WO2022010332A1

WO2022010332A1 - 3d printer and 3d printing method

Info

Publication number: WO2022010332A1
Application number: PCT/KR2021/008896
Authority: WO
Inventors: 박성진; 이홍주; 김기형
Original assignee: 주식회사 류진랩
Priority date: 2020-07-10
Filing date: 2021-07-12
Publication date: 2022-01-13

Abstract

Disclosed are a 3D printer and a 3D printing method, which use photo-curable resin to shape output while stacking layers one by one, the 3D printer comprising: an accommodating unit for accommodating the photo-curable resin; a light engine, which is provided below the accommodating unit to provide, to the accommodating unit, a light source for shaping output, and thus cures the photo-curable resin; a plate provided above the accommodating unit in a vertically movable manner to allow the photo-curable resin in single layers to be stacked on the bottom surface thereof while dipped in the photo-curable resin, and thus forms a three-dimensional output; and an inclined elevating member which raises the plate after the stacking of one single layer on the plate is complete, so as to permit stacking of the next single layer while separating the plate from the bottom surface of the accommodating unit, and which raises and lowers the plate while adjusting the inclination angle of the plate.

Description

3D printers and 3D printing methods

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a 3D printer and a 3D printing method, and more particularly, to a 3D printer and a 3D printing method capable of molding an output while stacking layers layer by layer using a photocurable resin.

In general, a 3D printer (3D molding machine) uses 3D information of an object composed of a digital file to structure (slice) the object into a very thin layer, and then builds the actual sculpture by stacking the materials layer by layer from this information. technology to implement.

These 3D printers can be largely divided into a photocuring stacking method and an FDM (FFF) method.

Among them, the photocurable lamination method is to perform 3D printing using a photocurable resin as disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2016-0130592, and is molded by irradiating light from a light source that provides light to a tank filled with resin. It is a technology to form a sculpture by curing the resin in the desired area.

In this prior art resin 3D printer, the plate is repeatedly driven up and down through the elevating member, and layers by hardening of the resin are laminated on the plate one by one to output the sculpture.

At this time, since the 3D printer according to the prior art has a structure in which the plate is vertically moved in a state in which it is level with the bottom of the water tank, the tension of the resin may act on the plate during vertical movement.

For this reason, in the 3D printer according to the prior art, the plate cannot be easily removed from the bottom surface of the water tank or a relatively strong force can be applied to raise the plate, so the stability of the output may be reduced.

In addition, the 3D printer according to the prior art repeats the phenomenon that the bottom of the water tank is lifted together with the plate by the tension of the resin, thereby aggravating the fatigue of the hardware and fixing the equipment itself.

In addition, the 3D printer according to the prior art has a problem in that it is difficult to lift the plate because the tension is increased as the area of the output that comes into contact with the water tank bottom increases, and the size of the 3D printer is increased because the separation of the output seated on the plate may occur. There is a difficult problem.

Therefore, there is a need for a technique for solving the above-mentioned problems.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned background art is technical information that the inventor possessed for the purpose of derivation of the present invention or acquired during the derivation process of the present invention, and it cannot be said that it is necessarily known technology disclosed to the general public before the filing of the present invention. .

Embodiments disclosed herein are a 3D printer and 3D printer capable of smoothly separating the plate from the bottom of the water tank by raising the plate by adjusting the inclination angle without raising the plate to a horizontal state in the process of raising the plate on which the layers are stacked It aims to present a printing method.

Specifically, the embodiments disclosed herein can stably separate the output from the water tank by elevating one end of both ends of the plate, and reduce the fatigue of the water tank or elevating member to suppress failure, and ultimately The purpose of this is to present a 3D printer and a 3D printing method that facilitates large-area output.

As a technical means for achieving the above-described technical problem, according to an embodiment of the 3D printer, a receiving unit for accommodating a photocurable resin; a light engine installed in the lower part of the accommodating part to provide a light source for molding an output to the accommodating part to cure the photocurable resin; a plate which is installed so as to be lifted on the upper part of the receiving part and is immersed in a photocurable resin by laminating the photocurable resin in a single layer on the bottom surface to form a three-dimensional output; and an inclination of raising and lowering the plate while adjusting the inclination angle of the plate while allowing the stacking of the next single layer while separating the plate from the bottom surface of the receiving unit by raising the plate after the lamination of one single layer is completed on the plate It may include a lifting member.

In addition, the inclined lifting member may include: a main lifting rail installed in a vertical direction on at least one side of both sides of the accommodation unit to provide an ascending and descending path; a main slider connected to the plate in a movably coupled state to the main elevating rail and vertically elevating the plate while moving along the main elevating rail; and a sub-elevating member for connecting the plate to the main slider, and adjusting an inclination angle of the plate while raising and lowering at least one of both ends of the plate.

In addition, the sub-elevating member may include a pivot shaft installed on the main slider to rotatably support one end of both ends of the plate; a sub-elevating rail installed in a vertical direction to the main slider from the opposite side of the pivot shaft to provide an elevating path; and a sub slider connected to the other end of the plate in a movably coupled state to the sub-elevating rail, and adjusting the inclination angle of the plate while moving along the sub-elevating rail to elevate the other end of the plate. can do.

In addition, the sub-elevating member may include: a pair of sub-elevating rails installed on both sides of the main slider in a vertical direction to provide an elevating path; and both ends of the plate in a state of being movably coupled to each of the pair of sub-elevating rails, respectively, moving along the sub-elevating rails, respectively, raising and lowering both ends of the plate while adjusting the inclination angle of the plate It may include a pair of sub-sliders that

In addition, the sub-elevating member may include a pivot shaft installed in a vertical direction to the main slider to rotatably support a portion of the plate; and a rotation motor provided on the pivot shaft to rotate the plate to perform seesaw motion while adjusting the inclination angle of the plate.

As a technical means for achieving the above-described technical problem, according to an embodiment of the 3D printing method, a light source corresponding to the tomographic image of the output is provided at the lower part of the receiving part in which the photocurable resin is accommodated, while curing the photocurable resin. stacking one unit layer on the lower surface of the plate lowered to the receiving unit; and lifting the plate to separate it from the bottom surface of the accommodating part, and then lowering the plate to the bottom surface of the accommodating part in order to stack the unit layers of the next layer, and raising and lowering the plate while adjusting the inclination angle of the plate It may include the step of

In addition, the step of elevating the plate may include: tilting the plate by raising at least one end of both ends of the plate; elevating the plate in a tilted state; lowering one end of the plate to restore the plate to a horizontal state; and lowering the plate to a horizontal state.

The 3D printer and the 3D printing method according to any one of the above-described problem solving means, by elevating at least one of both ends to an inclined state without raising the plate to a horizontal state in the process of raising the plate on which the layer is stacked is raised. A 3D printer and 3D printing method that can minimize tension can be presented.

Accordingly, since the plate can be smoothly separated from the bottom surface of the accommodating part, it is possible to reduce the fatigue of the device to maintain the stability of the output and to suppress the occurrence of a failure.

In addition, since the effect of tension is minimized by the tilting of the plate, it is possible to output a large area of the output that comes into contact with the bottom of the receiving unit, so that the 3D printer can be enlarged.

Effects obtainable in the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned are clear to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments disclosed from the description below belong. can be understood clearly.

1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a 3D printer according to an embodiment.

2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an operating state of a 3D printer according to an exemplary embodiment.

3 and 4 are block diagrams illustrating a configuration of a 3D printer according to another exemplary embodiment.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a 3D printing method according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below may be modified and implemented in various different forms. In order to more clearly describe the characteristics of the embodiments, detailed descriptions of matters widely known to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the following embodiments belong are omitted. In addition, in the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description of the embodiments are omitted, and similar reference numerals are attached to similar parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a component is said to be “connected” with another component, it includes not only a case of 'directly connected' but also a case of 'connected with another component interposed therebetween'. In addition, when a component "includes" a component, it means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components, unless otherwise stated.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a 3D printer according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an operating state of the 3D printer according to an embodiment, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are 3D printer according to another embodiment is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of , and FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a 3D printing method according to an embodiment.

The 3D printer 10 according to an embodiment is a device that forms an output while stacking layers one by one using a photocurable resin, and as shown in FIG. (300) and may be configured to include an inclined lifting member (400).

The accommodating part 100 is configured in the form of a container with an open top, and is a component for accommodating a photocurable resin passed by light.

Here, the photocurable resin is cured when receiving light, and all configurations known in the art to which the present invention pertains, including resin, may be applied.

The accommodating part 100 may be installed above the light engine 200 to be described later to transmit the light source provided from the light engine 200 and harden the photocurable resin.

In addition, in the housing unit 100, a plate 300 to be described later on which the cured photocurable resin can be laminated is installed so as to be able to move up and down, so that the photocurable resin corresponding to the tomographic image can be laminated layer by layer.

The light engine 200 is a component that is installed in the lower portion of the receiving unit 100 and irradiates a light source for modeling the output to the receiving unit to perform 3D printing while curing the photocurable resin of the receiving unit 100 .

That is, the light engine 200 irradiates a light source corresponding to the two-dimensional image for each tomographic image of the sculpture to the receiving unit 100 to cure the photocurable resin in a form corresponding to the tomographic image and laminate it on the plate 300 to be described later. is a component

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1 , the light engine 200 may include a backlight unit 210 , an image switching unit 200 , a transparent support member 230 , and a control unit 240 .

The backlight unit 210 is a component that is installed under the receiving unit 100 to provide a backlight.

Specifically, the backlight unit 210 may provide a backlight for outputting a sculpture in the lower portion of the image switching unit 220 to be described later under the control of the control unit 240 , and a plurality of light source elements are mounted to the control unit 240 . ) to provide a backlight while emitting light under the control of

The backlight unit 210 may be divided into a plurality of areas and controlled for each division while providing a backlight by the controller 240 , or may be controlled individually.

Here, the backlight unit 210 is a micro LED (Light Emitting Diode), mini LED, LCD, LED, OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode), any one selected from the group of self-luminous display devices including FED (Field Emission Display) It may be composed of an assembly of one element, and in addition, an element providing a light source having a predetermined wavelength may be included.

The image switching unit 220 is a component for curing the photocurable resin by irradiating a light source corresponding to the tomographic image to the receiving unit 100 based on the sliced data for molding the output.

Specifically, the image switching unit 220 operates by the control unit 240 and switches the light source provided from the backlight unit 210 to a tomographic image form and irradiates the photocurable resin toward the accommodating unit 100 in a tomographic image form. can be cured with

Here, the image switching unit 200 is illustrated to provide a light source from a lower portion of the accommodation unit 100 , but unlike the illustration, the image switching unit 200 may provide a light source from an upper portion or a side of the accommodation unit 100 .

The image switching unit 220 is composed of an LCD and can be operated under the control of the control unit 240 , and unlike the microLED, mini LED, LED, OLED, and FED that do not require the aforementioned backlight unit 210 . It may be composed of a self-luminous device such as

The transparent support member 230 is a component for preventing the image switching unit 220 from sagging. This may be prevented, and the backlight irradiated from the backlight unit 210 may be transmitted through the image switching unit 220 .

The controller 240 is a component that controls the light emission of the image switching unit 220 and the backlight unit 210 , and may control the light emission of the backlight unit 210 in synchronization with the image of the image switching unit 220 .

On the other hand, the light engine 200 may be composed of a self-luminous member such as OLED, LED, microLED, mini LED, FED, etc. while the above-described configuration of the backlight unit 210 is omitted, and a laser or DLP is used as a light source. A configuration such as a method may be applied.

The plate 300 is immersed in a photo-curable resin while being installed so as to be able to lift or lower on the upper portion of the receiving unit 100, and a three-dimensional sculpture while laminating the photo-curable resin cured by the light of the light engine 200 on the bottom surface. can form.

Specifically, the plate 300 descends from the upper portion of the receiving unit 100 by an inclined lifting member 400 to be described later to face the bottom surface of the receiving unit 100, and in this state, the light of the light engine 200 When this is irradiated, the photocurable resin corresponding to the two-dimensional planar shape of the irradiated light is cured and laminated on the bottom surface, and then it is raised by the inclined lifting member 400 again and can be separated from the bottom surface of the receiving unit 100 have.

Here, the plate 300 is tilted to achieve a predetermined inclination angle rather than a horizontal state when ascending by the inclined lifting member 400 as shown in FIG. 2 , thereby minimizing the effect of tension. It can be separated smoothly and stably.

The inclined lifting member 400 is a component for raising and lowering the plate 300 , and in particular, after lamination of one single layer on the plate 300 is completed, the plate 300 is raised to raise the bottom surface of the receiving unit 100 . It is a component that raises and lowers the plate 300 while adjusting the inclination angle of the plate 300 in the process of separating from and lowering again.

The inclined lifting member 400 may be operated under the control of the controller 240, and as shown in FIG. 2, including a main lifting rail 410, a main slider 420 and a sub lifting member 430. can be configured.

The main lifting rail 410 may be installed in a vertical direction on at least one side of both sides of the receiving unit 100 to provide an ascending and descending path of the plate 300 .

The main slider 420 elevates the plate 300 along the main elevating rail 410, is movably coupled to the main elevating rail 410, and is controlled by the control unit 240 to the main elevating rail 410. can be moved along, and the plate 300 can be raised and lowered by being connected to the plate 300 via a sub-elevating member 430 to be described later.

Here, the main slider 420 and the main lifting rail 410 are configured by a ball screw method, a linear motor method, or a rack gear and a pinion gear method, and can lift and lower the plate 300 while moving in a straight line.

The sub-elevating member 430 connects the plate 300 to the main slider 420, and the inclination angle of the plate 300 by lifting at least one of both ends of the plate 300 under the control of the controller 240. It is a component that controls

That is, the sub-elevating member 430 is a component that can minimize the effect of tension by the resin by tilting the plate 300 on which a single layer (layer) is laminated to achieve a predetermined inclination angle rather than a horizontal state. , is a component for stacking the next single layer by lowering the plate 300 back to a horizontal state.

The sub-elevating member 430 may include a pivot shaft 431 , a sub-elevating rail 432 and a sub-slider 433 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 .

The pivot shaft 431 is a component that rotatably supports one end of both ends of the plate 300 while installed on the main slider 420 .

The pivot shaft 431 extends vertically to one side of the main slider 420 so that one end of the plate 300 can be rotatably coupled.

That is, one end of the plate 300 coupled to the pivot shaft 431 may form a fixed end, and the other end of the plate 300 may form a free end.

The sub-elevating rail 432 is a component that provides an elevating path of the other end of the plate 300 constituting the free end, and may extend in a direction perpendicular to the main slider 420 from the opposite side of the pivot shaft 431 .

The sub slider 433 is a component that tilts the plate 300 at a predetermined inclination angle while raising and lowering the other end of the plate 300 constituting the free end.

The sub-slider 433 is movably coupled to the sub-elevating rail 432 and the other end of the plate 300 can be rotatably connected to it, and the sub-elevating rail 432 is controlled by the control unit 240 . It is possible to elevate the other end of the plate 300 while moving along the.

Here, the sub slider 433 and the sub elevating rail 432 are configured in a ball screw method, a linear motor method, or a rack gear and a pinion gear method to elevate the plate 300 while performing a linear motion.

Meanwhile, the sub-elevating member 430 may include a pair of sub-elevating rails 432 and a pair of sub-sliders 433 as shown in FIG. 3 .

Specifically, a pair of sub-elevating rails 432 are installed on both sides of the main slider 420 in the vertical direction to provide an elevating path, and the pair of sub-sliders 433 is a pair of sub-elevating rails. Both ends of the plate 300 may be rotatably connected to each other in a state movably coupled to each of 432 .

The pair of sub-sliders 433 adjust the inclination angle of the plate 300 by elevating both ends of the plate 300 while moving along the pair of sub-elevating rails 432 under the control of the control unit 240 , respectively. can

Meanwhile, the sub-elevating member 430 may include a pivot shaft 431 and a rotation motor 435 as shown in FIG. 4 .

The pivot shaft 431 is installed in the vertical direction to the main slider 420, and a portion of the plate 300, preferably, the central portion may be rotatably coupled.

The rotation motor 435 is provided on the pivot shaft 431 and rotates the plate 300 in a forward or reverse direction to perform a seesaw motion, thereby adjusting the inclination angle of the plate 300 to a predetermined angle.

This rotary motor 435 is configured as a step motor and can be operated under the control of the controller 240, and can raise and lower both ends of the plate 300 while controlling the inclination angle of the plate 300 to a predetermined angle. .

A printing method by the 3D printer 10 according to an embodiment including the above components will be described with reference to FIG. 5 .

The control unit 240 may form and stack one unit layer corresponding to the tomographic image of the output on the lower surface of the plate 300 lowered to the receiving unit 100 (S100).

Specifically, the light engine 200 irradiates the light source corresponding to the tomographic image of the output to the accommodating unit 100 through the backlight unit 210 and the image switching unit 220 under the control of the control unit 240 to achieve photocurability. The resin is cured in a shape corresponding to the tomographic image to form a unit layer of one layer, and the plate 300 is lowered horizontally by the inclined lifting member 400 to laminate the cured unit layer on the bottom surface.

After step S100 is completed, the control unit 240 raises the plate 300 while adjusting the inclination angle of the plate 300 through the control of the inclined lifting member 400 to separate it from the bottom surface of the receiving unit 100, The plate 300 may be lowered to the bottom surface of the accommodating part 100 in order to stack the unit layer of the next layer (S200).

More specifically, the plate 300 may be separated from the bottom surface of the receiving unit 100 while one end of both ends is raised along the sub-elevating rail 432 by the sub-slider 423 and tilted at a predetermined angle. (S210),

At this time, one end of the plate 300 may rise by a predetermined width by the sub-slider 423, for example, may rise by 2.5 to 10.0 mm.

Accordingly, the plate 300 is not separated from the bottom surface of the accommodating part 100 in a horizontal state, but is separated from the accommodating part 100 in an inclined state as one end rises. can be

Then, while maintaining the tilted state, the plate 300 rises along the main elevating rail 410 by the movement of the main slider 420 to be completely separated from the bottom surface of the accommodating part 100 (S220).

At this time, both ends of the plate 300 may rise by a predetermined width by the main slider 420, for example, may rise by 2.5 to 10.0 mm.

Then, one end of the plate 300 is lowered along the sub-elevating rail 432 by the sub-slider 423 to be restored to a horizontal state (S230).

At this time, one end of the plate 300 may be lowered by a predetermined width by the sub-slider 423, for example, may be lowered by 2.5 to 10.0 mm.

Then, the plate 300 descends along the main elevating rail 410 by the movement of the main slider 420 while maintaining the horizontal state to face the bottom surface of the accommodating unit 100 to stack the unit layers of the next layer. can

At this time, both ends of the plate 300 may be lowered by 2.5 to 10.0 mm by the main slider 420 .

As described above, according to the 3D printer 10 and the 3D printing method according to the embodiment, the resin tension is minimized by elevating one end of both ends to an inclined state without raising the plate 300 in a horizontal state. 3D printers and 3D printing methods can be suggested.

Accordingly, since the plate can be smoothly separated from the bottom surface of the accommodating part, it is possible to reduce the fatigue of the device, to maintain the stability of the output, and to suppress the occurrence of failure.

The above-described embodiments are for illustration, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the above-described embodiments pertain can easily transform into other specific forms without changing the technical idea or essential features of the above-described embodiments. You will understand. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a dispersed form, and likewise components described as distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope to be protected through this specification is indicated by the claims described below rather than the above detailed description, and it should be construed to include all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents. .

Claims

a accommodating part for accommodating a photocurable resin;

a light engine installed in the lower part of the accommodating part to provide a light source for molding an output to the accommodating part to cure the photocurable resin;

a plate which is installed so as to be lifted on the upper part of the receiving part and is immersed in a photocurable resin by laminating the photocurable resin in a single layer on the bottom surface to form a three-dimensional output; and

After the stacking of one single layer on the plate is completed, the plate is lifted to separate from the bottom surface of the receiving unit and the next single layer is allowed to be stacked, but the inclination angle of the plate is adjusted while the plate is raised and lowered. 3D printer with parts.
The method of claim 1,

The inclined lifting member,

a main elevating rail installed in a vertical direction on at least one side of both sides of the receiving unit to provide an elevating path;

a main slider connected to the plate in a movably coupled state to the main elevating rail to vertically elevate the plate while moving along the main elevating rail; and

Connecting the plate to the main slider, the 3D printer comprising a sub-elevating member for adjusting the inclination angle of the plate while raising and lowering at least one of both ends of the plate.
3. The method of claim 2,

The sub-elevating member,

a pivot shaft installed on the main slider to rotatably support one end of both ends of the plate;

a sub-elevating rail installed in a vertical direction to the main slider from the opposite side of the pivot shaft to provide an elevating path; and

A sub-slider connected to the other end of the plate while movably coupled to the sub-elevating rail, and moving along the sub-elevating rail to adjust the inclination angle of the plate while raising and lowering the other end of the plate 3D printer.
3. The method of claim 2,

The sub-elevating member,

a pair of sub-elevating rails installed on both sides of the main slider in a vertical direction to provide an elevating path; and

The pair of sub-elevating rails are respectively connected to both ends of the plate in a state of being movably coupled to each other, respectively, moving along the sub-elevating rails to raise and lower both ends of the plate, respectively, to adjust the inclination angle of the plate 3D printer with a pair of subsliders.
3. The method of claim 2,

The sub-elevating member,

a pivot shaft installed in a vertical direction on the main slider to rotatably support a portion of the plate; and

and a rotation motor provided on the pivot shaft to rotate the plate to adjust the inclination angle of the plate while performing seesaw motion.
providing a light source corresponding to the tomographic image of the printed product to a lower portion of the receiving unit in which the photocurable resin is accommodated to cure the photocurable resin while laminating a single unit layer on the lower surface of the plate lowered to the receiving unit; and

After lifting the plate to separate it from the bottom surface of the accommodating part, the plate is lowered to the bottom surface of the accommodating part in order to stack the unit layer of the next layer, and the plate is raised and lowered while adjusting the inclination angle of the plate A 3D printing method comprising the steps.
7. The method of claim 6,

The step of elevating the plate is

tilting the plate by raising at least one end of both ends of the plate;

elevating the plate in a tilted state;

lowering one end of the plate to restore the plate to a horizontal state; and

3D printing method comprising the step of lowering the plate to a horizontal state.