KR20180128117A - Automatic grinding powder feeder system using mesh structure and negative pressure for 3d printer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic powder pulverizing and feeding apparatus using a mesh structure and negative pressure of a 3D printer. The automatic powder pulverizing and feeding apparatus according to the present invention includes: a powder storing unit for storing metal powder materials; a forming unit for stacking the metal powder materials and forming output by irradiating high power laser to the metal powder materials received from the powder storing unit; and a powder supply unit connected between the powder storing unit and the forming unit to supply the metal powder materials stored in the powder storing unit to the forming unit. The powder supply unit includes: a mesh structure mounted such that the metal powder materials collide and are pulverized; and a negative pressure providing means for forming negative pressure inside the powder supply unit to pulverize the metal powder materials supplied to the forming unit.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a mesh-type structure of a 3D printer and an automatic grinding powder feeder system using negative pressure,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a 3D printer, and more particularly, to a powder supply device for a 3D printer that supplies a metal powder material to a shaping part for outputting an output.

Generally, a 3D printer is a machine that designs using a design program such as CAD, and creates a three-dimensional structure based on the design data.

3D printer-related technologies and services are increasing in size every year, and the reason why 3D printers are popular is that they are applied in various fields such as medical, industrial, and aviation, and complex structures can be manufactured simply by using 3D printers.

Among 3D printers, Direct Energy Deposition (DED) and Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) methods are based on powder-based 3D printers. Powder materials are quenched by gas atomization method to use mostly spherical powder. In the DED / PBF method, a 3D model is printed by irradiating a high-power laser to repeatedly sinter or melt the powder material of several tens of 탆 instantaneously.

Such a DED / PBF type 3D printer includes a powder storage part for storing metal powder material as a raw material, a shaping part for laminating the material by irradiating a high power laser to form an output product, and a powder part for supplying powdered material stored in the powder storage part to the shaping part And a powder supply unit.

However, since the DED / PBF type 3D printer as described above uses a powder material of several tens of micrometers, the powder must be supplied while being evenly distributed. However, if the powder is stored for a long time in the powder storage part, The powder tends to be entangled or agglomerated. As a result, the printing operation can not proceed smoothly, resulting in poor formability of the output product and reliability of the device.

The contents of the background art described above are technical information that the inventor of the present application holds for the derivation of the present invention or acquired in the derivation process of the present invention and is a known technology disclosed to the general public prior to the filing of the present invention I can not.

Korea Patent No. 1646773 (2016.08.02) Japanese Patent No. 5757961 (June 5, 2015)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived to solve the problems described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a metal powder feed pipe with a negative pressure and a mesh to crush agglomerated powder, The present invention provides a mesh-type structure of a 3D printer capable of contributing to the improvement of productivity and a powder automatic grinding and feeding apparatus using negative pressure.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a mesh-type structure of a 3D printer and a powder automatic grinding and supply apparatus using negative pressure, comprising: a powder storage part for storing a metal powder material; And a powder supply unit connected between the powder storage unit and the shaping unit to supply a metal powder material stored in the powder storage unit to the shaping unit; The powder supply unit includes a mesh structure that is installed to collide and crush the metal powder material and a negative pressure providing unit that forms a negative pressure in the powder supply unit to crush the metal powder material supplied to the shaping unit.

Preferably, the powder supply part includes a powder supply pipe connected between the powder storage part and the shaping part to move the metal powder material, and the mesh structure is provided with a plurality of meshes spaced from each other in the powder supply pipe.

The mesh structure may have a plurality of meshes formed in the same manner, and the rear meshes may be disposed with respect to the front meshes while being rotated at a predetermined angle in the circumferential direction.

In addition, the mesh structure may be configured such that at least a part of meshes of the plurality of meshes are arranged orthogonally to the traveling direction of the metal powder material or are inclined at a certain angle.

Wherein the powder supply unit includes a powder supply pipe connected between the powder storage unit and the shaping unit to move the metal powder material and a hopper connected to the powder supply pipe end to collect the metal powder material, It is preferable that they are connected and configured.

The sound pressure providing means may include a negative pressure providing pipe connected to the hopper and a negative pressure forming mechanism provided on the negative pressure providing pipe to form a negative pressure.

The negative pressure forming mechanism may be formed on the powder storage portion side and the negative pressure providing tube may be connected to the outside of the powder supply pipe in the form of a double pipe.

In the meantime, it is preferable that a plurality of protrusions are provided on at least a part of the inside of the powder supply pipe so as to crush the metal powder material.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which: In addition to the principal task solutions as described above, various task solutions according to the present invention will be further illustrated and described.

The mesh-type structure of the 3D printer and the automatic powder mill using the negative pressure according to the present invention are configured to form a negative pressure in the powder feed pipe to crush the metal powder moving through the powder feed pipe, So that the efficiency of powder supply is improved and the quality of the produced molding is improved.

Further, since the mesh structure is installed in the powder supply pipe, the present invention has an effect of further increasing the grinding effect of the metal powder material through collision and friction of the metal powder.

1 is a perspective view illustrating a 3D printer including a powder automatic grinding and supplying apparatus using negative pressure according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a powder automatic grinding and supplying apparatus using negative pressure according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a main portion of a powder automatic grinding and supplying apparatus using negative pressure according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a detailed view of a main part showing a powder automatic grinding and supplying apparatus using negative pressure according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a main portion showing a powder automatic grinding and supplying apparatus using negative pressure according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
6 and 7 are views of various embodiments showing a mesh arrangement structure in a powder automatic grinding and supplying apparatus using negative pressure according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an entire 3D printer, FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a powder automatic grinding and feeding apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a powder automatic grinding and feeding apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a detailed view of the main part.

Referring to FIG. 1, a 3D printer including a powder automatic grinding and supplying apparatus using negative pressure according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a powder storage unit 10 for storing a metal powder material, a powder storage unit 10 A shaping unit 40 for storing a predetermined amount of the metal powder material supplied from the powder storage unit 10 and the shaping unit 40 to form an output product by laminating the metal powder material by irradiating a high power laser, And a powder supply part (20) for supplying the metal powder material stored in the powder part (10) to the shaping part (40).

The powder storing unit 10 is preferably formed in a cylindrical shape so as to store a metal powder material to be manufactured, and is formed separately from the molding unit 40 as illustrated in FIG. 1 to form the molding unit 40 And may be configured to be installed side by side with the constituent parts.

The shaping unit 40 can be configured to use a known DED system, PBF system, or the like as a portion where the output material is formed using a metal powder material. However, it is preferable that the structure constituting the shaping unit 40 is composed of a constituent part for generating and irradiating a laser, various structures for shaping the output, and a control controller.

2, the powder supply unit 20 includes a powder storage unit 10 and a shaping unit 40. The powder supply unit 20 includes a powder storage unit 10 and a shaping unit 40. The powder supply unit 20 is a part for supplying the metal powder material stored in the powder storage unit 10 to the shaping unit 40, A hopper 26 connected to the end of the powder supply pipe 22 for temporarily storing the metal powder material and connected to the shaping unit 40 to supply the metal powder to the shaping unit 40; And a negative pressure providing means 30 configured to provide a negative pressure within the powder feed pipe 22 to crush the metal powder material to be crushed.

The powder supply unit 20 is configured such that the powder stored in the powder storage unit 10 can be supplied through the powder supply pipe 22. The power for transferring the powder to the powder supply pipe 22 is supplied to the powder transfer unit ). The powder transfer apparatus can be configured to forcibly transfer the powder stored in the powder storage section 10 to the powder feed pipe 22 by using a conventional venturi principle. The powder transfer device is preferably installed inside the powder storage part 10. It is also possible to use a known suction power generating mechanism for generating a suction force toward the powder supply pipe 22 by using an air pump or the like to transfer the powder.

The main constituent parts of the powder supply part 20 will be described.

First, the powder feed pipe 22 is connected to the hopper 26 provided in the upper part of the shaping part 40 in the powder feeder provided in the powder storage part 10.

Next, the hopper 26 is formed of a cylindrical structure having a predetermined space. The hopper 26 is provided on the upper side of the shaping portion 40, and recoater provided in the shaping portion 40 in a state where the powder supplied from the powder- Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > a < / RTI >

Next, the sound pressure providing means 30 is connected to the hopper 26, which is the end side of the powder supply pipe 22 connected to the shaping portion 40.

The negative pressure providing means 30 includes a negative pressure providing pipe 32 connected to the hopper 26 and a negative pressure forming mechanism 38 provided on the negative pressure providing pipe 32 to form a negative pressure Lt; / RTI >

It is preferable that the negative pressure providing pipe 32 is connected to the outside of the powder supply pipe 22 in the form of a double pipe when the negative pressure forming mechanism 38 is formed on the side of the powder storage part 10.

That is, since the structure of the molding part 40 is complicated and dust may be generated during the process of providing the negative pressure, the negative pressure forming mechanism 38 is preferably formed on the powder storage part 10 side. In this case, the negative pressure providing pipe 32 may be formed as a separate line from the powder supply pipe 22. However, for the sake of simplification of the entire structure, the negative pressure providing pipe 32 is formed in a double pipe shape, the powder supply pipe 22 is formed inside, It is preferable to construct the supply pipe 32.

In addition, since the negative pressure providing pipe 32 is formed outside the powder supplying pipe 22, the double pipe structure can be expected to have a heat insulating effect for reducing the heat exchange between the powder supplying pipe 22 and the outside through the negative pressure providing pipe 32, This may minimize the effect of the external temperature on the metal powder supplied through the powder feed pipe 22. [

2, the end portion 23 of the powder supply pipe 22 is formed so as to minimize the inflow of the metal powder material when the negative pressure is formed on the side of the powder supply pipe 22 through the negative pressure providing pipe 32 And the inlet 34 of the negative pressure providing pipe 32 is started at a position spaced apart from the end 23 of the powder supply pipe 22 . That is, the powder supply pipe 22 is connected to the hopper 26 by a predetermined length in the vertical direction from the upper side to the lower side so that the end portion 23 is connected to the middle portion of the hopper 26, The upper end of the hopper 26, which is a position away from the end 26 of the powder feed pipe 22, can be connected.

The negative pressure forming mechanism 38 may be constituted by a blower for sucking air so as to form a negative pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure in the negative pressure providing pipe 32. The sound pressure forming mechanism 38 may be connected to the sound pressure providing pipe 32 through the connecting pipe 36.

Now, the crushing principle and action of the metal powder material supplied through the powder feed pipe 22 by using the negative pressure will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic powder mill using the negative pressure according to the present invention is characterized in that the metal powder material is supplied through the inner powder feed pipe 22 in the double pipe structure, The powder supplied to the hopper 26 through the powder feed pipe 22 is automatically pulverized while providing a negative pressure in a direction opposite to the advancing direction of the metal powder.

The negative pressure means a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure, and the positive and negative pressure can be used to move the powder in a desired direction. When the negative pressure is supplied to the powder supply pipe 22 by the negative pressure providing means 30, the metal powder entangled in the powder storage portion 10 by the pressure difference formed in the powder supply pipe 22, And is supplied into the hopper 26 and the shaping portion 40 while being shredded.

That is, the metal powder material stored in the powder storage part 10 is aggregated together with minute moisture, etc. When the metal powder material thus formed is supplied to the shaping part 40, The molding quality of the molding can be lowered. Accordingly, in the present invention, the metal powder material advances through the powder feed pipe 22 and sucks the powder material using the pressure difference formed by the negative pressure providing means 30, that is, the weak negative pressure, do. As a result, due to the action of the negative pressure, some cohesive metal powder material is loosened and flowability is improved, uniform powder can be supplied, and the quality of the 3D output can be improved.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of a main part showing a powder automatic grinding and supplying apparatus using negative pressure according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The automatic powder feed apparatus using the negative pressure according to the second embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the powder feed section 20A has the protruding structure in the powder feed pipe 22 in the structure using the negative pressure of the first embodiment described above, So as to grind the metal powder material.

The protruding structure is composed of a plurality of protrusions 24 formed inside the powder supply pipe 22 as shown in Fig.

At this time, the protrusions 24 preferably protrude in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the metal powder material so as to increase the crushing efficiency, and may protrude in a conical shape from the inner side of the powder supply pipe 22. It goes without saying that the shape and the protrusion height of the protrusion 24 can be variously changed in accordance with the operating conditions.

Such a protruding structure may be formed only in a part of the powder supply pipe 22, or may be formed in the entire area.

The structure of the powder automatic grinding and feeding apparatus using negative pressure except for the protruding structure can be the same as that of the first embodiment described above, so that the illustration and the repeated description thereof will be omitted.

5 to 7 are views showing a powder automatic grinding and feeding apparatus using negative pressure according to a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a detailed view of main parts of a powder automatic grinding and feeding apparatus, FIGS. 6 and 7 show various Are views of various embodiments showing a mesh arrangement structure.

The automatic powder feed apparatus using negative pressure according to the second embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the powder feed section 20B has a mesh-like structure in the powder feed pipe 22 in the structure using the negative pressure of the first embodiment described above, So as to grind the metal powder material.

Referring to FIG. 5, the plurality of meshes 25 are continuously arranged in the powder supply pipe 22 so that the powder that is tangled when the metal powder material passes through can be automatically pulverized.

As shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of meshes 25 may be arranged in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the metal powder flows, in the method of arranging the meshes 25 in the powder supply pipe 22. At this time, the direction of the mesh 25 can be configured to rotate in the circumferential direction of the mesh by a certain angle. That is, when all of the meshes 25 are formed to have the same size (same mesh), they are arranged to rotate at a predetermined angle, for example, 30 앞 from the beginning.

In the case where the powder supply pipe 22 is 1 m, when the mesh 25 arranged in the powder supply pipe 22 is rotated while being rotated by 30 degrees, a total of 8 mesh / 25- .

When the meshes 25 are disposed in the powder feed pipe 22, the lump metal powder materials that are not crushed by the negative pressure collide with the mesh 25 and are automatically crushed. In addition, if the meshes 25 are rotated by a certain angle in the circumferential direction, the possibility that the lump metal powder that has not been crushed while passing through the front mesh 25 collides with the next mesh 25 is crushed, The powder can be more effectively pulverized.

6 and 7 are sectional views showing another embodiment of the mesh arrangement structure, in which the meshes 25 are arranged orthogonally to the powder supply direction or are arranged at an angle with a certain angle. Therefore, by arranging the meshes 25 obliquely in the direction orthogonal to the powder supply direction, the left direction, and the right direction, the cohesive metal powders are crushed while passing through the meshes, and ultimately the crushing effect of the metal powder is enhanced .

As described above, the technical ideas described in the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented independently of each other, and can be implemented in combination with each other. While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is possible. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present invention should be determined by the appended claims.

10: Powder storage part 20, 20A, 20B: Powder supply part
22: Powder supply pipe 24:
25: mesh 26: hopper
30: Sound pressure providing means 32: Sound pressure providing pipe
38: sound pressure forming mechanism 40:

Claims (8)

A shaping section for shaping an output product by laminating a metal powder material by irradiating a high-power laser to the metal powder material supplied from the powder storage section, and a connection section for connecting the powder storage section and the shaping section And a powder supply part for supplying the metal powder material stored in the powder storage part to the shaping part;
Wherein the powder supply unit includes a mesh structure provided so as to collide and crush the metal powder material and a negative pressure providing means for forming a negative pressure in the powder supply unit to crush the metal powder material supplied to the shaping unit. Type structure and powder automatic grinding feeder using negative pressure. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the powder supply part includes a powder supply pipe connected between the powder storage part and the shaping part to move the metal powder material,
Wherein the mesh structure is provided with a plurality of meshes spaced apart from each other in the powder supply pipe, and a mesh type structure of the 3D printer and a powder automatic grinding / supply apparatus using negative pressure. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the mesh structure is formed in the same manner as a plurality of meshes, and the rear mesh is disposed in a state of being rotated in the circumferential direction at a predetermined angle with respect to the front mesh. The mesh structure of the 3D printer, Device. The method of claim 2,
Wherein at least a part of the meshes of the plurality of meshes are arranged orthogonally with respect to a traveling direction of the metal powder material or are arranged at an angle with a predetermined angle. The mesh structure of the 3D printer, Device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the powder supply part includes a powder supply pipe connected between the powder storage part and the shaping part to move the metal powder material and a hopper connected to the end of the powder supply pipe to collect the metal powder material,
And the negative pressure providing means is connected to the hopper. The mesh type structure of the 3D printer and the automatic powder grinding / supply apparatus using the negative pressure. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the negative pressure providing means includes a negative pressure providing pipe connected to the hopper and a negative pressure forming mechanism provided on the negative pressure providing pipe to form a negative pressure. Supply device. The method of claim 6,
Wherein the negative pressure forming mechanism is disposed on the powder storage portion side,
Wherein the negative pressure providing pipe is connected to the outside of the powder supply pipe in the form of a double pipe. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
And a plurality of protrusions are provided on at least a part of the inside of the powder supply part so as to crush the metal powder material.

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