WO2018099307A1

WO2018099307A1 - Full-color 3d printing device and method

Info

Publication number: WO2018099307A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/112372
Authority: WO
Inventors: 宗贵升; 蔡振宇; 陈楚技
Original assignee: 深圳市七号科技有限公司
Priority date: 2016-11-30
Filing date: 2017-11-22
Publication date: 2018-06-07
Also published as: CN106393662B; CN106393662A

Abstract

A full-color three-dimensional (3D) printing device and a corresponding method. The device comprises a color slicing module (102), a main control board, a moving mechanism, a filament extruder (221), a working platform (211), and a color inkjet print head (231). The device adopts FDM and color inkjet printing technologies to implement fast formation of a color 3D solid object. The method comprises the following steps: creating, on a computer, a 3D solid model, and adding colors to the 3D solid model; performing, by a color slicing module, a slicing process on the model to obtain a color slice file having color information; inputting the file into a color 3D printer to print in a layer-by-layer manner, applying colors to a corresponding area on a surface of each layer; performing ink curing; and repeating the process until the model is completely printed. The layer-by-layer 3D printing and coloring method can be utilized to implement full-color printing of a complicated 3D structure.

Description

Device and method for full color 3D printing

[0001] The present invention relates to a 3D printing technique; a full color 3D printing device and a full color 3D printing method are specifically designed.

Background technique

[0002] Fused deposition manufacturing, also known as fuse deposition manufacturing, is a processing method that does not use a laser. The FDM process was first developed by American scholar Dr. Scott Cmmp in 1988. The FDM forming system mainly includes: an extrusion head, a wire feeding mechanism, a moving mechanism, a heating workshop, and a working surface. The nozzle is scanned by XY under the control of the computer, and the wire is heated in the nozzle to a temperature slightly above its melting point. The nozzle ejects molten material during the scanning motion and rapidly cools to form a processing layer that is firmly attached to the upper layer. Such layer scan overlays form a spatial entity.

[0003] Currently, FDM printers on the market print only one color or a combination of several different color materials. To get a color model, most of the colors are painted on the surface of the model after printing is complete.

[0004] In another way, according to the color to be printed, the red, yellow and blue resin are mixed by a premixer to form a desired color, and then the mixed resin is printed to obtain a colored 3D product. . However, this solution has the following problems: The color of each pixel of the product to be printed may be different. Therefore, the entire printing process needs to constantly change the color, and the amount of glue required for a single pixel is very small, using a pre-mixing method. Printing is difficult to switch between different colors, and it is difficult to ensure that the glue of the previous color does not remain in the premixer and affects the effect of the latter color. technical problem

[0005] The main problem solved by the present invention is to provide a full-color 3D printing device and a printing method for realizing higher-quality color 3D printing, and is particularly suitable for a 3D model with complicated structure and various colors.

Problem solution

Technical solution

[0006] A full color 3D printing device, including a color slicing module, a control board, a motion mechanism, and wire extrusion Head, work platform, color inkjet head;

[0007] The color slicing module is used for slicing a color three-dimensional model, including layered slicing of the three-dimensional model and color information extraction of the model, to generate a color slicing file;

[0008] The control board is configured to read the color slice file, automatically identify the slice model or the color inkjet instruction, and drive the motion mechanism according to the set program to perform three-dimensional model printing and color inkjet;

[0009] The working platform is used for placing the printed three-dimensional model, and when performing three-dimensional forming, the working platform is moved to the three-dimensional forming working area, and when the inkjet is performed, the working platform will move to the color inkjet working area;

[0010] The color inkjet head can use an integrated inkjet head, the nozzle of which is integrated with the ink cartridge, and an inkjet head external to the ink cartridge can also be used, and the inkjet head can be externally used. The ink cartridge is supplied with ink. The color ink jet ejects color ink onto the upper surface of the material based on the color information of the pixel.

[0011] Preferably, the color slicing module first sets the layer thickness and performs layered slicing according to the three-dimensional size of the model.

Obtaining a model section of each height position and calculating a motion path of the wire extrusion head; secondly, generating a color pattern and decomposing the color according to the contour of the model section at each height position, according to the material used for printing the ink Permeability and slice thickness information, color saturation is calculated, color slicing is performed to obtain a color inkjet command file; the motion path of the extrusion head and the color inkjet command constitute a color slice file.

[0012] Preferably, the color slice file further includes setting flag information for each layer of the model, the flag information including flag information of the starting print position of each layer of the model slice and a flag added to the start position of each layer of the color inkjet command. information.

[0013] Preferably, the color graphic generated by the color slicing module is an outer surface contour corresponding to the slice model, and the minimum width of the contoured line has a value of h(i _+co tiei), where h is a layer thickness. Θ is the angle between the normal vector of the outer surface of the model and the horizontal plane.

Preferably, the color ink jet head has not less than 48 independent nozzles, and each nozzle ejects three or more different colors.

[0015] Preferably, the color inkjet head colors each layer, according to the color information in the molding data of each layer, controls different nozzles to eject different colors of ink, and the ejected small ink droplets fall on the model. The desired color is formed at the same point.

[0016] Preferably, the ink of the color inkjet head adopts CMYK printing four-color mode, and the ink colors used are respectively Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black; or color cartridges use CMYK to print six-color mode, using ink colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, black, dark cyan, and dark magenta.

[0017] Preferably, the full color 3D printing device further includes an ink curing device, which is an infrared light source or an ultraviolet light source.

[0018] Preferably, the computer system comprises at least one processor and a memory, which can be configured to install a color slicing module, the processor can perform corresponding functions according to the color processing needs to construct a color slice file or instruction, and the computer system can be connected A PCI slot or other interface for connecting external devices such as network cards, USB flash drives, keyboards, and mice.

[0019] Preferably, after the slice, a color slice file with color information is obtained, which may be a GCODE format or other numerical control (NC) programming language format, and examples of the GCODE format include conforming to, for example, RS-2 74-D, ISO 6983. Standard format such as DIN 66025.

[0020] Preferably, the control board includes at least one processor, a memory for storing the firmware code, an interface for driving the movement of the actuator, and an I/O port for receiving the sensor information.

[0021] Preferably, the motion mechanism is used to drive the movement of the wire extrusion head, the working platform and the color inkjet head, and the printing of the color model is completed by the cooperative movement; the wire extrusion head is used for heating the wire and extruding the molten material, The material is printed on the working platform; the working platform is used to place the printed three-dimensional model, and when three-dimensional forming, the working platform will move to the three-dimensional forming working area, and when the inkjet is performed, the working platform will move to the color inkjet work. Area; The color inkjet head ejects color ink on the outer surface of the material based on the color information.

[0022] Preferably, the color ink may be stored in a color inkjet head or may be stored in a color ink cartridge.

[0023] A method for using a full color 3D printing device for color 3D printing includes the following steps:

[0024] A. Create a three-dimensional solid model on the computer, and add color;

[0025] B. installing a color slicing module in the computer system, and inputting the color three-dimensional model into the color slicing module; [0026] C. Using the color slicing module to slice the three-dimensional model to obtain a color slicing file. Firstly, the layer thickness is set, and the slice is sliced according to the three-dimensional size of the model, and the model section of each height position is obtained, and the motion path of the wire extrusion head is calculated; then, the color pattern is generated according to the contour of the model section at each height position. And decomposing the color to obtain a color inkjet instruction file; the motion path of the extrusion head and the color inkjet command constitute a color slice file. [0027] Preferably, the model only performs coloring on the surface, and after performing color slicing, the color pattern generated by the module is an outer surface contour corresponding to the slice model, and the contour line has a certain width, the width of the model and the width of the model. The three-dimensional shape is related to the angle between the normal and the horizontal plane outside the surface of the model. The smaller the angle, the larger the width of the colored graphic lines, and vice versa.

[0028] Preferably, the saturation of the color is calculated according to the permeation characteristics of the material used for the ink and the thickness of the slice, and color slicing is performed to compensate for the lack of color saturation of the model after molding due to the ink permeation characteristics.

[0029] D. Input the color slice file to the color 3D printer, and start the 3D model printing. Data transmission methods include Ethernet, wireless WIFI network, cellular network, USB cable, and mobile storage devices (such as U disk, TF card, mobile hard disk), etc. The control board will automatically recognize the slice model in the file and drive according to the set program. Motion mechanism, performing 3D model printing;

[0030] E. After printing a layer, the working platform will move to the color inkjet working area, control the motherboard identification and color inkjet commands and drive the motion mechanism according to the set program to perform three-dimensional model inkjet;

[0031] After the completion of the F.-layer inkjet, the ink is cured; different curing modes may be selected according to the use of the ink, and the ink curing method may be natural curing or curing by a curing device. The curing device is used to quickly cure the ink and enhance the coloring effect. Depending on the type of ink used, choose a suitable curing device. If water-based ink is used, the ink can be heated by an infrared light source to cure it quickly. If UV ink is used, use An ultraviolet light source accelerates ink curing.

[0032] G. The control board drives the motion mechanism to perform printing and ink ejection of the next layer.

[0033] Preferably, the thickness of the slice of the printed layer is 0.05-0.2 mm.

[0034] Preferably, 3D printing uses a white or transparent color thermoplastic material such as PLA, ABS, nylon, and the like.

[0035] Preferably, in order to optimize the coloring effect of the model, a material having better permeability or a coloring agent is used to treat the material and then color, and the ink can penetrate into the interior of the material, so that the model is not easily faded.

Advantageous effects of the invention

Beneficial effect

[0036] The present disclosure can create a three-dimensional solid model on a computer and add color; the color slicing module slices the model to obtain a color slice file with color information; and inputs the file into a color 3D printer, The printer prints layer by layer, then adds color to the corresponding area of the layer surface; then ink Curing; repeat the entire process until the model is printed. This layer-by-layer 3D printing method can realize color printing of complex three-dimensional structure; the same color is printed by inkjet printing mode, and the color gamut is wide, which can realize full-color printing; in addition, the color printing of the device is based only on the outer contour of the model. The shape is selectively ink-jetted, so that the amount of ink used is small, the efficiency is high, and the cost is low.

Brief description of the drawing

DRAWINGS

1 is a color 3D printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a color 3D printing apparatus 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a color three-dimensional model of an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a slice model of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] FIG. 5 is a color inkjet instruction file in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a schematic diagram of a color 3D printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the invention

[0043] The present invention provides a device and method for full-color 3D printing, which realizes high-quality color 3D printing, slices a color three-dimensional model through a color slicing module, and inputs a color slice file to a control board of a color 3D printer. The control board will automatically recognize the slice model and color inkjet commands in the file, driving the 3D printer to alternately perform 3D printing and coloring. According to this molding and coloring method, color printing of the entire model is completed by layering. The invention will be further described below in conjunction with the embodiments and the drawings, but is not limited thereto.

Embodiment 1

[0045] As shown in FIG. 1, a color 3D printing device mainly includes: a computer system 100, a processor 101, a color slicing module 102, a control board (not shown), a work platform 211, a work platform transmission mechanism 212, and a wire. The extrusion head 221, the wire extrusion head transmission mechanism 222, the color inkjet head 231, the inkjet head transmission mechanism 23, and the color ink cartridge (not shown).

[0046] A computer (ie, CPU) 101, a memory (not shown),

A USB interface (not shown), a keyboard and a mouse (not shown), a color slicing module 102 is installed in the computer system, and the processor 101 performs the color model cut by executing functions or instructions in the color slicing module 102. Film.

[0047] The color model is input into the color slicing module 102, and the software can layer the model according to the layer thickness and the three-dimensional size of the model, obtain the cross section of the model at each height, and complete the motion planning of the extrusion head; Next, the module 102 extracts the color information of the model according to the cross-sectional profile at each height, and calculates the color of the model according to the inkjet printing method employed, and decomposes it into the color space. After processing, a color slice file with color information is obtained, the color slice file contains data of each layer of the model, and a flag information is set at a layered position, and the flag information Object num is added at the beginning position of each layer of the model slice. The flag information Color num is added at the beginning of each layer of the color inkjet command, where _num represents the number of layers, and subsequent color 3D printers can alternately print based on the information.

[0048] The color 3D printer 200 is composed of a control main board 201, a work platform 211, a work platform transmission mechanism 212, a wire extrusion head 221, a wire extrusion head transmission mechanism 222, a color inkjet head 231, an inkjet head transmission mechanism 232, and the like. .

[0049] The control board 201 uses the ARM as the STM32 series motherboard of the CPU, and can transmit data through a USB cable, an SD card, or the like. Configure the motor drive interface, other external device interfaces, and I/O ports for sensor information. The control board 201 reads the color slice file, automatically recognizes the slice model and the color inkjet command in the color slice file, and alternately performs three-dimensional solid molding and color inkjet by the sequence control.

[0050] The work platform 211, the wire extrusion head 221, and the color inkjet head 231 are driven by transmission mechanisms 212, 222, and 232, respectively, which employ a linear guide mechanism and a timing belt drive, and a Z-direction transmission mechanism (not shown). Linear guide and screw drive are used. The movement of the wire extrusion head 221 and the color inkjet head 231 in the X direction is independent of each other, and the movement in the Z direction is synchronized. The color ink jet head 231 is an integrated ink jet head. The ink cartridge is integrated with the nozzle, and the CMYK printing four-color ink jet method is used, and ordinary water-based ink is used. In the color printing process, first, the linear extrusion head 211 cooperates with the movement between the working platforms 212 to complete the printing of a solid model; then the linear extrusion head 211 stops discharging, and the working platform 212 moves to the inkjet printing working interval. The inkjet printing of the model is completed in conjunction with the movement of the color inkjet head 231; then the movement of the color inkjet head 231 and the inkjet are stopped, and the linear extrusion head 221 and the inkjet head 231 are raised by a layer height (by the Z-direction transmission mechanism). Drive), the work platform 211 moves to the 3D print work area, and then completes the next layer of 3D printing, and finally completes the printing of the entire color model.

Example 2 [0052] As shown in FIG. 2, on the basis of Embodiment 1, a color ink curing device 240 is further incorporated, and the curing device 240 uses an infrared light source to perform ink curing after finishing the coloring of each layer of the material to enhance coloring. effect.

Example 3

[0054] On the basis of Embodiment 1, a state feedback mechanism is added, as shown in FIG. 6. The control board switches between physical printing and coloring based on status information to perform alternate 3D printing and inkjet coloring.

Example 4

[0056] This embodiment is based on the apparatus of Embodiment 1, and the color 3D printing method adopted is as follows:

[0057] 1. Install a color slicing module 102 in the computer system 100;

[0058] 2. The color three-dimensional model 250 is input into the color section module 102. The color three-dimensional model 250 is as shown in FIG. 3. The layer thickness is set to 0.1 mm in the color section module 102, and the software will be based on the layer thickness model. The three-dimensional size is layered, the model cross section at each height is obtained, and motion planning is performed to obtain a slice model 251; then the software intercepts the color information of the cross-sectional contour of the color model 250 at each height according to the layer thickness, and generates and The cross-sectional contour corresponds to a color line pattern with a certain width. The software will also compensate the saturation according to the permeability coefficient k of the material, and decompose the color into the CYMK color space to obtain a series of color inkjet instructions 252. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the slice model 251 is used for three-dimensional molding, and the color inkjet command 252 is used for inkjet printing. These two files constitute a color slice file, and the file format is GCODE format.

[0059] 3. Printing using white PLA material.

[0060] 4. The color slice file is input to the control board 201 of the color 3D printer 200, and the control board 201 will automatically recognize the slice model 251 and the color inkjet instruction file 252 in the file, and the control board 201 first executes the first slice model 251. The instruction of the layer slice model drives the movement of the extrusion head in the X and Y directions and extrudes the molten wire for solid molding; after completing the molding of a layer, the platform moves to the inkjet printing area, and then performs color inkjet The first layer color inkjet command of the instruction file 252 drives the color inkjet head to eject the upper surface of the model until the coloring of the layer is completed, and the control board 201 drives the platform transmission mechanism to move the platform to the three-dimensional solid molding area. Perform the next layer of solid molding. The color three-dimensional molding of the entire model 250 is finally completed by layer-by-layer three-dimensional molding and coloring.

Example 5 Based on Example 4, a thermoplastic material having better permeability is used, so that the ink can penetrate into the interior of the material better, and the coloring effect is enhanced.

Claims

Claim

[Claim 1] A full-color 3D printing apparatus, comprising: a color slicing module, a control main board, a motion mechanism, a wire extrusion head, a work platform, and a color inkjet head;

The color slicing module is configured to slice the color three-dimensional model, including layering the three-dimensional model and extracting the color information of the model, and generating a color slice file;

The control board is used for reading a color slice file, automatically identifying a slice model or a color inkjet command, and driving the motion mechanism according to a set program, performing three-dimensional model printing and color inkjet. The work platform is used for placing the printed image. The three-dimensional model, when performing three-dimensional forming, the working platform moves to the three-dimensional forming working area, and when the inkjet is performed, the working platform will move to the color inkjet working area;

The color ink jet head is for ejecting color ink on the upper surface of the material in accordance with pixel dot color information.

[Claim 2] The full-color 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color slicing module first sets a layer thickness, and performs layering slicing according to the three-dimensional size of the model to obtain models of different height positions. Section, and calculate the movement path of the wire extrusion head; secondly, according to the profile of the model section at different height positions, generate a color figure and decompose the color, according to the material used for printing, the permeability of the ink and the slice thickness information, calculate Color saturation, color slicing, to obtain a color inkjet command file; the motion path of the extrusion head and the color inkjet command constitute a color slice file.

[Claim 3] The full-color 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color slice file further includes setting flag information for each layer of the model, the flag information including each layer of the model slice to start printing The location information and the flag information added to each layer of the color inkjet command start position.

[Claim 4] The full-color 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color pattern generated by the color section module is an outer surface contour corresponding to the slice model, and the minimum width of the contour line is taken The value is h(l+cotiei), where h is the layer thickness and Θ is the angle between the normal vector of the outer surface of the model and the horizontal plane.

[Claim 5] The full-color 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color ink jet head has not less than 48 independent nozzles, and each nozzle ejects three or more different colors .

[Claim 6] The full-color 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color inkjet head controls each nozzle by coloring each layer, and controlling different nozzles according to color information in molding data of each layer Different colors of ink are ejected, and the ejected small ink droplets fall on the same pixel of the model to form the desired complex color.

[Claim 7] The full-color 3D printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the ink of the color inkjet head is printed in a four-color mode using CMYK, and the colors of the inks used are cyan and magenta, respectively. , yellow and black; or color cartridges use CMYK to print six-color mode, using ink colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, black, dark cyan, and dark magenta

[Claim 8] The full-color 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an ink curing device, wherein the ink curing device is an infrared light source or an ultraviolet light source.

[Claim 9] A method for color 3D printing using the full-color 3D printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1-8, comprising the steps of:

A. Create a 3D solid model on the computer and add color;

B. Input the color 3D model into the color slicing module of the computer;

C. The color slicing module slices the three-dimensional model to obtain a color slicing file;

D. Input the color slice file into the color 3D printer, and start the 3D model printing;

E. After printing one layer, the working platform will move to the color inkjet working area for three-dimensional model inkjet;

F. - After the layer of inkjet is completed, the ink is cured;

G. Control the motherboard to drive the motion mechanism for the next layer of printing and inkjet.

[Claim 10] The method of full-color 3D printing according to claim 9, wherein the slice thickness of the printed layer is 0.05-0.2 mm.