and the formed polymeric layer, and then perform the curing process using the light curing device 400.

For example, in some embodiments, a light curing device may be employed to provide light to illuminate the molding area, e.g., the process may include: continuously providing light for 0.5 seconds to 2 minutes; alternatively, in some embodiments, the light may be intermittently provided, with the gap time between any two adjacent intermittent light supplies being 1 second to 10 minutes and the time for each light supply being 1 second to 2 minutes.

For example, in some embodiments, after the 3D object is printed, the 3D object may be left to stand for 1 second to 10 minutes, e.g., 30 seconds, 3 minutes, or 6 minutes, etc., to stabilize the shape of the 3D object, and then the modeling stage 200 is driven to the initial position using the elevating device 300.

For example, after the lifting device 300 drives the molding stage 200 to the initial position, the base 200B on the molding stage 200 may be removed manually or mechanically, for example, the base 200B and the 3D object formed on the base 200B may be removed with an auxiliary tool such as a shovel blade or a blade, and then, for example, the removed 3D object with the base 200B may be placed in a cleaning device, cleaned for a certain period of time, for example, for 10 seconds to 5 minutes, for example, for 1 minute or 3 minutes, etc., and then the 3D object may be taken out and dried. The base 200B may then be removed using forceps or/and tweezers or the like to remove the 3D object.

For example, in some embodiments, the 3D printing method may further include: after the 3D object is printed and removed, the 3D object is subjected to a second curing process to further cure the 3D object to stabilize the final shape of the 3D object. For example, the second curing treatment may be various forms of curing treatment such as a water bath curing treatment, a salt bath curing treatment, a photo curing treatment, or a heat curing treatment. The time for the second curing may be determined according to practical situations, such as the nature of the liquid 3D printing material and the final curing degree. For example, in some examples, the time for the second cure may be selected to be 0-24 hours, such as 5 hours or 12 hours, etc.

For example, in some embodiments, when the liquid 3D printing material includes a plurality of different components, the above-described use of a light curing device may cure certain components of the liquid 3D printing material, while a second curing process may cure other cured components of the liquid 3D printing material, thereby achieving complete curing of the 3D object; alternatively, in some embodiments, the liquid 3D printing material may also comprise a single component, in which case the above-described use of a light curing device may cure the skin material formed on the molding surface 200A, while a second curing process may cure the material within the skin material, thereby achieving complete curing of the 3D object; alternatively, in some embodiments, the liquid 3D printing material formed on the molding surface 200A may be completely cured using a photo-curing device as described above, while the second curing process may stabilize the final shape of the 3D object to obtain a stable and solid 3D printed object.

The following points need to be described: (1) The drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure relate only to the structures related to the embodiments of the present disclosure, and other structures may refer to the general design. (2) The embodiments of the present disclosure and features in the embodiments may be combined with each other to arrive at a new embodiment without conflict.

The foregoing is merely specific embodiments of the disclosure, but the protection scope of the disclosure is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the disclosure, and it is intended to cover the scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A 3D printing method, comprising:

driving a forming platform to an initial forming position, and forming a forming area between the forming platform and a release film, wherein the release film is positioned in a trough component;

controlling the release film to be in a first state so as to maintain the thickness of the printing material between the molding surface of the molding platform and the release film;

providing light to illuminate a molding area to cure a printing material illuminated by the light and located between the molding land and the release film and form a polymeric layer on the molding surface;

After the polymeric layer is formed on the molding surface, controlling the release film to deform in a direction away from the molding platform, so that the polymeric layer and the release film are gradually separated from the periphery of the contact surface to the center, and meanwhile, the printing material is gradually filled along a separation gap;

driving the forming platform to a next forming position;

restoring the release film to the first state;

providing light to illuminate a molding area to cure a printing material illuminated by the light and located between the molding platform and the release film and form a next polymeric layer on the molding surface;

forming at least one next polymeric layer on the molding surface;

the forming platform is arranged on one side of the release film, and the release film is in the first state by providing positive pressure for the breathing cavity on one side, away from the forming platform, of the release film; or alternatively

A breathing cavity is arranged on one side, far away from the forming platform, of the release film, and negative pressure is provided for the breathing cavity on one side, close to the forming platform, of the release film so that the release film is in the first state;

wherein, adopt atmospheric pressure feeding mechanism to provide malleation or negative pressure for the respiratory cavity, atmospheric pressure feeding mechanism includes:

A first gas port in communication with a gas source for providing gas to the gas pressure supply device;

a second port in gaseous communication with the breathing chamber;

the air pressure source is connected with the first air port and the second air port and comprises an air inlet and an air outlet;

the gas path switching device is connected with the gas inlet, the first gas port and the second gas port and is configured to switch the gas communication of the gas inlet to the first gas port and the second gas port;

a pressure detection port in gaseous communication with the breathing chamber;

a pressure sensor, which is communicated with the pressure detection port and is used for detecting the air pressure in the breathing cavity;

a throttle valve, wherein a first end of the throttle valve is communicated with the pressure detection port, and a second end of the throttle valve is used for being communicated with an atmosphere or gas collecting device; and

the three-way pipe, wherein, the first end of three-way pipe with the pressure detection mouth is connected, the second end of three-way pipe with pressure sensor is connected, the third end of three-way pipe with the choke valve is connected.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein in case the side of the release film remote from the forming table has a breathing cavity, the side of the release film remote from the forming table is provided with a transparent support plate, the release film and the transparent support plate constitute the breathing cavity, and the distance between the release film and the transparent support plate in the first state is 0.05mm-5mm.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing positive pressure to the respiratory cavity comprises: controlling the air pressure of the breathing cavity to be equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure;

the superatmospheric pressure is no more than 0.1Kpa above atmospheric.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the pressure on the side of the release film remote from the forming platen is controlled to be less than the pressure on the side of the release film near the forming platen, and:

the negative pressure is provided for a breathing cavity at one side far away from the forming platform so that the release film is deformed in a direction far away from the forming platform; or alternatively

The positive pressure is provided for the breathing cavity on one side close to the forming platform so that the release film deforms in a direction away from the forming platform.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the side of the release film remote from the forming platform has a breathing chamber, and deforming the release film in a direction away from the forming platform by providing negative pressure to the breathing chamber comprises:

a transparent support plate is arranged on one side of the release film, which is far away from the forming platform, and the release film and the transparent support plate form the breathing cavity; providing negative pressure for the breathing cavity between the release film and the transparent support plate so as to deform the release film towards the transparent support plate;

Wherein the negative pressure is provided with a magnitude of 0.1KPa-10 KPa smaller than the atmospheric pressure.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the release film is deformed away from the forming platform or in the first state by applying an external force to the release film.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the driving the forming table to a next forming position comprises: the modeling platform is driven to move a displacement equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein driving the modeling stage to move a displacement equal to a thickness of each polymeric layer comprises:

driving the forming platform to move a first distance in a direction away from the release film so that the forming platform is positioned at a middle position, and driving the forming platform to move a second distance from the middle position towards the release film so that the forming platform is positioned at a next forming position, wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance, and the difference between the first distance and the second distance is equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer; or alternatively

And driving the forming platform to move a distance equal to the thickness of each polymeric layer in a direction away from the release film.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said controlling the deformation of the release film in a direction away from the forming table occurs before, simultaneously with, or after said driving the forming table to a next forming position.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the absolute value of the amount of deformation produced by the release film in the first state is not more than 0.5mm, based on the flat and tensioned state of the release film; and/or

Control from the type membrane to keeping away from the direction emergence deformation of shaping platform includes: and taking the release film in the first state as a reference, so that the deformation amount of the release film at the maximum deformation position in the direction away from the forming platform is greater than 0.1mm.