GB2535981A

GB2535981A - Finishing system for 3D prints

Info

Publication number: GB2535981A
Application number: GB1502486.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mead Stuart; Newman Philip
Original assignee: 3D 2 0 Ltd
Current assignee: 3D 2 0 Ltd
Priority date: 2015-02-13
Filing date: 2015-02-13
Publication date: 2016-09-07
Also published as: WO2016128770A1; GB201502486D0

Abstract

A tool for touching up three-dimensional printed models, comprising: a head configured to remove, refine, polish and/or blend material on the model. The head of the tool may be interchangeable, and the tool may further be configured to apply heat, rotation and/or vibration, optionally ultrasonic vibration, to the head. The tool may further comprise a control system for controlling temperature, rotation speed and/or vibration frequency of the head. The tool may also include a pressure sensor for detecting pressure applied to an interface on the body of the tool, or to the head of the tool. The control system may be configured to respond to haptic feedback from the pressure sensor to control temperature, rotation speed and/or vibration frequency of the head. The tool may alternatively comprise an interchangeable head attachment (400, fig 4B), wherein the head attachment may be attached to a print head mounting unit of a 3D printer.

Description

Finishing system for 3D prints

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a finishing system for 3D prints. In particular, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a tool for removing or refining unwanted material from objects produced by 3D printers.

Background

The rapid growth in 3D printing has seen a large number of low cost desktop 3D printers being developed and sold in both prosumer and consumer market places, and this growth looks set to continue or even accelerate.

One of the undesirable features of many 3D printers is that the printers leave large amounts of unwanted spurs, anomalies and printer supports attached on the final raw prints. 3D printer users struggle with cleaning-up their raw printed models, and are often unable to refine detail and remove large amounts of spurs and supports. The mainstream materials used for 3D printing are thermoplastics, although there is an ever-increasing choice of materials and their corresponding properties.

Summary

In order to address the problems outlined above, there is disclosed herein a 3D finishing system comprising a handheld device with interchangeable heads based on heat application, rotated abrasion, rotated polishing, or ultrasonic techniques in conjunction with haptic feedback and pre-set settings to remove unwanted material from a 3D printed model. In addition, a 3D printer attachment, which is fixed to the existing 3D printer's printer head mounting mechanism, may trace the external shape of the 3D print to cut and polish unwanted spurs and printer errors.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a haptic feedback system utilising the sense of touch and pressure in a user interface design to provide information to the control system to increase temperature or rotation speed beyond a pre-set setting or return the temperature or rotation speed to a pre-set setting. The invention also provides a closed loop derivative whereby an automatic control system is regulated by feedback to continually adjust back to the measure: increasing pressure increases temperature or rotation speed; decreasing pressure decreases temperature or rotation speed. If pressure is too low temperature or rotation speed falls; if pressure is too high it increases so as to meet the preset pressure level.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a tool for touching up a 3D printed model, comprising a head configured to remove, refine, polish and/or blend material on the model. Further aspects and preferred features are set out in claim 2 et seq.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a handheld device with interchangeable heated heads; Figure 2 shows a handheld device with interchangeable rotating heads; Figure 3 shows a handheld device with interchangeable ultrasonic vibrating heads; and Figures 4A and 4B show an interchangeable head attachment fixed to a 3D printer's printer head mechanism.

Detailed Description

Figure 1 is an illustration of an exemplary handheld heated 3D print finishing tool 100 with interchangeable heads, and a control system offering a closed loop feedback system to monitor and control temperature of the tool's head 101. The device uses the temperature properties of 3D printing materials to calculate the optimal melting and blending temperatures for the heated head. Further, through additional haptic feedback the tool 100 can respond to the pressure applied by the user to either heat-up or cool-down the temperature of the interchangeable head and therefore the level of heat at the operating end. The tool may have temperature pre-sets programmed preferably to current favourable 3D printing materials with assistance of a look-up chart that is referenced by either a visual system or computer programme.

Figure 2 is an illustration of an exemplary handheld rotating 3D print finishing tool 200 with interchangeable abrasion and polishing heads, and a control system offering a closed loop feedback system to monitor and control speed of the tool's head 201. Further, through additional haptic feedback the tool 200 can respond to the pressure applied by the user to either speed-up or slow-down the rotation of the interchangeable head and therefore the level of positive or negative friction at the operating end. The tool may have speed pre-sets programmed preferably to current favourable 3D printing materials with assistance of a look-up chart that is referenced by either a visual system or computer programme.

Figure 3 is an illustration of an exemplary handheld vibrating 3D print finishing tool 300 with interchangeable abrasion and polishing heads, and a control system offering a closed loop feedback system to monitor and control mechanical or ultrasonic vibration of the tool's head 301. Further, through additional haptic feedback the tool can respond to the pressure applied by the user to either speed-up or slow-down the ultrasonic vibration of the interchangeable head and therefore the level of positive or negative vibration at the operating end. The tool may have ultrasonic pre-sets programmed preferably to current favourable 3D printing materials with assistance of a look-up chart that is referenced by either a visual system or computer programme.

The interchangeable heads and pre-sets from the look-up chart or computer programme may be adjustable as new 3D printing materials become available to the market.

It will be appreciated that, although the tools of Figures 1, 2 and 3 are shown as separate devices, it may be possible for a single tool to support heads which can be heated, rotated and/or vibrated. Individual heads may be capable of providing one or more of these functions and can be interchangeable In addition, the haptic feedback may take a number of forms. For example, the touch and pressure applied by the user either may be detected either through the pressure applied to the head, or to the pressure applied to a user interface on the body of the tool. The change in pressure may provide information to the control system to cause a parameter such as temperature or rotational speed or vibration frequency to increase beyond a pre-set setting, or to return to a pre-set setting. An alternative possibility may be for an automatic control system to be regulated by feedback to continually adjust the parameter: increasing pressure increases the parameter. If pressure is too low the parameter is reduced: if pressure is too high it increases so as to meet the pre-set pressure level.

Such tools may be entirely handheld devices (for example devices rechargeable by insertion into a cradle or by plugging in to an electrical source) but another alternative is to locate most of the electronics in a control unit, and include a tool in the form of a terminal connected to the control unit by a cable. It will also be appreciated that a rechargeable terminal could be both recharged and reprogrammed from a remote control unit, whether via a cable or wirelessly. The user interface show in the Figures could then be located on the control unit rather than on the tool held in the hand.

Figure 4A illustrates an interchangeable head attachment 400 which can be fixed to an existing 3D printer's printer head mounting mechanism. Figure 4B shows the head attachment 400 fixed to an exemplary printer head mounting mechanism 402. The head attachment 400 has an interchangeable head 401 which may use heat, rotation or vibration in the same way as the heads 101, 201, 301 described with reference to the tools of Figures 1 to 3. The head attachment may utilize software running on top of the operating system of the 3D printer to plot the 3 dimensional XYZ coordinates of the 3D computer file which has previously been 3D printed by the printer.

The attachment 400 traces the external shape of the 3D printed model provided by the 3D CAD file used for printing. A small motor 403 allows the head to turn to make cuts and polish. Interchangeable heads offer different heads for different tasks; for example but not limited to, polishing, cutting, and sanding. The cutting head removes all excess material created by the 3D printer. Variations of this device may be attached to existing printer head mounting mechanisms of popular 3D printers. Figure 4B illustrates dual motors to create a 5 axis system; therefore, allowing the attachment to perform undercutting.

The finishing system utilised by the interchangeable heads may be based on heat application, rotated abrasion, rotated polishing, or ultrasonic techniques The control system for the handheld tools of Figures 1, 2 or 3 provides for accurate temperature heating, rotating speed, and ultrasonic vibrating speed. The control system can generate fixed outputs or haptic feedback variations through pressure sensitivity technology, incorporating haptic feedback. Through haptic feedback the device can respond to the pressure applied by the user to control the temperature, rotating speed, or ultrasonic vibrating speed. The tool may have programmed pre-sets to current favourable 3D printing materials with assistance of a look-up chart that is referenced by either a visual system or computer program. This process allows for the head to be maintained at a constant temperature or speed irrespective of the material or tip design used while cleaning-up a 3D print. This combination allows the user to optimize the tool for a variety of tasks and personal preferences when it comes to cleaning-up 3D prints. The pre-sets from the look-up chart or computer programme may be adjustable as new 3D printing materials become available to the market.

The use of interchangeable heads provides significant flexibility, enabling accurate operations including but not limited to removal, refinement, polishing, fixing and blending unwanted material from 3D prints. Further, each head may be illuminated by an LED working light (not shown in the figures). The interchangeable heads may be adjustable as new 3D printing materials become available to the market. Different heads may be used for different tasks (e.g. removal of large or small blemishes, polishing etc.) or for use with different materials.

The ergonomic handheld design of the tool combines comfort and precision, allowing users to hold the tool in different hand positions for finishing 3D printed models.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A tool for touching up a 3D printed model, comprising a head configured to remove, refine, polish and/or blend material on the model.
2. The tool of claim 1, wherein the head is interchangeable.
3. The tool of claim 2, wherein interchangeable heads are usable with specific printing materials or for specific tasks in relation to touching up the model.
4. The tool of claim 1, 2 or 3, comprising a heat source for applying heat to the head.
5. The tool of any preceding claim, comprising a motor for causing the head to rotate.
6. The tool of any preceding claim, comprising a vibration mechanism for imparting vibration, optionally ultrasonic vibration, to the head.
7. The tool of any preceding claim, further comprising a control system for controlling the temperature, rotation speed and/or vibration frequency of the head.
8. The tool of claim 7, wherein the control system is configured to enable a user to choose appropriate temperature, rotation speed and/or vibration frequency settings for the head in dependence of the material of the 3D printed model and/or a specific task.
9. The tool of claim 8, wherein the control system includes pre-programmed settings for specific materials for 3D printing and/or specific tasks.
10. The tool of claim 8 or 9, wherein the control system is programmable to enable settings to be entered.
11. The tool of any of claims 7 to 10, further including a pressure sensor for detecting pressure applied to a user interface on the body or to the head, wherein the control system is configured to respond to haptic feedback from the pressure sensor to control the temperature, rotation speed and/or vibration frequency of the head.
12. The tool of claim 11, wherein a change in pressure applied by the user causes the control system to increase the temperature, rotation speed and/or vibration frequency of the head beyond a pre-set setting, or to return to a pre-set setting.
13. The tool of claim 11, wherein the control system is configured so that the temperature and/or rotation speed of the head is continually adjusted in response to the pressure.
14. The tool of any preceding claim, which tool is a hand-held device or comprises a hand held terminal connected to a control unit.
15. The tool of any of claims 1 to 13, further comprising an attachment mechanism for attachment to a print head mounting unit of a 3D printer.
16. A 3D printer comprising the tool of claim 15 attached to the print head mounting unit of the printer, configured so that the tool is movable by the printer to trace the external perimeter of the 3D model.
17. A tool for touching up a 3D printed model as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.