FR3015922A1 - THREE DIMENSIONAL PRINTING DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for printing a three-dimensional object by depositing successive layers of material according to data defining the object, said device comprising at least one extrusion head of a filament of said material, said head comprising means for heating said filament. According to the invention, said heating means comprise at least one semiconductor PTC resistor.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention is that of creative games. More specifically, the invention relates to a three-dimensional printer designed for the production / manufacture of three-dimensional objects of various shapes, and intended for individuals, especially children. 2. State of the art Three-dimensional printers (abbreviated as "3D") are used in industry and make it possible to manufacture (or print), by superposition of thin layers of plastic, for example, a object (a prototype for example) quickly and cheaply. Such a printer is conventionally driven by a computer which implements a digital file containing the three-dimensional data of the object to be produced.

3D printers for the general public remain relatively expensive and are not, or very little, suitable for children. However, the practice of creative hobbies by children contributes to their good development. It allows them to cultivate and develop their imagination and acquire the basics of artistic activities that are very little taught at school.

Some creative hobbies consist of activities of a manual nature that can, in particular, enable the children who develop them to develop their concentration, their agility, and their notion of volume and space. 3. OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is notably to overcome these disadvantages of the prior art. More specifically, an object of the invention, in at least one embodiment, is to provide a three-dimensional printer for individuals, including children, which allows to make objects of various shapes / complex.

Another objective of the invention, in at least one embodiment, is to provide such a means that promotes learning of the child, and which develops his concentration, his imagination, his agility, and his notion of volume and of space in particular. The invention has the objective of providing, in at least one embodiment, such a means which is simple to use, without a particular address, and which is playful. Another object of the invention, in at least one embodiment, is to provide such a means that is robust, secure and low cost. 4. Objective of the invention These objectives, as well as others which will appear more clearly later, are achieved by means of a device for printing a three-dimensional object by depositing successive layers of material in accordance with FIG. data defining the object, said device comprising at least one extrusion head of a filament of said material, said head comprising means for heating said filament. According to the invention, said heating means comprise at least one PTC resistor (for "positive temperature coefficient" in English, and "CTP" in French for "positive temperature coefficient") to semiconductor.

Thus, the invention proposes a three-dimensional printer (or "3D") allowing, from a digital file, the manufacture of volume parts by deposition of successive layers of material. The material is preferably plastic, ABS (for "acrylonitrile butadiene styrene") for example.

In a conventional manner, the extrusion head uses heating means. The use of a PTC resistor as heating means is advantageous in that such a resistor self-regulates and is at constant power. In other words, its implementation does not require an electronic device for regulating the temperature (temperature sensor in particular).

In addition, the heating time is faster, and the risk of overheating is decreased or even eliminated. Moreover, the diameter and length of such a resistance are reduced in comparison with traditional resistances, and its energy consumption is low. Such a printer is intended for amateur users wishing to indulge in creative leisure in the context of private use. It is manageable and relatively easy to use for a child. The child can thus make a large number of objects, such as figurines for example.

According to a particular aspect of the invention, said filament of said material is stored in a cassette intended to be housed removably in a receiving housing of said device. According to a particular aspect of the invention, said cassette comprises electronic means of identification. According to a particular aspect of the invention, the electronic identification means comprise an RFID chip (of the English "radio frequency identification", "identification by radio frequency" in French). According to a particular aspect of the invention, said device comprises means for reading electronic identification means. According to a particular aspect of the invention, said device comprises at least one USB port (of the English "universal serial bus", "universal serial bus" in French). 5. List of Figures Other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention, given as a simple illustrative and non-limiting example, and annexed drawings, among which: FIGS. 1A and 1B are two perspective views, of 3/4 face and 3/4 back, of a printer according to an embodiment of the invention; - Figure 2 schematically illustrates the detection and recognition of a consumable used in the printer of the invention; FIG. 3 illustrates the dimensions of a three-dimensional object printed by the printer of the invention; Fig. 4 is a 3/4 side perspective view of the printer of Figs. 1A and 1B when the access cover to the printing space is open; FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary architecture of the printer according to the invention; Figures 6A and 6B schematically illustrate two modes of operation of the printer of the invention. 6. Detailed Description of the Invention The architecture and design of the printer of the invention have been guided to limit the number of electronic components, wired connections and interconnections, and to optimize the size of the electronic card integrating all the electronic and electrical functions of the printer. 6.1 External Appearance of the Printer FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views, of 3/4 face and 3/4 back respectively, of the printer of the invention.

The printer 1 is of substantially parallelepipedal shape, and comprises a front face and a rear face which are connected by two lateral faces, a lower face intended to rest on a flat support surface (a table or a desk for example) and a upper side. The printer 1 comprises, on its front face, a transparent door 11 pivotally mounted on hinges. FIG. 1A shows the door 11 in the closed position, FIG. 4 illustrating the door 11 in the open position, once the impression of an object 0 has been made. The printer 1 comprises means for detecting the closure of the door 11, to ensure the safety of the user.

The printer 1 further comprises, on its front face, a man / machine interface 12, which will be described in more detail below. The printer 1 comprises, on its rear face (Figure 1B), a housing for detachably housing a consumable, in the form of a cassette 13. The interchangeable cassette 13 comprises a coil of wire (or filament) 13 plastic , in ABS in this example. The printer 1 is powered by a DC voltage between 12 and 24V from a remote-AC / DC transformer block (block T in FIGS. 6A and 6D). It further includes a DC socket 14 and a USB port 15.

The printer 1 is relatively light (less than 8 kg) and compact (height equal to 300 mm, depth equal to 215 mm, and width equal to 270 mm in this example). The instantaneous total power of the printer 1 is of the order of 150 W max. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the printer 1 makes it possible to manufacture three-dimensional pieces 0 of width L (along the X axis), height H (along the Z axis) and depth P (along the Y axis) equal to 100 mm maximum, with a precision of the order of +/- 0.3 MM. 6.2 Technical Architecture Figure 5 schematically illustrates an exemplary architecture of the printer of the invention.

The printer 1 implements a single electronic card C which integrates all the electronic and electrical functions (man / machine interface, DC plug, USB sockets, LEDs, drivers, microcontroller, ...) of the printer 1. Printer 1 uses the thermoplastic extrusion process. To do this, the printer uses a print (or extrusion) head 17 which comprises: an extruder 171 which drives and pushes the material (in this case the plastic filament 131 of the cassette 13) into the heated printing nozzle (not shown) which melts the plastic filament. The heating of the nozzle is implemented by a heating element, in the form of a heating resistor 1711 (extrusion temperature equal to 200 ° C, 12V DC supply voltage and variable power from 0 to 26W). There is provided a temperature sensor 1712 of the part / object extruded (printed); a cooling fan 173 of the extruded part (voltage 5V), and an extrusion motor 172 which controls the extruder 171.

Heating resistor 1711 is a PTC resistor. Such resistance self-regulates and is constant power (further heating time is faster, no risk of overheating, reduced diameter and length compared to traditional resistors, low power consumption). In other words, its implementation does not require an electronic temperature control device (including sensor). The attainment of the set temperature is determined by the measurement of the supply current of the heating resistor 1711. The displacement of the extrusion head 17 is controlled by two stepper motors, namely a motor 181 in X and a motor 182 Y. In other words, the extrusion head 17 is adapted to move along the X and Y axes with respect to a plate (or deposit plate, or support platform) 18, on which is printed the object. The plate 18 is able to move along the axis Z with respect to the extrusion head 17 by means of a motor 183 in Z stepwise to form each successive layer of the object to be printed. These three stepper motors 181, 182, 183 are supplied with 12V / 0.4A, the pitch being 1.8 °.

The electronic card C comprises a microcontroller 101 capable of interpreting the instructions in G-code and communicating with: the driver 1810 of the X-drive motor 181; the driver 1820 of the Y displacement motor 182; the driver 1830 of the Z-displacement motor 183; the pilot 1720 of the extrusion motor 172 of the extrusion head 17; the controller 1710 of the heating nozzle of the extrusion head 17; the man / machine interface 12; the USB 16 plug before; the rear USB socket, and the power jack 14 via a power stage 141. The heater nozzle controller 1710 controls the heater 1711 and receives temperature representative data measured by the temperature sensor 1712. human / machine interface 12 comprises: an LCD display 121 (or GLCD) with at least four lines; four push buttons 122 monostable "ON / OFF", "UP" (moves the cursor in the lists of choice), "DOWN" (moves the cursor in the list of choices), "RETURN" (back in the menu or stop of the current command), "VALID. »(Validation of the selected command); a 123 two-color LED (red / green); a USB socket 16. Moreover, the man / machine interface 12 allows access to the functions of the printer 1 via a menu, and in particular to the following functions: select a file from the USB memory (file stored in a USB key connected to USB port 16, for example); initialize printer 1; bleed the extrusion head 17; - Make the cassette change 13; - start a print cycle. 6.3 Control language The language used to control printer 1 (so that printer 1 can print an object) is G-code, which is originally a machine tool control language and is defined by the RS-274D standard. This control language (or machine code) defines the set of sequential instructions necessary for the three-dimensional printing of an object by means of the printer 1. This G-code is obtained from a 3D model of an object that the user wishes to achieve.

The microcontroller 101 receives instructions (G-code) from a personal computer, for example, connected to the printer 1 (via the USB port 15) or a USB key connected to the printer 1 (via the USB port 16), interprets them, and then sends control signals to the drivers 1720, 1810, 1820, 1830 and the controller 1710 of the heating nozzle.

The microcontroller 101 thus drives the three stepper motors 181, 182, 183, and thus the displacement of the extrusion head 17 (along the X and Y axes) and the plate 18 (along the Z axis). The instructions / orders of movement are for example "go to the point X, Y, Z", or "draw a circle of radius R". By way of example, the command "GO Z25" corresponds to an out-of-material displacement of 25 mm along the Z axis. 6.4 Operating modes 6.4.1 "Stand-alone mode" ("stand-alone mode" mode) In this first operating mode, illustrated in Figure 6A, the printer 1 operates without computer connection. A USB key C storing one or more program files in "G-Code" (corresponding to one or more models to be printed) is inserted into the USB port 16 on the front of the printer 1. The user chooses the model It is desired to print via the man / machine interface 12. 6.4.2 "Slave mode" In this second mode of operation, illustrated in FIG. 6B, the printer 1 is comprises as a print device connected (by a wired link in this example), through the USB port 15, to a personal computer PC, the latter implementing a driver software of the printer. The printer 1 receives via the USB link the "G-Code" commands sent by the PC. Note that in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the printer is supplied with 12, 15 or 24V by means of a transformer T AC / DC connected to the socket 14 of the printer 1. 6.5 Driver ("driver in English ) Printer 1 may behave as a USB device. It can be controlled from CAD (computer-aided design) or modeling software such as Solidworks, Sketch Up, Rhinoceros (registered trademarks).

The driver of the printer 1 is in this case installed on the PC personal computer of the user. It is preferably compatible with Windows XP, Vista 7, Vista 8, Mac, Linux (registered trademarks) operating systems. Such a driver is configured to implement the conversion of the 3D model to be printed to the appropriate G-code language for controlling the printer 1.

The driver is further configured to provide an estimate of the completion time of an impression based on the compiled G-code language. One or more parameters, such as fineness, precision, body density (hollow body, 50% solid body or full body) are adjustable via a "Parameter" window from the print control panel. 6.6 Other aspects and variants The printer of the invention is able to print various types of figurines (human being, fictional character, ...) of various sizes. An example of a printed object 0 is shown in FIG. 4 when it is disposed on the support 18.

Of course, the geometry or shape of the printer of the invention is not limited to the examples illustrated above. The printer is able to extrude other types of wire than ABS wire. It can include one or more extrusion heads. The cassette 13 is able to store son of various colors.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cassette 13 of wire 131 may be provided with an RFID tag 131 (comprising an electronic chip and an antenna) and the printer 1 may comprise an RFID reader (antenna) 101 for the detection and recognition of the cassette 13. Such a reader 101 allows a contactless reading of the RFID tag 131, which makes it possible to ensure that the cassette 13 of the consumable is compatible with the printer 1. Such an approach also makes it possible to protect the user against counterfeit consumables.

Claims (6)

REVENDICATIONS1. Device for printing (1) a three-dimensional object (0) by deposition of successive layers of material according to data defining the object (0), said device comprising at least one extrusion head (17) of a filament (131) of said material, said head (17) comprising means for heating said filament, characterized in that said heating means comprise at least one semiconductor PTC resistor (1711). 2. Device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said filament (131) of said material is stored in a cassette (13) to be housed removably in a housing for receiving said device (1). 3. Device (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that said cassette (13) comprises electronic identification means (131). 4. Device (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the electronic identification means (131) comprise an RFID chip. 5. Device (1) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that said device (1) comprises reading means (101) electronic identification means (131). 6. Device (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises at least one USB port (15, 16).