CN114043728B - 3D printer, method and device for same, 3D printing system and storage medium - Google Patents

3D printer, method and device for same, 3D printing system and storage medium Download PDF

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Publication number
CN114043728B
CN114043728B CN202111357830.6A CN202111357830A CN114043728B CN 114043728 B CN114043728 B CN 114043728B CN 202111357830 A CN202111357830 A CN 202111357830A CN 114043728 B CN114043728 B CN 114043728B
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printed
wire
region
print
dimension
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CN114043728A (en
Inventor
吴一凡
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Shenzhen Tuozhu Technology Co Ltd
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Shenzhen Tuozhu Technology Co Ltd
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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/30—Auxiliary operations or equipment
    • B29C64/386—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/10—Processes of additive manufacturing
    • B29C64/106—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material
    • B29C64/118—Processes of additive manufacturing using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM]
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/20—Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C64/00—Additive manufacturing, i.e. manufacturing of three-dimensional [3D] objects by additive deposition, additive agglomeration or additive layering, e.g. by 3D printing, stereolithography or selective laser sintering
    • B29C64/30—Auxiliary operations or equipment
    • B29C64/307—Handling of material to be used in additive manufacturing
    • B29C64/321—Feeding
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y10/00—Processes of additive manufacturing
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y30/00—Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y40/00—Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B33—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
    • B33Y—ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3-D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3-D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
    • B33Y50/00—Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a 3D printer, a 3D printing system, a computer readable storage medium, and a computer program product. The 3D printer includes a printing platform and a printhead that are movable relative to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to an upper surface of the printing platform and a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring a three-dimensional model file to be printed, wherein the three-dimensional model file defines a plurality of sub-models to be printed by different wires; and generating control code based on the three-dimensional model file, the control code being executable by a processor of the 3D printer to perform a multi-layer switched printing strategy for the plurality of sub-models.

Description

3D printer, method and device for same, 3D printing system and storage medium
Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of 3D printing technology, and in particular to a method and apparatus for a 3D printer, a 3D printing system, a computer readable storage medium and a computer program product.
Background
A 3D printer, also called a three-dimensional printer or a stereoscopic printer, is a process device for rapid forming, and is usually implemented by printing wires by adopting a digital technology. 3D printers are often used in the field of mold manufacturing, industrial design, etc. to manufacture models or parts. In recent years, 3D printing technology has a very high application prospect in jewelry, footwear, industrial design, construction, engineering and construction (AEC), automotive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering, firearms, and other fields.
Three-dimensional printing methods known in the art are first built by computer modeling software to create a model, which is imported into slicing software. Slicing software is layered (sliced) according to a certain thickness according to different process requirements, namely, a model is decomposed into a series of two-dimensional planes and plane information corresponding to the two-dimensional planes. And combining the plane information of the model decomposition and the processing parameters of the 3D printer to generate a CODE (G-CODE) which can be recognized by the 3D printer. And finally, planning a printing path through a code-driven 3D printer, orderly processing each layer, and stacking a plurality of layers until a solid model is formed.
Disclosure of Invention
The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for a 3D printer, a 3D printing system, a computer readable storage medium, and a computer program product.
According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a method for a 3D printer is provided. The 3D printer includes a printing platform and a printhead that are movable relative to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to an upper surface of the printing platform and in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring a three-dimensional model file to be printed, wherein the three-dimensional model file defines a plurality of sub-models to be printed by different wires; and generating control code based on the three-dimensional model file, the control code being executable by a processor of the 3D printer to perform a multi-layer switched printing policy for the plurality of sub-models, the multi-layer switched printing policy comprising: causing the printhead to print a first multi-layer slice of a first subset of the plurality of sub-models using a first wire within a first region on the print platform, wherein the first multi-layer slice is such that, after the first multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in a vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within the first region and a dimension in a vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height; performing a refueling operation to replace the first wire with a second wire different from the first wire; and causing the printhead to print a second multi-layer slice of a second subset of the plurality of submodels using a second wire in a second region on the print platform different from the first region, wherein the second multi-layer slice is such that an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in the vertical direction of the printed portion of each submodel in the second region and a dimension in the vertical direction of the printed portion of each submodel in other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height after the second multi-layer slice is printed.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided an apparatus for a 3D printer. The 3D printer includes a printing platform and a printhead that are movable relative to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to an upper surface of the printing platform and in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction. The device comprises: a first unit configured to acquire a three-dimensional model file to be printed, the three-dimensional model file defining a plurality of sub-models to be printed by different wires; and a second unit configured to generate control code based on the three-dimensional model file, the control code being executable by the processor of the 3D printer to perform a multi-layer switched printing policy for the plurality of sub-models. The multi-layer switching printing strategy comprises the following steps: causing the printhead to print a first multi-layer slice of a first subset of the plurality of sub-models using a first wire within a first region on the print platform, wherein the first multi-layer slice is such that, after the first multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in a vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within the first region and a dimension in a vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height; performing a refueling operation to replace the first wire with a second wire different from the first wire; and causing the printhead to print a second multi-layer slice of a second subset of the plurality of submodels using a second wire in a second region on the print platform different from the first region, wherein the second multi-layer slice is such that an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in the vertical direction of the printed portion of each submodel in the second region and a dimension in the vertical direction of the printed portion of each submodel in other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height after the second multi-layer slice is printed.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a 3D printer including: a printing stage and a printing head which are movable relative to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to an upper surface of the printing stage and in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction; a processor; and a memory storing control code executable by the processor to perform a multi-layer switched printing strategy for a plurality of submodels to be printed by different wires. The multi-layer switching printing strategy comprises the following steps: causing the printhead to print a first multi-layer slice of a first subset of the plurality of sub-models using a first wire within a first region on the print platform, wherein the first multi-layer slice is such that, after the first multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in a vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within the first region and a dimension in a vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height; performing a refueling operation to replace the first wire with a second wire different from the first wire; and causing the printhead to print a second multi-layer slice of a second subset of the plurality of submodels using a second wire in a second region on the print platform different from the first region, wherein the second multi-layer slice is such that an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in the vertical direction of the printed portion of each submodel in the second region and a dimension in the vertical direction of the printed portion of each submodel in other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height after the second multi-layer slice is printed.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a 3D printing system including: a 3D printer; and 3D print slicing software configured to perform the method as described above.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor of a 3D printer as above, implement the method as described above.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a computer program product comprising instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor of a 3D printer as above, implement the method as described above.
According to the embodiment of the disclosure, when planning a printing path, slicing software firstly acquires a three-dimensional model file to be printed, and then generates a control code based on the three-dimensional model file. The control code drives the 3D printer to print the submodels made of the same wire in the same area of the printing platform, after the printing is finished, all the multilayer slices of the submodels made of the same wire in one area are moved to the next area to print the multilayer slices of all the submodels made of the other wire, and after the printing of the multilayer slices is finished in one area, the absolute value of the difference between the dimension of each submodel in the area and the dimension of the submodel in the other area in the vertical direction is not more than a preset threshold height.
It should be understood that the description in this section is not intended to identify key or critical features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following specification.
Drawings
In the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same or similar parts or elements throughout the several views unless otherwise specified. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only some embodiments according to the disclosure and are not to be considered limiting of its scope.
Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a 3D printer according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method for a 3D printer, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of an example arrangement of different areas on a printing platform of a 3D printer, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 4A illustrates a schematic diagram of determining a threshold height of a multi-layer switched printing policy, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 4B illustrates a schematic diagram of determining a threshold height of a multi-layer switched printing policy, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and
fig. 5 shows a block diagram of an apparatus for a 3D printer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
Detailed Description
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which include various details of the embodiments of the present disclosure to facilitate understanding, and should be considered as merely exemplary. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted in the following description for clarity and conciseness.
In the present disclosure, the use of the terms "first," "second," and the like to describe various elements is not intended to limit the positional relationship, timing relationship, or importance relationship of the elements, unless otherwise indicated, and such terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another. In some examples, a first element and a second element may refer to the same instance of the element, and in some cases, they may also refer to different instances based on the description of the context.
The terminology used in the description of the various illustrated examples in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the elements may be one or more if the number of the elements is not specifically limited. Furthermore, the term "and/or" as used in this disclosure encompasses any and all possible combinations of the listed items.
In practice, the printing strategy of the 3D printer is largely divided into the following two types.
1. And printing layer by layer, namely printing the model layer by layer in the printing platform, and if printing objects with different colors exist in the same layer, executing material changing operation by the printer, and then printing with different colors.
2. And printing piece by piece, namely finishing the same-color part formed by the multi-layer slices, changing the materials, and printing the part with the other color.
The inventors have found that when performing a layer-by-layer printing strategy, time and wire (part of the wire is consumed per reloading operation) is very wasted due to the presence of the reloading operation. In the case of the piece-by-piece printing strategy, although the operation of performing the piece-by-piece printing strategy for multiple material changes is avoided, the piece-by-piece printing strategy is affected by the size of the printer and the structure of the device, such as the maximum height of the parts (the number of layers of the multi-layer slice), and the interval between the adjacent parts must be larger than the size of the print head, which results in low utilization of the printing space, and the number of submodels that can be printed on one printing platform is far smaller than the number of submodels when the piece-by-piece printing strategy is used.
In view of this, the disclosed embodiments provide a method and apparatus for a 3D printer, a 3D printing system, a computer readable storage medium and a computer program product, which may alleviate, mitigate or even eliminate the above-mentioned problems.
Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a 3D printer 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The 3D printer 100 will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1.
As shown in fig. 1, the 3D printer 100 includes a processor 101, a memory 102, a printhead 103, and a printing platform 104.
The processor 101 drives the printhead 103 and the printing platform 104 to execute a print policy specified by the slicing software by calling and executing a control Code (e.g., G-Code) stored in the memory 102. In an embodiment, the processor 101 is configured to control the printhead 103 and the printing platform to execute the multi-layer switched printing strategy proposed by the present disclosure under the drive of the control code. The so-called "multi-layer switching print strategy" will be described in detail later in connection with fig. 2, 3, and 4A and 4B.
The memory 102 may store control code generated by the slicing software for invocation by the processor 101.
The print head 103 may be provided with or cooperate with an extrusion train. The extrusion train may be driven by a motor controlled by processor 101 to perform feed and reject operations to complete a print job in conjunction with printhead 103.
The printing platform 104 is used for carrying an object to be printed, and its upper surface is a generally flat surface for placing various parts printed during printing. In this embodiment, the upper surface of the printing platform 104 may be divided into different areas, wherein the parts in each area are printed from different wires (e.g., different colored wires or different materials). In this sense, these regions may also be referred to as "material regions". In addition, the upper surface of the print platform 104 may also include a refueling area for replacement of wire, where a small portion of the old wire remaining in the printhead and the replaced new wire is extruded to complete the refueling. It will be appreciated that the reload area is not necessary.
Fig. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method 200 for a 3D printer, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For descriptive purposes, the method 200 will be described with reference to fig. 1, and the method 200 may be used with the 3D printer 100 shown in fig. 1. The method 200 may be performed by slicing software and may include the following steps.
In step 201, a three-dimensional model file of an object to be printed is acquired.
According to one embodiment, a plurality of sub-models that need to be printed from different wires (e.g., wires of different colors or wires of different materials) are included in a three-dimensional model file. In one example, the combination of sub-models may form a complete three-dimensional model or a portion of a complete three-dimensional model. In another example, these sub-models may also be parts from different three-dimensional models. The three-dimensional model file may be, for example, a file in STL format, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
In step 202, a control code is generated based on the three-dimensional model file.
As is known, the slicing software decomposes a three-dimensional model defined by the three-dimensional model file into a plurality of two-dimensional layers after obtaining the three-dimensional model file, and generates control codes for driving the 3D printer to execute corresponding printing strategies by combining the two-dimensional plane information with processing parameters of the 3D printer.
According to some embodiments, the control code is executable by the processor 101 of the 3D printer 100 to perform a multi-layer switched printing policy for the plurality of sub-models. The processor 101 invokes control code generated by the slicing software and stored in the memory 102, and controls the printhead 103 and the printing platform 104 to print the plurality of submodels in accordance with the multi-layer switched printing policy defined by the control code.
In step 202-1, the multi-layer switching printing strategy includes causing the printhead to print a first multi-layer slice of a first subset of the plurality of submodels using a first line within a first region on the print platform. The first multi-layer slice is such that, after the first multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in a vertical direction of the printed portion of each sub-model in the first region and a dimension in a vertical direction of the printed portion of each sub-model in other regions on the printing platform is not greater than a threshold height.
According to some embodiments, the processor 101 controls the printhead 103 to print the submodels (i.e., the first subset of the plurality of submodels) placed in the first region layer-by-layer using the first wire in the first region of the print platform 104 until the number of layers of the first multi-layer slice is printed. It will be appreciated that the number of layers of the first multi-layer slice of a submodel is typically no greater than the total number of layers of the submodel that were decomposed by the slicing software.
Referring to the example of fig. 3, fig. 3 shows a top view of an exemplary arrangement of the print platform 104 and its coordinate system. In this example, the print platform includes a first region 301, a second region 302, a third region 303, and a reload region 304. Each part 1, 2, 3 …, 9 as shown in fig. 3 represents a different sub-model placed on the printing platform 104.
In one example, the slice software predefines a threshold height of 10 slices (assuming the height of each slice is the same), and no slices of parts are present on the print platform 104 at this time. The print head 103 prints a slice of part 1, a slice of part 2, a slice of part 5, and a slice of part 6 using the first wire above the first region 301 of the print platform 104, and repeats such steps until 10 layers of parts 1, 2, 5, and 6 in the first region 301 are printed.
In another example, the slice software predefined threshold height is the height of 10 slices (assuming the height of each slice is the same), and there are already 5 slices printed in the first region 301 and 10 slices printed in the second region 302. Then, at most 15 slices of part 1, part 2, part 5, and part 6 can be printed in the first area 301 using the first wire.
It will be appreciated that the purpose of the threshold height is to avoid interference of the printed sub-model with structural components of the 3D printer during printing. For example, since the vertical dimension of the preceding model is higher than that of the following model, in order to print the following model, it is necessary to move the print head above the following model and raise the height of the printing platform so that the print head can print on the upper surface of the following model. In raising the printing platform, since the preamble pattern has a larger vertical dimension, the top of the preamble pattern may collide with the top of the frame of the 3D printer. In order to avoid such interference problems between the model and the 3D printer, a threshold height needs to be set when performing the multi-layer switching printing strategy. The determination of the threshold height will be described in detail later in connection with fig. 4A and 4B.
In step 202-2, the multi-layer switching printing strategy includes performing a refueling operation to replace a first wire with a second wire that is different from the first wire.
With continued reference to fig. 3, after printing of the first multi-layer slice of part 1, part 2, part 5, and part 6 in the first region 301 is completed, the printhead 103 and the print platform 104 are controlled to be displaced relative to each other such that the printhead 103 moves over the reloading region 304 and the first wire in the printhead 103 is replaced with the second wire.
In step 202-3, the multi-layer switching printing strategy includes causing the printhead to print a second multi-layer slice of a second subset of the plurality of submodels using a second wire within a second region on the print platform that is different from the first region. The second multi-layer slice is such that, after the second multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in a vertical direction of the printed portion of each sub-model in the second region and a dimension in a vertical direction of the printed portion of each sub-model in the other region on the printing platform is not greater than a threshold height.
According to some embodiments, the processor 101 controls the printhead 103 to print a plurality of submodels placed in the second area layer by layer using the second wire in the second area of the printing platform 104 until the number of layers of the second multi-layer slice is printed. It will be appreciated that the number of layers of the second multi-layer slice of the submodel is typically no greater than the total number of layers of the submodel that were decomposed by the slicing software.
With continued reference to fig. 3, the print head 103 and the print platform 104 are controlled to displace relative to each other such that the print head 103 moves from the reload area 304 to the second area 302. The print head 103 prints a slice of part 3 and a slice of part 4 using the second wire in the second area 302 of the print platform 104, and repeats such steps until 10 layers of parts 3 and 4 in the second area are printed.
In one example, assuming the number of layers of the second multi-layer slice is 10, part 3 located in the second region 302 is broken down into 15 layers of slices by the slicing software and part 4 is broken down into 20 layers of slices by the slicing software. The processor 101 controls the print head 103 to print the first layer of part 3 using the same second wire in the second area 302 of the print platform 104, then to print the first layer of part 4, and repeats such layer-by-layer printing operation until 10 slices of part 3 and 10 slices of part 4 are printed.
In another example, assume that the slicing software predefines a threshold height of 10 slices, and that the first region 301 already has 20 slices of printed part 1, part 2, part 5, and part 6 before printing part 3 and part 4 in the second region 302, and the second region 302 already has 10 slices of printed part 3 and part 4. Then, the controller 101 controls the print head 103 on the printing platform 104, and by a layer-by-layer printing method, 20-layer slices of the part 3 and the part 4 can be printed using the second wire at most in the second area 302.
In the above description, the threshold height (10-layer slice), the number of layers of the first multi-layer slice, and the number of layers of the second multi-layer slice are exemplary, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
In yet another example (where only one yellow part and one green part need be printed), the print order after dicing may be as follows:
printing 15 layers of yellow parts= > switching to green wire = >
Printing 30 layers of green parts= > switching to yellow wires= >
Printing 30 layers of yellow parts= > switching to green wire = >
Printing 30 layers of green parts= > switching to yellow wires= >
Printing 30 layers of yellow parts= > switching to green wire = >
……
In this way, printing of the yellow part and the green part is completed.
It will be appreciated that although the multi-layer switched printing strategy proposed by the present disclosure is described in the above description taking the printing process for the first and second areas as an example, the multi-layer switched printing strategy may be used for more areas on the printing platform. For example, after the second multi-layered cut sheet printing of the second region is completed, a refueling operation may be performed to replace the second wire with a third wire different from both the first wire and the second wire, and then the submodel in the third region is printed with the third wire.
According to some embodiments, after replacing the second wire with the third wire, the printhead is caused to print a third multi-layer slice of a third subset of the plurality of submodels using the third wire in a third region on the print platform different from the first region and the second region. The third multi-layer slice is such that, after the third multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in a vertical direction of the printed portion of each sub-model in the third region and a dimension in a vertical direction of the printed portion of each sub-model in the other region on the printing platform is not greater than a threshold height.
According to some embodiments, the processor 101 controls the printhead 103 to print the plurality of submodels placed in the third region layer by layer using the third wire in the third region of the print platform 104 until the number of slice layers of all submodels of the third region is equal to the number of layers of the third multi-layer slice defined in the control code. It will be appreciated that the number of layers of the third multi-layer slice of the submodel is typically no greater than the total number of layers of the submodel that were decomposed by the slicing software.
With continued reference to the example of fig. 3, the control printhead 103 prints a slice of part 7, a slice of part 8, and a slice of part 9 using a third wire in a third region 303 of the print platform 104, and repeats such steps until 10 layers of parts 7, 8, and 9 are printed.
With continued reference to the above example, after the printing of the 10-layer cut of all the parts of the first, second, and third areas is completed, the wire is switched again so that the third wire is replaced with the first wire, and the printing of the 10-layer cut of the parts 1, 2, 5, and 6 is completed back to the first area. And so on until printing of all parts on the printing platform 104 is completed.
It will be appreciated that the number of regions of different materials and the corresponding number of print lines on the print platform 104 are exemplary, and the disclosure is not limited thereto.
The determination of the threshold height is described below.
In order for the print platform 104 to be able to place as many submodels as possible, it is desirable to reduce the separation between submodels as much as possible. Meanwhile, in order to avoid collision of components of the 3D printer with the printing submodel during printing, the submodel spacing (minimum allowable pitch) between different regions may limit the magnitude of the threshold height.
According to some embodiments, the slicing software determines the threshold height based on the minimum allowed spacing in the horizontal direction between different sub-models to be printed by different wires and the physical dimensions of the printhead before generating the control code.
Referring to the example of fig. 4A, the printhead 103 includes a printhead body 402 and nozzles 403 disposed at the ends of the printhead body in a vertical direction (Z-axis direction in the drawing), and the outer dimension of the printhead body 402 in the horizontal direction (Y-axis direction in the drawing) is larger than the outer dimension of the nozzles 403 in the horizontal direction. The 3D printer further includes a slide bar 401, and the print head 103 is sleeved on the slide bar 401 to move in the horizontal direction.
According to some embodiments, if the minimum allowable spacing in the horizontal direction between different sub-models to be printed by different wires is not less than half the maximum overall dimension of the nozzles 403 in the horizontal direction and not more than half the maximum overall dimension of the printhead body 402 in the horizontal direction, the overall dimension of the nozzles 403 in the vertical direction is determined as the threshold height.
Fig. 4A shows a critical case of such a threshold height. As shown in fig. 4A, the print head 103 is ready to start performing operation 41 to move in the negative direction of the Y-axis to print a slice of part 2, and the bottom of the print head body 402 is just in contact with part 3 in the second region 302 that has been previously printed. In order to avoid collision of the print head 103 with the printed part 3, the horizontal minimum allowable pitch is half 404 of the maximum outer dimension of the nozzle 403 in the Y-axis direction shown in fig. 4A, and the outer dimension 405 of the nozzle 403 in the Z-axis direction is a threshold height.
With continued reference to fig. 4A, to avoid collision of the print head 103 with the printed part 3, the minimum allowable pitch may also be half 406 of the maximum outer dimension of the print head body 402 in the Y-axis direction, and similarly, the height 405 of the nozzle 403 in the Z-axis direction is a threshold height.
In summary, when the minimum allowable spacing in the horizontal direction is not less than half 404 of the maximum dimension of the nozzles 403 in the horizontal direction and not more than half 406 of the maximum dimension of the printhead body 402 in the horizontal direction, the threshold height is 405 of the dimension of the nozzles 403 in the vertical direction.
According to some embodiments, the distance of the tip of the nozzle in the vertical direction from the slide bar is determined to be a threshold height if the minimum allowed spacing in the horizontal direction between different sub-models to be printed by different wires is greater than half the maximum overall dimension of the printhead body in the horizontal direction.
Fig. 4B shows a critical case of such a threshold height. As shown in fig. 4B, the print head 103 is ready to start performing operation 42 moving in the negative direction of the Y-axis to print a slice of part 2, and the slide bar 401 has just come into contact with part 3 in the second area 302 that has been previously printed. Thus, when the horizontal minimum allowable pitch is greater than half 406 of the maximum length dimension of the printhead body 402 in the Y-axis direction shown in fig. 4B, the threshold height at this time is the dimension 407 of the printhead 103 in the Z-axis direction.
Fig. 5 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 500 for a 3D printer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The 3D printer includes a printing platform and a printhead that are movable relative to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to an upper surface of the printing platform and in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction. As shown in fig. 5, the apparatus 500 includes: a first unit configured to acquire a three-dimensional model file to be printed, the three-dimensional model file defining a plurality of sub-models to be printed by different wires; and a second unit configured to generate control code based on the three-dimensional model file, the control code being executable by the processor of the 3D printer to perform a multi-layer switched printing policy for the plurality of sub-models.
The multi-layer switched printing strategy may include: and causing the printhead to print a first multi-layer slice of the first subset of the plurality of sub-models using the first wire within a first region on the print platform, wherein the first multi-layer slice is such that an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in a vertical direction of the printed portion of each sub-model within the first region and a dimension in a vertical direction of the printed portion of each sub-model within other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height after the first multi-layer slice is printed.
The multi-layer switched printing strategy may further include: a refueling operation is performed to replace the first wire with a second wire different from the first wire.
The multi-layer switched printing strategy may further include: and causing the printhead to print a second multi-layer slice of a second subset of the plurality of submodels using a second wire in a second region on the print platform different from the first region, wherein the second multi-layer slice is such that an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in a vertical direction of a printed portion of each submodel in the second region and a dimension in a vertical direction of a printed portion of each submodel in other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height after the second multi-layer slice is printed.
There is also provided, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a 3D printing system comprising a 3D printer and a 3D printing software slice, wherein the 3D printing software slice is configured to implement the steps of the method 200 described in any of the embodiments above. For brevity, the details of method 200 are not repeated.
There is also provided, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method 200 described in any of the embodiments above. For brevity, the details of method 200 are not repeated.
There is also provided, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer program product comprising instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method described in any of the embodiments above. For brevity, the details of method 200 are not repeated.
It should be appreciated that various forms of the flows shown above may be used to reorder, add, or delete steps. For example, the steps recited in the present disclosure may be performed in parallel, sequentially or in a different order, provided that the desired results of the disclosed aspects are achieved, and are not limited herein.
It should be understood that in this specification, terms such as "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., refer to an orientation or positional relationship or dimension based on that shown in the drawings, which are used for convenience of description only, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be configured and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first", "a second", or a third "may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. In the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.
In the present disclosure, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; the device can be mechanically connected, electrically connected and communicated; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communicated with the inside of two elements or the interaction relationship of the two elements. The specific meaning of the terms in this disclosure will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as the case may be.
In this disclosure, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may include both the first and second features being in direct contact, as well as the first and second features not being in direct contact but being in contact with each other by way of additional features therebetween. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "over" and "on" a second feature includes the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature includes the first feature being directly under and obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is less level than the second feature.
The specification provides many different embodiments or examples that can be used to implement the present disclosure. It should be understood that these various embodiments or examples are purely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way. Various changes and substitutions will occur to those skilled in the art based on the disclosure of the specification and these are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure should be determined by the following claims.

Claims (10)

1. A method for a 3D printer, the 3D printer comprising a print platform and a print head, the print platform and the print head being movable relative to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to an upper surface of the print platform and a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction, the method comprising:
acquiring a three-dimensional model file of an object to be printed, wherein the three-dimensional model file defines a plurality of sub-models to be printed by different wires; and
generating control code based on the three-dimensional model file, the control code executable by a processor of the 3D printer to perform a multi-layer switched printing policy for the plurality of sub-models, the multi-layer switched printing policy comprising:
causing the printhead to print a first multi-layer slice of a first subset of the plurality of sub-models using a first wire within a first region on the print platform, wherein the first multi-layer slice is such that, after the first multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in the vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within the first region and a dimension in the vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height;
performing a material changing operation to replace the first wire with a second wire different from the first wire; and
causing the printhead to print a second multi-layer slice of a second subset of the plurality of submodels using the second wire in a second region on the print platform different from the first region, wherein the second multi-layer slice is such that, after the second multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension of a printed portion of each submodel in the second region in the vertical direction and a dimension of a printed portion of each submodel in other regions on the print platform in the vertical direction is not greater than the threshold height.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-layer switched printing strategy further comprises, after the second multi-layer slice is printed:
performing a material changing operation to replace the second wire with a third wire different from the first wire and the second wire; and
causing the printhead to print a third multi-layer slice of a third subset of the plurality of submodels using the third wire in a third region on the print platform that is different from the first region and the second region, wherein the third multi-layer slice is such that, after the third multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in the vertical direction of a printed portion of each submodel in the third region and a dimension in the vertical direction of a printed portion of each submodel in other regions on the print platform is not greater than the threshold height.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the generating the control code:
the threshold height is determined based on a minimum allowable spacing in the horizontal direction between different sub-models to be printed by different wires and an external dimension of the printhead.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the printhead includes a printhead body and nozzles disposed at ends of the printhead body in the vertical direction, an outer dimension of the printhead body in the horizontal direction being greater than an outer dimension of the nozzles in the horizontal direction, and wherein the determining the threshold height includes:
in response to determining that the minimum allowable spacing in the horizontal direction between different sub-models to be printed by different wires is not less than half of a maximum outline of the nozzle in the horizontal direction and not more than half of a maximum outline of the printhead body in the horizontal direction, an outline of the nozzle in the vertical direction is determined as the threshold height.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the 3D printer further comprises a slide bar on which the printhead is sleeved for movement in the horizontal direction, wherein the printhead comprises a printhead body and a nozzle disposed at an end of the printhead body in the vertical direction, an outer dimension of the printhead body in the horizontal direction being greater than an outer dimension of the nozzle in the horizontal direction, and wherein the determining the threshold height comprises:
in response to determining that the minimum allowable spacing in the horizontal direction between different sub-models to be printed by different wires is greater than half of a maximum physical dimension of the printhead body in the horizontal direction, a distance in the vertical direction of the tip of the nozzle from the slide bar is determined as the threshold height.
6. An apparatus for a 3D printer, the 3D printer comprising a print platform and a print head, the print platform and the print head being movable relative to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to an upper surface of the print platform and a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction, the apparatus comprising:
a first unit configured to acquire a three-dimensional model file to be printed, the three-dimensional model file defining a plurality of sub-models to be printed by different wires; and
a second unit configured to generate control code based on the three-dimensional model file, the control code being executable by a processor of the 3D printer to perform a multi-layer switched printing policy for the plurality of sub-models, the multi-layer switched printing policy comprising:
causing the printhead to print a first multi-layer slice of a first subset of the plurality of sub-models using a first wire within a first region on the print platform, wherein the first multi-layer slice is such that, after the first multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in the vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within the first region and a dimension in the vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height;
performing a material changing operation to replace the first wire with a second wire different from the first wire; and
causing the printhead to print a second multi-layer slice of a second subset of the plurality of submodels using the second wire in a second region on the print platform different from the first region, wherein the second multi-layer slice is such that, after the second multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension of a printed portion of each submodel in the second region in the vertical direction and a dimension of a printed portion of each submodel in other regions on the print platform in the vertical direction is not greater than the threshold height.
7. A 3D printer, comprising:
a printing platform and a printhead movable relative to each other in a horizontal direction parallel to an upper surface of the printing platform and in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction;
a processor; and
a memory storing control code executable by the processor to perform a multi-layer switched printing strategy for a plurality of submodels to be printed by different wires, the multi-layer switched printing strategy comprising:
causing the printhead to print a first multi-layer slice of a first subset of the plurality of sub-models using a first wire within a first region on the print platform, wherein the first multi-layer slice is such that, after the first multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension in the vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within the first region and a dimension in the vertical direction of a printed portion of each sub-model within other regions on the print platform is not greater than a threshold height;
performing a material changing operation to replace the first wire with a second wire different from the first wire; and
causing the printhead to print a second multi-layer slice of a second subset of the plurality of submodels using the second wire in a second region on the print platform different from the first region, wherein the second multi-layer slice is such that, after the second multi-layer slice is printed, an absolute value of a difference between a dimension of a printed portion of each submodel in the second region in the vertical direction and a dimension of a printed portion of each submodel in other regions on the print platform in the vertical direction is not greater than the threshold height.
8. A 3D printing system, comprising:
a 3D printer; and
3D print slicing software configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-5.
9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions for causing the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-5.
10. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any of claims 1-5.
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