Apparatus and method for the preparation of high fiber content reinforced polyether ether ketone 3D printing wire

Abstract

The application belongs to the technical field of additive manufacturing material preparation, and particularly relates to a preparation device and method of high-fiber-content reinforced polyether ether ketone 3D printing wire rod, which comprises: a material source assembly for providing an impregnated tape; a filament splitter in communication with the material source assembly, which divides the wide impregnated tape into multiple narrow strips through a cutter shaft and a circular disc split cutting knife; multiple multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices corresponding to the narrow strips, which are provided with multiple nozzles with gradually reduced diameters at the discharge end, and are used for heating, guiding, pressurizing, impregnating and cooling the narrow strips; and a wire collecting reel in communication with each pultrusion device. Through the parallel process of "first dividing and then pulling", the application solves the problems of low forming freedom of the wide pre-impregnated tape, large damage and high cost in traditional wire rod preparation, and realizes efficient and low-damage continuous production of high-performance 3D printing wire rod.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of additive manufacturing material preparation technology, and particularly relates to an apparatus and method for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyether ether ketone 3D printing filaments. Background Technology

[0002] Continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites are in increasing demand in aerospace, automotive and high-end equipment manufacturing industries due to their excellent specific strength, specific modulus, fatigue resistance and recyclability.

[0003] To achieve the precision forming of complex geometric components, automated fiber placement (AFP) and fused deposition modeling (FDM) using continuous fiber-reinforced wires are two mainstream technologies.

[0004] The AFP process typically uses wide-width prepreg tapes as raw materials, which are then layered and laid out using hot press rollers. However, the wide prepreg tapes on which this technology relies have high inherent rigidity, causing their minimum bending radius to be significantly limited by the tape width. For example, a prepreg tape with a width of 3.175 mm has a minimum turning radius of approximately 600 mm. This inherent dimensional rigidity makes the AFP process prone to defects such as fiber buckling, edge wrinkling, localized wrinkles, and interlayer delamination when manufacturing complex structures with sharp transitions, sharp bends, or micro-curvature cavities, severely limiting the freedom of component design and forming accuracy. Furthermore, during the laying process, the lateral extrusion flow of the thermoplastic prepreg tape under the action of the press rollers causes nonlinear expansion of the tape width and shrinkage of the thickness, resulting in uncontrollable overlaps and gaps, affecting the structural integrity of the component.

[0005] Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is designed for desktop or small-to-medium-sized FDM equipment, requiring the pre-preparation of continuous fibers and a thermoplastic matrix into fine-diameter filaments. Traditional filament preparation processes typically rely on high-temperature melt wetting, ultrasonic assistance, or multi-stage unfolding-rolling treatments to fully impregnate and encapsulate the fiber bundle within the resin matrix. However, these processes have significant drawbacks: repeated high-temperature treatments and mechanical actions can easily cause thermal degradation of the thermoplastic polymer molecular chains, leading to increased fiber breakage rates. This not only increases production costs and energy consumption but also makes it difficult to guarantee the continuous length of the fibers, thus limiting the full realization of the final product's mechanical properties. Existing technologies struggle to achieve efficient filament preparation that is low-damage, low-cost, and suitable for printing complex structures while ensuring high fiber content, excellent wetting effects, and fiber continuity.

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a device and method for preparing high-fiber-content reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) 3D printing filaments to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of this invention is to provide an apparatus and method for preparing high-fiber-content reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) 3D printing filaments to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0008] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following solution: A fabrication apparatus for high-fiber-content reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) 3D printing filaments includes: A material source assembly for providing an impregnation tape, and a splitter connected to the discharge end of the material source assembly, the splitter being used to divide the wide impregnation tape into multiple narrow strips.

[0009] The wire splitter includes a cutter shaft and multiple disc slitting blades coaxially fixed to the outside of the cutter shaft. The multiple disc slitting blades are arranged at equal intervals, and the multiple disc slitting blades cut the wide impregnated strip into multiple narrow strips.

[0010] It also includes multiple multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices, each of which corresponds to one of the multiple narrow strips.

[0011] The narrow strip enters from the feed end of the multi-nozzle pultrusion device.

[0012] The multi-nozzle pultrusion device is equipped with multiple nozzles, which are connected in sequence. The diameter of the discharge end of the multiple nozzles gradually decreases along the direction from the feed end to the discharge end of the multi-nozzle pultrusion device.

[0013] It also includes multiple take-up spools, each of which corresponds to one of the multiple multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices, and the take-up spools are connected to the corresponding multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices.

[0014] Optionally, a spacer is provided between two adjacent disc slitting and grinding blades. The spacer is fixed to the blade shaft, and the thickness of the spacer is varied to change the distance between the two adjacent disc slitting and grinding blades.

[0015] Optionally, the nozzle includes: The nozzle body is provided with a heating ring, a guide pin assembly and a shaping and cooling mold sleeve in sequence along the moving direction of the narrow strip.

[0016] The inner cavity of the mouthpiece has a tapered, constricting structure.

[0017] The heating ring and the guide needle assembly are both fixed to the nozzle body.

[0018] The shaping and cooling mold sleeve is an integral structure with the nozzle body and is located on the discharge side of the nozzle body. The shaping and cooling mold sleeve is connected to a cooling structure.

[0019] The guide needle assembly contains a temperature and pressure sensor, and the discharge end of the nozzle is connected to a tension detection sensor.

[0020] The discharge end of the first nozzle is connected to the feed end of the second nozzle, and the discharge end of the nozzle located at the discharge end of the multi-nozzle pultrusion device is connected to the corresponding take-up spool.

[0021] The tension sensor, the temperature and pressure sensor, the heating ring, and the corresponding take-up spool are electrically connected to a PID control module.

[0022] Optionally, the multi-nozzle pultrusion device further includes a multi-nozzle tube, with multiple nozzles fixed within the multi-nozzle tube.

[0023] The outer wall of the nozzle is fixed to the inner wall of the multi-nozzle tube.

[0024] Optionally, the material source component includes: The feeding section and the alignment section are arranged sequentially along the moving direction of the impregnation belt.

[0025] Optionally, the feeding unit includes a tape reel, on which the impregnated tape is wound.

[0026] Optionally, the alignment section includes a fixed alignment device, one end of which is connected to the discharge end of the tape feed roll, and the other end of which is connected to the feed end of the wire splitter.

[0027] Optionally, a support wheel is also included, which is disposed between the discharge end of the filament splitter and the feed ends of the plurality of multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices.

[0028] The support wheel is used to provide tension for the plurality of the narrow strips.

[0029] Optionally, the cooling structure is a water-cooled structure, with an annular cooling channel provided inside the shaped cooling mold sleeve, and constant-temperature circulating water flowing through the annular cooling channel.

[0030] A method for using the apparatus for preparing high-fiber-content reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) 3D printing filaments, comprising the following steps: The wide impregnated strip is divided into multiple narrow strips using the splitter.

[0031] The narrow strip is inserted into the corresponding multi-nozzle staged pultrusion device.

[0032] The narrow strip is constrained and pulled by multiple nozzles in the multi-nozzle pultrusion device to form a filament bundle.

[0033] The filament bundle is collected by the corresponding take-up reel.

[0034] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages and technical effects: This invention precisely slits wide prepreg tape into multiple narrow strips using a filament splitter, effectively reducing the bending stiffness of the fiber bundles and enabling them to adapt to the forming requirements of complex 3D printing paths. This fundamentally solves the fiber buckling and warping problems that easily occur with wide prepreg tapes in the manufacture of complex structures. A multi-nozzle, staged pultrusion device processes the narrow strips in parallel. Its tapered nozzle flow channels, combined with zoned temperature control and guide centering design, ensure sufficient and uniform impregnation of the fibers by the matrix, forming filaments with high interfacial bonding strength and uniform cross-section. This also avoids polymer degradation and fiber damage caused by traditional high-temperature manufacturing processes. The entire device, under closed-loop control of a PID module, achieves fully automated and parallel production from feeding, slitting, pultrusion to winding, significantly improving production efficiency and product consistency. This successfully enables the efficient, low-cost, and low-damage fabrication of high-performance, high-fiber-content 3D printing filaments. Attached Figure Description

[0035] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 2 This is a top view of the structure of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the wire splitter structure of the present invention.

[0038] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the nozzle structure of the present invention.

[0040] The components include: 1. Feeding reel; 2. Impregnating belt; 3. Fixing and aligning device; 4. Wire separator; 5. Support wheel; 6. Multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device; 7. Wire take-up reel; 8. Multi-nozzle tube; 9. Nozzle; 401. Cutting shaft; 402. Disc slitting grinder; 901. Nozzle body; 902. Heating ring; 903. Guide pin assembly; 904. Temperature and pressure sensor; 905. PID control module; 906. Shaping and cooling mold sleeve; 907. Tension detection sensor. Detailed Implementation

[0041] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0042] To make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0043] Reference Figures 1 to 4 This invention discloses an apparatus for preparing high-fiber-content reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) 3D printing filaments, comprising: A material source assembly for providing the impregnation belt 2, and a splitter 4 connected to the discharge end of the material source assembly, the splitter 4 being used to divide the wide impregnation belt 2 into multiple narrow strips.

[0044] The wire separator 4 includes a cutter shaft 401 and multiple disc cutting blades 402 coaxially fixed to the outside of the cutter shaft 401. The multiple disc cutting blades 402 are arranged at equal intervals and cut the wide impregnated strip 2 into multiple narrow strips.

[0045] It also includes multiple multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices 6, each corresponding to a single narrow strip.

[0046] The narrow strip enters from the feed end of the multi-nozzle pultrusion device 6.

[0047] The multi-nozzle pultrusion device 6 is equipped with multiple nozzles 9, which are connected in sequence. The diameter of the discharge end of the multiple nozzles 9 gradually decreases along the direction from the feed end to the discharge end of the multi-nozzle pultrusion device 6.

[0048] It also includes multiple take-up spools 7, each of which corresponds to a multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device 6, and the take-up spools 7 are connected to the corresponding multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device 6.

[0049] First, a wide impregnation strip 2 is provided by a material source assembly. This impregnation strip 2 is then fed into a splitter 4. In the splitter 4, multiple equally spaced disc slitting blades 402 are synchronously rotated by a cutter shaft 401, precisely longitudinally cutting the wide impregnation strip 2 into multiple narrow strips. These narrow strips are then guided to corresponding multi-nozzle progressive pultrusion units 6. Inside each multi-nozzle progressive pultrusion unit 6, the narrow strips pass sequentially through multiple nozzles 9 with gradually decreasing diameters at the outlet. During this process, the narrow strips are heated and melted, and under progressively increasing tensile stress and radial pressure, the fibers are densely coated and fully impregnated by the matrix, ultimately forming a circular wire with a uniform cross-section. The formed wire is finally continuously wound up by a take-up spool 7 connected to the outlet of each multi-nozzle progressive pultrusion unit 6, completing the fabrication process.

[0050] This device precisely slits the wide prepreg tape into multiple narrow strips using a filament splitter 4, significantly reducing the bending stiffness of the fiber bundles and enabling them to adapt to the forming requirements of complex paths in 3D printing. Multiple independent multi-nozzle staged pultrusion devices 6 process the slit narrow strips in parallel. The internal tapering nozzle structure 9 ensures sufficient and uniform wetting of the fiber by the matrix and the roundness of the filament cross-section, effectively improving the mechanical properties and printing quality of the filament. The entire device achieves continuous and parallel production from wide raw materials to final filament, significantly improving manufacturing efficiency and avoiding fiber damage and polymer degradation caused by secondary high-temperature melting in traditional processes, thus achieving the goal of high-efficiency and low-cost manufacturing.

[0051] When the wide prepreg tape 2 enters the working area of ​​the splitter 4 axially, multiple high-speed rotating disc slitting blades 402 are driven by the cutter shaft 401. These disc slitting blades 402 do not employ traditional chopping or extrusion cutting, but instead utilize their cutting edges to perform high-speed grinding and shearing of the prepreg tape 2. This "grinding and splitting" method, similar to precision milling, is a gradual material separation process. It cleanly and efficiently cuts the fiber from the matrix, effectively avoiding problems such as material tearing, fiber fuzzing, or the creation of internal stress concentration points that can occur with direct splitting. Through this precise grinding and splitting, the disc slitting blades 402 form smooth, neat kerfs on the wide prepreg tape 2, thus accurately dividing it into multiple narrow strips. This process maximizes the protection of the excellent prepreg tape's wetting state and fiber integrity, ensuring the quality of the obtained narrow strip edges and laying a solid foundation for subsequent pultrusion molding of high-performance, defect-free wire.

[0052] As an optional implementation, a spacer is provided between two adjacent disc slitting grinding blades 402. The spacer is fixed to the blade shaft 401, and the thickness of the spacer is varied to change the distance between the two adjacent disc slitting grinding blades 402.

[0053] By changing the thickness of the spacer fixed on the cutter shaft 401, the spacing between adjacent disc slitting blades 402 can be precisely adjusted, thereby flexibly controlling the width of the slitting strips and achieving rapid adaptation to prepreg tape raw materials of different specifications.

[0054] As an optional implementation, the nozzle 9 includes: The nozzle body 901 is provided with a heating ring 902, a guide pin assembly 903 and a shaping and cooling mold sleeve 906 in sequence along the narrow strip moving direction.

[0055] The inner cavity of the mouthpiece 901 has a conical contraction structure.

[0056] The heating ring 902 and the guide needle assembly 903 are both fixed to the nozzle body 901.

[0057] The shaping and cooling mold sleeve 906 is an integral structure with the nozzle body 901 and is located on the discharge side of the nozzle body 901. The shaping and cooling mold sleeve 906 is connected to a cooling structure.

[0058] The guide needle assembly 903 has a temperature and pressure sensor 904 fixed inside, and the discharge end of the nozzle 901 is connected to a tension detection sensor 907.

[0059] The discharge end of the first nozzle body 901 is connected to the feed end of the nozzle body 901 of the second nozzle 9, and the discharge end of the nozzle body 901 located at the discharge end of the multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device 6 is connected to the corresponding take-up spool 7.

[0060] The tension sensor 907, temperature and pressure sensor 904, heating ring 902, and corresponding take-up reel 7 are electrically connected to a PID control module 905.

[0061] The slit narrow strips first enter the first nozzle 901, where the conical contraction structure of its inner cavity creates an initial aggregation effect on the material. A heating ring 902 heats the nozzle 901, melting the thermoplastic matrix. A temperature and pressure sensor 904, integrated within the guide needle assembly 903, monitors the melt state in real time and transmits the signal to the PID control module 905, achieving precise closed-loop control of the heating temperature to prevent overheating and degradation. The guide needle assembly 903 ensures the fiber bundle remains coaxially aligned in the molten state, preventing misalignment. Subsequently, the material sequentially enters the subsequent series of nozzles 9 with gradually narrowing inner cavities, undergoing progressive pressurization and plasticization to ensure the matrix fully wets and densely coats the fibers. In the final nozzle, the formed wire enters the shaping and cooling mold 906, where it is rapidly shaped by a circulating cooling medium, resulting in a smooth, dimensionally stable circular cross-section. The wire finally passes through the tension detection sensor 907, whose detection signal, along with the signals from the temperature and pressure sensors 904, is fed back to the PID control module 905. This module comprehensively regulates the temperature of the heating ring 902 and the traction speed of the take-up reel 7, achieving dynamic balance and optimized control of temperature, pressure, and tension throughout the entire process. Ultimately, this ensures that the wire has a uniform cross-section, excellent interface bonding, and stable and consistent performance.

[0062] As an optional implementation, the multi-nozzle pultrusion device 6 also includes a multi-nozzle tube 8, with multiple nozzles 9 fixed inside the multi-nozzle tube 8.

[0063] The outer wall of the nozzle body 901 is fixed to the inner wall of the multi-nozzle tube body 8.

[0064] As an optional implementation, the material source component includes: The feeding section and the alignment section are arranged sequentially along the moving direction of the impregnation belt 2.

[0065] As an optional implementation, the feeding unit includes a feeding reel 1, on which the impregnated tape 2 is wound.

[0066] As an optional implementation, the alignment part includes a fixed alignment device 3, one end of which is connected to the discharge end of the feed roll 1, and the other end of which is connected to the feed end of the wire splitter 4.

[0067] The wide impregnated tape 2, wound on the feed reel 1, is smoothly output. The precise tension control system equipped on the feed reel 1 ensures that the tape advances with a constant tension. Subsequently, the impregnated tape 2 enters the fixed alignment device 3, which guides and levels the tape through its parallel fixed guide rails and adjustment mechanism, ensuring that it maintains a stable planar state and precise running direction before entering the fiber separator 4. This process effectively avoids fiber position deviation and uneven impregnation caused by tension fluctuations and tape misalignment, laying a solid foundation for the high-precision cutting of the subsequent fiber separator 4 and ensuring the consistency of the final yarn quality.

[0068] As an optional implementation, a support wheel 5 is also included, which is disposed between the discharge end of the wire splitter 4 and the feed end of the multiple multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device 6.

[0069] Support wheel 5 is used to provide tension for multiple narrow strips.

[0070] The support wheel 5, located between the discharge end of the filament splitter 4 and the feed end of the multi-nozzle pultrusion device 6, provides controllable tension to the multiple narrow strips after slitting, ensuring the stability and straightness of the narrow strips during transmission and effectively preventing them from loosening, drifting, or tangling, thus ensuring the stable operation of subsequent pultrusion processes.

[0071] As an optional implementation, the cooling structure is a water-cooled structure, with an annular cooling channel provided in the shaping cooling mold sleeve 906, through which constant-temperature circulating water flows.

[0072] The water-cooling structure rapidly, uniformly, and controllably cools and shapes the wire by circulating constant-temperature water into the annular cooling cavity of the shaping and cooling die 906. This process effectively avoids internal stress, deformation, or surface defects caused by uneven cooling, ensuring that the wire achieves a high-quality surface with density, low porosity, and a round cross-section.

[0073] A method for using the apparatus for preparing high-fiber-content reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) 3D printing filaments includes the following steps: The wide impregnated tape 2 is divided into multiple narrow strips using a splitter 4.

[0074] The narrow strip is fed into the corresponding multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device 6.

[0075] Narrow strips are constrained and pulled by multiple nozzles 9 in a multi-nozzle pultrusion device 6 to form a filament bundle.

[0076] The filament bundle is collected by the corresponding take-up spool 7.

[0077] First, the wide impregnation strip 2 is precisely divided into multiple narrow strips using a filament splitter 4. These narrow strips are then fed into their respective independent multi-nozzle staged pultrusion devices 6. Within the multi-nozzle staged pultrusion device 6, the narrow strips sequentially pass through the conical channels of multiple nozzles 9, undergoing gradual heating, melting, pressurization, guiding alignment, and cooling to form a filament bundle with a uniform cross-section and sufficient fiber impregnation. The formed filament bundle is then simultaneously collected by the corresponding take-up reel 7. This method, through a parallel processing mode of "splitting before pulling," transforms the originally rigid wide strip into flexible narrow strips for processing, effectively reducing the difficulty of fiber placement in bending paths and avoiding secondary high-temperature heat damage in traditional processes. The tapered design and closed-loop control of the multi-stage nozzles ensure high product consistency and excellent interface performance, thereby achieving efficient, low-cost, and continuous production of high-fiber-content, high-performance 3D printed filaments.

[0078] To provide a detailed description of the present invention, the following application examples are provided: The raw material for impregnation tape 2 is a compact 12K ATP graded continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite prepreg tape, 12mm wide and 0.14mm thick. First, the prepreg tape is stably supplied via a tape reel employing a precise tension control system to ensure constant tension and flatness throughout the production process. This avoids localized fiber position deviations and uneven impregnation caused by tension fluctuations, laying the foundation for subsequent precise cutting. To address the issue of uneven fiber arrangement due to the large size of the wide prepreg tape during processing, a fixed alignment device 3 is provided. This device consists of two parallel fixed guide rails and an adjustment mechanism, ensuring the prepreg tape maintains a stable planar state and accurate running direction before entering the fiber separator 4. Subsequently, the impregnation tape 2 is cut by the high-precision fiber separator 4. Precision shearing blades and customized positioning grooves precisely cut the 12mm wide impregnation tape 2 into narrow fiber strips approximately 1mm wide, forming "micro-scale prepreg units." This effectively reduces the bending stiffness of the fiber bundles, ensuring fiber orientation and uniform distribution during subsequent pultrusion.

[0079] Next, the slit narrow fiber strips enter the multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device 6.

[0080] The multi-nozzle pultrusion device 6 includes a multi-nozzle tube 8 and multiple nozzles 9 fixed inside it.

[0081] The nozzle 9 includes a nozzle body 901, a heating ring 902, a guide needle assembly 903, a temperature and pressure sensor 904, a PID control module 905, a shaping and cooling mold sleeve 906, and a tension detection sensor 907.

[0082] The inner cavity of nozzle 901 has a conical contraction structure, and the preceding and following stages are connected in series through short channels to form a gradually narrowing flow channel. Multiple nozzles 901 form channels with diameters gradually decreasing from 0.8 mm at the inlet to 0.4 mm at the end along the pultrusion direction. This causes the fiber bundle to be subjected to gradually increasing axial tensile stress and radial compressive stress during the pultrusion process, achieving dense coating of the fiber bundle and full penetration of the matrix.

[0083] Each nozzle body 901 is equipped with a heating ring 902 and a temperature and pressure sensor 904 on its outer wall, forming an independent zoned temperature control structure for the preheating zone, melting zone, and shaping zone. The temperature signal is fed back in real time via a PID control module 905 to achieve multi-point closed-loop control, ensuring that the temperature in each zone remains stable within the range of 400–420℃.

[0084] Unlike traditional single-cavity heating, this multi-stage temperature control method can avoid molecular chain degradation caused by overheating of the matrix once, while improving the uniformity of fiber impregnation.

[0085] The guide needle assembly 903 is used to limit the fiber bundle path and keep it coaxial, preventing fiber displacement caused by the flow of high-temperature melt.

[0086] The shaping and cooling mold sleeve 906 at the rear of the nozzle body 901 has an annular cooling cavity and is circulated with constant temperature water, so that the wire gradually solidifies under controlled cooling to obtain a circular cross-section with a smooth surface and low porosity.

[0087] A tension sensor 907 is installed at the end of the pultrusion system. The detection signal is fed back to the PID control module 905 in real time, which controls the servo system of the feed reel 1 and the take-up reel 7 to achieve automatic tension balancing and stable wire diameter control. The entire system achieves stable operation of continuous pultrusion and automatic take-up under zoned temperature control and closed-loop tension control.

[0088] The wire separator consists of a cutter shaft 401, disc slitting and grinding blades 402, and spacers. The cutter shaft 401 passes through each disc slitting and grinding blade 402 axially and is used to support and drive the rotation of each disc slitting and grinding blade 402 and the spacers.

[0089] The spacer is an annular plate that is fitted onto the cutter shaft 401 and alternately arranged with the adjacent disc slitting blades 402. Its thickness precisely controls the spacing between the slitting blades, thereby determining the width of the narrow strip after slitting. The disc slitting blades 402 are mounted on the outer surface of the cutter shaft 401 and, through cooperation with the spacer, form a series of equally spaced slitting units to achieve longitudinal cutting of the wide prepreg tape.

[0090] When the device is working, the wide impregnation zone 2 is synchronously divided into multiple strips of equal width and narrow width by the cutting action of each disc-shaped cutting blade 402. The blade shaft 401 is fixedly connected to the external drive mechanism through a connecting piece and is supported by bearings to ensure smooth rotation.

[0091] Each spacer sleeve and the disc slitting blade 402 are fitted together in a modular fashion, facilitating quick replacement or adjustment of the slitting spacing according to different process requirements, and enabling adaptation to multiple specifications of prepreg tape. The entire filament separation process is a continuous operation and can be seamlessly integrated with the subsequent in-situ melt pultrusion system.

[0092] This layout design ensures cutting precision while effectively reducing fiber bundle damage and burr formation during the cutting process, improving the surface quality of narrow strips and the consistency of mechanical properties in subsequent forming processes. Through modular slitting unit arrangement, the device can flexibly expand the number of slits, making it suitable for high-fiber-content prepreg tape materials of varying widths and thicknesses.

[0093] Through the synergistic effect of the above-mentioned partitioned heating, guiding centering and cooling shaping structures, the multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device of the present invention can achieve fiber orientation, full matrix wetting and filament forming in the continuous pultrusion process, providing a reliable equipment foundation for the mass production of high fiber content thermoplastic composite wires.

[0094] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this invention, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this invention.

[0095] The above embodiments are merely descriptions of preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art to the technical solutions of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention should fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device for preparing high-fiber-content reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) 3D printing filaments, characterized in that, include: A material source assembly for providing the impregnation tape (2), and a splitter (4) connected to the discharge end of the material source assembly, the splitter (4) being used to divide the wide impregnation tape (2) into multiple narrow strips; The wire splitter (4) includes a cutter shaft (401) and a plurality of disc slitting blades (402) coaxially fixed to the outside of the cutter shaft (401). The plurality of disc slitting blades (402) are arranged at equal intervals, and the plurality of disc slitting blades (402) cut the wide impregnation strip (2) into a plurality of narrow strips. It also includes multiple multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices (6), and each of the multiple multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices (6) corresponds to one of the multiple narrow strips; The narrow strip enters from the feed end of the multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device (6); The multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device (6) is provided with multiple nozzles (9), which are connected in sequence, and the diameter of the discharge end of the multiple nozzles (9) gradually decreases along the direction from the feed end to the discharge end of the multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device (6). It also includes multiple take-up spools (7), each of which corresponds to one of the multiple multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices (6), and the take-up spools (7) are connected to the corresponding multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices (6).

2. The apparatus for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyetheretherketone 3D printing filaments according to claim 1, characterized in that: A spacer is provided between two adjacent disc slitting grinding blades (402), the spacer is fixed to the blade shaft (401), and the thickness of the spacer is varied to change the distance between two adjacent disc slitting grinding blades (402).

3. The apparatus for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyetheretherketone 3D printing filaments according to claim 1, characterized in that, The nozzle (9) includes: The nozzle body (901) is provided with a heating ring (902), a guide needle assembly (903) and a shaping and cooling mold sleeve (906) in sequence along the moving direction of the narrow strip. The inner cavity of the mouthpiece (901) is a conical contraction structure; The heating ring (902) and the guide needle assembly (903) are both fixed to the nozzle body (901); The shaping and cooling mold sleeve (906) is an integral structure with the nozzle body (901) and is located on the discharge side of the nozzle body (901). The shaping and cooling mold sleeve (906) is connected to a cooling structure. The guide needle assembly (903) has a temperature and pressure sensor (904) fixed inside, and the discharge end of the nozzle (901) is connected to a tension detection sensor (907). The discharge end of the first nozzle (901) is connected to the feed end of the nozzle (9) of the second nozzle (9), and the discharge end of the nozzle (901) located at the discharge end of the multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device (6) is connected to the corresponding take-up spool (7). The tension detection sensor (907), the temperature and pressure sensor (904), the heating ring (902), and the corresponding take-up reel (7) are electrically connected to a PID control module (905).

4. The apparatus for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyetheretherketone 3D printing filaments according to claim 3, characterized in that, The multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device (6) also includes a multi-nozzle tube (8), and multiple nozzles (9) are fixed inside the multi-nozzle tube (8); The outer wall of the nozzle body (901) is fixed to the inner wall of the multi-nozzle tube body (8).

5. The apparatus for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyetheretherketone 3D printing filaments according to claim 1, characterized in that, The material source component includes: The feeding section and the alignment section are arranged sequentially along the moving direction of the impregnation belt (2).

6. The apparatus for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyetheretherketone 3D printing filaments according to claim 5, characterized in that, The feeding section includes a feeding reel (1), and the impregnated tape (2) is wound around the feeding reel (1).

7. The apparatus for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyetheretherketone 3D printing filaments according to claim 6, characterized in that, The alignment section includes a fixed alignment device (3), one end of which is connected to the discharge end of the tape feeding reel (1), and the other end of which is connected to the feed end of the wire splitter (4).

8. The apparatus for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyetheretherketone 3D printing filaments according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a support wheel (5), which is disposed between the discharge end of the wire splitter (4) and the feed end of the plurality of multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion devices (6); The support wheel (5) is used to provide tension for the plurality of the narrow strips.

9. The apparatus for preparing high fiber content reinforced polyetheretherketone 3D printing filaments according to claim 3, characterized in that: The cooling structure is a water-cooled structure, and an annular cooling cavity is provided in the shaped cooling mold (906), through which constant-temperature circulating water flows.

10. A method of using the apparatus for preparing high-fiber-content reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) 3D printing filaments, comprising using the apparatus for preparing high-fiber-content reinforced PEEK 3D printing filaments according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: The wide impregnated strip (2) is divided into multiple narrow strips using the splitter (4); The narrow strip is inserted into the corresponding multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device (6); The narrow strip is constrained and pulled by multiple nozzles (9) in the multi-nozzle step-by-step pultrusion device (6) to form a filament bundle; The filament bundle is collected by the corresponding take-up reel (7).

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