KR20150113476A - Method and apparatus for printing a 3-dimensional shape - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for printing a three-dimensional shape. The method for printing the three-dimensional shape of the present invention comprises the following steps: preparing powder containing at least one sorts of metal particles; producing a raw material plate in a board form by rolling the powder; supplying the raw material plate continuously to a printing chamber so as to be laminated; and sintering by selectively radiating electron beam or laser beam on the supplied raw material plate and then forming the three-dimensional shape.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRINTING A 3-DIMENSIONAL SHAPE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for printing a three-dimensional solid shape, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for printing a three-dimensional solid shape using a sintering method.

Generally, a three-dimensional three-dimensional printer is a three-dimensional three-dimensional printer in which a raw material is continuously supplied in the form of a powder or a sheet, while a raw material having high energy is selectively irradiated to the supplied raw material, Lt; / RTI >

Accordingly, the three-dimensional three-dimensional printer can be divided into various types according to the kind of the raw material and the type of light. Typically, the three-dimensional stereolithography printer includes a stereolithography apparatus (SLA) printer in which the raw material contains an ultraviolet ray-curable polymer and uses an ultraviolet beam capable of partially curing the polymer with the light ray, (SLS) or direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) using a laser beam or an electron beam capable of hardening the powder selectively with a sintering method, Printer.

Among these, the photocurable printer has an advantage that it is quite sophisticated and has excellent surface quality, but the equipment for realizing it is very expensive, so that it is practically difficult to popularize the printer industrially. On the contrary, the sintering type printer has a considerably quicker printing speed as well as a porosity, and the equipment for realizing the sintering type printer is considerably cheaper than the photo-curing type printer.

However, since the sintering type printer that receives the above-mentioned light is required to have a uniform particle size and sphere shape due to the flow property for smooth supply of the raw material, the process for manufacturing the powder itself is expensive, Which increases the manufacturing cost of the printed parts. Accordingly, the sintering type printer is limited to the parts that can take the above-mentioned increased manufacturing cost into consideration.

(Patent Document 1) U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006-0118990 (published on June, 2006, Process for the production of a rapid prototyping model, a green compact, a ceramic body, a model with a metallic coating and a metallic component, and use a 3Dprinter)

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of printing a three-dimensional solid shape using a powder containing metal particles of various shapes.

Another object of the present invention is a three-dimensional three-dimensional printing apparatus to which the above-described method is applied.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of printing a three-dimensional solid shape, comprising: preparing a powder containing metal particles; rolling the powder into a plate shape to form a raw plate; And forming the three-dimensional solid shape by sintering the raw material plate by selectively irradiating a laser beam or an electron beam to the raw material plate so as to continuously laminate the raw material plate to the printing chamber.

In the step of forming the raw plate according to one embodiment, the raw plate may be rolled to have a porosity of 10 to 40%.

In the step of feeding the raw plate according to one embodiment, the length of the raw plate may be adjusted while being supplied.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional three-dimensional printing apparatus including a powder storing unit, a powder rolling unit, a printing chamber, a raw material supplying unit, and a beam irradiating unit.

The powder reservoir is filled with a powder containing metal particles and has an outlet through which the powder is discharged. The powder rolling section is installed at the discharge port, and the powder is rolled into a plate shape to form a raw material plate. The printing chamber is installed adjacent to the powder reservoir to provide a printing space. The raw material supply unit supplies the raw material plate to the printing chamber between the powder rolling unit and the printing chamber. The beam irradiating unit is installed in the printing chamber, and selectively irradiates a laser beam or an electron beam to the raw plate supplied to the printing chamber.

The powder rolling part according to an embodiment may include first and second rolling rollers whose interval is adjusted so that the raw material plate is rolled with a porosity of 10 to 40%.

The printing apparatus may further include a length adjusting unit installed between the powder rolling unit and the raw material supplying unit to adjust the length of the raw material plate.

According to the method and apparatus for printing a three-dimensional solid shape, by irradiating a laser beam or an electron beam while supplying a raw material plate rolled into a plate shape into a printing chamber while continuously stacking powder containing metal particles in a printing chamber, The three-dimensional solid shape can be printed without limitation on the particle size and shape of the powder.

Therefore, since it is not necessary to produce the powder with uniform particle size and sphericity, the process cost can be reduced accordingly. That is, by reducing the manufacturing cost of the printed parts, it is possible to broaden the field of parts that can be printed using the parts.

1 is a schematic view of an apparatus for printing a three-dimensional solid shape according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram sequentially illustrating a method of printing a three-dimensional solid shape using the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

Hereinafter, a method and apparatus for printing a three-dimensional solid shape according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is capable of various modifications and various forms, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of the structures are enlarged to illustrate the present invention in order to clarify the present invention.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprises", "having", and the like are used to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a part or a combination thereof is described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

On the other hand, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

1 is a schematic view of an apparatus for printing a three-dimensional solid shape according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

1, a three-dimensional three-dimensional printing apparatus 1000 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a powder storage unit 100, a powder rolling unit 200, a printing chamber 300, a raw material supply unit 400, And a beam irradiating unit 500.

The powder storage part (100) is filled with powder (10) containing metal particles. For example, the powder 10 may be composed of at least single metal particles or at least two or more metal particles. Alternatively, the powder 10 may have a structure in which a polymer binder is wrapped in a shell in the core of the metal particles. At this time, the metal particles may include, for example, titanium having excellent reactivity. In addition, the polymer binder may include, for example, nylon or polystyrene.

The powder reservoir 100 may have a structure similar to a conventional hopper having a wedge shape that becomes narrower toward the bottom. The powder storage part 100 may have a discharge port 110 at a lower end thereof so that the powder 10 can be easily discharged to the outside through gravity.

The powder rolling unit 200 is installed at a discharge port 110 of the powder storage unit 100. The powder rolling unit 200 forms a raw material plate 20 by rolling the powder 10 discharged from the discharge port 110 into a plate shape. The powder rolling unit 200 may have a structure in which the first and second rolling rollers 210 and 220 face each other such that the discharged powder 10 is smoothly rolled while passing through the powder. The material plate 20 formed by the first and second rolling rollers 210 and 220 adjusts the gap and rotation speed between the first and second rolling rollers 210 and 220 so that the porosity And the surface roughness for thickness and flatness can be adjusted.

If the gap between the first and second rolling rollers 210 and 220 is adjusted to be less than about 10% of the porosity of the raw material plate 20, the hardness is too high, Dimensional shape can not be easily formed and recycled is difficult. If the porosity of the raw material plate 20 is adjusted to exceed about 40%, the raw material plate It is difficult to maintain the shape of the substrate 20 in the subsequent process, and the shrinkage occurs when sintering to form a three-dimensional solid shape. Therefore, it is preferable that the gap between the first and second rolling rollers 210 and 220 is adjusted to have a porosity of about 10 to 40% of the raw plate 20. The gap between the first and second rolling rollers 210 and 220 is preferably adjusted to have a porosity of about 20 to 30%.

The printing chamber 300 is installed adjacent to the powder storing unit 100. The printing chamber 300 provides a printing space for forming a three-dimensional solid shape from the raw material plate 20. The printing chamber 300 is provided with a stage 310 on which the three-dimensional solid shape is formed and an external driving device (not shown) on the bottom of the stage 310 to move the stage 310 in the vertical direction A connected moving shaft 320 may be installed.

The raw material supplying unit 400 is installed between the powder rolling unit 200 and the printing chamber 300 and supplies the raw material plate 20 to the printing chamber 300. The raw material supply unit 400 may include two first and second supply rollers 410 and 420 for supplying the raw material plate 20 to the printing chamber 300 while rotating the raw material plate 20 on both sides thereof. The first and second feed rollers 410 and 420 are disposed along the feeding direction of the raw material plate 20 in order to feed the raw material plate 20 more stably while supporting the raw material plate 20. [ Can be installed.

The printing apparatus 1000 further includes a length adjusting unit 600 installed between the powder rolling unit 200 and the raw material supplying unit 400 to adjust the length of the raw material plate 20 to be supplied . The length adjuster 600 cuts the first and second knives 610 and 620 on the upper and lower surfaces of the raw plate 20 rolled from the powder rolling unit 200, The length of the raw material plate 20 can be adjusted.

The beam irradiating unit 500 is installed in the printing chamber 300. The beam irradiating part 500 irradiates the raw plate 20 supplied from the raw material supplying part 400 with a beam having a high energy such as a laser beam or an electron beam 30 such as an energy of about 30 to 1000 W . The beam irradiating unit 500 receives the laser beam or the electron beam 30 from the beam generating unit 510 and the scribe beam generating unit 510 for generating the laser beam or the electron beam 30, And a scan irradiation unit 520 for irradiating the raw material plate 20 in the form of a pattern. In this case, the portion of the raw plate 20 to which the laser beam or the electron beam 30 is irradiated is hardened to form a three-dimensional solid shape, unlike the other portions.

Hereinafter, a method of forming the three-dimensional solid shape using the printing apparatus 1000 will be described in further detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method of printing a three-dimensional solid shape using the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in order.

Referring to FIG. 2, first, the powder storage part 100 is filled with a powder 10 containing metal particles to form the three-dimensional solid shape (S100). Here, the metal particles may include titanium, which is excellent in reactivity.

The powder 10 discharged from the discharge port 110 of the powder storage part 100 is rolled through the first and second rolling rollers 210 and 220 of the powder rolling part 200, 20) (S200). At this time, the raw plate 20 may be rolled so as to have a porosity of about 10 to 40%, preferably about 20 to 30%, as described in the powder rolling section 200 described above.

Then, the raw material plate 20 is continuously supplied to the interior of the printing chamber 300 through the raw material supply unit 400 (S300). At this time, the raw material plate 20 is supplied while being adjusted in thickness and surface roughness by the powder rolling unit 200.

Then, the laser beam or the electron beam 30 is selectively irradiated to the raw material plate 20 through the beam irradiating unit 500 to form a three-dimensional solid shape (S400). Specifically, the laser beam or the electron beam 30 is repeatedly irradiated according to a shape designed by the user whenever the raw plate 20 is stacked in the printing chamber 300. When the laser beam or the electron beam 30 is repeatedly irradiated to the laminated raw plate 20, the metal particles of the powder 10 melt only at the irradiated portion of the raw plate 20, So that the metal particles are prevented from falling apart from each other by diffusion, thereby maintaining a constant shape. At this time, the interior of the printing chamber 300 may be maintained in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere such as argon (Ar) so that impurities are not contained in the portion where the predetermined shape is maintained. Thereafter, the irradiated raw material plates 20 are shaken so that only the portion where the shape is maintained is left by the laser beam or electron beam 30. Thereafter, the remaining shape is heat treated to strengthen the strength.

The laser beam or the electron beam 30 is supplied while continuously supplying the raw material plate 20 rolled into a plate shape into the printing chamber 300 so that the powder 10 containing metal particles is continuously laminated. It is possible to print the three-dimensional solid shape without limitation on the particle size and shape of the powder 10.

Therefore, it is not necessary to manufacture the powder 10 so as to have a uniform particle size and a sphericity shape, so that the process cost can be reduced. For example, as in the background art, the process cost can be reduced to less than about 50% compared to performing a process to make the powder 10 have uniform particle size and sphericity. That is, by reducing the manufacturing cost of the printed parts, it is possible to broaden the field of parts that can be printed using the parts.

In addition, among the above-described processes, the portion of the raw material plates 20 not irradiated with the laser beam or the electron beam 30 is not high in the molding density and can be recycled. .

In addition, the present invention is not limited to supplying the powder 10 as it is, but may be applied to the printing chamber 300 by the raw material plate 20 in a rolled state, so that the molding speed for forming the three- The productivity can be improved.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical and exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

10: Powder 20: Raw plate
30: laser beam or electron beam 100: powder storage part
110: outlet 200: powder rolling section
210: first rolling roller 220: second rolling roller
300: printing chamber 310: stage
320: Moving axis 400: Feedstock
410: second supply roller 420: second supply roller
500: beam irradiator 510: beam generator
520: scan inspection unit 600:
610: first knife 620: second knife
1000: Three-dimensional solid shape printing device

Claims (6)

Preparing a powder comprising metal particles;
Rolling the powder into a plate shape to form a raw plate;
Feeding the raw-material plate to be continuously laminated in a printing chamber; And
And forming the three-dimensional solid shape by irradiating a laser beam or an electron beam selectively onto the raw material sheet to be sintered to form a three-dimensional solid shape. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of forming the raw material plate, the raw material plate is rolled so as to have a porosity of 10 to 40%. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in the step of supplying the raw material plate, the length of the raw material plate is adjusted while being supplied. A powder storage portion filled with a powder containing metal particles and having an outlet through which the powder is discharged;
A powder rolling part installed at the discharge port and rolling the powder into a plate shape to form a raw material plate;
A printing chamber disposed adjacent to the powder reservoir and providing a printing space;
A raw material supply unit for supplying the raw material plate to the printing chamber between the powder rolling unit and the printing chamber; And
And a beam irradiation unit installed in the printing chamber and selectively irradiating a laser beam or an electron beam to the raw material plate supplied to the printing chamber. 5. The three-dimensional shape printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the powder rolling section includes first and second rolling rollers whose intervals are adjusted so that the raw material plate has a porosity of 10 to 40% . 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a length adjuster disposed between the powder rolling unit and the raw material supply unit to adjust a length of the raw material plate.

Images