Powder spreading device of 3D metal printer

Abstract

The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer comprises a supporting table and lead screw assemblies, the lead screw assemblies are arranged on the upper portions of the two sides of the supporting table, a movable supporting frame is arranged above the supporting table, and the bottoms of the two ends of the movable supporting frame are fixed to the output ends of the lead screw assemblies. A supporting plate is arranged in the movable supporting frame, and a discharging opening is formed in the supporting plate in a carrying mode. Through the design of the tiltable powder scraping plate, redundant powder can be pushed to the two sides of a powder pile while powder is scraped, cleaning is convenient, and through cooperation with the liftable discharging scraping plates on the two sides, the powder can be pushed into the powder discharging groove when the redundant powder is pushed to the powder laying tables on the two sides of the powder pile, so that the powder can be conveyed into the powder discharging groove under the guiding of the material guiding bottom sleeve, and the powder can be conveyed to the powder pile through the powder discharging groove. The powder spreading device is convenient to adapt to powder piles of different sizes, and the problem that when an existing spreading device is used for spreading powder, redundant powder is inconvenient to clean and recover in time is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of powder spreading devices, and in particular to a powder spreading device for a 3D metal printer. Background Art

[0002] The function of 3D printer powder spreading is to spread the powder material on the upper surface of the formed part and heat it to a temperature just below the sintering point of the powder. The control system controls the laser beam to scan the powder layer according to the cross-sectional contour of the layer, so that the temperature of the powder rises to the melting point, sintering and bonding with the formed part below. The powder spreading process is a key step to ensure that each layer can be evenly and accurately sintered by the laser. By precisely controlling the thickness and uniformity of the powder spreading, the quality and accuracy of the final 3D printed product can be guaranteed.

[0003] When spreading powder, a common problem is that the surface of the powder pile is uneven due to uneven powder distribution. Although the traditional powder spreading device is equipped with a powder scraping structure, which can flatten the excess powder on the surface of the powder pile, it is unable to replenish the powder on the surface of the powder pile that is short of powder. It is a large workload to flatten all the parts short of powder, and it is also more wasteful of powder, resulting in a large amount of material preparation during printing. Moreover, after the corresponding powder is pushed to one end of the printing table, it cannot be separated from the powder pile, resulting in the inability to clean up and recycle the excess powder in time. Based on this, the present invention designs a powder spreading device for a 3D metal printer to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a powder spreading device for a 3D metal printer to solve the problem that the powder spreading device of the existing 3D metal printer proposed in the above background technology is inconvenient to handle the powder-deficient parts on the surface of the powder pile during use and the excess powder is inconvenient to clean and recycle in time.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: a powder spreading device for a 3D metal printer, comprising a support platform and a screw assembly, the screw assemblies are arranged on the upper parts of both sides of the support platform, a movable support frame is arranged above the support platform, and the bottoms of both ends of the movable support frame are fixed on the output end of the screw assembly, a support plate is arranged inside the movable support frame, and a feeding port is mounted on the support plate, a powder spreading platform is fixed inside the support platform, and a powder collecting assembly is arranged inside the support platform outside the powder spreading platform, and a powder scraping assembly is arranged on the side of the support plate;

[0006] The powder scraping assembly includes an adjustment plate 1 and a powder scraping plate. The adjustment plate 1 is symmetrically fixed on the side of the support plate, and a movable screw is slidably sleeved inside the adjustment plate 1. The movable screws at the bottom of the two adjustment plates 1 are threadedly sleeved with a fixing nut 1, and the bottom surfaces of the two movable screws are fixed with powder scraping plates for scraping off excess powder on the surface of the powder pile.

[0007] Preferably, the powder scraping assembly also includes an adjusting plate 2 and a material scraping plate. The ends of the two adjusting plates 1 away from the support plate are fixed on the adjusting plate 2, and the support sleeves are symmetrically slidably sleeved inside the adjusting plate 2. A servo cylinder is provided on the top surface of the support sleeve, and the output rod of the servo cylinder slides through the bottom of the support sleeve and is fixed with the material scraping plate. The two support sleeves on the bottom surface of the adjusting plate 2 are both threaded with fixing nuts 2.

[0008] Preferably, the powder collecting assembly includes a lower powder trough, a material guiding bottom sleeve and a powder outlet, the material guiding bottom sleeve is fixed through the bottom surface of the support platform, the outer surface of the powder spreading platform and the inner wall of the support platform form a lower powder trough for collecting excess powder inside the material guiding bottom sleeve, a number of fixing rods are fixed equidistantly between the outer surface of the powder spreading platform and the inner wall of the support platform, the material guiding bottom sleeve is configured to be an inverted hopper shape, the material guiding bottom sleeve is fixed through the bottom surface of the support platform, and the powder outlet is fixed through the bottom surface of the material guiding bottom sleeve.

[0009] Preferably, a placement groove is provided at the bottom of the powder spreading table, and a vibration generator is arranged at one end inside the placement groove, a conduction rod is fixed to the output end of the vibration generator, and the end of the conduction rod is symmetrically fixed to the top surface inside the placement groove.

[0010] Preferably, a fixed slot is provided inside the support platform below the placement slot, and a filter frame is slidably inserted inside the fixed slot, and a filter net is fixed on the bottom surface of the filter frame to filter excess impurities in the powder.

[0011] Preferably, a handle is fixed at the middle of one end of the filter frame extending to the outside of the support platform, support rods are fixed to the outer surface of the support platform above both ends of the outer side of the filter frame, and limiting clamps are rotatably sleeved on the support rods.

[0012] Preferably, the length of the interior of the filter frame is greater than the length of the interior of the lower powder trough, the width of the interior of the filter frame is greater than the width of the interior of the lower powder trough, and the two support rods are both arranged in a transversely placed "T" shape.

[0013] Preferably, the two adjustment plates are provided with a slide groove cooperating with the movable screw, the two movable screws are arranged in an "I" shape, and the lengths of the two powder scraping plates are greater than half of the width of the powder spreading platform.

[0014] Preferably, the length of the second adjustment plate is greater than the width of the powder spreading platform, the length of each of the material unloading scrapers is equal to half the width of the powder spreading platform, and the height of the material unloading scrapers is less than the height of the powder scraping plate.

[0015] Preferably, the support sleeve is configured as a hollow "I" shape that cooperates with the second adjustment plate, the second adjustment plate is configured as a hollow rectangle that cooperates with the support sleeve, and the outer sides of both ends of the two unloading scrapers are configured to be inclined.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0017] (1) The present invention uses two staggered powder scraping plates to scrape the powder from the surface of the powder pile when the powder is applied, thereby avoiding uneven powder on the surface of the powder pile. In addition, defects encountered during the pushing process to both sides can be filled. In conjunction with the vibration generator at the bottom, defects such as hollowness in the powder pile can be avoided when the powder is piled up. This solves the problem that the powder laying device of the existing 3D metal printer is inconvenient to handle the powder-deficient areas on the surface of the powder pile during use, thereby improving the uniformity of the powder laying.

[0018] (2) The tiltable powder scraper plate design can push excess powder to both sides of the powder pile while scraping the powder, making it easier to clean. Combined with the liftable unloading scrapers on both sides, when the excess powder is pushed to the powder spreading tables on both sides of the powder pile, the powder can be pushed into the lower powder trough, so that the powder can be discharged through the powder outlet under the guidance of the material guide bottom sleeve, thereby recovering the excess powder. It is also convenient to adapt to powder piles of different sizes, solving the problem that it is inconvenient to clean and recover the excess powder in time when the existing laying device is spreading the powder.

[0019] (3) The powder pushed down can be filtered through the filter net at the bottom of the lower powder trough to avoid impurities in the excess powder during collection, so that the filtered powder can be directly recycled. At the same time, the pull-out design of the filter frame facilitates the cleaning of filtered impurities, further improving the convenience of maintenance of the powder spreading device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other accompanying drawings can be obtained based on these accompanying drawings without paying creative work.

[0021] Figure 1 It is a right side schematic diagram of the powder spreading device structure of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 It is a left side schematic diagram of the powder spreading device structure of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 It is a bottom view schematic diagram of the powder spreading device structure of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 This is a schematic front view of the structure of the support platform of the present invention when cleaning;

[0025] Figure 5 This is a bottom view schematic diagram of the structure of the support platform of the present invention when cleaning;

[0026] Figure 6 It is a front view schematic diagram of the powder scraping assembly structure of the present invention.

[0027] In the accompanying drawings, the components represented by the reference numerals are listed as follows:

[0028] 1-support table, 2-screw assembly, 3-movable support frame, 4-support plate, 5-feeding port, 6-powder spreading table, 7-powder feeding trough, 8-material guide bottom sleeve, 9-powder outlet, 10-fixed rod, 11-fixed slot, 12-filter frame, 13-filter net, 14-support rod, 15-limiting card plate, 16-placing slot, 17-vibration generator, 18-conduction rod, 19-adjusting plate 1, 20-adjusting plate 2, 21-movable screw, 22-powder scraper plate, 23-fixing nut 1, 24-support sleeve, 25-servo cylinder, 26-feeding scraper plate, 27-fixing nut 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. 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 creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] See also Figure 1-6 The present invention provides a technical solution: a powder spreading device for a 3D metal printer, comprising a support platform 1 and a screw assembly 2, the screw assemblies 2 are arranged on the upper parts of both sides of the support platform 1, a mobile support frame 3 is arranged above the support platform 1, and the bottoms of both ends of the mobile support frame 3 are fixed on the output ends of the screw assembly 2, a support plate 4 is arranged inside the mobile support frame 3, and a feed opening 5 is mounted on the support plate 4, a powder spreading platform 6 is fixed inside the support platform 1, and a powder collecting assembly is arranged inside the support platform 1 outside the powder spreading platform 6, and a powder scraping assembly is arranged on the side of the support plate 4;

[0031] The powder scraping assembly includes an adjusting plate 19 and a powder scraping plate 22. The adjusting plates 19 are symmetrically fixed on the side of the support plate 4, and the inside of the adjusting plates 19 is slidably sleeved with moving screws 21. The moving screws 21 at the bottom of the two adjusting plates 19 are threadedly sleeved with fixing nuts 23. The bottom surfaces of the two moving screws 21 are fixed with powder scraping plates 22 for scraping off excess powder on the surface of the powder pile.

[0032] Among them, a placement groove 16 is opened at the bottom of the powder spreading table 6, and a vibration generator 17 is arranged at one end inside the placement groove 16, a conduction rod 18 is fixed to the output end of the vibration generator 17, and the end of the conduction rod 18 is symmetrically fixed to the top surface inside the placement groove 16, and two adjustment plates 19 are opened inside to cooperate with the movable screw 21, so that the movable screw 21 can slide and adjust the position inside the adjustment plate 19 conveniently, and the two movable screws 21 are both set to be "I" shape to avoid the movable screw 21 from being separated from the fixed nut 23 and the adjustment plate 19, and the length of the two powder scraping plates 22 is greater than half of the width of the powder spreading table 6, so as to ensure that the powder scraping plates 22 can completely cover the powder pile.

[0033] See also Figure 1-6 The powder scraping assembly also includes an adjusting plate 20 and a material scraper 26. The ends of the two adjusting plates 19 away from the support plate 4 are fixed on the adjusting plate 20, and the adjusting plate 20 is symmetrically slidably sleeved with a support sleeve 24 inside. The top surface of the support sleeve 24 is provided with a servo cylinder 25, and the output rod of the servo cylinder 25 is slidably penetrated to the bottom of the support sleeve 24 and fixed with the material scraper 26. The two support sleeves 24 on the bottom surface of the adjusting plate 20 are both threaded with a fixing nut 27.

[0034] Among them, the length of the adjustment plate 20 is greater than the width of the powder spreading platform 6, ensuring that the unloading scraper 26 can be moved to both sides of the powder pile. The length of each unloading scraper 26 is equal to half of the width of the powder spreading platform 6, which is convenient for the unloading scraper 26 to adapt to powder piles of different widths, and the height of the unloading scraper 26 is less than the height of the powder scraper plate 22, avoiding the unloading scraper 26 affecting the normal movement of the powder scraper plate 22. The support sleeve 24 is set to a hollow "I" shape that cooperates with the adjustment plate 20 to avoid the support sleeve 24 from being separated from the adjustment plate 20 and the fixing nut 27, and ensuring that the servo cylinder 25 output rod can pass through the support sleeve 24. The adjustment plate 20 is set to a hollow rectangle that cooperates with the support sleeve 24, which is convenient for the servo cylinder 25 output rod to drive the unloading scraper 26 to move up and down, and the outer sides of both ends of the two unloading scrapers 26 are set to be inclined.

[0035] See also Figure 1-6 The powder collecting component includes a lower powder trough 7, a material guiding bottom sleeve 8 and a powder outlet 9. The material guiding bottom sleeve 8 is fixed through the bottom surface of the support platform 1. The outer surface of the powder spreading platform 6 and the inner wall of the support platform 1 form a lower powder trough 7 for collecting excess powder inside the material guiding bottom sleeve 8. A number of fixed rods 10 are fixed equidistantly between the outer surface of the powder spreading platform 6 and the inner wall of the support platform 1. The material guiding bottom sleeve 8 is configured to be an inverted hopper shape. The material guiding bottom sleeve 8 is fixed through the bottom surface of the support platform 1, and the powder outlet 9 is fixed through the bottom surface of the material guiding bottom sleeve 8.

[0036] Among them, a fixed slot 11 is opened inside the support platform 1 below the placement groove 16, and a filter frame 12 is slidably inserted inside the fixed slot 11, and a handle is fixed at the middle of one end of the filter frame 12 extending to the outside of the support platform 1. After the powder enters the filter frame 12, the impurities are filtered by the filter screen 13 and collected inside the filter frame 12, which is convenient for pulling the filter frame 12. Support rods 14 are fixed to the outer surface of the support platform 1 above the two ends of the outer side of the filter frame 12, and a limiting card plate 15 is rotatably sleeved on the support rod 14. A filter screen 13 is fixed to the bottom surface of the interior of the filter frame 12 for filtering excess impurities in the powder. The length of the interior of the filter frame 12 is greater than the length of the interior of the lower powder groove 7, and the width of the interior of the filter frame 12 is greater than the width of the interior of the lower powder groove 7. The two support rods 14 are both arranged to be horizontally placed in a "T" shape, so that the limiting card plate 15 can rotate on the support rod 14 without being separated from the support rod 14.

[0037] The overall working principle is that when spreading powder, the screw assembly 2 drives the mobile support frame 3 to move, and the mobile support frame 3 moves to spread powder through the support plate 4, and the powder is spread on the top surface of the powder spreading platform 6. The mobile support frame 3 drives the powder scraper plate 22 to move during the powder spreading process, so that the powder scraper plate 22 scrapes the surface of the powder pile flat, and the powder scraper plate 22 rises and falls with the mobile support frame 3, which can ensure that the powder scraper plate 22 always levels the top layer of powder. Before scraping powder, screw the fixing nut 23 so that the fixing nut 23 clamps the adjusting plate 19. After the tight fixation is released, the scraper plate 22 can be rotated and moved to adjust the position of the scraper plate 22. After the adjustment is completed, the fixing nut 23 is screwed out and the adjusting plate 19 is clamped again. When the two scraper plates 22 are in an "eight" shape, the excess powder moves to both sides of the powder pile under the guidance of the scraper plates 22. At this time, the servo cylinder 25 drives the unloading scraper plate 26 to move downward, so that the bottom surface of the unloading scraper plate 26 is always in contact with the top surface of the powder spreading table 6. At this time, under the action of the inner side of the unloading scraper plate 26, the excess powder is scraped to the inside of the unloading powder trough 7, and the unloading scraper plate 2 6 Before use, screw the fixing nut 27 to release the clamping of the adjusting plate 20 by the fixing nut 27, and then move the support sleeve 24, so as to adjust the distance between the two material scrapers 26 according to the width of the powder pile. After the adjustment is completed, the fixing nut 27 is clamped and fixed. After the excess powder enters the powder trough 7, it is filtered through the filter screen 13 and is discharged from the powder outlet 9 through the guide bottom sleeve 8 to complete the collection. When spreading the powder, turn on the vibration generator 17, and the vibration is evenly transmitted to the powder spreading through the conduction rod 18. The filter frame 12 can be pulled out, and the impurities filtered on the surface of the filter screen 13 can be poured out. The filter frame 12 can then be reinserted into the fixed slot 11, and the limiting card plate 15 can be released, so that the limiting card plate 15 can be rotated to the side of the filter frame 12 and limit it under the action of the center of gravity.

[0038] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "example", "specific example", etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representation of the above terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described can be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0039] The preferred embodiments of the present invention disclosed above are only used to help illustrate the present invention. The preferred embodiments do not describe all the details in detail, nor do they limit the invention to the specific implementation methods described. Obviously, many modifications and changes can be made according to the content of this specification. This specification selects and specifically describes these embodiments in order to better explain the principles and practical applications of the present invention, so that those skilled in the art can understand and use the present invention well. The present invention is limited only by the claims and their full scope and equivalents.

Claims

1. A powder spreading device for a 3D metal printer, comprising a support platform (1) and a lead screw assembly (2), wherein the lead screw assembly (2) is arranged on the upper parts of both sides of the support platform (1), a movable support frame (3) is arranged above the support platform (1), and the bottoms of both ends of the movable support frame (3) are fixed on the output ends of the lead screw assembly (2), characterized in that: A support plate (4) is arranged inside the movable support frame (3), and a material discharge port (5) is mounted on the support plate (4); a powder spreading platform (6) is fixed inside the support platform (1), and a powder collecting component is arranged inside the support platform (1) outside the powder spreading platform (6); and a powder scraping component is arranged on the side of the support plate (4); The powder scraping assembly comprises an adjusting plate (19) and a powder scraping plate (22). The adjusting plate (19) is symmetrically fixed on the side of the support plate (4), and a moving screw (21) is slidably sleeved inside the adjusting plate (19). The moving screws (21) at the bottom of the two adjusting plates (19) are threadedly sleeved with a fixing nut (23). The bottom surfaces of the two moving screws (21) are fixed with a powder scraping plate (22) for scraping off excess powder on the surface of the powder pile.

2. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The powder scraping assembly also includes an adjustment plate 2 (20) and a material scraping plate (26). The ends of the two adjustment plates 1 (19) away from the support plate (4) are fixed on the adjustment plate 2 (20), and the adjustment plate 2 (20) is symmetrically slidably sleeved with a support sleeve (24). The top surface of the support sleeve (24) is provided with a servo cylinder (25), and the output rod of the servo cylinder (25) is slidably penetrated to the bottom of the support sleeve (24) and fixed with a material scraping plate (26). The two support sleeves (24) on the bottom surface of the adjustment plate 2 (20) are threadedly sleeved with fixing nuts 2 (27).

3. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The powder collecting assembly comprises a lower powder trough (7), a material guiding bottom sleeve (8) and a powder outlet (9); the material guiding bottom sleeve (8) is fixedly connected to the bottom surface of the support platform (1); the outer surface of the powder spreading platform (6) and the inner wall of the support platform (1) form a lower powder trough (7) for collecting excess powder inside the material guiding bottom sleeve (8); a plurality of fixing rods (10) are fixedly connected at equal distances between the outer surface of the powder spreading platform (6) and the inner wall of the support platform (1); the material guiding bottom sleeve (8) is configured to be in an inverted hopper shape; the material guiding bottom sleeve (8) is fixedly connected to the bottom surface of the support platform (1); and the powder outlet (9) is fixedly connected to the bottom surface of the material guiding bottom sleeve (8).

4. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom of the powder spreading table (6) is provided with a placement groove (16), and a vibration generator (17) is arranged at one end inside the placement groove (16). A conduction rod (18) is fixed to the output end of the vibration generator (17), and the end of the conduction rod (18) is symmetrically fixed to the top surface inside the placement groove (16).

5. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 4, characterized in that: A fixed slot (11) is provided inside the support platform (1) below the placement slot (16), and a filter frame (12) is slidably inserted inside the fixed slot (11). A filter net (13) is fixed on the bottom surface of the filter frame (12) for filtering excess impurities in the powder.

6. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 5, characterized in that: A handle is fixed at the middle of one end of the filter frame (12) extending to the outside of the support platform (1), support rods (14) are fixed to the outer surface of the support platform (1) above the two ends of the outside of the filter frame (12), and a limit clamping plate (15) is rotatably sleeved on the support rods (14).

7. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 6, characterized in that: The length of the interior of the filter frame (12) is greater than the length of the interior of the lower powder trough (7), the width of the interior of the filter frame (12) is greater than the width of the interior of the lower powder trough (7), and the two support rods (14) are both arranged in a transversely placed "T" shape.

8. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 1, characterized in that: The two adjusting plates (19) are provided with a slide groove cooperating with the moving screw (21), the two moving screws (21) are both arranged in an "I" shape, and the length of the two powder scraping plates (22) is greater than half of the width of the powder spreading platform (6).

9. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The length of the second adjustment plate (20) is greater than the width of the powder spreading platform (6), the length of each of the material discharging scrapers (26) is equal to half the width of the powder spreading platform (6), and the height of the material discharging scrapers (26) is less than the height of the powder scraping plate (22).

10. The powder spreading device of the 3D metal printer according to claim 2, characterized in that: The support sleeve (24) is configured to be a hollow "I" shape that matches the second adjustment plate (20), the second adjustment plate (20) is configured to be a hollow rectangle that matches the support sleeve (24), and the outer sides of both ends of the two material removal scrapers (26) are configured to be inclined.

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