CN218946354U - Multi-module forming platform, forming bin and 3D printing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a multi-module forming platform, a forming bin and 3D printing equipment, wherein the forming platform is provided with a plurality of forming modules which are mutually independent; wherein each forming module has a form that is spliced into one piece for batch forming of the part on the powder it carries and/or has a form that is separated into each individual form for post-processing of the part it carries after forming has ended. The forming platform is used for forming the parts in batches, the forming modules which are mutually independent are spliced into a whole form, and the whole form where the forming modules are positioned is separated to form a plurality of forming modules which are in separated states when the forming platform is used for carrying out the post-treatment after the forming is finished, so that the uniformity post-treatment on the parts borne by the forming modules can be realized, and the post-treatment flexibility and efficiency are effectively improved.

Description

Multi-module forming platform, forming bin and 3D printing equipment

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the field of 3D printing, in particular to a multi-module forming platform, a forming bin and 3D printing equipment.

Background

When 3D printing is performed to construct a part, the part is often planed into a plurality of two-dimensional plane structures, and then the part is finally formed through layer-by-layer printing. Particularly for the powder laying sintering/melting technology, a layer of metal powder/nonmetal powder is laid layer by layer, then the laid layer of metal powder is sintered/melted selectively by a heat source (usually laser), so that the structure of the part on the layer is constructed, and the construction of the part is finally completed by laying the powder layer by layer and then sintering/melting.

In the current powder spreading 3D printing technology field, powder is generally required to have good flowability and proper particle size so as to ensure the integrity and uniformity of powder spreading. Therefore, powder particles of paving materials are often required to have a good sphericity and a uniform particle size, and conventional paving powder 3D printing often requires powder particle sizes of 50-80 μm. However, powder particles with such particle diameters are often disadvantageous in forming high-precision parts, resulting in poor surface roughness of 3D printed parts, and require post-treatment of the printed part surfaces.

With the maturity of micron-sized metal 3D printing technology in recent years, a new mode is provided for batch manufacturing of high-precision complex tiny components, but the method also provides challenges for post-processing of tiny components produced on the same forming platform in batch.

For example, in the prior art, when producing a lot of small parts, a plurality of parts are simultaneously formed on a forming table, and the parts are arranged in the same predetermined arrangement. In general, in order to improve the forming efficiency, gaps reserved between small parts are often small, and the closely arranged parts bring great inconvenience to post-treatment.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to improve the post-processing efficiency of batch preparation of parts on a forming platform, one aspect of the utility model provides a multi-module forming platform, wherein the forming platform is provided with a plurality of mutually independent forming modules; wherein each forming module has a form that is spliced into one piece for batch forming of the part on the powder it carries and/or has a form that is separated into each individual form for post-processing of the part it carries after forming is completed.

Optionally, at least part of the forming modules are spliced and/or separated by bolts.

Optionally, at least part of the forming modules are spliced and/or separated through a mortise and tenon structure.

Optionally, at least part of the forming modules have mortises, and correspondingly at least part of the forming modules have tenons which can be inserted into the mortises to engage with them.

Optionally, the forming platform is further provided with a shell, and a plurality of through holes capable of accommodating the forming modules are correspondingly arranged in the shell; wherein the forming modules can be spliced into a unitary form by the housing and/or can be separated from within the housing to form each individual form.

Optionally, a flange is provided at the bottom of the through hole to limit the forming module in the through hole.

In order to improve the post-treatment efficiency of batch preparation of parts on the forming platform, one aspect of the utility model provides a forming bin, wherein the forming bin is provided with at least one lifting device and a structure for installing the forming platform in the forming bin; the lifting device is used for driving the forming platform to lift in the forming bin so as to form powder beds with different thicknesses on the forming platform.

In order to improve the post-treatment efficiency of batch preparation of parts on a forming platform, one aspect of the utility model provides 3D printing equipment, wherein the 3D printing equipment is provided with at least a powder bin, a powder spreading device, a light path unit and a structure for installing the forming bin on the 3D printing equipment; wherein the powder bin is arranged at one side of the forming bin and is used for providing powder materials; the powder spreading device is movably arranged above the powder bin and the forming bin and is used for uniformly spreading powder materials provided by the powder bin on the forming platform; the light path unit is arranged above the powder spreading device and is used for acting on the powder material on the forming platform to form and manufacture parts.

According to the method and the device, when the forming platform is used for forming the parts in batches, the forming modules which are mutually independent are spliced into an integral form, and when the forming platform is used for carrying out post-treatment after forming, the integral form in which the forming modules are positioned is separated to form a plurality of forming modules which are in separated states, so that the post-treatment of uniformity of the parts borne by the forming modules can be realized, and the post-treatment flexibility and efficiency are effectively improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following description will briefly explain the drawings used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained according to the provided drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a prior art forming table carrying formed parts;

FIGS. 2,4 and 6 are schematic views showing the structure of a forming table according to an embodiment of the present utility model when carrying a formed part in an integrated state;

FIGS. 3,5 and 7 are schematic views of a forming table according to an embodiment of the present utility model, respectively, when carrying formed parts in a separated state;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a forming table according to an embodiment of the present utility model when the forming table is spliced by bolts;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a mortise and tenon joint structure of a partially formed module according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a housing according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing a structure of a partially formed module according to an embodiment of the present utility model when the partially formed module is spliced with a housing;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a forming bin structure according to one embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a single-bin 3D printing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present utility model;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a dual-powder-bin 3D printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present utility model.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present utility model are described in detail below, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to like or similar elements or elements having like or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are illustrative and intended to explain the present utility model and should not be construed as limiting the utility model.

Referring to fig. 1, in the prior art, when mass-producing tiny components, a plurality of parts 4 are simultaneously formed on a forming platform 1, and the parts 4 are arranged in the same preset arrangement manner. In order to improve the forming efficiency, gaps reserved among small parts are often small, and the small parts which are closely arranged bring great inconvenience to post-treatment.

In view of this, referring to fig. 2 to 7, in one aspect of the present utility model, a multi-module forming platform 1 is provided, where the forming platform 1 has a plurality of forming modules 11 that are independent from each other; each forming module 11 has a form that is spliced into one piece for batchwise forming of the parts 4 on the powder it carries and/or has a form that is separated into each individual form for post-processing of the parts 4 it carries after forming has ended.

The forming table 1 provided in the present application, which is in the form of a substrate, can be formed into various shapes, such as rectangular, circular, oval or other complex shapes. The rectangular substrate is quite common, so that matrix arrangement can be easily realized, and any side gap is not reserved. Therefore, the present application preferably uses a rectangular substrate as the actual form of the forming stage 1, but other forms of forming stages 1 are also contemplated as falling within the scope of the present application. In the field of 3D printing, particularly 3D printing of metal materials, the same metal material as the raw material powder is generally selected as the substrate material in consideration of problems such as wettability of the raw material powder and the substrate. The metal 3D printing can directly manufacture metal parts and has outstanding advantages. However, when printing a metal part, a large stress is generated, which causes deformation of the part during printing, and therefore, it is necessary to print the part on a substrate to prevent deformation of the part.

Since the rectangular substrate is preferably used as the actual form of the forming table 1, the forming modules 11 of the forming table 1, which are independent of each other, are actually formed by dividing the rectangular substrate into a plurality of small rectangular substrates, which are independent of each other.

Referring to fig. 2, in some embodiments, the forming modules 11 are aligned in a gapless manner along the X-axis to be spliced into the forming table 1 in a configuration corresponding to being spliced into a single body.

Referring to fig. 4, in some embodiments, the forming modules 11 are aligned in a gapless manner along the Y-axis to be spliced into the forming table 1 in a configuration corresponding to being spliced into a single body.

Referring to fig. 6, in some embodiments, in a form corresponding to the stitching into one piece, each forming module 11 is aligned with no gap along the X-axis and the Y-axis to stitch into the forming platform 1. It should be understood that the splice configuration of each forming module 11 shown in fig. 6 may be a blend of the two splice configurations shown in fig. 2 and 4.

The forming modules 11 shown in fig. 2,4 and 6 are identical in size (length, width and height). In more embodiments, the forming modules 11 may be configured to have different sizes (different lengths, widths, and heights) corresponding to the form of being spliced into a single unit, for example, in such a configuration, the size of one forming module 11 is the cumulative sum of the other forming modules 11.

Referring to fig. 3,5 and 7, each forming module 11 can be separated in the splicing manner, and the separating direction of each forming module 11 is not limited corresponding to separation into each independent individual form, and the separating direction is not limited, and depends on the operation requirement when the carrying parts of each forming module 11 are subjected to post-treatment, and the separating process of each forming module 11 can be ordered, disordered or partially ordered and partially disordered, and the control of the separating process of each forming module 11 comprises manual separation, separation by combining manual and appliance operations, mechanical control separation (such as mechanical arm control).

The number and shape of the plurality of parts 4 formed on each forming module 11 shown in fig. 2 to 7 are only for convenience of understanding, and the specific pattern of the parts 4 and the number of the parts on each forming module 11 are not limited, for example, only 1 part 4 may be formed on each forming module 11, a plurality of parts 4 may be formed, or the parts 4 may not be formed (i.e., in the forming platform 1, the formed parts 4 are carried above the partial forming modules 11, and the formed parts 4 are not carried above the partial forming modules 11). And the gaps between the parts 4 shown do not represent gaps in the actual formed state.

After a monolithic form of the forming table 1 is obtained, the forming table 1 can be put into use to batch form the parts 4 on the powder it carries. After the forming work is finished, the forming platform 1 is separated to form a plurality of forming modules 11 in a separated state, and then the parts 4 carried by the forming modules 11 are subjected to post-treatment. The post-treatment described herein includes, but is not limited to, powder cleaning, which refers to cleaning of powder remaining on the surface of the part 4 carried by each forming module 11 after the forming is completed, and part polishing, which refers to polishing of the surface of the part after the powder cleaning is completed, for example, by electrochemical polishing or plasma polishing.

According to the method and the device, when the forming platform 1 is used for forming the parts in batches, the forming modules 11 which are mutually independent are spliced into a whole form, and when the forming platform 1 is used for carrying out post-treatment after forming, the whole form where the forming modules are located is separated to form the forming modules 11 which are in the separated state, so that the uniformity post-treatment on the parts 4 borne by the forming modules 11 can be realized, and the post-treatment flexibility and efficiency are effectively improved. The powder cleaning and polishing uniformity can be realized by independently performing post-treatment procedures such as powder cleaning and polishing on the parts on each forming module 11.

Referring to fig. 8, in some embodiments, at least some of the forming modules 11 are joined and/or separated by bolts 12, i.e., bolted. It will be appreciated that the bolts 12 are tightened when spliced and the bolts 12 are loosened when separated. Fig. 8 shows an application in the form of a splice of the respective forming modules 11 shown in fig. 6, in which the screw 12 is connected in each case in the X-axis and in the Y-axis. Alternatively, in the case of an application in the spliced form corresponding to the respective forming modules 11 shown in fig. 2, only the bolting 12 in the X-axis is required; and in the application in the spliced form corresponding to each of the forming modules 11 shown in fig. 4, only the bolt 12 connection needs to be made in the Y axis. In the connection manner of the bolts 12 shown in fig. 8, one bolt 12 is used to penetrate each forming module 11 in each axial direction in the X-axis and the Y-axis, and in practical application, a plurality of bolts may be used to connect each forming module 11, for example, any two adjacent forming modules 11 are connected by one bolt.

It should be understood that in this embodiment of the present application, after each forming module 11 forms a complete forming plane through splicing, the complete forming plane may be used as a base station for 3D printing of metal powder, metal parts may be formed on the base station, after forming is completed, the forming modules 11 may be split according to the post-processing requirement of each part, and post-processing is performed on each part, so that flexibility and efficiency of post-processing of metal 3D printing are greatly improved.

In one embodiment, in order to ensure the smoothness of the sides of the forming table 1, the present application uses in-line bolting, i.e. the head of the bolt and the nut are embedded in the forming table 1, i.e. in the forming module 11 located at the outermost side of the forming table 1, so that it does not exceed the sides of the forming table 1 in the tightened state.

Referring to fig. 9, in some embodiments, at least some of the forming modules 11 are spliced and/or separated by mortise and tenon structures 13. The connection by the mortise and tenon structure 13 is a connection mode of combining concave-convex parts on two components. The protruding part is tenon 132, the recessed part is mortise 131, that is, mortise and tenon structure 13 is formed by mortise 131 and tenon 132, and tenon 132 is inserted into mortise 131 to be engaged with the mortise. In a particular connection configuration, one of the forming modules 11 may have a dovetail 132 on one side to engage a dovetail slot 131 provided in an adjacent forming module 11 in one direction and a dovetail slot 131 on the other side to engage a dovetail 132 provided in an adjacent forming module 11 in the other direction. It should be understood that in the forming table 1 constructed, the forming module 11 located at the middle portion is provided with the mortises 131 or tenons 132 at four sides thereof, respectively, while the forming module 11 located at the outermost portion is provided with the mortises 131 or tenons 132 at the other three sides thereof except the exposed surface thereof. The splicing of the entire forming table 1 is achieved by the adjacent forming modules 11 engaging each other.

Referring to fig. 10 and 11, in some embodiments, the forming platform 1 further has a housing 14, and accordingly, a plurality of through holes 141 capable of receiving the forming modules 11 are provided in the housing 14; wherein each forming module 11 can be spliced into a unitary form by the housing 14 and/or can be separated from the housing 14 to form each individual form.

It should be understood that the forming platform 1 is constituted by the housing 14 and the forming modules 11 located in the respective through holes 141; the top surfaces of the forming modules 11 stored in the through holes 141 are positioned on the same horizontal plane with the top surface of the housing 11, so that the top surface of the forming platform 1 is formed by combining the top surfaces of the forming modules 11 with the top surface of the housing 11. In order to limit the movement of the forming module 11 into the through-hole 141, the present application provides a flange 142 at the bottom of the through-hole 141, which flange 142 preferably extends on two opposite sides of the bottom of the through-hole 141 and leaves the middle of the through-hole 141 exposed.

When the forming platform 1 having the housing 14 is separated to form a plurality of forming modules 11 in a separated state after the forming operation is finished, a force is applied to the bottom of the through hole 141, that is, the bottom of the forming module 11 stored therein to push the forming module 11 upward along the through hole 141, so that the forming module 11 is separated from the through hole 141, and the forming modules 11 are separated. Wherein the control of the application of force to each forming module 11 includes manual control, manual and appliance combination operation control, mechanical control (e.g., lifting device), etc.

Referring to fig. 12, in one aspect of the present utility model, a forming bin 2 is provided, the forming bin 2 being used for construction of a part 4. A lifting device 21 is arranged at the bottom of the forming bin 2; the lifting device 21 can drive the forming table 1 to lift in the forming bin 2 to form powder beds of different thicknesses on the forming table 2. Further, a base 22 is provided above the elevating device 21. Before building the part 4, the forming table 1 having the structure described above is mounted on the base 22, and powder is laid layer by layer on the forming table 1 to form a powder bed for forming the part 4. The lifting device 21 drives the forming platform 1 to lift in the forming bin 2. Wherein the distance of each descent of the forming table 1 is the layer thickness of the powder; after the construction of the part 4 is completed, the lifting device 21 drives the forming platform 1 to lift, and the forming platform 1 is taken out for post-treatment.

In one aspect of the utility model, a 3D printing apparatus is provided, where the 3D printing apparatus described herein is preferably of the type that uses a laser beam/electron beam as an energy source, such as selective laser sintering (Selective laser sintering, SLS), selective laser melting (Selective laser melting, SLM), or the like.

In some embodiments, the 3D printing device of the present application is composed of several parts, such as a mechanical unit, an optical path unit, and a computer control system. In a specific spatial arrangement form, the optical path unit may be arranged above the mechanical unit, or may be set based on the core utility model point taught in the present application according to an actual structural design. In the control logic, the control of the mechanical unit and the optical path unit is realized by a computer control system.

Referring to fig. 13, in some embodiments, the mechanical unit of the 3D printing apparatus 3 of the present application is constituted by at least the powder hopper 31, the lifting device 34, the powder spreading device 32, the forming hopper 2 having the aforementioned structure, and the like.

The powder bin 31 is provided at one side of the forming bin 2 for supplying powder to the forming bin 2, i.e. fig. 13 shows a 3D printing apparatus 3 of a single powder bin structure. The lifting of the powder bin 31 is driven by a lifting device 34. The powder spreading device 32 may be specifically one of a powder spreading brush, a powder spreading roller and a doctor blade, which is disposed above the powder bin 31 and the forming bin 2, for uniformly spreading the powder material supplied from the forming bin 2 on the forming platform 1. The powder described herein refers to a material to be processed, which is used in a powder state. For example, the powder may consist essentially of a material made of metal or polymer.

Wherein an optical path unit 33 is provided above the powder spreading device 32 for acting (emitting laser beam/electron beam) on the powder material on the forming table 1 to perform the forming manufacturing of the part 4.

Referring to fig. 14, in some embodiments, the mechanical unit of the 3D printing apparatus 3 of the present application has a powder bin 35 in addition to the above-described powder bin 31, the lifting device 34, the powder spreading device 32, the forming bin 2 having the above-described structure, and the like, that is, fig. 14 shows a 3D printing apparatus 3 of a double powder bin structure. The powder bin 35 is provided on the other side of the forming bin 2, also for supplying powder to the forming bin 2. The elevation of the powder bin 35 is driven by an elevation device 36. Based on this, the powder spreading device 32 can uniformly spread the powder material provided by the powder bin 31 or the powder bin 35 on the forming table 1 by circulating over the powder bins 31,35 and the forming bin 2, respectively.

In one embodiment, the powder bins 31 and 35 are alternately interchangeable as temporary powder bins or residue collection bins for providing powder to be laid in the direction of movement of the powder laying device 32, or for storing excess powder on the forming platform 1 between the powder bins 31 and 35 after each powder laying process.

In the present utility model, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, a first feature "up" or "down" a second feature may be the first and second features in direct contact, or the first and second features in indirect contact via an intervening medium. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "over" and "on" a second feature may be a first feature being directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is level higher than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature may be the first feature being directly under or obliquely below the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is less level than the second feature.

While embodiments of the present utility model have been shown and described above, it will be understood that the above embodiments are illustrative and not to be construed as limiting the utility model, and that variations, modifications, alternatives and variations may be made to the above embodiments by one of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the utility model.

Reference numerals illustrate:

forming platform-1

Forming module-11

Part-4

Bolt-12

Mortise and tenon joint structure-13

Tongue and groove-131

Tenon-132

Shell-14

Through-hole-141

Flange-142

Shaping storehouse-2

Base station-22

Lifting device-21,34,36

3D printing apparatus-3

Powder bin-31, 35

Powder spreading device-32

Light path unit-33

Claims (8)

1. A multi-module forming platform (1), characterized in that the forming platform (1) has a plurality of mutually independent forming modules (11); wherein each forming module (11) has a form of being spliced into one piece for batchwise forming of the parts (4) on the powder it carries, and/or has a form of being separated into each individual piece for post-treatment of the parts (4) it carries after forming has ended.

2. Multi-module forming table (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that at least part of the forming modules (11) are spliced and/or separated by bolts (12).

3. Multi-module forming platform (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that at least part of the forming modules (11) are spliced and/or separated by mortise and tenon structures (13).

4. A multi-module forming table (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that at least part of the forming modules (11) has a mortise slot (131), and correspondingly at least part of the forming modules (11) has a tenon (132) which can be inserted into the mortise slot (131) to engage with it.

5. The multi-module forming platform (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said forming platform (1) further has a housing (14), and in that a plurality of through holes (141) capable of receiving said forming modules (11) are provided in said housing (14), respectively; wherein the forming modules (11) can be spliced into a unitary form by the housing (14) and/or can be separated from within the housing (14) to form each individual form.

6. The multi-module forming table (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that the bottom of the through hole (141) is provided with a flange (142) to limit the forming modules (11) located in the through hole (141).

7. A forming silo (2), characterized in that the forming silo (2) has at least one lifting device (21) and a structure for mounting the forming table (1) of any of claims 1-6 in the forming silo (2);

wherein the lifting device (21) is used for driving the forming platform (1) to lift in the forming bin (2) so as to form powder beds with different thicknesses on the forming platform (1).

8. A 3D printing apparatus (3), wherein the 3D printing apparatus (3) has at least a powder bin (31), a powder spreading device (32), a light path unit (33), and a structure for mounting the forming bin (2) according to claim 7 to the 3D printing apparatus (3);

wherein the powder bin (31) is arranged at one side of the forming bin (2) and is used for providing powder materials;

wherein the powder spreading device (32) is movably arranged above the powder bin (31) and the forming bin (2) and is used for uniformly spreading powder materials provided by the powder bin (31) on the forming platform (1);

wherein the light path unit (33) is arranged above the powder spreading device (32) and is used for acting on the powder material on the forming platform (1) to form and manufacture the part (4).

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