RU223293U1 - Additive installation for forming products from metal-polymer composite - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to the field of additive technologies for growing volumetric products of complex shape using layer-by-layer extrusion of material, in particular to 3D printers for printing from metal-polymer compositions with intermediate curing of layers. The essence of the utility model is that an additive installation for forming products from a metal-polymer composite includes a frame with an extruder installed in it, which provides the ability to attach a feeding device to it, a platform for building and a means for curing the product, wherein the platform for building is made movable by means of moving means along the "X" axis, between the positions of forming the product and its curing, the extruder is mounted for movement in a vertical plane, and the curing means includes an infrared lamp mounted for moving along the "Z" axis in order to synchronize the position of the lamp with respect to to the position of the last printed layer of the product. The construction platform moving means includes a bracket connected to a belt drive with a platform moving drive. The curing means, including an infrared lamp, contains a drive and a linear guide mounted on a vertical frame, wherein the linear guide is installed parallel to the vertical frame, the movement of the infrared lamp is carried out using the infrared lamp drive, and the lamp is fixed to the linear guide using a detachable connection with the possibility of movement along it. The infrared lamp contains a reflector and a lamp tube, and the infrared lamp is characterized by a power of 200-500 W, and the radiation wavelength is 0.74-1000 microns. The technical result of using the proposed technical solution is to increase the adhesive strength of the layers of a product manufactured by 3D printing using metal-polymer composites. 3 salary f-ly, 5 ill.

Description

The utility model relates to the field of additive technologies for growing volumetric products of complex shape using layer-by-layer extrusion of material, in particular, to 3D printers for printing from metal-polymer compositions with intermediate curing of layers.

Today, there is a problem of obtaining products of complex shape with high mechanical characteristics from metal-polymer compositions that are promising for use in mechanical engineering. It is often impossible to obtain compact products of complex shape, for example, from ceramics of high-entropy alloys. When printing by direct supply of energy and material or by layer-by-layer synthesis on a substrate, the material cracks due to high internal stresses. However, if you use technologies for layer-by-layer application of a binder or extrusion of material followed by sintering after printing, you can achieve high product density and high mechanical properties.

The achieved level of technology for 3D printers for printing from metal-polymer composites using the extrusion method has a number of disadvantages. The main disadvantage of this process is the deformation of the lower part of the product under its own weight. There is also the problem of product deformation due to shrinkage.

There is a known method for additive extrusion of volumetric products and an extruder for its implementation [Patent RU 2750995 C2 dated November 16, 2020], based on the extrusion method and fixation of two-dimensional layers of molten polymer material followed by curing.

The extruder for implementing the method contains a device for feeding filament into the extruder, an induction heater, an extrusion head with a nozzle for squeezing out the molten filament and a temperature sensor. Moreover, the induction heater contains a crucible with a heating inductor located outside the crucible, and the filament supply device - a radiator, for example, water cooling of the supplied filament, located at a distance from the induction heater, interconnected by a rod with an axial channel for supplying the filament to the melting zone, on which At the bottom of the radiator there is an additional filament cooling temperature sensor, and at the end there is an extrusion head, in which a sensor is installed to control the temperature of the extruded molten filament, and outside the heating inductor there is a torus-shaped air collector with a heating element, equipped with a compressed air supply pipe and nozzles for blowing the deposited layer heated air.

The main disadvantage of this device is the method of intermediate curing of the layers. When the layer is blown with heated air, the layer can be deformed, as a result of which the geometry of the product will be disrupted.

A 3D printer is known [Patent CN 211492838 U dated September 15, 2020] with a modified extruder nozzle movement module. Unlike the 3D guide rail mechanism, the adjustment mechanism is more convenient for the arrangement of various parts of the printing system. The printer is also equipped with 2 material supply hoppers, which allows for continuous printing and reduces the time the printer stops to load material. Moreover, in the raw material hopper there is a piston rod used for supplying materials; each raw material bin is equipped with an unloading hole used for unloading materials; and each raw material hopper is connected to the extrusion head mechanism by a conveying tube.

The design of this printer does not allow maintaining the shape of a product made from metal-polymer pastes during the extrusion process, due to the lack of curing of the layers.

There is a known method for producing metal-ceramic composite material of complex configuration [Patent CN 114455972 A dated May 10, 2022], which consists of mixing metal-ceramic powder with a binder and deionized water, which is subjected to ball grinding, resulting in a ceramic suspension. The product is produced by layer-by-layer growing an object from a ceramic suspension on a 3D extruder printer and infiltration under pressure.

In this method, the stage of intermediate curing and drying before infiltration is skipped, which is a disadvantage of this method. The ceramic suspension used in this invention is quite liquid, as a result of which the final and initial shape of the product differs.

An extruder for a ceramic suspension is known [Patent RU 2750573 C2 dated 10/06/2017]. The extrusion method includes mixing a heterogeneous suspension in the internal space of the extruder reservoir, increasing the pressure of the heterogeneous suspension located in the internal space of the extruder reservoir, and removing the heterogeneous suspension contained in the internal space of the reservoir through a nozzle attached to the reservoir and in fluid communication with the heterogeneous suspension in the internal space. tank space.

The disadvantage of this extruder is the limited reservoir without the possibility of continuous replenishment of the ceramic suspension, which reduces the productivity and efficiency of the process. Also, it is worth noting that the lower layers will be deformed under the weight of the new layers, as a result of which the geometry of the product will be disrupted.

A 3D printer with an infrared curing function is known [Patent CN 211306679 U dated August 21, 2020], which is the closest analogue of the claimed device (prototype). The printer includes a main frame, a build platform moving only along a vertical axis, fixed in the main frame, an extruder moving in a horizontal plane in the upper part of the main frame, a product curing device made in the form of infrared lamps located on four sides in the upper part of the main frame frames The device involves infrared (IR) permanent curing of the entire volume of the construction zone. The building platform is moved along a vertical axis by a slider, a lifting screw and a driving lifting screw, fixed to a fixed base along the vertical axis. The extruder is attached with a bracket to a rectangular frame, which is equipped with two belt drives (moving along the “X” axis and along the “Y” axis) with drives, as well as linear guides, which allows you to move the extruder in a horizontal plane. During the printing process, there is a gap between the extruder nozzle and the build platform (previous layer). The material, when continuously cured by an IR lamp, begins to harden in the gap between the nozzle and the build platform (previous layer), which leads to the fact that the applied track is covered with a cured film. This process affects the adhesion strength between layers.

A disadvantage of the prototype design is the illumination of the printing area and the extruder nozzle during the application of the composite, which impairs adhesion between layers and allows the possibility of curing the material directly inside the extruder nozzle.

Thus, the problem solved by the utility model is to improve adhesion between layers of the product.

The essence of the utility model is that an additive installation for forming products from a metal-polymer composite includes a frame with an extruder installed in it, which provides the ability to attach a feeding device to it, a platform for building and a means for curing the product, wherein the platform for building is made movable by means of moving means along the "X" axis, between the positions of forming the product and its curing, the extruder is mounted for movement in a vertical plane, and the curing means includes an infrared lamp mounted for moving along the "Z" axis in order to synchronize the position of the lamp with respect to to the position of the last printed layer of the product. The construction platform moving means includes a bracket connected to a belt drive with a platform moving drive. The curing means, including an infrared lamp, contains a drive and a linear guide mounted on a vertical frame, wherein the linear guide is installed parallel to the vertical frame, the movement of the infrared lamp is carried out using the infrared lamp drive, and the lamp is fixed to the linear guide using a detachable connection with the possibility of movement along it. The infrared lamp contains a reflector and a lamp tube, and the infrared lamp is characterized by a power of 200-500 W, and the radiation wavelength is 0.74-1000 microns.

The technical result is achieved through the use of a curing agent that has the ability to influence the product outside the printing zone. The technical result of using the proposed technical solution is to increase the adhesive strength of the layers of a product manufactured by 3D printing using metal-polymer composites.

The essence of the utility model is illustrated in the drawings.

Fig. 1 - Printer structure, general view.

Fig. 2 - Printer device, bottom view.

Fig. 3 - Printer device, side view.

Fig. 4 - Printer structure, rear view.

Fig. 5 - Feeding device.

All parts of the proposed device, in particular parts, components, units, blocks, etc., are interconnected by assembly operations, in particular screwing, joining, riveting, welding, soldering, crimping, flaring, gluing, stitching, ensuring structural unity and implementation by a device of general functional purpose (functional unity) at one manufacturing plant.

The additive installation contains a vertical base 1, a vertical frame 2, connected to a horizontal base 3 with support elements 4, a horizontal base 3 connected to a platform 5, which consists of an upper 6 and lower 7 bases, which are connected by spring-loaded bolts 8, an extruder 9, a feeding device 10, mounted on a support frame 41 connected to the vertical base 1, a means for curing the product, including an IR lamp 11, located on the vertical frame 2.

The extruder 9 consists of a screw drive 12, a shaft coupling 13, a screw 14, a nozzle 15, and a nozzle 16. The extruder is attached using a bracket 17 to a carriage 18 with a belt drive 19 and linear guides 20 mounted on a vertical base 1. Moreover, the belt drive 19 is put on the drive pulley 21 and moves the extruder along the “Y” axis.

The extruder body has a hole for feeding material connected to a tube 22 of the feeding device. The feeding device (Fig. 5), using a piston 23 connected to a rod 24 coming from the drive 25 with a gearbox 26, squeezes the printing material through the hole in the reservoir 27 into the tube 22 and feeds the material through the tube into the extruder body 9. The feeding device, located on the plate 41, which is attached by a detachable connection to the vertical base 1

The movement of the extruder along the “Z” axis is carried out by a drive 28, a ball screw 29 and a carriage 30 located on a linear guide 31, which is mounted on a vertical base 1.

Platform 5 is equipped with a bracket 32 and is driven along the “X” axis by a belt drive 33 and linear guides 34 mounted on support elements 4. The belt drive 33 is mounted on a drive pulley 35 mounted on a horizontal base 3.

IR lamp 11 is mounted on a linear guide 40 mounted on a vertical frame 2 using a detachable connection 36. IR lamp 11 is driven by a drive 37 with a coupling 38 and a screw 39 mounted on a vertical frame 2. Movement of the IR lamp in height allows you to maintain a constant distance from the radiation source to the plane of the layer (platform) for uniform curing.

Information and power wires are located in cable channels 37.

The additive plant works as follows.

Previously, for each manufactured three-dimensional product, a 3D model is created, divided into two-dimensional layers, printing parameters are selected, in particular, resolution, printing speed, layer thickness, material feeding speed into the extruder, exposure duration, and the material is loaded into the feeder reservoir 27.

At the end of the preparatory stage, the first layer of the product is applied to the substrate mounted on the upper base of the platform 6, while the material is fed through a tube 22 into the extruder body 9 using a piston 23 with a rod 24 connected to a drive 25 with a gearbox 26 of the feeder. Due to the screw feed 14, the material is squeezed out through the extruder nozzle 15. The material is applied according to a trajectory consistent with the two-dimensional layer of the 3D model due to the movement of the platform 5 along the “X” axis due to the belt drive 33 from the drive 35 installed on the horizontal base 3 and the movement of the extruder 9 along the “Y” axis due to the belt drive 19 from drives 21 installed on a vertical base 1.

After applying a layer to the substrate 5, the supply of material stops, the platform 5 moves to the vertical frame 2 due to linear guides 34 and a belt drive 33, mounted on a drive pulley 35, mounted on a horizontal base 3, spring-loaded bolts 8 allow the platform to be stabilized during movement, after which turns on the IR lamp 11, mounted on a linear guide 40. The position of the IR lamp changes depending on the number of printed layers using a drive 37, a coupling 38 with a screw 39 and a linear guide 40, which are mounted on a vertical frame 2.

Using IR radiation with a wavelength of 0.74-1000 microns, intermediate curing occurs to prevent further deformation of the product under its own weight. To ensure high-quality curing, the IR lamp is equipped with a reflector, which allows you to direct the main radiation flux to the curing zone, while almost not illuminating the product formation zone; the power of the IR lamp is 200-500 W. Research by the authors of the technical solution has revealed that the power range of 200-500 W is optimal for achieving adhesive strength between layers and preventing product deformation under its own weight.

After intermediate curing of the layer, the IR lamp is turned off, in order to prevent excessive curing, the platform 5 moves to the vertical base 1 due to the belt drive 33. The extruder 9, due to the drive 28 with a ball screw pair 29, rises to the height of one layer and a new layer is applied . The process is repeated until the product is completely printed.

Moving the build platform from the product forming zone to the curing zone plays a key role in maintaining adhesive strength between layers. By separating the curing process from the printing process, the possibility of excessive curing of the material inside the nozzle and in the gap between the build platform and the nozzle is eliminated; the applied track does not have a cured film on the surface, since it is not exposed to IR radiation during the printing process.

Claims (4)

1. An additive installation for forming products from a metal-polymer composite, including a frame with an extruder installed in it, providing the ability to attach a feeding device to it, a platform for building and a means for curing the product, characterized in that the platform for building is made with the ability to move using means for moving along the "X" axis, between the positions of forming the product and its curing, the extruder is mounted for movement in a vertical plane, and the curing means includes an infrared lamp mounted for movement along the "Z" axis for the purpose of synchronizing the position of the lamp with respect to the position the last printed layer of the product. 2. Additive installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for moving the platform for construction includes a bracket connected to a belt drive with a drive for moving the platform. 3. Additive installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the curing means, including an infrared lamp, contains a drive and a linear guide mounted on a vertical frame, wherein the linear guide is installed parallel to the vertical frame, the movement of the infrared lamp is carried out using the infrared lamp drive, wherein the lamp is fixed to the linear guide using a detachable connection with the ability to move along it. 4. Additive installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the infrared lamp contains a reflector and a lamp tube, and the infrared lamp is characterized by a power of 200-500 W, and the radiation wavelength is 0.74-1000 microns.

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