KR20000054896A - Method and apparatus for making prototyping parts by seam welding - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional product with electric roller welding of a metal sheet is provided to produce a three-dimensional product or a metal mold rapidly through a pile of metal sheets. CONSTITUTION: A rolled metal sheet(10) is carried to a work base(52) by plural transfer rollers(50,50') and then fixed by a magnetic force of the work base(52). The residual portion of the metal sheet(10) is removed by a laser beam or a milling cutter(25). Next, a welding roller(30) pressurizes each form portion of plural metal sheets(10) piled up on the work base(52) and delivers a welding current to melt the metal sheet(10).

Description

Method and apparatus for manufacturing 3D prototype using electric roller welding of thin metal plate {Method and apparatus for making prototyping parts by seam welding}

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional prototype, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for quickly manufacturing a three-dimensional prototype by laminating a metal thin plate by electric roller welding.

In general, in order to manufacture a product of a predetermined shape, a mold capable of producing a shape of the product must be manufactured. For this purpose, a mold is produced, and finally, a mold is produced through a number of processes to produce a product.

In this way, Rapid Prototyping process is used to make the mold of the product. Here, rapid molding refers to molding a prototype of a three-dimensional shape directly from a three-dimensional CAD data using a material such as paper, wax, ABS, and plastic without a mold. In the rapid molding process, such processes have recently been developed using metal powders and wires.

Such a rapid molding process is disclosed in Michael's US Patent 4752352 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 62-228329. The above-mentioned US patent discloses producing a prototype having a predetermined shape by laminating paper using an adhesive, and the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application, a plurality of metal thin plates processed into a predetermined shape are fastened by screwing, and fastened by mechanical force. To produce a prototype having a predetermined shape.

However, the conventional prototype of this method is used only as a mold for producing a mold for producing a final product, so that the problem of having to go through several processes using the sample for producing a mold or a final product again. have.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fast forming method and a device capable of rapidly producing a functional prototype or a mold having a three-dimensional shape by laminating metal thin plates.

1 is a process diagram showing an embodiment of a three-dimensional prototype manufacturing method using an electric roller welding of a metal thin plate according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a process diagram showing another embodiment of a three-dimensional prototype manufacturing method using an electric roller welding of a metal thin plate according to the present invention.

Figure 3a is a working state showing the cutting out the excess portion of the metal sheet in one embodiment of the present invention with a laser.

Figure 3b is a working state showing the cutting out the excess portion of the metal sheet in another embodiment of the present invention with a milling cutter.

Figure 4 is a working state showing the welding of the metal sheet made of a predetermined shape in the present invention.

Figure 5 is a working state showing that the metal foil is welded by electric roller welding in the present invention to form a predetermined three-dimensional prototype.

Figure 6 is a perspective view showing an example of a three-dimensional prototype produced by the method according to the present invention.

Figure 7 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of a three-dimensional prototype production apparatus using an electric roller welding of a metal thin plate according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: metal sheet 11: excess portion

13: Shape 14: Cutting Surface

15: support 20: laser head

21: laser beam 25: milling cutter

30: welding roller 40: prototype

50,50 ': Feed roller 51: Expectation

52: work base 53,53 ': lifting column

55: support column 56: machine head

57: motor 58: lead screw

According to a feature of the present invention for achieving the above object, the present invention provides a step of supplying a metal foil of a predetermined size, and manufacturing a layer forming a part of the shape to be produced by cutting out the excess portion of the metal foil And the step of laminating the metal thin sheets in which the excess portion is cut off one by one and then welding them.

A part of the metal thin plate from which the excess part is cut off is provided with a supporting part for maintaining the laminated shape of the metal thin plate.

The welding of the metal thin plate is an electric roller welding that pressurizes the metal thin plate with a roller and simultaneously transmits a welding current.

In removing the excess portion, it is preferable that the cut surface is inclined to minimize the post-treatment process.

After laminating and welding a plurality of metal thin plates as described above, a process of removing a support for maintaining the laminated shape of the metal thin plates is performed.

According to another feature of the present invention, the present invention provides a metal sheet supply means for supplying a metal thin plate, excess portion removing means for removing the excess portion of the metal sheet supplied by the metal sheet supply means, and the metal with the excess portion removed It comprises a welding means for welding by laminating the thin plate in order to weld.

The excess removal means uses a laser or a milling cutter, and the excess removal means is capable of cutting the excess portion inclinedly.

The welding means includes a roller for pressurizing the metal thin plate while flowing a welding current, and a support for supporting and fixing the laminated metal thin plate and transmitting a welding current through the metal thin plate from the roller. The amount of current is feedback controlled in accordance with the contact area between the roller and the thin metal plate.

The support is fixed to the metal sheet by magnetic force.

According to the present invention having such a configuration, it is possible to greatly simplify the rapid forming process, to directly manufacture a functional prototype of a three-dimensional shape, and the strength of the prototype is excellent, so that it can be directly used as a metal product in the actual field. .

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the method and apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional prototype using the electric roller welding of a metal thin plate according to the present invention as described above will be described in detail.

First, Figure 1 shows an example of the manufacturing method of the three-dimensional prototype according to the present invention. That is, the metal thin plate 10 cut to a predetermined size is supplied, and the supplied metal thin plate 10 is cut into a predetermined shape by using the laser beam 21 oscillated by the laser head 20. Here, the part cut out by the laser beam 21 is an excess part 11 which does not form the final prototype 40. Thus, the metal thin plate 10 is left in the shape portion 13 to form the final prototype (40).

In addition, when stacking the shape portions 13 of the metal thin plate 10, the support portion 15 is left when the excess portion 11 is cut off to maintain the stacked shape. Such support portions 15 do not need to be made in all the shape portions 13 to be stacked, but only need to be made in the shape portion 13 in the required position. 3A illustrates a process of cutting out the excess part 11 from the metal thin plate 10 and forming the shape part 13 and the support part 15.

At this time, it is preferable that the laser beam 21 is irradiated obliquely to the cut surface 14 of the shape portion 13. This is to allow the outer surface of the final prototype 40 to be formed more smoothly as the cutting surface 14 which becomes the surface of the shape portion 13 is inclined. Therefore, the inclination direction of the cut surface 14 may be along the surface inclination direction of the final prototype 40. In addition, the laser beam 21 may remove the excess portion 11 with respect to the metal thin plate 10 of various thicknesses by adjusting the output thereof.

In this way, the excess portion 11 is removed from each metal thin plate 10, and these are stacked one by one. That is, a plurality of metal thin plates 10 forming the final prototype 40 is prepared in advance, or the metal thin plates 10 are laminated and welded after removing excess portions of the metal thin plates 10 one by one.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the respective shapes 13 are welded to each shape 13 using the welding roller 30 while being sequentially stacked to form each layer of the final prototype 40. do. That is, the welding roller 30 supplies the welding current while pressing the shape portion 13 of the laminated metal thin plate 10 to continuously contact the surface of the shape portion 13 with the stacked metal. The thin plate 10 is welded. Such a welding method is referred to as electric roller welding. For this purpose, the welding roller 30 is preferably made of an electrically conductive copper alloy, and the size of the welding roller 30 determines the size of a product that can be manufactured. .

Process control by the welding roller 30 is as follows. That is, since the melt state generated in the shape portion 13 of the metal thin plate 10 to be laminated according to the welding pressure applied by the welding roller 30, the transfer and the amount of welding current is changed, The process is performed while feeding back the welding current amount by comparing with the detected value.

In such a welding method, after a small molten portion (Weld Nugget) occurs initially between the laminated metal thin plates 10, the molten metal portion moves in the direction of the welding roller 30 as the welding roller 30 moves. Subsequently, it grows and welds between the metal thin plates 10 laminated adjacently. At this time, as the welding roller 30 rotates as shown in FIG. 4, the amount of heat between the bonded surfaces between the metal thin plates 10 increases, and thus, as the lamination proceeds, even if the welded portion 30 is already welded, Welded. 5 illustrates a state in which a plurality of metal thin plates 10 are stacked.

As described above, after the shape portions 13 of the metal thin plates 10 are laminated to form a predetermined shape, the support portion 15 is removed. Removal of the support part 15 may use the laser beam 21. Then, the surface of the stacked shape portion 13 is processed to make the final prototype 40 as shown in FIG.

Figure 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention, the metal thin plate 10 is wound in a roll type and continuously supplied, using the milling cutter 25 instead of the laser beam 21, the excess portion 11 Is under control. Here, the milling cutter 25 may also vary the operation angle such that the cutting surface 14 of the shape portion 13 is inclined when the excess portion 11 is cut out. The rest of the procedure is the same as in the above embodiment.

In FIG. 3B, the cutting of the excess portion 11 using the milling cutter 25 is illustrated.

Meanwhile, the method of supplying the metal thin plate 10 and the means for cutting off the excess portion 11 may be used in combination with each other.

The apparatus for producing the three-dimensional prototype 40 by actualizing the method of the present invention as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

First, a plurality of feed rollers 50 and 50 'are provided to supply the metal thin plate 10. The feed rollers 50 and 50 'serve to transfer the metal thin plate 10 to a working position. 7 illustrates a case where the metal thin plate 10 wound in a roll shape is used.

A work base 52 is provided in which the metal foil 10 transferred as described above is seated and the following work is performed. The work base 52 is mounted on the base 51 so as to be liftable. That is, the work base 52 is moved up and down along the lifting columns 53 and 53 'installed on the base 51. The metal base 10 is stacked one by one on the work base 52. Accordingly, the laser beam 21 is configured to focus or to lower the surface of the uppermost metal sheet 10 at a specific position so that the milling cutter 25 may contact the metal sheet 10. . In addition, the welding roller 30 to be described below also serves to apply a suitable pressure to the uppermost metal sheet 10.

Such a work base 52 is preferably to have a magnetic force. This is to allow the metal sheet 10 to be laminated is fixed by the magnetic force of the working base 52 without a separate fixing mechanism during the operation.

Then, a head having a laser head 20 or a milling cutter 25 for cutting the excess portion 11 of the metal thin plate 10 seated on the work base 52 is provided above the work base 52. It is installed at 56. The head 56 is provided on the support column 55 connected to the base 51. The laser head 20 or the milling cutter 25 is provided with a free end rotatable at a predetermined angle about the pinned end, so that the metal thin plate 10 can be cut off with a predetermined inclination θ. have. Since the rotatable structure is a general one, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, the laser head 20 or the milling cutter 25 installed in the head 56 is movable in the rectangular coordinate direction in space by a conventional configuration, for example, the laser head 20, the milling cutter 25 ) And the welding roller 30 are moved in one direction by the motor 57 and the lead screw 58, and is moved in a direction perpendicular to the direction by the linear guide 59. Then, the head 56 itself is moved in another vertical direction by being lifted along the support column 55.

On the other hand, the welding roller 30 is to weld the metal thin plate 10 through a welding current while pressing the surface of the laminated metal thin plate 10, for example, formed of a material that is well current, such as copper alloy do.

The production of the three-dimensional prototype 40 using the apparatus of the present invention having such a configuration will be described.

The metal thin plate 10 wound in the form of a roll is conveyed by a plurality of feed rollers 50 and 50 'and transferred to the work base 52. The metal sheet 10 seated on the work base 52 is fixed on the work base 52 by the magnetic force of the work base 52, and is cut by the laser beam 21 or the milling cutter 25. Whether or not 11 is controlled.

At this time, the laser head 20 or the milling cutter 25 generating the laser beam 21 is moved by the linear guide 59 and the motor 57 to perform a cutting operation. Then, the laser head 20 or the milling cutter 25 is cut in a state set to have a predetermined inclination (θ). At this time, the inclination θ is to be determined according to the surface shape of the prototype (40).

After cutting the excess portion 11 in this manner, the welding roller 30 is operated. The welding roller 30 transmits a welding current while pressing the shape 13 of the metal thin plate 10 stacked on the work base 52 at a predetermined pressure to melt the metal thin plate 10. It is to be welded. Since the welding process is to be carried out every time the one metal thin plate 10 is laminated, the portion that has already been welded is also melted and laminated again every time.

On the other hand, when a plurality of metal thin plates 10 are continuously laminated by welding using the welding roller 30, as shown in FIG. That is, the support part 15 is connected to a specific position among the stacked metal thin plates 10. The supporting part 15 serves to maintain the balance of the metal thin plates 10 stacked during the lamination process of the metal thin plates 10.

Then, when the support part 15 is removed using the laser head 20 or the milling cutter 25 and the outer surface and the inner surface of the laminated metal thin plate 10 are finished, the prototype 40 is completed. . At this time, since the outer surface and the inner surface of the prototype 40 is formed to be inclined the cutting surface 14 of the shape portion 13 is relatively less bent to minimize the post-processing. An example of a prototype 40 is shown in FIG. 6.

Finally, the work base 52 has a magnetic role to prevent the metal sheet 10 from moving during the work, where the work base 52 has a property of an electromagnet to be magnetic only when necessary. While fixing the prototype 40, after the work is completed, it is possible to remove the magnetism to easily move the prototype 40 from the work base 52.

According to the present invention as described in detail above, a product having a three-dimensional shape can be directly made by welding lamination of a metal thin plate, and if necessary, a mold of a prototype can be manufactured directly. In other words, the prototype formed by the present invention is made of a metal material, and thus has superior strength compared to the prototype made of paper, so that the prototype can be used as a metal product in the actual field.

In addition, the present invention has almost no limitation on the material of the metal thin plate that can be used as the material of the prototype. In other words, by using all the current-carrying metal sheets, simply using CAD data or 3D scanner data, a prototype of the desired shape can be produced. Therefore, there is also an advantage that the complex three-dimensional shape, which cannot be manufactured from existing three-axis or five-axis cutting, can be easily three-dimensionally manufactured.

Such fields of application of the present invention include artificial joints, artificial teeth, injection metal molds and complex shaped metal products such as blades of aircraft turbines, impellers of centrifugal compressors, and the like.

Claims (10)

Supplying a metal sheet of a predetermined size; Manufacturing a layer which forms a part of a shape to be cut out by cutting out the excess portion of the metal sheet; The method of manufacturing a three-dimensional prototype using the electric roller welding of a metal sheet, characterized in that it comprises a step of laminating a metal foil cut off excess portion sequentially welded. The method of manufacturing a three-dimensional prototype using electric roller welding of a metal sheet according to claim 1, wherein a part of the metal sheet from which the excess portion is excised is provided with a supporting part for maintaining a laminated shape of the metal sheet. The method of claim 1, wherein the welding of the metal thin plate uses electric welding to pressurize the metal thin plate and simultaneously transmit a welding current. The method of claim 1, wherein the cutting plane is inclined to remove the excess part to minimize the post-treatment process. The electric roller of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein after the metal sheet is laminated and welded, a process of removing a support for maintaining the laminated shape of the metal sheet is performed. 3D prototype manufacturing method using welding. A metal sheet supply means for supplying a metal sheet; Excess portion removing means for removing excess portions of the metal sheet supplied by the metal sheet supply means; Apparatus for producing a three-dimensional prototype using an electric roller welding of a metal sheet, characterized in that it comprises a welding means for welding by welding the laminated metal sheet is removed to remove the excess portion. 7. The apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional prototype using electric roller welding of a thin metal plate according to claim 6, wherein the excess removing means is capable of cutting the excess portion inclined with a laser. 7. The apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional prototype using electric roller welding of a thin metal plate according to claim 6, wherein the excess removing means is capable of cutting the excess portion inclined as a milling cutter. According to claim 6, The welding means includes a roller for flowing a welding current while welding the metal thin plate, and a support for supporting and fixing the laminated metal thin plate and the welding current is transmitted from the roller through the metal thin plate And the welding current amount is feedback-controlled according to the contact area between the roller and the metal thin plate. 10. The apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional prototype using electric roller welding of a metal sheet according to claim 9, wherein the support member fixes the metal sheet by magnetic force.