KR101936495B1 - 3D printing apparatus using rotating roller inside powder supplyng hopper - Google Patents

Abstract

The 3D printer apparatus using the rotating roller in the powder feed hopper according to the present invention includes a product molding unit 200 that enables a 3D product to be formed by irradiating and sintering a supplied powder with a laser, A working plate 220 on which the powder supplied through the process of vertically moving according to a predetermined program in the product forming chamber 210 is discharged, a product forming chamber 210 in which the supplied powder is present in a sintered state, A powder supply hopper (not shown) functioning to rotationally drive one side of the upper part of the product forming chamber 210 and uniformly supplying powder supplied to one side of the working plate 220 onto the working plate 220 230) for supplying a laser beam onto a powder layer placed on the work plate (220) while being disposed on an upper side of the product forming chamber (210) In the arrangement on the underside of the check block 240 and the product-shaping chamber (210) state and a recovery chamber 250 is unsintered powder gathering of the powder layer laid on the working plate 220.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a 3D printer apparatus using a rotating roller inside a powder supply hopper,

The present invention relates to a 3D printer apparatus using a rotating roller in a powder feed hopper, in which a rotating roller is provided inside a hopper for supplying powder to uniformly form powder in the hopper, thereby supplying powder from the powder feed chamber onto the product forming chamber Thereby optimizing the powder supply for product molding on the laser irradiation area of the product forming chamber.

At present, the production method, which is mainly used in manufacturing industry, is a cutting method in which a large raw material is cut or trimmed. However, as customers' demands have diversified and product production trends have changed from conventional mass production to multi-product small quantity production, 3D printing technology has become more and more important than industrial application of 3D printing technology, Prototypes are being reported in the press. As a result, 3D printing technology is attracting attention as a technology that will lead the tertiary manufacturing revolution around the world.

Rapid prototyping (RP) technology has been used 20 years ago, but recent technology has been partially released, accelerating the development and speeding up popularization. In the case of plastics, diversification of resins and introduction of engineering plastics, as well as the diversification of materials such as metals and ceramics, are expanding the utilization of industries. Particularly, materials used for lamination using 3D printing can be classified into powder-based type, wire-based type, and thin plate-based type.

Powder-based type powder is rapidly quenched by atomizing method and most of spherical powders are used. Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) and Directed Energy Deposition (DED) method are widely used.

The Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) method is a method in which a powder layer of several tens of micrometers is laid on a powder bed having a certain area on a product forming chamber from a powder supply device, and a laser or an electron beam is selectively irradiated according to a design drawing, to be.

The PBF method also uses terms such as SLS (Selected Laser Sintering), SLM (Selected Laser Melting), Laser Cursing, and DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering), but the principle is the same.

The Directed Energy Deposition (DED) method is a method of supplying powders in a protective gas atmosphere in real time and using a high power laser to melt them immediately after being supplied.

The equipment sales volume of the world is comparatively precise, and the PBF method which is advantageous for the shape freedom is much more. The metal powder for the 3D printer used in the PBF method is manufactured by gas atomization, EIGA (Electrode Induction Melting Gas Atomization) which injects gas after heating the metal of the bar with high frequency, method of spraying by heating with plasma by supplying wire, A method of heating the plasma at high speed and the like are advantageously used for casting the spherical powder.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2016-0141144 ("a 3D laser sintering printer apparatus") is a three-dimensional laser sintering apparatus which can easily collect powder dispersed in an area outside a work surface, thereby improving the ease of collection and reducing the waste of the powder. Discloses a laser sintering printer apparatus. In this document, only a blade-type transfer part linearly moving from the supply chamber to the product forming chamber provides a way of recovering the powder leaving the product forming chamber to the recovery chamber. Therefore, .

(Patent Document 1) KR10-2016-0141144 A

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem [8] Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a honeycomb structure by providing a rotating roller inside a hopper for supplying powder, uniformly forming powders in a hopper, The present invention is directed to a 3D laser printer apparatus.

In order to accomplish the above object, a 3D printer apparatus using a rotating roller in a powder feed hopper according to the present invention includes a product molding unit 200 for forming a 3D product by irradiating a powder to be supplied and sintering the powder, The product shaping unit 200 includes a product shaping chamber 210 in which the supplied powder is sintered, a powder supplied through the process of moving in the vertical direction according to a predetermined program in the product shaping chamber 210, The work plate 220 is rotated and driven around one side of the upper part of the product forming chamber 210 and the powder supplied to one side of the work plate 220 is uniformly supplied A powder supply hopper 230 which functions as a powder supply hopper, a powder placed on the work plate 220 in a state of being disposed on the upper side of the product forming chamber 210, And a recovery chamber 250 in which fine powder is collected in a powder layer placed on the work plate 220 in a state where the recovery chamber 250 is disposed on the lower side of the product manufacturing chamber 210 do.

The powder feed hopper 230 includes a hopper body 231 in which powder is received, a rotary roller 233 disposed in the hopper body 231, and a rotary shaft 235 coupled to one side of the hopper body 231 ).

The hopper main body 231 includes a first hopper guide plate 231a and a second hopper guide plate 231b having a structure opposite to the first hopper guide plate 231a, Between the lower ends of the guide plates 231a and 231b, there is formed a powder discharge port 232 for discharge of the powder contained in the hopper body 231 in the downward direction.

The height between the lower end portions of the first and second hopper guide plates 231a and 231b is different.

The 3D printer apparatus may further include a powder supply unit 100 for supplying powder onto the product shaping unit 200 for product molding in a state where the powder is received in the powder supply unit 100, A powder receiving chamber 110 for receiving the powder in the powder receiving chamber 110, a supply plate 120 for exposing a portion of the powder received through the upward and downward movement in the powder receiving chamber 110 to the upper end of the powder receiving chamber 110, And a transfer module 130 for transferring the powder exposed at the upper end of the powder accommodation chamber 110 to the product shaping part 200 side.

The laser irradiation unit 240 includes a laser light source 241 disposed at an upper portion of the product forming chamber 210 and a lens unit 243 through which light irradiated from the laser light source 241 is incident and refracted.

In the 3D printer apparatus using the rotating roller in the powder feed hopper according to the present invention as described above, in order to minimize the powder supplied onto the unnecessary region, a rotating roller is installed inside the hopper for supplying the powder, To supply the powder onto the forming chamber in the powder feed chamber to optimize the powder feed for product molding on the laser irradiated area.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a 3D laser printer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 shows a specific configuration of the powder feed hopper constituting the product shaping section.
Figure 3 shows the internal cross-section of the powder feed hopper.
FIG. 4 shows the structure of a laser irradiator constituting a 3D laser printer apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a 3D printer apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is capable of other various forms of implementation, and that these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, It is provided to let you know completely. Wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

The 3D laser printer apparatus according to the present invention uses a rotating roller installed inside the hopper to uniformly supply the powder received inside the hopper uniformly on the working plate of the product forming chamber so as to uniformly supply the powder on all the forming areas .

1 to 4, a 3D laser printer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a powder supply unit 100 for supplying powder for forming a product at a predetermined cycle in a state of receiving powder therein, 100 to form a 3D product by irradiating laser and sintering the product.

The powder supplying unit 100 includes a powder receiving chamber 110 for receiving powder therein and a powder receiving chamber 110 for discharging a portion of powder received through a process of moving up and down according to a predetermined program in the powder receiving chamber 110. [ Which is exposed to the upper end of the feed plate 120.

The powder accommodating chamber 110 may be formed in a shape having a partition wall protruding a predetermined distance in the upper direction from both the room and the rear side except the front part connected to the product molding part 200. The powder exposed to the upper end of the powder accommodation chamber 110 through the partition can be prevented from falling out of the powder accommodation chamber 110.

The supply plate 120 is movable up and down through the first driving part 125 coupled to the lower part. The first driving part 125 includes a first lifting rod (not shown) having one end fixed to the lower portion of the supply plate 120 and the other end extending downward from the inside of the powder accommodating chamber 110, (Not shown) in the state that at least one first guide (not shown) is disposed around the first lifting rod, the lifting and lowering mechanism moves up and down together with the first lifting rod, As shown in FIG.

The product molding part 200 allows the sintering process to proceed in a pattern shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of a desired product through laser exposure.

The product molding unit 200 moves the powder supply unit 100 through the process of moving downward according to a predetermined program in the product forming chamber 210 and the product manufacturing chamber 210 that are present in the sintered powder state, A work plate 220 on which the powder supplied through the module 130 is unfolded and a work plate 220 uniformly arranged on the work plate 220 while being arranged to reciprocate between the powder accommodating chamber 110 and the product forming chamber 210 A laser irradiation unit 240 for supplying a laser onto the powder layer placed on the work plate 220 while being disposed on the upper side of the product forming chamber 210, And a recovery chamber 250 in which the un-sintered powder is collected again in the powder layer placed on the work plate 220 in a state where it is disposed on the lower side of the product forming chamber 210.

The product forming chamber 210 refers to a space in which the powder supplied from the powder feeder 100 or the powder feed hopper 230 is sintered by a laser and molded into a desired shape of product, And may be connected via a separate transfer plate to the upper end of the powder receiving chamber 110. The transfer plate may be configured to be inclined downward toward the product forming chamber 210 from the powder receiving chamber 110 as an example.

The working plate 220 is movable up and down through a second driving part 225 coupled to the lower part. The second driving unit 225 includes a second lifting rod (not shown) having one end fixed to the lower portion of the working plate 220 and the other end extending downward from the inside of the product forming chamber 210, (Not shown) around the second lifting rod, and moves up and down together with the second lifting rod while the at least one second guide (not shown) is disposed around the lifting rod. As shown in FIG.

The powder feed hopper 230 includes a hopper body 231 in which powder is received, a powder discharge port 232 for discharging powder downwardly received in the hopper body 231, and a rotary roller 233 disposed inside the hopper body 231 ).

The hopper main body 231 includes a first hopper guide plate 231a and a second hopper guide plate 231b having a structure opposite to the first hopper guide plate 231a, 231b, 231a, and 231b may be closed through a side block (not shown) coupled to the side surface of the hopper body 231. [ The first and second hopper guide plates 231a and 231b may have a structure in which the distance between the first and second hopper guide plates 231a and 231b gradually decreases from a certain point toward a downward direction.

Meanwhile, between the lower ends of the first and second hopper guide plates 231a and 231b, a powder discharge port 232 for discharging the powder contained in the hopper body 231 in the downward direction is formed. The powder discharge port 232 is formed by a structure that maintains a predetermined gap between the lower end of the first hopper guide plate 231a and the lower end of the second hopper guide plate 231b. For example, the lower end of the first hopper guide plate 231a may be disposed at a predetermined distance higher than the lower end of the second hopper guide plate 231b, and the structure opposite to the above structure may be possible.

The rotary roller 233 is rotatably coupled through a bearing structure on a side block coupled to both sides of the first and second hopper guide plates 231a and 231b. The rotating roller 233 operates through a separate motor driven by the control unit.

The hopper body 231 has a structure that is slidably disposed along the upper surface of the work plate 220. For example, the hopper body 231 may include a powder receiving chamber 110 and a product forming chamber 210 on both upper ends of the product forming chamber 210, The hopper body 231 may be slidably coupled to both ends of a guide rail (not shown).

The hopper body 231 is moved along the upper surface of the working plate 220 through the powder discharge port 232 by driving the rotating roller 233 at a constant speed in the process of operating along the upper surface of the working plate 220 To spread a uniform thickness of the powder on the working plate 220.

A vibrating body capable of vibrating is additionally disposed on the hopper body 231 or the rotating shaft 235 so that vibrations are applied on the hopper body 231 to form a powder on the powder placed on the work plate 220 A predetermined vibration pressure can be applied.

The laser irradiation unit 240 includes a laser light source 241 disposed on the upper part of the product forming chamber 210 and a lens unit 243 on which light irradiated from the laser light source 241 is incident and refracted. In one embodiment, the laser light source 241 and the lens unit 243 may simultaneously irradiate one point in the powder region spread on the work plate 220 while a pair of the laser light source 241 and the lens unit 243 are symmetrically arranged . This function amplifies the output of the laser through the way that two lasers simultaneously illuminate the same spot. The lens section 243 of the laser irradiation section 240 is rotatably and movably disposed on the upper frame 215 installed on the product forming chamber 210 to irradiate .

A 3D laser printer apparatus according to another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Hereinafter, the same parts as those of the 3D laser printer apparatus according to the above-described embodiment will be described with particular emphasis not to be described.

The powder supply unit 100 constituting the 3D laser printer apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a powder receiving chamber 110 for receiving powder therein, A supply plate 120 for exposing a part of the powder received through the process to the upper end of the powder accommodation chamber 110 and a powder that is exposed to the upper end of the powder accommodation chamber 110 toward the product shaping part 200 (Not shown).

The conveying module 130 repeatedly moves forward and backward along the direction connecting the powder supplying part 100 and the product forming part 200 while being disposed at the upper end of the powder receiving chamber 110. The conveying module 130 Is located at the rear end of the powder accommodation chamber 110 during the lifting of the supply plate 120 and when the rise of the supply plate 120 is completed and a predetermined amount of powder is exposed on the top of the powder accommodation chamber 110 And starts transferring forward from the rear of the powder accommodating chamber 110.

As described above, the movement of the transfer module 130 functions to push the powder exposed in the upper part of the powder receiving chamber 110 toward the product forming part 200 side. Whereby a predetermined amount of powder that can be sintered through laser exposure on the product forming part 200 can be periodically supplied.

On the other hand, the powder is supplied onto the work plate 220 through the transfer module 130 at the same time as the powder is supplied onto the work plate 220 via the rotation roller 233 of the powder supply hopper 230 Can be adopted.

As described above, according to the present invention, a rotating roller is provided inside a hopper for supplying powders in order to minimize powders supplied on unnecessary areas, so that powders are uniformly formed in the hopper, and the powder is supplied from the powder supply chamber to the shaping chamber The powder is supplied to optimize the powder supply for product molding on the laser irradiation area, or the powder is simultaneously or selectively supplied through the transfer module of the powder supply part.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (6)

And a product shaping part (200) that enables a 3D product to be formed by irradiating and sintering the supplied powder with a laser,
The product molding unit 200 includes:
A working plate 220 on which the powder supplied through the process of vertically moving according to a predetermined program in the product forming chamber 210 is discharged, a product forming chamber 210 in which the supplied powder is present in a sintered state, A powder supply hopper (not shown) functioning to rotationally drive one side of the upper part of the product forming chamber 210 and uniformly supplying powder supplied to one side of the working plate 220 onto the working plate 220 A laser irradiation unit 240 for supplying a laser onto the powder layer placed on the work plate 220 while being disposed on the upper side of the product forming chamber 210, And a recovery chamber (250) for collecting fine powder in a powder layer placed on the work plate (220)
The powder feed hopper 230 includes a hopper main body 231 in which powder is received, a powder discharge port 232 for discharging the powder contained in the hopper main body 231 in the downward direction, Roller 233,
A predetermined vibration force is applied to the powder placed on the work plate 220 through a process of applying vibration to the hopper body 231 while a vibrating body capable of applying vibration is additionally disposed on the hopper body 231 Actually,
The laser irradiation unit 240 includes a laser light source 241 disposed at an upper portion of the product forming chamber 210 and a lens unit 243 refracted by the light emitted from the laser light source 241, The laser light source 241 and the lens unit 243 are simultaneously irradiated at the same point in the powder region deployed on the work plate 220 in a state in which a pair of the laser light sources 241 and the lens unit 243 are symmetrically arranged, The output of the laser is amplified by a method of irradiating the laser,
The lens unit 243 is rotatably and movably disposed on an upper frame 215 installed on the upper part of the product forming chamber 210 to enable irradiation of various points of the powder region supplied to the work plate 220 To make,
A 3D printer apparatus using a rotating roller in a powder feed hopper.
delete The method according to claim 1,
The hopper main body 231,
A first hopper guide plate 231a and a second hopper guide plate 231b having a structure opposite to the first hopper guide plate 231a,
A powder discharge port 232 for discharging the powder contained in the hopper body 231 downward is formed between the lower ends of the first and second hopper guide plates 231a and 231b.
A 3D printer apparatus using a rotating roller in a powder feed hopper.
The method of claim 3,
The first and second hopper guide plates 231a and 231b have different heights between their lower ends,
A 3D printer apparatus using a rotating roller in a powder feed hopper.
The method according to claim 1,
The 3D printer apparatus includes:
And a powder supply unit (100) for supplying powder onto the product shaping part (200) for product molding while the powder is housed inside the product shaping part (200)
The powder supply unit 100 includes:
A powder receiving chamber 110 for receiving the powder therein, a supply plate (not shown) for exposing a portion of the powder received through the upward and downward movement in the powder receiving chamber 110 to the upper end of the powder receiving chamber 110 And a transfer module (130) for transferring the powder exposed to the upper end of the powder accommodating chamber (110) toward the product shaping part (200)
A 3D printer apparatus using a rotating roller in a powder feed hopper.
delete

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