KR102363741B1 - Powder supply device and 3D printer including same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a powder supply device and a three-dimensional printer including the same, capable of modeling a three-dimensional object. The powder supply device includes: a powder hopper in which a powder material for a three-dimensional printer is stored; a vacuum generation unit installed on one side of the powder hopper, and configured to vacuum-sucking the powder material from an outside and supply the powder material to the powder hopper; a powder supply unit installed on an upper side of a work table of the three-dimensional printer so as to be linearly movable, and configured to receive the powder material from the powder hopper and selectively drop the powder material to one side of a printing region of the work table; a powder transfer unit having a tubular shape, inclined toward the top of the powder supply unit installed at a higher position than the powder hopper from a lower end of the powder hopper, and configured to transfer the powder material discharged to the lower end of the powder hopper to the powder supply unit by a transfer screw rotating inside the powder transfer unit; and a control unit configured to control the powder transfer unit and the powder supply unit to adjust an amount of the powder material transferred to the powder supply unit by the powder transfer unit and an amount of the powder material dropped to the work table through the powder supply unit.

Description

Powder supply device and 3D printer including same

The present invention relates to a powder supply apparatus and a three-dimensional printer including the same, and more particularly, to a powder supply apparatus capable of molding a three-dimensional three-dimensional object, and a three-dimensional printer including the same.

3D printing technology refers to manufacturing technology that creates goods as if printed in 3D space based on 3D drawings. In the early days of development, it was limited to plastic materials and used for limited purposes, but the scope has been expanded to nylon and metal, and it is being applied to all industrial fields to the extent that it can print cell phone cases and automobile accessories.

In general, most industrial metal 3D printers follow the selective laser sintering (SLS) method, which applies metal powder and melts only the desired part with a laser to make a product. However, the selective laser sintering method has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to manufacture a large-scale product, and the production speed is slow, although it is possible to manufacture a sophisticated product. Accordingly, recently, a binder-jet method in which a metal or plastic powder is applied on a stage of a molding box and an adhesive is sprayed to a desired portion to make a product has been highlighted. The binder jet method has the advantage of being able to print many products at a time at a faster speed and has less restrictions on product size compared to the SLS method.

However, such a conventional powder supply device and a 3D printer including the same, as the printer device is also enlarged to produce a large product, the powder supply unit for dropping the powder material on the printing area of the work table is located at a high place, When replenishing the powder material to the powder supply unit, there was a problem in that it was difficult for the operator to transfer the powder material to the powder supply unit located at a high place.

In addition, when the operator manually replenishes the powder material to the powder supply unit, the powder material is not evenly formed in the inner space of the powder supply unit, but is formed to be biased to one side. There was a problem that the powder material had a bad influence on the constant drop in an accurate amount.

The present invention is to solve various problems including the above problems, and it is possible to easily supply a powder material to a powder supply unit located at a high place in a large-sized 3D printer, and the supplemented powder material is stored in the internal space of the powder supply unit. An object of the present invention is to provide a powder supply device capable of inducing to be uniformly formed at a constant height, and a three-dimensional printer including the same. However, these problems are exemplary, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a powder supply apparatus for a three-dimensional printer. The powder supply device of the three-dimensional printer may include: a powder hopper in which a powder material for a three-dimensional printer is stored; a vacuum generator installed on one side of the powder hopper, sucking the powder material from the outside in a vacuum and supplying it to the powder hopper; a powder supply unit installed movably linearly above the work table of the 3D printer, receiving the powder material from the powder hopper and selectively dropping the powder material to one side of the printing area of the work table; The powder is formed in a tubular shape, is inclined from the lower end of the powder hopper toward the upper end of the powder supply unit installed at a higher position than the powder hopper, and is discharged to the lower end of the powder hopper by a feed screw rotating inside. a powder transfer unit for transferring the material to the powder supply unit; and a control unit for controlling the powder transfer unit and the powder supply unit so as to adjust the amount of the powder material transferred to the powder supply unit by the powder transfer unit and the amount of the powder material falling to the work table through the powder supply unit ; may be included.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the vacuum generating unit is formed in an open cylindrical shape at least a portion of the lower portion is installed on the upper surface of the powder hopper, and forms a vacuum atmosphere therein from the outside through the suction port formed on one side a vacuum generator for sucking the powder material into a vacuum; and a flap door that is rotatably installed in the lower part of the vacuum generator and rotates when the powder material sucked into the vacuum generator reaches a predetermined weight to selectively open an open part below the vacuum generator. can

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the powder supply unit has an internal space capable of accommodating the powder material transferred from the powder transfer unit, and a material supply port through which the powder material is supplied is formed on one upper side, a supply chamber in which an application slit capable of applying the powder material downward is formed in the lower portion; a metering screw rotatably installed in the inner space of the supply chamber and having a spiral wing portion formed on an outer diameter surface; a first sensor installed on the other upper side of the supply chamber to detect the powder material accommodated in the inner space; and a shutter unit installed under the supply chamber to selectively open the application slit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit rotates the transfer screw of the powder transfer unit during or after transferring the powder material to the supply chamber, and falls through the material supply port to one side of the inner space The metering screw of the powder supply unit may be selectively rotated so that the powder material, which is biasedly stacked, can be evenly formed in the inner space at a constant height.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensor is a proximity sensor capable of detecting the presence of the powder material in its vicinity, and the control unit, when transferring the powder material to the supply chamber, the transfer The screw and the metering screw may be continuously rotated, and when the first sensor detects the powder material, the rotation of the conveying screw and the metering screw may be stopped.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the powder supply unit may further include a second sensor installed near the material supply port on an upper side of the supply chamber to detect the powder material accommodated in the inner space. .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensor and the second sensor are proximity sensors capable of detecting the presence of the powder material in the vicinity thereof, and the control unit provides the powder material to the supply chamber. During transport, after rotating the feeding screw until the first sensor detects the powder material, the metering screw is rotated until the powder material is not detected by the first sensor, and the first sensor and the This may be repeated until both the second sensors detect the powder material.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensor and the second sensor are distance sensors for detecting a distance from an upper portion of the supply chamber to the powder material stacked in the inner space, and the control unit comprises: When transferring the powder material to the supply chamber, forward rotation of the metering screw and The reverse rotation is repeated, and when at least one of the first distance and the second distance reaches a predetermined distance, the rotation of the conveying screw and the measuring screw may be stopped.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the shutter unit, the shutter body is formed in a shape corresponding to the lower surface of the supply chamber in which the application slit is formed, and is slidably installed on the lower surface of the supply chamber; a driving motor for slidingly driving the shutter body so that the shutter body selectively opens the application slit; and a guide member installed on a lower surface of the supply chamber to guide the sliding movement direction of the shutter body, wherein the control unit controls the driving motor to control the amount of the powder supply unit dropping the powder material. By controlling it, it is possible to control the time for the shutter body to open the application slit.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a three-dimensional printer is provided. The three-dimensional printer is formed in a box shape with an open top so that a modeling space in which a powder material is accommodated and a three-dimensional object can be molded can be formed, and is provided in the molding space so as to be raised and lowered on the upper surface. a modeling box including a modeling stage in which the three-dimensional object is formed by stacking a plurality of layers; a frame body in which a modeling box accommodating part for accommodating the modeling box is formed at a position corresponding to the printing area, the frame body supporting a work table on which a printing area for molding the three-dimensional object is formed; a powder supply device, at least a portion of which is installed on one side of an upper portion of the frame body, to selectively drop a powder material to one side of the printing area of the work table; It is installed near the powder supply device on the upper part of the frame body and is installed to be movable linearly above the work table, and pressurizes the powder material dropped to one side of the printing area to a uniform height on the molding stage. a recoater device for applying; and a printing device installed on the other side of the upper portion of the frame body to spray an adhesive material onto the powder layer applied on the molding stage in an inkjet manner.

According to an embodiment of the present invention made as described above, from the powder hopper that stores the powder material at a low position close to the ground through the powder transfer unit with the built-in transfer screw, the upper working table in the large-sized 3D printer Powder material can be easily and automatically supplied to the powder supply unit located at a high place of the In addition, by frequently replenishing the powder material so that the powder material can always be present at a certain level or more in the powder supply unit, it is possible to prevent the process interruption for replenishing the powder material, thereby increasing the efficiency of the 3D printing process.

In addition, the powder material falling into the printing area of the work table through the powder supply unit by stirring and metering so that the powder material, which is frequently replenished, is evenly formed at a constant height in the inner space of the powder supply unit by the measuring screw installed in the internal space of the powder supply unit. By maintaining the precise and constant amount of , it is possible to induce the powder material to be uniformly spread with an even density on the printing area by the recoater device.

Accordingly, it is possible to increase the precision and strength of the three-dimensional object to be molded by the three-dimensional printer, and it is possible to implement a powder supply device having the effect of increasing the overall efficiency of the three-dimensional printing process and a three-dimensional printer including the same. Of course, the scope of the present invention is not limited by these effects.

1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a 3D printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 and 3 are perspective and cross-sectional views schematically showing a powder hopper, a vacuum generating unit, and a powder transferring unit of the powder supply device of the 3D printer of FIG. 1 .
4 and 5 are a top perspective view and a bottom perspective view schematically illustrating a powder supply unit of the powder supply apparatus of the 3D printer of FIG. 1 .
6 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the front of the powder supply unit of FIG.
7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an embodiment in which a powder material is stirred and metered to a uniform height in the internal space of the powder supply unit of FIG. 6 .
8 to 11 are cross-sectional views step by step illustrating another embodiment in which the powder material is stirred and metered to a uniform height in the internal space of the powder supply unit of FIG. 6 .
12 and 13 are cross-sectional views illustrating in stages another embodiment in which a powder material is stirred and metered to a uniform height in the internal space of the powder supply unit of FIG. 6 .

Hereinafter, several preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Examples of the present invention are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the following examples may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is as follows It is not limited to an Example. Rather, these embodiments are provided so as to more fully and complete the present disclosure, and to fully convey the spirit of the present invention to those skilled in the art. In addition, in the drawings, the thickness or size of each layer is exaggerated for convenience and clarity of description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings schematically illustrating ideal embodiments of the present invention. In the drawings, variations of the illustrated shape can be envisaged, for example depending on manufacturing technology and/or tolerances. Accordingly, embodiments of the spirit of the present invention should not be construed as limited to the specific shape of the region shown in the present specification, but should include, for example, changes in shape caused by manufacturing.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a three-dimensional printer 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are the powder hopper 110 of the powder supply device 100 of the three-dimensional printer of FIG. 1 and It is a perspective view and a cross-sectional view schematically showing the vacuum generating unit 120 and the powder transferring unit 150 , and FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic views of the powder supplying unit 130 of the powder supplying apparatus 100 of the 3D printer of FIG. 1 . It is a top perspective view and a bottom perspective view. And, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the front of the powder supply unit 130 of FIG. 4 , and FIG. 7 is a powder material M at a uniform height in the internal space A of the powder supply unit 130 of FIG. 6 . It is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of stirring and metering, and FIGS. 8 to 11 are another embodiment in which the powder material (M) is stirred and metered to a uniform height in the inner space (A) of the powder supply unit 130 of FIG. 6 . are cross-sectional views showing step by step, and FIGS. 12 and 13 are steps showing another embodiment in which the powder material (B) is stirred and metered to a uniform height in the inner space (A) of the powder supply unit 130 of FIG. 6 step by step are cross-sections.

First, as shown in FIG. 1 , the 3D printer 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a powder supply device 100 , a frame body 200 , a modeling box 300 , and a recoater device. 400 and a printing device (not shown).

As shown in Fig. 1, the modeling box 300 is formed in a box shape with an open top so that the powder material M is accommodated to form a modeling space in which a three-dimensional object can be molded, It may include a modeling stage 310 that is provided in the modeling space to be raised and lowered and formed by stacking the three-dimensional object on an upper surface in a plurality of layers. In addition, although not shown, the elevating device is installed in the lower part of the modeling box accommodating part 220 of the frame body 200 to be described later so that the elevating device can be located in the lower part of the modeling box 300 , and the modeling box 300 is formed. The stage 310 may be raised and lowered.

In addition, the frame body 200 supports, on the upper surface, the work table 210 on which the printing area PA capable of molding the three-dimensional object is formed, and the modeling box 300 at a position corresponding to the printing area PA. ) in which the modeling box accommodation unit 220 is accommodated may be formed. For example, the frame body 200 may be a frame structure formed by welding or connecting an integral injection structure, a casting, plate materials of various shapes, a wire member, a pipe member, a vertical member, a horizontal member, and an inclined member to each other.

As shown in Figure 1, the powder supply device 100, at least a portion is installed on one side of the upper side of the frame body 200, selectively on one side of the printing area (PA) of the work table (210) powder material (M) ) can be dropped, and the recoater device 400 is installed near the powder supply device 100 on the upper portion of the frame body 200 , and is installed on the upper surface of the work table 210 by the rail portion R It is installed movably linearly above the work table 210 , and the powder material M dropped on one side of the printing area PA may be applied by pressing it to a uniform height on the printing area PA.

In addition, the recoater device 400 applies the powder material M on the printing area PA while moving forward, and then moves the powder material M overflowed to the outside of the printing area PA while moving backward again to the printing area PA. ), by pushing it to the powder recovery port 230 located at the rear, the powder material M remaining through the powder recovery port 230 can be recovered and reused.

The powder material M may be a material including at least one of a metal powder, a plastic powder, and a ceramic powder so that the three-dimensional object can be molded by a binder-jet method.

In addition, although not shown, the printing device is installed on the other side of the upper portion of the body 200 and includes a printing head that can move in the XY axis on the work stage 310 located in the printing area PA, the molding stage ( 310), a liquid adhesive material may be sprayed onto the powder layer applied thereon by an inkjet method.

In addition, in this embodiment, although the three-dimensional printer 1000 is a binder jet method as an example, it is not necessarily limited thereto, and the powder material M is coated on the work table 310 and then printing is performed after applying various types of printing. It can be used in 3D printing method. For example, the 3D printer 1000 may be a selective laser sintering (SLS) method. Accordingly, the powder material M is a material including a metal material, and the printing apparatus may be a laser irradiation apparatus.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the powder supply device 100 of the above-described three-dimensional printer 1000 is largely, a powder hopper 110 , a vacuum generator 120 , and a powder supply part 130 . And, it may include a hopper support 140, a powder transfer unit 150, and a control unit (not shown).

For example, the powder hopper 110 may store a powder material M for a 3D printer therein. More specifically, the powder hopper 110 is formed in an inverted cone shape in which at least a portion of the upper portion is open cylindrical, and at least a portion of the lower portion is gradually reduced in cross-sectional area toward the bottom, the frame structure of the hopper support 140 ) can be supported by

In addition, the vacuum generator 120 may be installed on one side of the powder hopper 110 , and may suck the powder material M from the outside in a vacuum and supply it to the powder hopper 110 .

More specifically, the vacuum generating unit 120 is formed in an open cylindrical shape at least a portion of the lower portion is installed on the upper surface of the powder hopper 110, the suction port (121a) formed on one side by forming a vacuum atmosphere therein The vacuum generator 121 that sucks the powder material M from the outside through the vacuum and is rotatably installed at the lower part of the vacuum generator 121, and the powder material M sucked by the vacuum generator 121 has a predetermined weight It may include a flap door 122 that rotates when reaching and selectively opens an open portion below the vacuum generator 121 .

For example, when the vacuum pump (not shown) installed on one side of the vacuum generator 121 continuously sucks air inside the vacuum generator 121 and discharges it to the outside, a vacuum having a predetermined degree of vacuum inside the vacuum generator 120 . An atmosphere can be created. Accordingly, with the hose connected to the suction port 121a, the powder material M stored in the bag, the powder material M remaining around the printing area PA of the work table 210, or the powder recovery port The powder material M recovered through 230 and stored in the recovery tank may be sucked into the vacuum generator 121 .

At this time, the flap door 122 installed under the vacuum generator 121 is elastically supported by an elastic member such as a torsion spring to close the open portion below the vacuum generator 121 , and then the vacuum generator 121 . When the powder material (M) sucked into and stored reaches a predetermined weight, the powder material (M) sucked into the vacuum generator 121 is rotated downward by the weight to open the open part below the vacuum generator 121. ) can be supplied to the powder hopper 110 . Then, when all the powder material M inside the vacuum generator 121 falls into the powder hopper 110, the flap door 122 rotates upward again to close the open part below the vacuum generator 121 again. can

2 and 3, the powder transfer unit 150 is formed in a circular tubular shape and is installed at a higher position than the powder hopper 110 from the lower end of the powder hopper 110. A powder supply unit to be described later ( The powder material M, which is installed inclined toward the upper end of the 130 , and discharged to the lower end of the powder hopper 110 by the transfer screw 151 rotating inside, may be transferred to the powder supply unit 130 .

The powder transfer unit 150 is an example of transferring the powder material M to a high position by the transfer screw 151, but is not necessarily limited to FIGS. 2 and 3, and the powder transfer unit 150 is a vacuum tube. It is also possible to transfer the powder material (M) using a vacuum.

In addition, the powder conveying unit 150 is electrically connected to the control unit, and the amount of rotation, the rotational speed, and whether the conveying screw 151 is operated is controlled according to the control signal of the control unit, whereby the powder material M is conveyed. You can easily control the amount or whether to transfer.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 to 7 , the powder supply unit 130 is installed movably linearly above the work table 210 , and from the powder hopper 110 through the powder transfer unit 150 . By receiving the powder material, it is possible to selectively drop the powder material M to one side of the printing area PA of the work table 210 .

More specifically, the powder supply unit 130 has an internal space (A) capable of accommodating the powder material (M) transferred from the powder transfer unit 150, and the powder material (M) is supplied to one side of the upper side. The supply port 131a is formed, and the supply chamber 131 in which the application slit for applying the powder material M downward is formed in the lower part, and the supply chamber 131 is rotatably rotatable in the internal space (A) of the supply chamber 131 . A metering screw 132 that is installed and has a spiral wing portion 132a on the outer diameter surface, and is installed on the other upper side of the supply chamber 131 to detect the powder material M accommodated in the inner space A 1 may include a shutter unit 133 installed at the lower portion of the sensor 134 and the supply chamber 131 to selectively open the application slit.

In addition, the shutter unit 133 is formed in a shape corresponding to the lower surface of the supply chamber 131 in which the application slit is formed, and a shutter body 133a that is slidably installed on the lower surface of the supply chamber 131; The shutter body 133a is installed on the lower surface of the supply chamber 131 and a driving motor 133b for slidingly driving the shutter body 133a so that the shutter body 133a can selectively open the application slit to slide the shutter body 133a. It may include a guide member 133c for guiding the direction.

The powder supply unit 130 is electrically connected to the control unit, and the amount of rotation, the rotation speed, and the rotation direction of the metering screw 132 are controlled according to the control signal of the control unit, or the shutter of the shutter unit 133 . By controlling the time and speed at which the body (133a) is opened, it is possible to easily control the amount of the powder material (M) falling on the work table (210).

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7 , the controller rotates the transfer screw 151 of the powder transfer unit 150 to transfer the powder material M to the supply chamber 131 during or after transfer, supplying the material. The metering screw of the powder supply unit 130 ( 132) can be selectively rotated.

For example, when the control unit rotates the transfer screw 151 of the powder transfer unit 150 to transfer the powder material M to the powder supply unit 130, the transferred powder material M is supplied through the material supply port 131a. It may fall to one side into the inner space (A) of the chamber 131 .

In this way, if the powder material M continues to fall through the material supply unit 131a, the powder material M is stacked to one side of the inner space A of the supply chamber 131, so that the inner space A ) may be formed in a non-uniform height of the powder material (M). Accordingly, the control unit controls the drive motor 136 for driving the metering screw 132 to selectively rotate the metering screw 132, so that the powder material M has a uniform height in the inner space A. can be induced to form.

More specifically, the first sensor 134 installed on the other side of the upper side of the supply chamber 131, when a proximity sensor capable of detecting the presence or absence of the powder material (M) in the vicinity is applied to the supply chamber 131 When transferring the powder material M, the control unit continuously rotates the transfer screw 151 and the metering screw 132 so that the powder material M is uniformly heightened in the inner space A of the supply chamber 131 . and to stop the rotation of the feed screw 151 and the metering screw 132 when the first sensor 134 detects the powder material M, so that the powder material M is transferred to the supply chamber 131. It can be replenished from time to time so that it is always maintained at a certain level with a uniform height inside.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 8 , the powder supply unit 130 of another embodiment of the present invention is installed near the material supply port 131a on the upper side of the supply chamber 131 and the powder accommodated in the internal space (A). It may further include a second sensor 135 for detecting the material (M).

For example, the first sensor 134 and the second sensor 135 are proximity sensors capable of detecting the presence or absence of the powder material M in the vicinity thereof, and the control unit sends the powder material M to the supply chamber 131 ( When transferring M), the first sensor 134 rotates the transfer screw 151 until the powder material M is detected, and then the first sensor 134 rotates the powder material M until the powder material M is not detected. The metering screw 132 may be rotated, and this may be repeated until both the first sensor 134 and the second sensor 135 detect the powder material M.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8 , when the control unit rotates the transfer screw 151 of the powder transfer unit 150 to transfer the powder material M to the powder supply unit 130 , the transferred powder material M ) falls to one side into the inner space A of the supply chamber 131 through the material supply port 131a, and this may be performed until the first sensor 134 detects the powder material M.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the control unit rotates the metering screw 132 to move a part of the powder material M, which is unbalancedly stacked to one side of the inner space A, to the other side to the inner space A. , so that the powder material (M) is formed at a uniform height, and the first sensor 134 does not detect the powder material (M) or the number of rotations of the metering screw 132 is a predetermined rotation set in advance This can be done until the number is reached.

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 , the powder material M may be frequently replenished so that it is always maintained at a constant level at a uniform height in the interior of the supply chamber 131 while repeating the above-described process. This process may be repeated until both the first sensor 134 and the second sensor 135 detect the powder material M, as shown in FIG. 11 .

In addition, in the powder supply unit 130 of another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 12 , the first sensor 134 and the second sensor 135 are formed from the upper part of the supply chamber 131 into the inner space ( A distance sensor for detecting the distance to the powder material (M) stacked in A), the control unit, when transferring the powder material (M) to the supply chamber (131), the first sensor 134 detects the first The forward and reverse rotations of the measuring screw 132 are repeated until the difference between the distance d2 and the second distance d1 detected by the second sensor 135 is less than a predetermined deviation, and the first distance When at least one of (d2) and the second distance (d1) reaches a predetermined distance, the rotation of the feed screw 151 and the metering screw 132 may be stopped.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 12 , when the control unit rotates the transfer screw 151 of the powder transfer unit 150 to transfer the powder material M to the powder supply unit 130 , the transferred powder material M ) is dropped to one side in an unbalanced way into the inner space (A) of the supply chamber 131 through the material supply port 131a, so that the first distance d2 detected by the first sensor 134 and the second sensor 135 ) may have a large deviation of the second distance d1 sensed.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 13 , when the control unit drives the metering screw 132 to repeat forward rotation and reverse rotation, the powder material M alternates left and right in the internal space A of the supply chamber 131 . While moving, the powder material M may be induced to be formed at a uniform height in the inner space A, and the first distance d2 and the second sensor 135 detected by the first sensor 134 and 135 . This may be carried out until the second distance d1 sensed by the controller enters below a preset deviation.

Such a process may be carried out until at least one of the first distance d2 and the second distance d1 reaches a predetermined distance set in advance, and the predetermined distance is a powder material ( M) may be a distance between the sensors 134 and 135 and the powder material M when the internal space A of the supply chamber 131 is replenished by a target value. In this case, each of the operation processes shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 may be performed simultaneously or separately in turn.

According to various embodiments of the above-described powder supply unit 130 , the powder material M may be always replenished with a uniform height in the internal space A of the supply chamber 131 in a certain amount, and the control unit By controlling the drive motor 133b of the temporary shutter unit 133 to slide the shutter body 133a to open the application slit on the lower surface of the supply chamber 131, The stored powder material M may be dropped to one side of the printing area PA of the work table 210 .

At this time, the control unit controls the driving motor 133b of the shutter unit 133 to control the time or speed at which the shutter body 133a opens the application slit, so that the powder supply unit 130 is a powder material (M). The amount of dropping can be precisely controlled.

Accordingly, the powder supply apparatus 100 and the 3D printer 1000 including the same according to various embodiments of the present invention are located at a low position close to the ground through the powder transfer unit 150 having the transfer screw 151 embedded therein. to automatically transfer the powder material M from the powder hopper 110 storing the powder can be easily supplied. In addition, by supplementing the powder material (M) from time to time so that the powder material (M) can always exist at a certain level or more in the powder supply unit 130, the process interruption for replenishing the powder material (M) is prevented, thereby improving the 3D printing process. efficiency can be increased.

In addition, the powder material (M), which is frequently replenished from time to time, is stirred so that it is evenly formed in the inner space (A) of the powder supply unit 130 at a constant height by the metering screw 132 installed in the inner space (A) of the powder supply unit 130 . And by measuring, the amount of the powder material M falling to the printing area PA of the work table 210 through the powder supply unit 130 is precisely and constantly maintained, so that the printing area is performed by the recoater device 400 . It is possible to induce the powder material (M) to spread evenly with an even density on the (PA). Therefore, it is possible to increase the precision and strength of the three-dimensional object to be molded by the three-dimensional printer 1000, and may have the effect of increasing the overall efficiency of the three-dimensional printing process.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, which are merely exemplary, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

100: powder feeding device
110: powder hopper
120: vacuum generator
121: vacuum generator
122: flap door
130: powder supply unit
131: supply chamber
132: metering screw
133: shutter unit
134: first sensor
135: second sensor
140: hopper support
150: powder transfer unit
151: feed screw
200: frame body
210: work table
210: work table
220: modeling box storage unit
230: powder recovery port
300: modeling box
310: modeling stage
400: recoater device
1000: 3D printer
M: powder material
PA: printing area

Claims (10)

a powder hopper in which a powder material for a 3D printer is stored;
a vacuum generator installed on one side of the powder hopper, sucking the powder material from the outside in a vacuum and supplying it to the powder hopper;
a powder supply unit installed movably linearly above the work table of the 3D printer, receiving the powder material from the powder hopper and selectively dropping the powder material to one side of the printing area of the work table;
The powder is formed in a tubular shape, is inclined from the lower end of the powder hopper toward the upper end of the powder supply unit installed at a higher position than the powder hopper, and is discharged to the lower end of the powder hopper by a feed screw rotating inside. a powder transfer unit for transferring the material to the powder supply unit; and
a control unit for controlling the powder transfer unit and the powder supply unit to adjust the amount of the powder material transferred to the powder supply unit by the powder transfer unit and the amount of the powder material falling to the work table through the powder supply unit; including,
The powder supply unit,
An inner space capable of accommodating the powder material transferred from the powder transfer unit is formed, a material supply port through which the powder material is supplied is formed on one upper side, and an application slit capable of applying the powder material downwardly at the lower side a supply chamber in which it is formed;
a metering screw rotatably installed in the inner space of the supply chamber and having a spiral wing portion formed on an outer diameter surface;
a first sensor installed on the other upper side of the supply chamber to detect the powder material accommodated in the inner space; and
and a shutter part installed in the lower part of the supply chamber to selectively open the application slit;
The control unit is
When or after transferring the powder material to the supply chamber by rotating the transfer screw of the powder transfer unit, the powder material, which falls through the material supply port and is stacked on one side of the inner space, is concentrated in the inner space. To be evenly formed at a constant height, the powder supply unit according to the presence or absence of the powder material on the other side of the inner space sensed by the first sensor or the distance to the powder material stacked on the other side of the inner space A powder feeding device for a 3D printer that selectively rotates a metering screw. The method of claim 1,
The vacuum generator,
a vacuum generator in which at least a portion of the lower portion is formed in an open cylindrical shape, is installed on the upper surface of the powder hopper, and vacuums the powder material from the outside through a suction port formed on one side by forming a vacuum atmosphere therein; and
a flap door that is rotatably installed at a lower portion of the vacuum generator and rotates when the powder material sucked into the vacuum generator reaches a predetermined weight to selectively open an open portion below the vacuum generator;
Containing, the powder supply device of the three-dimensional printer. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The first sensor is
It is a proximity sensor that can detect the presence of the powder material nearby,
The control unit is
When the powder material is transferred to the supply chamber, the transfer screw and the metering screw are continuously rotated, and when the first sensor detects the powder material, the rotation of the transfer screw and the metering screw is stopped. The printer's powder feeder. The method of claim 1,
The powder supply unit,
a second sensor installed near the material supply port on one upper side of the supply chamber to detect the powder material accommodated in the inner space;
Further comprising, the powder supply device of the three-dimensional printer. 7. The method of claim 6,
The first sensor and the second sensor,
It is a proximity sensor that can detect the presence of the powder material nearby,
The control unit is
When transferring the powder material to the supply chamber, rotate the conveying screw until the first sensor detects the powder material, and then rotate the metering screw until the powder material is not detected by the first sensor and repeating this until both the first sensor and the second sensor detect the powder material. 7. The method of claim 6,
The first sensor and the second sensor,
It is a distance sensor for detecting the distance from the upper portion of the supply chamber to the powder material stacked in the inner space,
The control unit is
When transferring the powder material to the supply chamber, forward rotation of the metering screw until the difference between the first distance detected by the first sensor and the second distance detected by the second sensor enters a predetermined deviation or less and reverse rotation, and when at least one of the first distance and the second distance reaches a predetermined distance, the rotation of the conveying screw and the metering screw is stopped. Device. The method of claim 1,
The shutter unit,
a shutter body formed in a shape corresponding to the lower surface of the supply chamber in which the application slit is formed and slidably installed on the lower surface of the supply chamber;
a driving motor for slidingly driving the shutter body so that the shutter body selectively opens the application slit; and
and a guide member installed on the lower surface of the supply chamber to guide the sliding movement direction of the shutter body;
The control unit is
The powder supply device of a three-dimensional printer, which controls the time for the shutter body to open the application slit by controlling the driving motor so that the powder supply unit can control the amount of dropping the powder material. The powder material is accommodated to form a box shape with an open top so that a modeling space in which a three-dimensional object can be molded can be formed. A modeling box including a modeling stage stacked in layers to be molded;
a frame body in which a modeling box accommodating part for accommodating the modeling box is formed in a position corresponding to the printing area, the frame body supporting a work table on which a printing area for molding the three-dimensional object is formed;
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, wherein at least a portion is installed on one side of the upper portion of the frame body to selectively drop a powder material to one side of the printing area of the work table; 10. A powder feeding device according to any one of claims 8 and 9;
It is installed near the powder supply device on the upper part of the frame body and is installed to be movable linearly above the work table, and pressurizes the powder material dropped to one side of the printing area to a uniform height on the molding stage. a recoater device for applying; and
a printing device installed on the other side of the upper portion of the frame body and spraying an adhesive material onto the powder layer applied on the molding stage by an inkjet method;
Including, 3D printer.

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