A photocured gradient bone powder printer

Abstract

This invention discloses a photopolymer gradient bone powder printer, comprising a combined material tank, a film holder, a stage, a lead screw lifting mechanism, a slide, a frame, a light source system, and a base. The combined material tank includes a liftable material tank wall, a metal mesh support, a metal mesh, and an ultrasonic vibration mechanism. The liftable material tank wall is a stepped, multi-layered, retractable, nested wall located on the outermost side of the entire combined material tank, with its bottom fixed to the base. The film holder is fixed to the top layer of the liftable material tank wall. The metal mesh support is located within the area enclosed by the liftable material tank wall, and the metal mesh is detachably fixed to the metal mesh support. There are multiple metal meshes, each with a different aperture, decreasing in aperture closer to the bottom of the combined material tank. The ultrasonic vibration mechanism is fixed to the base. This invention avoids the additional positional errors introduced when changing the material tank in existing photopolymer printing technologies and solves the problem of achieving controllable particle size distribution of bone powder in the printing of bone powder photopolymer ink mixtures.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of 3D printing, specifically relating to a photopolymer gradient bone powder printer. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of photopolymer 3D printing technology, numerous printing methods and equipment have emerged for implantable bodies, targeting applications such as bone implants, dental implants, crowns, bone guides, skin, corneal replacements, and more. However, natural tissues are composed of multiple materials with different moduli, layered across different regions, especially for complex structures containing both soft and hard tissues. Current photopolymer 3D printing requires high material uniformity, and multi-material printing is limited to printing multiple homogeneous liquids or slurries. For inks containing insoluble substances, on the one hand, it is necessary to ensure that the particle size of the insoluble substances is extremely low, allowing them to be suspended as uniformly as possible in the liquid-phase photopolymer ink. Existing large-particle bone powder materials used for implantation cannot meet these printing requirements. On the other hand, auxiliary rollers or scrapers are used to promote the leveling of ink containing insoluble substances to ensure the accuracy of each layer, resulting in extremely low efficiency and potential material waste. Mechanical leveling can also damage the printed structure or affect the forming accuracy. Furthermore, if... When printing different materials or mixtures of bone powder with different particle sizes and densities in the same structure, the existing solution for photopolymer printing technology is to change the material pool for different materials. However, changing the material pool introduces additional degrees of freedom for positional errors, and constantly changing the material pool also affects printing efficiency. In addition, for printing methods using photopolymer liquid with bone powder as ink, if bone powder with different particle sizes and densities is used as the material, it is necessary to manually sort the bone powder particles and dispense them into different material pools. On the one hand, this will greatly waste manpower, and on the other hand, it will consume more photopolymer liquid as carrier ink for bone powder in different material pools. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To address the limitations of existing photopolymer printing methods that cannot support the mixing of large-particle bone powder or other water-insoluble substances with photosensitive liquid materials, as well as the low efficiency and poor accuracy of manually changing the material tank and configuring different layered mixed materials in multi-material photopolymer printing, this invention proposes a photopolymer gradient bone powder printer. This printer can achieve gradient printing of mixed materials containing large-particle bone powder or other water-insoluble substances with photosensitive liquid materials, and satisfies the requirement of spatially controllable distribution and forming of materials with different particle sizes.

[0004] The objective of this invention is achieved through the following technical solution:

[0005] A photopolymer gradient bone powder printer includes a combined material tank, a film holder, a stage, a lead screw lifting mechanism, a slide, a frame, a light source system, and a base;

[0006] The bottom of the combined material tank is arranged on the base, the screw lifting mechanism and the frame are located on one side of the combined material tank, the film frame is fixed to the top of the combined material tank, the light source system is fixed on the frame and located above the film frame; the platform is located below the film frame, and one end of the platform is fixed to the slide, the slide is threadedly connected to the screw of the screw lifting mechanism; the screw lifting mechanism drives the screw to rotate, thereby moving the slide and the platform fixed on the slide up and down in the combined material tank;

[0007] The combined material pool includes a liftable pool wall, a metal mesh support, a metal mesh, and an ultrasonic vibration mechanism. The liftable pool wall is a stepped, multi-layered, retractable, nested wall, located on the outermost side of the entire combined material pool, and its bottom is fixed to the base. The film frame is fixed to the top layer of the liftable pool wall. The metal mesh support is located in the inner area enclosed by the liftable pool wall, and the metal mesh is detachably fixed to the metal mesh support. There are multiple metal meshes, and each metal mesh has a different aperture, with the aperture becoming smaller closer to the bottom of the combined material pool. The ultrasonic vibration mechanism is fixed to the base.

[0008] Furthermore, the combined material pool also includes a roller shutter mechanism, which is fixed to one side of the metal mesh support, and the roller shutter mechanism and the metal mesh correspond one-to-one.

[0009] Furthermore, the metal mesh includes a metal mesh surface and a metal mesh barrier. The metal mesh surface, as the main body of the metal mesh, can be rolled up by the roller shutter mechanism to form a barrel-shaped structure. The metal mesh barrier is located at the end of the metal mesh surface furthest from the roller shutter mechanism and is used to remove bone meal particles from the surface of the metal mesh surface during the recycling process.

[0010] Furthermore, the film frame includes a release film fixing frame and a release film, the release film fixing frame has an opening in the middle, the release film is fixed in the opening in the middle of the release film fixing frame, and the light emitted by the light source system shines into the combined material pool through the release film.

[0011] Furthermore, a slot is provided on the wall surface of the metal mesh support, and the metal mesh is detachably fixed to the slot by a mechanical clamping structure.

[0012] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows:

[0013] This invention avoids the additional positional errors introduced by changing material pools in existing photopolymerization printing technology by stacking material pools layer by layer along the original z-axis movement direction and using metal mesh with different apertures and pores as partitions between material pools. The material pool lifting and changing method solves the time consumption of changing material pools. At the same time, in use, bone powder and photopolymerization liquid mixture can be added directly from the top of the combined material pool. Bone powder of different particle sizes will settle directly into the material pool area of ​​each level due to gravity. Small bone powder settles to the bottom level, medium bone powder to the next level, and large bone powder is restricted to the top level of the material pool by the metal mesh on the top layer. This solves the problem of achieving controllable distribution of bone powder particle size in the printing of bone powder photopolymerization ink mixture. Attached Figure Description

[0014] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the photocurable gradient bone powder printer in the embodiment.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the film holder 2.

[0016] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the combined material tank 1.

[0017] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure and operation of the roller shutter mechanism.

[0018] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the printing process of the photocurable gradient bone powder printer in the embodiment.

[0019] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the final printed part.

[0020] In the figure, the components are: 1. Combined material tank; 2. Film frame; 3. Platform; 4. Screw lifting mechanism; 5. Slide table; 6. Frame; 7. Light source system; 8. Base; 9. Liquid outlet; 101. Liftable material tank wall; 102. Metal mesh support; 103. Metal mesh; 104. Ultrasonic vibration mechanism; 105. Rolling shutter mechanism; 1021. Card slot; 1031. Metal mesh surface; 1032. Metal mesh barrier; 201. Release film fixing frame; 202. Release film. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. The purpose and effects of the present invention will become clearer. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely for explaining the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0022] Figure 1 This is one embodiment of the photopolymer gradient bone powder printer of the present invention, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the photopolymer gradient bone powder printer includes a combined material tank 1, a film holder 2, a stage 3, a lead screw lifting mechanism 4, a slide table 5, a frame 6, a light source system 7, and a base 8.

[0023] The bottom of the combined material tank 1 is arranged on the base 8. The bottom of the base 8, the screw lifting mechanism 4 and the frame 6 can be fixed on a flat surface such as the ground or test bench. The screw lifting mechanism 4 and the frame 6 are located on one side of the combined material tank 1.

[0024] The film frame 2 is fixed to the top of the combined material tank 1, and the light source system 7 is fixed to the frame 6, with the light source system 7 located above the film frame 2. The stage 3 is Z-shaped, with its bottom end located below the film frame 2 and its top end fixed to the slide table 5. The slide table 5 is connected to the lead screw of the lead screw lifting mechanism 4 by a thread. The lead screw lifting mechanism 4 drives the lead screw to rotate, causing the slide table 5 and the stage 3 fixed on the slide table 5 to move up and down in the combined material tank 1.

[0025] like Figure 2 As shown, the film frame 2 includes a release film fixing frame 201 and a release film 202. The release film fixing frame 201 has an opening in the middle, and the release film 202 is fixed in the opening in the middle of the release film fixing frame 201. The light emitted by the light source system 7 passes through the release film 202 and irradiates the slurry in the combined material tank 1.

[0026] like Figure 3 As shown, the combined material tank 1 includes a liftable tank wall 101, a metal mesh support 102, a metal mesh 103, an ultrasonic vibration mechanism 104, and a roller shutter mechanism 105. The liftable tank wall 101 is a stepped, multi-layered, retractable, nested wall, located on the outermost side of the entire combined material tank 1, and its bottom is fixed to the base 8. The metal mesh support 102 is located in the inner area enclosed by the liftable tank wall 101. A slot 1021 is provided on the wall surface of the metal mesh support 102, and the metal mesh 103 is detachably fixed to the slot 1021 by a mechanical clamping structure. There are multiple metal meshes 103, each with a different aperture size. Figure 3 As shown, the closer to the bottom of the combined material pool 1, the smaller the aperture of the metal mesh 103. Figure 3 There are three metal meshes 103 in the structure, and the liftable material pool wall 101 has a four-layer nested structure. The metal meshes 103 ensure that bone meal larger than the mesh openings is retained within the corresponding grading pool area, while bone meal smaller than the mesh openings falls into the lower pool. The side walls of the liftable material pool wall 101 are made of metal. The membrane frame 2 is fixed to the top layer of the liftable material pool wall 101.

[0027] like Figure 4As shown, the roller shutter mechanism 105 is located within the slot 1021 of the metal mesh support 102 and is used to recycle the metal mesh. The roller shutter mechanism 105 corresponds one-to-one with the metal meshes 103, and each metal mesh 103 includes a metal mesh surface 1031 and a metal mesh barrier 1032. The metal mesh surface 1031 serves as the main body of the metal mesh 103 and can be rolled up by the roller shutter mechanism 105 to form a barrel-shaped structure. The metal mesh barrier 1032 is located at the end of the metal mesh surface 1031 furthest from the roller shutter mechanism 105, and its main function is to ensure that bone meal particles on the surface of the metal mesh surface 1031 are recycled along with the mesh during the process of being rolled up by the roller shutter mechanism 105 to form a barrel-shaped structure. Figure 5 As shown.

[0028] In addition, such as Figure 3 As shown, the ultrasonic vibration mechanism 104 is located at the bottom of the combined material pool 1 and is fixed on the base 8. During the printing process, ultrasonic vibration can suspend the bone powder particles of each level in the space composed of two adjacent metal meshes that contain the bone powder particles, ensuring that the bone powder of each level is distributed in a suspended form in the forming area of ​​the stage and printed step by step.

[0029] The working process of the photocurable gradient bone powder printer of the present invention is as follows: Figure 5 As shown, the printing sequence is from ① to ⑥. In the static state before printing begins, bone powder of different particle sizes at each level is deposited on the metal mesh with corresponding apertures due to gravity. When printing begins, the ultrasonic oscillation mechanism 104 is activated first, causing the bone powder of each level to be distributed in a suspended form within the space composed of two adjacent metal meshes containing the bone powder particles. The lead screw lifting mechanism 4 moves the stage 3 fixed on the slide table 5 to the space between the uppermost metal mesh and the film frame 2. The light source system 7 projects the release film 112 on the film frame 2 onto the stage 3, thereby solidifying the slurry between the stage 3 and the release film 112 according to the projected shape, resulting in the first layer of the printed part. After the first layer is printed, the ultrasonic oscillation mechanism 104 stops oscillating, and the roller shutter mechanism 105 recovers the first metal mesh and the bone powder with the largest particle size located on the metal mesh. The outlet 9 at the bottom of the combined material tank 1 opens, causing the liquid level of the slurry to drop. The stage 3 moves the first layer of the printer downward along the Z-axis to the position between the first and second metal meshes. Then, the liftable wall 101 of the combined material tank 1 moves downward, so that the uppermost wall surface adheres to the second wall surface. Simultaneously, the film frame 2, fixed to the uppermost wall surface, also moves downward to the top of the second wall surface. The ultrasonic vibration mechanism 104 is activated again, causing the bone powder of each grade to be distributed in a suspended form within the space composed of the two adjacent metal mesh layers containing the bone powder particles, thus beginning the printing of the second layer of the print. This process is repeated layer by layer until a complete print is obtained on the stage, such as... Figure 6As shown, because the relative position of the printed part with respect to the light source remains unchanged on the horizontal plane during the printing process, the problems of low printing accuracy and low printing efficiency caused by the need to replace the material tank are solved.

[0030] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above descriptions are merely preferred examples of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing examples, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing examples or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features. All modifications and equivalent substitutions made within the spirit and principles of the invention should be included within the scope of protection of the invention.

Claims

1. A photopolymer gradient bone powder printer, characterized in that, It includes a combined material tank, film holder, stage, screw lifting mechanism, slide table, frame, light source system and base; The bottom of the combined material tank is arranged on the base, the screw lifting mechanism and the frame are located on one side of the combined material tank, the film frame is fixed to the top of the combined material tank, the light source system is fixed on the frame and located above the film frame; the platform is located below the film frame, and one end of the platform is fixed to the slide, the slide is threadedly connected to the screw of the screw lifting mechanism; the screw lifting mechanism drives the screw to rotate, thereby moving the slide and the platform fixed on the slide up and down in the combined material tank; The combined material pool includes a liftable pool wall, a metal mesh support, a metal mesh, and an ultrasonic vibration mechanism. The liftable pool wall is a stepped, multi-layered, retractable, nested wall, located on the outermost side of the entire combined material pool, and its bottom is fixed to the base. The film frame is fixed to the top layer of the liftable pool wall. The metal mesh support is located in the inner area enclosed by the liftable pool wall, and the metal mesh is detachably fixed to the metal mesh support. There are multiple metal meshes, and each metal mesh has a different aperture, with the aperture becoming smaller closer to the bottom of the combined material pool. The ultrasonic vibration mechanism is fixed to the base.

2. The photopolymer gradient bone powder printer according to claim 1, characterized in that, The combined material pool also includes a roller shutter mechanism, which is fixed to one side of the metal mesh support, and the roller shutter mechanism and the metal mesh correspond one-to-one.

3. The photopolymer gradient bone powder printer according to claim 2, characterized in that, The metal mesh includes a metal mesh surface and a metal mesh barrier. The metal mesh surface, as the main body of the metal mesh, can be rolled up by the roller shutter mechanism to form a barrel-shaped structure. The metal mesh barrier is located at the end of the metal mesh surface furthest from the roller shutter mechanism and is used to recover bone meal particles on the surface of the metal mesh surface together during the recycling process.

4. The photopolymer gradient bone powder printer according to claim 1, characterized in that, The film frame includes a release film fixing frame and a release film. The release film fixing frame has an opening in the middle, and the release film is fixed in the opening in the middle of the release film fixing frame. The light emitted by the light source system shines into the combined material pool through the release film.

5. The photopolymer gradient bone powder printer according to claim 1, characterized in that, The metal mesh support has a slot on its wall, and the metal mesh is detachably fixed to the slot by a mechanical clamping structure.

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