An extrusion component and 3D printing system suitable for continuous fiber materials

Abstract

The present invention discloses an extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials, comprising a heating block, a nozzle and an embedded head, wherein a first channel for allowing the continuous fiber material to pass through and a second channel for allowing the prepreg material to pass through are provided in the heating block, the nozzle has an extrusion channel, the second channel is connected to the extrusion channel via the prepreg channel, and the first channel is connected to the extrusion channel via a guide channel, so that the continuous fiber material and the resin are smoothly printed after the prepreg is completed in the extrusion channel. The present invention utilizes an embedded head to block the connecting port between the second channel and the fiber material inlet, so that the resin can only be extruded along the extrusion channel, and under the premise of ensuring the smooth transportation of the continuous fiber material, the problem of blockage of the continuous fiber material inlet caused by the backflow of the resin is effectively avoided. The present invention also provides a 3D printing system, comprising the above-mentioned extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials, which effectively avoids the blockage phenomenon of the extrusion assembly and improves the reliability of the 3D printing system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of continuous fiber material 3D printing equipment and its peripheral supporting facilities, and in particular to an extrusion component and a 3D printing system suitable for continuous fiber materials. Background Art

[0002] The existing continuous fiber composite 3D printing methods include offline impregnation printing and online impregnation printing. Offline impregnation is a process in which continuous dry fibers and thermoplastic resin matrices are pre-impregnated into continuous fiber pre-impregnated material filaments. The filaments are then fed into the print head for heating and then impregnated and extruded. This method requires the preparation of fiber pre-impregnated material filaments, which is a relatively complex process and has high material costs. Online impregnation printing uses simple materials and can directly use dry fibers and resin matrices as materials for printing. Online impregnation printing can simplify materials and reduce material costs. At the same time, fiber surface treatment methods can be used to improve the fiber-matrix interface and enhance mechanical properties.

[0003] In the prior art, when online impregnation printing is used, the impregnation resin is prone to backflow from the fiber material inlet during the printing process. The resin backflow causes the fiber inlet to be blocked, affecting fiber transportation and normal printing.

[0004] Therefore, how to change the current situation in which the impregnation resin is prone to backflow and affect printing when continuous fiber composite 3D printing adopts online impregnation printing has become an urgent problem to be solved by those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an extrusion assembly and a 3D printing system suitable for continuous fiber materials, so as to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, avoid the backflow of impregnation resin to block the fiber material inlet, and ensure the smooth progress of printing.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following solution: The present invention provides an extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials, comprising:

[0007] a heating block, wherein a first channel for allowing continuous fiber material to pass through and a second channel for allowing prepreg material to pass through are provided in the heating block, and the heating block is capable of heating the prepreg material;

[0008] a nozzle, the nozzle being connected to the heating block and having an extrusion channel;

[0009] An inline head, wherein the first end of the inline head is connected to the heating block and blocks the first channel, the second end of the inline head extends from the first channel into the extrusion channel, a gap is provided between the outer wall of the second end of the inline head and the inner wall of the first channel to form a prepreg channel, the second channel is connected to the extrusion channel using the prepreg channel, the inline head has a guide channel for allowing the continuous fiber material to pass through, and the first channel is connected to the extrusion channel using the guide channel.

[0010] Preferably, the inline head includes a connecting section and a main body section, the connecting section is connected to the main body section, the connecting section is threadedly connected to the heating block, and the main body section extends into the extrusion channel.

[0011] Preferably, the connecting section is provided with a guide opening, the guide opening is provided at an end of the guide channel away from the nozzle, and the diameter of the guide opening is larger than the diameter of the first channel.

[0012] Preferably, the outlet of the nozzle is rounded.

[0013] Preferably, the first channel, the guide channel and the extrusion channel are coaxially arranged.

[0014] Preferably, the extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials further includes two throats, and both of the throats are connected to the heating block to form the first channel and the second channel.

[0015] Preferably, one end of the throat pipe away from the heating block is connected to a heat dissipation pipe, the heat dissipation pipe corresponds to the throat pipe one-to-one, and the heat dissipation pipe has a heat sink.

[0016] Preferably, the throat is detachably connected to the heating block and the heat dissipation pipe respectively.

[0017] Preferably, the heating block has a temperature measuring hole.

[0018] The present invention also provides a 3D printing system comprising the above-mentioned extrusion component suitable for continuous fiber materials.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has achieved the following technical effects:

[0020] The present invention is suitable for an extrusion assembly of continuous fiber materials. The continuous fiber material is introduced through a first channel, and the pre-impregnated resin is introduced through a second channel. The heating block can heat the resin to complete the impregnation printing. The present invention is provided with an inline head. One end of the inline head blocks the middle of the first channel, which is equivalent to blocking the communication port between the second channel and the fiber material inlet. The first channel is connected to the extrusion channel by the guide channel of the inline head, and the second channel is connected to the extrusion channel by the pre-impregnation channel, so that the continuous fiber material and the resin are smoothly printed after the pre-impregnation is completed in the extrusion channel. The present invention uses the inline head to block the communication port between the resin and the fiber material inlet, so that the resin can only be extruded along the extrusion channel. Under the premise of ensuring the smooth transportation of the continuous fiber material, the problem of blockage of the continuous fiber material inlet caused by resin backflow is effectively avoided, thereby ensuring the smooth progress of the printing work.

[0021] The present invention also provides a 3D printing system, comprising the above-mentioned extrusion component suitable for continuous fiber materials, which effectively avoids clogging of the extrusion component and improves the reliability of the 3D printing system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of an extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials according to the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 It is a schematic front view of an extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials according to the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 for Figure 3 An enlarged schematic diagram of the middle part of the structure;

[0027] Figure 5 It is a schematic structural diagram of the inline head of the extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials of the present invention.

[0028] Among them, 1 is the heating block, 101 is the temperature measuring hole, 102 is the heating rod hole, 2 is the nozzle, 3 is the embedded head, 301 is the connecting section, 302 is the main section, 303 is the guide port, 4 is the first channel, 5 is the second channel, 6 is the prepreg channel, 7 is the guide channel, 8 is the extrusion channel, 9 is the throat, 10 is the heat pipe, and 11 is the heat sink. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an extrusion assembly and a 3D printing system suitable for continuous fiber materials, so as to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, avoid the backflow of impregnation resin to block the fiber material inlet, and ensure the smooth progress of printing.

[0031] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0032] Please refer to Figure 1-Figure 5 ,in, Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of an extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials according to the present invention. Figure 2 This is a schematic front view of an extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials according to the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials of the present invention, Figure 4 for Figure 3 An enlarged schematic diagram of the middle part of the structure. Figure 5 It is a schematic structural diagram of the inline head of the extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials of the present invention.

[0033] The present invention provides an extrusion assembly 100 suitable for continuous fiber materials, including a heating block 1, a nozzle 2 and an embedded head 3, wherein the heating block 1 is provided with a first channel 4 allowing the continuous fiber material to pass through and a second channel 5 allowing the prepreg material (such as resin, etc.) to pass through, and the heating block 1 can heat the prepreg material; the nozzle 2 is connected to the heating block 1, and the nozzle 2 has an extrusion channel 8; the first end of the embedded head 3 is connected to the heating block 1 and blocks the first channel 4, and the second end of the embedded head 3 extends into the extrusion channel 8 from the first channel 4, and there is a gap between the outer wall of the second end of the embedded head 3 and the inner wall of the first channel 4 to form a prepreg channel 6, and the second channel 5 is connected to the extrusion channel 8 via the prepreg channel 6, and the embedded head 3 has a guide channel 7 allowing the continuous fiber material to pass through, and the first channel 4 is connected to the extrusion channel 8 via the guide channel 7.

[0034] The present invention is suitable for an extrusion assembly 100 of continuous fiber materials. The continuous fiber material is introduced through the first channel 4, and the prepreg resin is introduced through the second channel 5. The heating block 1 can heat the resin to complete online impregnation printing. The present invention sets an embedded head 3. One end of the embedded head 3 blocks the middle of the first channel 4, which is equivalent to blocking the connection between the second channel 5 and the fiber material inlet. The first channel 4 is connected to the extrusion channel 8 by means of the guide channel 7 of the embedded head 3. The second channel 5 is connected to the extrusion channel 8 by means of the prepreg channel 6, so that the continuous fiber material and the resin are smoothly printed after the prepreg is completed in the extrusion channel 8. The present invention uses the embedded head 3 to block the connection between the resin and the fiber material inlet, such as Figure 3 As shown, the resin can only be extruded along the extrusion channel 8. Under the premise of ensuring the smooth transportation of the continuous fiber material, the problem of blockage of the continuous fiber material inlet caused by resin backflow is effectively avoided, ensuring the smooth progress of the printing operation. It should be explained here that in this specific embodiment, the prepreg material is used as an example of resin. Therefore, there is no contradiction between the descriptions of the prepreg material, prepreg resin, and resin mentioned in this article. In actual application, it is a common practice for those skilled in the art to select the appropriate type of prepreg material according to the specific working conditions, and this will not be repeated here.

[0035] Specifically, if Figure 5 As shown, the embedded head 3 includes a connecting section 301 and a main section 302. The connecting section 301 is located at the top of the main section 302 and the two are connected. The connecting section 301 is threadedly connected to the heating block 1 for easy disassembly and assembly. The main section 302 extends into the extrusion channel 8 to ensure that the guide channel 7 is connected to the extrusion channel 8. At the same time, there is a gap between the outer wall of the main section 302 and the inner wall of the extrusion channel 8 to ensure that the prepreg resin can smoothly enter the extrusion channel 8 from the prepreg channel 6.

[0036] In this specific embodiment, the connecting section 301 is provided with a guide opening 303, and the guide opening 303 is provided at the end of the guide channel 7 away from the nozzle 2. The diameter of the guide opening 303 is larger than the diameter of the first channel 4. The main section 302 of the embedded head 3 is located in the first channel 4 and the extrusion channel 8, so the diameter of the guide channel 7 is relatively small. After the continuous fiber material is introduced from the first channel 4, it needs to enter the guide channel 7 with a smaller diameter. The guide opening 303 with a larger opening is provided to facilitate the continuous fiber material to enter the guide channel 7 smoothly. The guide opening 303 has an inverted frustum structure, which facilitates the entry of the continuous fiber material while avoiding damage to the continuous fiber material by the embedded head 3.

[0037] More specifically, the outlet of the nozzle 2 is rounded, see Figure 4 , preventing the continuous fiber material from being sheared and broken by the nozzle 2, thereby improving printing reliability.

[0038] In this specific embodiment, the first channel 4, the guide channel 7 and the extrusion channel 8 are coaxially arranged to ensure the smooth transportation of the continuous fiber material and avoid damage to the material caused by bending of the transportation path. The second channel 5 is arranged downwardly at an angle to ensure the smooth transportation of the impregnation resin, further avoiding the blockage of the continuous fiber material inlet caused by the backflow of the resin. The prepreg channel 6 is an annular channel, so that the resin or other materials can better wrap and penetrate the continuous fiber material, thereby improving the quality of the prepreg.

[0039] Meanwhile, the extrusion assembly 100 for continuous fiber materials further comprises a throat 9, see Figure 3 There are two throats 9, both of which are connected to the heating block 1 to form a first channel 4 and a second channel 5. The throats 9 are connected to the heating block 1 to construct the first channel 4 and the second channel 5, which reduces the manufacturing difficulty of the extrusion component.

[0040] In addition, a heat dissipation pipe 10 is connected to the end of the throat pipe 9 away from the heating block 1. The heat dissipation pipe 10 corresponds to the throat pipe 9 one by one. The heat dissipation pipe 10 has a heat sink 11 to prevent the material from being heated as soon as it is introduced, ensuring the smooth transportation of the material and providing protection for subsequent printing work.

[0041] In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the throat pipe 9 is detachably connected to the heating block 1 and the heat dissipation pipe 10, respectively, which improves the convenience of disassembly and assembly of the extrusion assembly and facilitates subsequent cleaning and maintenance.

[0042] It should also be noted that the heating block 1 has a temperature measuring hole 101. Placing a temperature measuring element, such as a temperature sensor, in the temperature measuring hole 101 allows for real-time monitoring of the operating temperature of the extrusion assembly, improving the controllability of the assembly. Multiple temperature measuring holes 101 may be provided to monitor the temperature at different locations. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the heating block 1 also has a heating rod hole 102, into which a heating rod may be placed for heating the material. In actual applications, the heating block 1 may also employ other heating methods to achieve the purpose of heating the material.

[0043] Furthermore, the present invention also provides a 3D printing system, comprising the above-mentioned extrusion assembly 100 suitable for continuous fiber materials, which effectively avoids the phenomenon of resin backflow blocking the continuous fiber material inlet and improves the reliability of the 3D printing system.

[0044] The present invention uses specific examples to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. The above examples are only intended to help understand the method and core concept of the present invention. At the same time, those skilled in the art will find that the specific implementation methods and application scopes may vary based on the concept of the present invention. In summary, the contents of this specification should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Claims

1. An extrusion assembly suitable for continuous fiber materials, characterized in that: include: a heating block, wherein a first channel for allowing continuous fiber material to pass through and a second channel for allowing prepreg material to pass through are provided in the heating block, and the heating block is capable of heating the prepreg material; a nozzle, the nozzle being connected to the heating block and having an extrusion channel; an inline head, wherein a first end of the inline head is connected to the heating block and blocks the first channel, a second end of the inline head extends from the first channel into the extrusion channel, a gap is defined between an outer wall of the second end of the inline head and an inner wall of the first channel to form a prepreg channel, the second channel is connected to the extrusion channel via the prepreg channel, the inline head has a guide channel for allowing the continuous fiber material to pass through, and the first channel is connected to the extrusion channel via the guide channel; The first channel, the guide channel and the extrusion channel are coaxially arranged; and the prepreg channel is an annular channel.

2. The extrusion assembly for continuous fiber materials according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inline head includes a connecting section and a main section, the connecting section is connected to the main section, the connecting section is threadedly connected to the heating block, and the main section extends into the extrusion channel.

3. The extrusion assembly for continuous fiber materials according to claim 2, characterized in that: The connecting section is provided with a guide opening, and the guide opening is provided at an end of the guide channel away from the nozzle. The diameter of the guide opening is larger than the diameter of the first channel.

4. The extrusion assembly for continuous fiber materials according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outlet of the nozzle is chamfered.

5. The extrusion assembly for continuous fiber materials according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes two throats, both of which are connected to the heating block to form the first channel and the second channel.

6. The extrusion assembly for continuous fiber materials according to claim 5, characterized in that: One end of the throat pipe away from the heating block is connected with a heat dissipation pipe, the heat dissipation pipe corresponds to the throat pipe one by one, and the heat dissipation pipe has a heat dissipation fin.

7. The extrusion assembly for continuous fiber materials according to claim 6, characterized in that: The throat pipe is detachably connected to the heating block and the heat dissipation pipe respectively.

8. The extrusion assembly for continuous fiber materials according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The heating block is provided with a temperature measuring hole.

9. A 3D printing system, characterized in that: The invention comprises an extrusion component suitable for continuous fiber materials according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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