A double-station non-metal powder 3D printer

Abstract

The application discloses a double-station nonmetal powder 3D printer, wherein the main frame is a frame structure; a laying plate is horizontally fixedly arranged in the main frame, and two feeding holes are arranged on the laying plate; the printing jig is two groups and is fixedly arranged below the laying plate in the main frame; the forming cylinders of the two printing jigs are respectively located below the two feeding holes on the laying plate and are communicated with the two feeding holes; a raw material storage box is fixedly arranged above the laying plate in the main frame; the material scraping mechanism comprises a material scraping assembly and a first driving mechanism, the first driving mechanism is fixedly arranged on the main frame, the material scraping assembly is connected with the first driving mechanism and abuts against the laying plate; the laser forming mechanism comprises a laser and a second driving mechanism, the second driving mechanism is fixedly arranged on the main frame, and the laser is connected with the second driving mechanism and is located above the laying plate. In the 3D printer, the powder laying process and the sintering process performed by the two groups of printing jigs are alternately performed back and forth, and finally two part products are formed almost simultaneously.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of 3D printing equipment technology, and in particular to a dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer. Background Technology

[0002] Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), a high-end non-metallic powder 3D printing technology, primarily uses non-metallic powders as materials. It involves selectively sintering the powder material using a laser to form a sintered shape. SLS technology utilizes a layer-by-layer deposition modeling principle: first, a layer of powder material is laid down and preheated to near its melting point. Then, a laser scans the cross-section of this layer, raising the powder temperature to its melting point, and sintering is performed to form a bond. This process of laying powder and sintering is repeated until the entire part is formed. Powder plays a crucial role in the part-forming process; however, current printing equipment requires the powder laying and sintering processes to be performed separately, resulting in low product processing efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to provide a dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer that addresses the current state of the technology. In this 3D printer, the powder spreading and sintering processes performed by the two sets of printing fixtures are carried out alternately, ultimately forming two parts almost simultaneously.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0005] A dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer includes a main frame, a pre-laying plate, a printing fixture, a raw material storage box, a scraping mechanism, and a laser forming mechanism.

[0006] The main frame is a frame structure;

[0007] The material spreading plate is horizontally fixed in the main frame, and the material spreading plate is provided with two feeding holes;

[0008] The printing fixture consists of two sets, both of which are fixedly installed below the material feeding plate in the main frame. The forming cylinder of the printing fixture is adapted to the feeding hole on the material feeding plate. The forming cylinders of the two printing fixtures are located directly below and connected to the two feeding holes on the material feeding plate, respectively.

[0009] The raw material storage box is fixedly installed above the material spreading plate in the main frame, and its discharge port is located above the area between the two feeding holes on the material spreading plate;

[0010] The scraping mechanism includes a scraping component and a first driving mechanism. The first driving mechanism is fixedly mounted on the main frame. The scraping component is connected to the first driving mechanism and abuts against the material spreading plate. The first driving mechanism is used to drive the scraping component to move. The scraping component is used to scrape the raw material on the material spreading plate into the forming cylinder of the printing fixture and scrape off the remaining raw material.

[0011] The laser forming mechanism includes a laser and a second driving mechanism. The second driving mechanism is fixedly mounted on the main frame. The laser is connected to the second driving mechanism and is located above the material spreading plate. The second driving mechanism is used to drive the laser to move. The laser is used to sinter the raw material in the forming cylinder of the printing fixture.

[0012] Furthermore, it also includes two raw material recycling bins, both of which are fixedly installed below the material spreading plate in the main frame. The raw material recycling bins are used to collect the remaining raw material after the scraping assembly scrapes the raw material on the material spreading plate into the forming cylinder of the printing fixture.

[0013] Furthermore, the material spreading plate has a rectangular structure, and both the front and rear sides of the material spreading plate are provided with upwardly inclined side plates.

[0014] Furthermore, the side plate and the paving plate are integrally formed.

[0015] Furthermore, each end of the material spreading plate is provided with a discharge hole between it and the feeding hole near that end, and the inlets of the two raw material recycling boxes are respectively connected to the two discharge holes on the material spreading plate.

[0016] Furthermore, the scraping assembly includes a bracket and a scraper. The bracket is connected to the first drive mechanism, and the scraper is fixedly disposed at the bottom of the bracket and abuts against the spreading plate.

[0017] Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the scraper is an isosceles trapezoid.

[0018] Furthermore, the first driving mechanism includes a first driving motor and two first linear slides. The two first linear slides are horizontally fixed at the same height on the front and rear sides of the main frame. The first driving motor is fixed on the main frame and its output end is connected to one of the first linear slides. The bracket is a U-shaped structure, and its two ends are respectively connected to the sliders in the two linear slides.

[0019] Furthermore, the second drive mechanism includes a second drive motor and two second linear slides. The two second linear slides are horizontally fixed at the same height on the front and rear sides of the main frame. The second drive motor is fixed on the main frame and its output end is connected to one of the second linear slides.

[0020] Furthermore, the material storage box has a long strip-shaped discharge port, and its length is greater than the diameter of the discharge hole on the material spreading plate. When the material storage box is fixedly installed in the main frame, its discharge port is arranged along the front and rear direction of the main frame.

[0021] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows:

[0022] Compared to existing technologies, its dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer is designed with two sets of printing fixtures, and both the scraping mechanism and the laser forming mechanism are designed to be movable. When one printing fixture performs the powder spreading process through the scraping mechanism, the other printing fixture performs the sintering process through the laser forming mechanism. The powder spreading and sintering processes performed by the two sets of printing fixtures are carried out alternately, and finally two parts are formed almost simultaneously, which greatly improves the processing efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the 3D printer of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the material spreading plate of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the printing fixture of the present invention.

[0026] Labeling instructions: 1. Main frame, 1-1. Truss, 2. Material spreading plate, 2-1. Feeding hole, 2-2. Discharge hole, 3. Printing fixture, 3-1. Forming cylinder, 3-2. Push plate, 3-3. Guide rod, 3-4. Threaded rod, 3-5. Third drive motor, 4. Raw material storage box, 5. Support, 6. Scraper, 7. First linear slide, 8. First drive motor, 9. Laser, 10. Second linear slide, 11. Second drive motor, 12. Raw material recycling box, 13. Side plate. Detailed Implementation

[0027] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific examples described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[0028] Please see Figure 1-3 As shown, a dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer includes a main frame 1, a material spreading plate 2, a printing fixture 3, a raw material storage box 4, a scraping mechanism, and a laser forming mechanism.

[0029] The main frame 1 is a frame structure. Specifically, the main frame 1 is a square frame structure made of spliced ​​steel sections.

[0030] The material spreading plate 2 is horizontally fixed in the main frame 1, and the material spreading plate 2 is provided with two feeding holes 2-1.

[0031] There are two sets of printing fixtures 3, both of which are fixedly installed below the material laying plate 2 in the main frame 1. The forming cylinder 3-1 of the printing fixture 3 is adapted to the feeding hole 2-1 on the material laying plate 2. The forming cylinder 3-1 of the two printing fixtures 3 are located directly below and connected to the two feeding holes 2-1 on the material laying plate 2.

[0032] The raw material storage box 4 is fixedly installed above the material spreading plate 2 in the main frame 1, and its discharge port is located above the area between the two feeding holes 2-1 on the material spreading plate 2. In order to achieve accurate feeding, a feeding switch is provided in the discharge port of the raw material storage box 4.

[0033] The material storage box 4 has a long strip-shaped discharge port, and its length is greater than the diameter of the discharge hole 2-2 on the material spreading plate 2. When the material storage box 4 is fixedly installed in the main frame 1, its discharge port is arranged along the front and rear direction of the main frame 1.

[0034] The scraping mechanism includes a scraping component and a first drive mechanism. The first drive mechanism is fixedly mounted on the main frame 1. The scraping component is connected to the first drive mechanism and abuts against the material spreading plate 2. The first drive mechanism is used to drive the scraping component to move. The scraping component is used to scrape the material on the material spreading plate 2 into the forming cylinder 3-1 of the printing fixture 3 and scrape off the remaining material.

[0035] The laser forming mechanism includes a laser 9 and a second driving mechanism. The second driving mechanism is fixedly mounted on the main frame 1. The laser 9 is connected to the second driving mechanism and is located above the material spreading plate 2. The second driving mechanism is used to drive the laser 9 to move. The laser 9 is used to sinter the raw material in the forming cylinder 3-1 of the printing fixture 3.

[0036] The main frame 1 is also equipped with several trusses 1-1. The material spreading plate 2, printing fixture 3, raw material storage box 4, scraping mechanism and laser forming mechanism are fixedly set by the main frame 1 and trusses 1-1 according to their own structures.

[0037] In the above technical solution, when the left printing fixture 3 carries out the powder spreading process through the scraping mechanism, the right printing fixture 3 can carry out the sintering process through the laser forming mechanism, and vice versa.

[0038] As one embodiment, it also includes two raw material recycling bins 12, both of which are fixedly installed below the material spreading plate 2 in the main frame 1. The raw material recycling bins 12 are used to collect the remaining raw material after the scraping assembly scrapes the raw material on the material spreading plate 2 into the forming cylinder 3-1 of the printing fixture 3.

[0039] Preferably, the material spreading plate 2 has a rectangular structure, and both the front and rear sides of the material spreading plate 2 are provided with upwardly inclined side plates 13. More preferably, the side plates 13 are integrally formed with the material spreading plate 2.

[0040] According to the above design, the material spreading plate 2 and the side plate 13 together form a trough structure. When the scraping component scrapes on the material spreading plate 2, the raw material will not flow to the front and rear sides of the material spreading plate 2.

[0041] Each end of the material spreading plate 2 is provided with a discharge hole 2-2 between it and the feeding hole 2-1 near that end. The inlets of the two raw material recycling boxes 12 are respectively connected to the two discharge holes 2-2 on the material spreading plate 2.

[0042] According to the above design, after the raw material on the spreading plate 2 is scraped into the forming cylinder 3-1 of the printing fixture 3, the remaining raw material can be directly recycled into the raw material recycling box 12.

[0043] In one embodiment, the scraping assembly includes a bracket 5 and a scraper 6. The bracket 5 is connected to the first drive mechanism, and the scraper 6 is fixedly disposed at the bottom of the bracket 5 and abuts against the spreading plate 2.

[0044] Preferably, the cross-sectional shape of the scraper 6 is an isosceles trapezoid, which facilitates bidirectional scraping of material on the material spreading plate 2 by the scraping assembly.

[0045] The first drive mechanism includes a first drive motor 8 and two first linear slides 7. The two first linear slides 7 are horizontally fixed at the same height on the front and rear sides of the main frame 1. The first drive motor 8 is fixed on the main frame 1 and its output end is connected to one of the first linear slides 7. The bracket 5 has a U-shaped structure, and its two ends are respectively connected to the sliders in the two linear slides.

[0046] In one embodiment, the second drive mechanism includes a second drive motor 11 and two second linear slides 10. The two second linear slides 10 are horizontally fixed at the same height on the front and rear sides of the main frame 1. The second drive motor 11 is fixedly mounted on the main frame 1 and its output end is connected to one of its second linear slides 10.

[0047] It should be noted that the printing fixture 3 is quite common in laser selective forming equipment. It generally includes a forming cylinder 3-1, a pusher plate 3-2 set inside and fitted with the forming cylinder 3-1, and a third drive motor 3-5. The output end of the third drive motor 3-5 is coaxially connected to a threaded rod 3-4. The threaded rod 3-4 passes through the bottom plate of the forming cylinder 3-1 into its inner cavity and connects to the pusher plate 3-2. The connection between the threaded rod and the bottom plate of the forming cylinder 3-1 is threaded. The third drive motor 3-5 also has several guide rods 3-3 that pass through the bottom plate of the forming cylinder 3-1 into its inner cavity and connect to the pusher plate 3-2. When the output shaft of the third drive motor 3-5 rotates, the pusher plate 3-2 will rise and fall within the forming cylinder 3-1.

[0048] In addition, the first drive motor 8, the second drive motor 11, the third drive motor 3-5, the laser 9, and the feeding switch are all executed sequentially by sending instructions through the controller. The above control logic is existing technology and will not be described in detail here.

[0049] In summary, this invention designs two sets of printing fixtures 3, and both the scraping mechanism and the laser forming mechanism are designed to be movable. When one printing fixture 3 performs the powder spreading process through the scraping mechanism, the other printing fixture 3 performs the sintering process through the laser forming mechanism. The powder spreading and sintering processes performed by the two sets of printing fixtures 3 are carried out alternately, and finally two parts are formed almost simultaneously, which greatly improves the processing efficiency.

[0050] This invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. Those skilled in the art can implement this invention using various other specific embodiments based on the content disclosed herein. Therefore, any design that adopts the design structure and concept of this invention and makes some simple changes or modifications falls within the scope of protection of this invention.

Claims

1. A double-station non-metallic powder 3D printer, characterized in that: Includes main frame, material spreading plate, printing fixture, raw material storage box, scraping mechanism and laser forming mechanism; The main frame is a frame structure; The material spreading plate is horizontally fixed in the main frame, and the material spreading plate is provided with two feeding holes; The printing fixture consists of two sets, both of which are fixedly installed below the material feeding plate in the main frame. The forming cylinder of the printing fixture is adapted to the feeding hole on the material feeding plate. The forming cylinders of the two printing fixtures are located directly below and connected to the two feeding holes on the material feeding plate, respectively. The raw material storage box is fixedly installed above the material spreading plate in the main frame, and its discharge port is located above the area between the two feeding holes on the material spreading plate; The scraping mechanism includes a scraping component and a first driving mechanism. The first driving mechanism is fixedly mounted on the main frame. The scraping component is connected to the first driving mechanism and abuts against the material spreading plate. The first driving mechanism is used to drive the scraping component to move. The scraping component is used to scrape the raw material on the material spreading plate into the forming cylinder of the printing fixture and scrape off the remaining raw material. The laser forming mechanism includes a laser and a second driving mechanism. The second driving mechanism is fixedly mounted on the main frame. The laser is connected to the second driving mechanism and is located above the material spreading plate. The second driving mechanism is used to drive the laser to move. The laser is used to sinter the raw material in the forming cylinder of the printing fixture. It also includes two raw material recycling bins, both of which are fixedly installed below the material spreading plate in the main frame. The raw material recycling bins are used to collect the remaining raw material after the scraping component scrapes the raw material on the material spreading plate into the forming cylinder of the printing fixture. The material spreading plate has a rectangular structure, and both the front and rear sides of the material spreading plate are provided with upwardly inclined side plates. The side plates are integrally formed with the material spreading plate. Each end of the material spreading plate is provided with a discharge hole between it and the feeding hole near that end, and the inlets of the two raw material recycling boxes are respectively connected to the two discharge holes on the material spreading plate.

2. A dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The scraping assembly includes a bracket and a scraper. The bracket is connected to the first drive mechanism, and the scraper is fixedly installed at the bottom of the bracket and abuts against the material spreading plate.

3. A dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The cross-sectional shape of the scraper is an isosceles trapezoid.

4. A dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first driving mechanism includes a first driving motor and two first linear slides. The two first linear slides are horizontally fixed at the same height on the front and rear sides of the main frame. The first driving motor is fixed on the main frame and its output end is connected to one of the first linear slides. The bracket is a U-shaped structure, and its two ends are respectively connected to the sliders in the two first linear slides.

5. A dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second drive mechanism includes a second drive motor and two second linear slides. The two second linear slides are horizontally fixed at the same height on the front and rear sides of the main frame. The second drive motor is fixed on the main frame and its output end is connected to one of the second linear slides.

6. A dual-station non-metallic powder 3D printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material storage box has a long strip-shaped discharge port, and its length is greater than the diameter of the feeding hole on the material spreading plate. When the material storage box is fixedly installed in the main frame, its discharge port is arranged along the front and rear direction of the main frame.

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