JP6892983B2 - 3D printer and 3D modeling method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a 3D printer for modeling a three-dimensional object (three-dimensional object) and a three-dimensional modeling method, and particularly to an improvement of a fused deposition modeling 3D printer and a three-dimensional modeling method.

A so-called 3D printer has been attracting attention as a method for forming a three-dimensional object, and it has become possible to easily create a three-dimensional object having a complicated shape, which has been difficult to realize until now. By using a 3D printer, it is possible to process even a shape that cannot be realized by a normal method by stacking arbitrary materials such as resin and metal.

Several types of 3D printers are known, and among them, the method of extruding resin filaments and laminating and depositing them (Fused Deposition Modeling) is advantageous in terms of cost and the like. , Development is underway in various fields (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

For example, in the laminated modeling system of Patent Document 1, a filament, which is a modeling material, is supplied to an extrusion head, the filament is melted by a liquefier mounted on the extrusion head, and the molten filament is extruded onto a base through a nozzle. The extrusion head and base move relatively to form a 3D model, laminating a large number of linear and layered materials to produce a 3D model.

Patent Document 2 describes that the modified ABS material is delivered to the extrusion head of a laminated deposition system by extrusion, and the delivered modified ABS material is melted in the extrusion head under conditions that improve the response time of the extrusion head. Disclosed is a method of constructing a 3D object, which comprises depositing a molten thermoplastic material layer by layer to form the 3D object.

In this type of method, the basic idea is to melt and deposit a resin material, and a resin filament is used as a raw material. Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 disclose a resin filament used as a raw material, a method for supplying the same, and the like.

Patent Document 3 discloses a composition for producing a three-dimensional object, but in an extruder for producing a modeled object, it is supplied as a flexible filament to an extrusion head. The filament is melted in a liquefier carried by the extrusion head. The liquefier heats the filament to a temperature slightly above the freezing point to bring it into a molten state. The molten material is extruded onto the pedestal through the orifice of the liquefier.

Patent Document 4 discloses a filament cassette and a filament cassette receiver that supply filaments in a three-dimensional deposition modeling machine. Patent Document 3 provides a method for engaging and disengaging a filament in a modeling machine in a convenient manner so that it can be realized in a manner of protecting the filament from moisture in the environment.

Special Table 2009-500194 Special Table 2010-521339 Japanese Patent No. 5039549 Japanese Patent No. 4107960

By the way, in a 3D printer of the Fused Deposition Modeling method, it is necessary to heat and melt a filament made of a resin material and extrude it from a nozzle of a modeling head. At this time, the heat of the heater heats the filament in the vicinity of the heater, which may hinder the smooth supply of the filament. For example, when the filament is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature of the resin material by the heat of the heater, the filament becomes soft and buckles. As a result, the filament comes into contact with the wall surface of the filament supply path to generate a frictional force, and the filament cannot be smoothly supplied to the nozzle of the modeling head.

Further, the filament is supplied by biting the filament with a gear in the filament feeding mechanism, but if the filament becomes soft due to the influence of the heat of the heater, the gear may not bite the filament and may not be able to push it out.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a 3D printer capable of smoothly supplying filaments, and further, an object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional modeling method. ..

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the 3D printer of the present invention is a fused deposition modeling method in which a filament made of a resin material is melted by a heater provided in a molding head, extruded from a nozzle, and laminated. The 3D printer has a filament feeding mechanism that bites the filament with a gear and supplies it to the nozzle, and at least has a cooling mechanism that cools the filament between the filament feeding mechanism and the heater, and the cooling mechanism. It is characterized in that a heat radiating fin and a Perche element in contact with the heat radiating fin are arranged around the filament. Alternatively, as the cooling mechanism, a cooling pipe through which a refrigerant flows is arranged around the filament. Further, the cartridge in which the filament is wound is housed in the cooling chamber, and the supplied filament is cooled in advance.

Further, the three-dimensional modeling method of the present invention is a three-dimensional modeling method of a hot melt lamination method in which a filament made of a resin material is melted by a heater provided in a modeling head, extruded from a nozzle, and laminated to form the filament. Therefore, the filament is bitten by a gear by the filament feeding mechanism and supplied to the nozzle, and at least a heat radiation fin and a Perche element in contact with the heat radiation fin are arranged around the filament as a cooling mechanism for cooling the filament, and at least the filament is It is characterized by cooling. Alternatively, at least as a cooling mechanism for cooling the filament, a cooling pipe through which a refrigerant flows is arranged around the filament to cool at least the filament. Further, the cartridge in which the filament is wound is housed in a cooling chamber, and the supplied filament is cooled in advance.

By cooling the filament made of the resin material, it is not softened by the influence of the heat of the heater, and the hardness of the filament is maintained. Therefore, the generation of frictional force due to the buckling of the filament is eliminated, and the filament is surely bitten into the gear.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the softening of the filament due to the influence of the heat of the heater of the modeling head, and the filament can be smoothly supplied.

It is a figure which shows typically the schematic structure of the 3D printer. It is a figure which shows an example of the modeling head schematically. It is a figure which shows the cooling mechanism, (A) shows the example which provided the heat radiation fin, (B) shows the example which provided the Perche element, (C) shows the example which provided the water cooling mechanism. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the 3D printer which housed a filament cartridge in a cool box. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the 3D printer which housed the whole apparatus in a cooler. It is a figure which shows typically an example of a 3D printer in which a modeling part including a modeling head is housed in a cooling cabinet, and a filament cartridge is installed outside the cooling cabinet.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the 3D printer and the three-dimensional modeling method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment)
In the 3D printer of the present embodiment, a cooling mechanism is provided in the modeling head to cool the filament made of the resin material.

First, the outline of the 3D printer will be described. The basic mechanism is to create a three-dimensional object, that is, a 3D (three-dimensional) object by stacking cross-sectional shapes using 3D data created by a computer as a design drawing. As the method, for example, an inkjet method in which a liquid resin is irradiated with ultraviolet rays or the like and gradually cured, a powder fixing method in which an adhesive is sprayed on a powder resin, and a resin melted by heat are stacked little by little. Although the Fused Deposition Modeling method is known, the 3D printer of the present embodiment is of the Fused Deposition Modeling method, and a filament made of a resin material is used as a raw material for molding.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a 3D printer. The 3D printer of this example has a modeling head 2 that is three-dimensionally driven by a driving mechanism 1 and a cartridge 4 that supplies a filament 3 made of a resin material to the modeling head 2 as main constituent members. The filament 3 wound around the cartridge 4 is guided to the modeling head 2, heated and melted, extruded from the nozzle 2A of the modeling head 2, and deposited and cooled to 3 on the base 5. The dimensional model M is molded.

As the resin material constituting the filament 3, a thermoplastic resin that softens by heating is used. The thermoplastic resin may be any material that can be extruded, and can be appropriately selected depending on the function imparted to the filament. For example, in addition to acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer resin (ABS resin), amorphous resins such as polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polymethylmethacrylate, polycarbonate, and modified polyphenylene ether, polyolefin resins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyester, and polyamide. , Crystalline resins such as polyvinyl alcohol, olefin-based, styrene-based, polyester-based thermoplastic elastomers, and mixtures thereof are preferably used. Further, inorganic additives such as carbon black, carbon fiber, glass fiber, talc, mica, nanoclay and magnesium, antioxidants, lubricants, colorants and the like can be appropriately mixed.

When such a thermoplastic resin is used as the resin material of the filament 3, the molding head 2 may be affected by heat and the filament 3 may not be smoothly supplied.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the modeling head 2. The modeling head 2 is provided with a nozzle 2A for extruding the heat-melted resin material as described above, and further, in front of the nozzle 2A (upstream side in the feeding direction of the filament 3), a heater for heating the filament 3 is provided. It is equipped with 2B. The filament 3 is heated by the heater 2B and sent to the nozzle 2A in a molten state. Further, as a filament feeding mechanism for feeding the filament 3 to the nozzle 2A, a gear 2C is provided at a position in front of the heater 2B. The filament 3 before heating and melting is bitten by these gears 2C, and is sent to the nozzle 2A by rotating the gear 2C.

At this time, the filament 3 may be softened in front of the heater 2B due to the heat from the heater 2B provided on the modeling head 2. The filament 3 is made of a thermoplastic resin and softens when the glass transition temperature becomes Tg or higher due to the heat of the heater 2B. When the filament 3 is softened, the filament 3 is likely to buckle, and the buckled filament 3 comes into contact with the wall surface of the filament supply path 2D in front of the heater 2B to generate a frictional force, and the filament is smoothly moved to the nozzle of the modeling head. May not be able to be supplied to.

In order to prevent this, in the modeling head 2 of the 3D printer of the present embodiment, the heat radiation fins 6 are installed in the path between the gear 2C which is the filament feeding mechanism and the heater 2B, and the filament 3 is cooled by air cooling. ing. By sending wind to the heat radiating fin 6, it is air-cooled. By cooling, the filament 3 maintains its hardness, and inconveniences due to buckling and the like are eliminated.

However, for example, when the glass transition temperature Tg of the resin material used for the filament 3 is low, the resin material may be softened before being extruded by the gear 2C, and the gear 2C may not bite the filament 3 and may not be able to feed the filament 3. is there. When the glass transition temperature Tg of the resin material constituting the filament 3 is 40 ° C. or lower (for example, when the glass transition temperature Tg is 25 ° C. or 35 ° C.), such a problem becomes a problem.

In a 3D printer, a shape memory resin may be used as a resin material for modeling. The shape memory resin is a resin capable of properly using a molded shape and a deformed shape by temperature control by heat. The shaped body of the shape memory resin is deformed at a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the shape memory resin, lower than the melting temperature, or lower than the decomposition temperature, and cooled to the glass transition temperature or lower while maintaining the shape. , The deformed shape is fixed, and the original molded shape is restored by heating to a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition temperature, lower than the melting temperature, or lower than the decomposition temperature. Known shape memory resins include norbornene-based polymers, transpolyisoprene-based polymers, styrene-butadiene-based polymers, and urethane-based polymers.

Some of these shape memory resins have a glass transition temperature Tg of 40 ° C. or less, and when such a shape memory resin having a low glass transition temperature is used as a modeling material, the above-mentioned problem becomes a big problem.

In order to solve this problem, in addition to maintaining the hardness such that the filament 3 does not buckle due to cooling after passing through the gear 2C, the filament 3 must be hard so that the glass transition temperature is Tg or less when the gear 2C is reached. Need to meet. Therefore, in the 3D printer of the present embodiment, in addition to the path between the gear 2C and the heater 2B, a cooling mechanism is provided at a position in front of the gear 2C.

3 (A) to 3 (C) show a configuration example of the modeling head 2 provided with a cooling mechanism in front of the gear 2C in addition to the path between the gear 2C and the heater 2B.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3A, the heat radiation fins 6 for air cooling are provided in the path between the gear 2C and the heater 2B, and the heat radiation fins 7 are also provided in front of the gear 2C. In the example shown in FIG. 3B, in addition to the heat radiation fins 6 and 7, the perche elements 8 and 9 are provided in contact with the heat radiation fins 6 and 7. In the example shown in FIG. 3C, a cooling pipe 10 for water cooling is arranged around the filament 3 in the path between the gear 2C and the heater 2B and in front of the gear 2C. The filament 3 is cooled by flowing a refrigerant such as water through the cooling pipe 10.

In this way, by providing a cooling mechanism in front of the gear 2C in addition to the path between the gear 2C and the heater 2B, even when the filament 3 is made of a resin material having a low glass transition temperature Tg. The filament 3 is kept at a low temperature up to the heater 2B, and the hardness is maintained. Therefore, the gear 2C is smoothly engaged and the filament 3 is smoothly fed. Further, the hardness of the filament 3 is maintained between the gear 2C and the heater 2B, and inconveniences such as an increase in frictional force due to buckling do not occur.

It should be noted that each of the above-mentioned cooling mechanisms may be any one as long as the temperature can be relatively lowered as compared with the case where the cooling mechanism is not installed. The cooling temperature is also arbitrary, but it is particularly preferable that the cooling mechanism cools the filament 3 in the vicinity of the heater 2b (or in the vicinity of the gear 2C) so that the temperature of the filament 3 is less than the glass transition temperature Tg of the resin material.

(Second embodiment)
In the above embodiment, the modeling head 2 is provided with a cooling mechanism, but in this case, the weight of the modeling head 2 increases, and the load on the drive mechanism 1 and the like of the modeling head 2 may increase. There is.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the hardness of the filament 3 is maintained by cooling the cartridge 4 around which the filament 3 is wound, instead of providing the modeling head 2 with a cooling mechanism. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the cartridge 4 of the filament 3 is housed in the cooling cabinet 11.

The temperature inside the cooling chamber 11 may be set to a temperature at which the filament 3 can maintain its hardness until it is heated by the heater 2B of the modeling head 2. If the temperature of the supplied filament 3 is kept below the glass transition temperature Tg up to the heater 2B of the modeling head 2, the gear 2C is smoothly delivered by biting and heated by the heater 2B without buckling. Is supplied to the nozzle 2A.

When the cartridge 4 of the filament 3 is cooled by the cooler 11 like the 3D printer of the present embodiment, if the cooler 11 is an optional part, it can be applied to various 3D printers. It has the advantage that it can be easily disseminated.

(Third Embodiment)
In the 3D printer of the present embodiment, the entire apparatus is housed in a cool box to cool the filament 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the entire apparatus including the cartridge 4 of the filament 3 to the drive mechanism 1, the modeling head 2, and the base 5 is housed in the cooling cabinet 20. With such a configuration, the filament 3 can be reliably kept at a low temperature until it is heated by the heater 2B, and a smooth supply of the filament 3 can be realized. In the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, the cartridge 4 around which the filament 3 is wound is installed outside the cooling cabinet 20, and the modeling portion of the three-dimensional modeled object M including the modeling head 2 is the cooling cabinet 20. It is also possible to be housed inside.

In the case of the present embodiment, the effect that the filament 3 can be surely kept at a low temperature until it is heated by the heater 2B can be obtained, and the molding area (base 5 or the three-dimensional modeled object M) can be cooled. It is also possible to obtain the effect of improving the molding speed by cooling the resin material after it comes out of the nozzle 2A.

Although the embodiments to which the present invention is applied have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is possible.

1 Drive mechanism 2 Modeling head 2A Nozzle 2B Heater 2C Gear 2D Filament supply path 3 Filament 4 Cartridge 5 Base 6,7 Heat dissipation fins 8,9 Perche element 10 Cooling pipe 11,20 Cooler

Claims (9)

This is a Fused Deposition Modeling 3D printer in which a filament made of a resin material is melted by a heater provided in a modeling head, extruded from a nozzle, and laminated to form a model.
It has a filament feeding mechanism that bites the filament with a gear and supplies it to the nozzle, and at least has a cooling mechanism that cools the filament between the filament feeding mechanism and the heater.
A 3D printer characterized in that a heat radiating fin and a Perche element in contact with the heat radiating fin are arranged around the filament as the cooling mechanism. This is a Fused Deposition Modeling 3D printer in which a filament made of a resin material is melted by a heater provided in a modeling head, extruded from a nozzle, and laminated to form a model.
It has a filament feeding mechanism that bites the filament with a gear and supplies it to the nozzle, and at least has a cooling mechanism that cools the filament between the filament feeding mechanism and the heater.
A 3D printer characterized in that a cooling pipe through which a refrigerant flows is arranged around the filament as the cooling mechanism. The 3D printer according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the cooling mechanism is installed between the filament feeding mechanism and the heater and at a position in front of the filament feeding mechanism. This is a Fused Deposition Modeling 3D printer in which a filament made of a resin material is melted by a heater provided in a modeling head, extruded from a nozzle, and laminated to form a model.
A 3D printer characterized in that only a cartridge in which the filament is wound is housed in a cooler, and the supplied filament is pre-cooled. The 3D printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the glass transition temperature Tg of the resin material constituting the filament is 40 ° C. or lower. The 3D printer according to claim 5, wherein the resin material constituting the filament is a shape memory resin. This is a three-dimensional modeling method of the Fused Deposition Modeling method, in which a filament made of a resin material is melted by a heater provided in a modeling head, extruded from a nozzle, and laminated to form a model.
The filament is bitten by a gear by the filament feeding mechanism and supplied to the nozzle, and at least between the filament feeding mechanism and the heater, as a cooling mechanism for cooling the filament, the radiating fins and the radiating fins are in contact with each other. Arrange the elements,
A three-dimensional modeling method characterized by cooling at least the filament. This is a three-dimensional modeling method of the Fused Deposition Modeling method, in which a filament made of a resin material is melted by a heater provided in a modeling head, extruded from a nozzle, and laminated to form a model.
A filament feeding mechanism bites the filament with a gear to supply the nozzle, and at least between the filament feeding mechanism and the heater, a cooling tube through which the refrigerant flows is arranged as a cooling mechanism for cooling the filament. And
A three-dimensional modeling method characterized by cooling at least the filament. This is a three-dimensional modeling method of the Fused Deposition Modeling method, in which a filament made of a resin material is melted by a heater provided in a modeling head, extruded from a nozzle, and laminated to form a model.
A three-dimensional modeling method characterized in that only a cartridge in which the filament is wound is housed in a cooling chamber, and the supplied filament is cooled in advance.

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