A powder recovery tank and a 3D printer for preventing powders from contaminating each other
By designing a powder recycling tank system for 3D metal printing, the problem of powder contamination when the scraper scrapes the metal powder, is solved, and the effect of improving the quality of metal products is achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411952241.6
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-12-27
- Publication Date
- 2025-04-04
AI Technical Summary
During the 3D metal printing process, the scraper easily scrapes the remaining powder into different cylinders when scraping the metal powder, causing mutual contamination of the powders and affecting the quality of metal products.
A recycling powder tank is designed to avoid mutual contamination of powders, including a powder tank body, a matrix through tank, a residual powder tank and a residual powder convergence tube. The residual powder is sucked out of the powder tank body from the residual powder tank through the powder guide member and a powder absorbing assembly to prevent the residual powder from flowing back.
It effectively avoids mutual contamination of powders during scraping, improves the quality of metal products, and ensures clean discharge of powder through continuous powder absorption operations.
Smart Images
Figure CN119747694A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of metal 3D printers, and in particular to a powder recovery tank and a 3D printer for avoiding mutual contamination of powders. Background Art
[0002] 3D metal printer is a scientific instrument used in physics, engineering and technology science, and mechanical engineering. It uses laser melting technology to melt metal powder to form functional solid parts. It can be used to print high-throughput metal materials. It is a fully digital rapid prototyping manufacturing process. It directly produces full high-density metal parts based on the interface data of three-dimensional CAD layering. The thickness of the melted metal layer ranges from 20 microns to 100 microns. When manufacturing parts, 3D printers need to first lay metal powder in the molding matrix cylinder, and use a scraper to evenly distribute the metal powder layer, and then melt each metal layer separately in a strictly controlled air environment to finally obtain a solid part.
[0003] In the related art, the matrix cylinder includes a plurality of cylinder bodies and a printer plate that is lifted and arranged in the cylinder body, and the space enclosed between the printer plate and the top of the cylinder body is the printing cavity. When the matrix cylinder is in use, the printer plate rises to a position close to the top of the cylinder body, and then the metal powder is laid in the printing cavity. A scraper is used to move from one end of the top surface of the matrix cylinder to the other end to scrape the surface metal powder in the printing cavity flat; then the printer plate is lowered to increase the space of the printing cavity, and the next layer of powder is laid in the vacant printing cavity. The scraper is used again to scrape the surface metal powder flat, and the metal powder is laid layer by layer and melted to finally form a metal solid part. However, different types of metal powders may be laid in different cylinder bodies. When the scraper scrapes the metal powder flat, it is easy to scrape the remaining powder into different cylinder bodies, resulting in mutual contamination of powder and affecting the quality of metal products. Summary of the invention
[0004] In order to improve the problem that when a scraper flattens metal powder, the remaining powder is easily scraped into different cylinders, resulting in mutual contamination of powder, and to improve the quality of metal products, the present application provides a powder recovery tank and a 3D printer for avoiding mutual contamination of powder.
[0005] In the first aspect, the present application provides a powder recovery tank for avoiding mutual contamination of powders, which adopts the following technical solution: A powder recovery trough for preventing powders from contaminating each other, comprising a powder trough body, the powder trough body being fixedly arranged on the top surface of a matrix cylinder used in conjunction with the powder trough body, the top surface of the powder trough body being provided with a matrix through groove, the matrix through groove comprising a plurality of unit through grooves, the unit through grooves being in one-to-one correspondence with the cylinder body of the matrix cylinder; A residual powder groove is provided on the peripheral side of each unit through groove, and the residual powder groove is provided on the top surface of the powder groove body; A residual powder gathering tube is arranged inside the powder trough body and near the bottom of the powder trough body, the residual powder gathering tube is arranged corresponding to the residual powder trough, and the residual powder gathering tube and the residual powder trough are correspondingly connected through a powder guide piece; a powder suction component is connected to the residual powder gathering tube, and an external driving source of the powder suction component is used to suck the powder in the residual powder gathering tube out of the powder trough body.
[0006] By adopting the above technical solution, before the matrix cylinder is used, the powder trough body of the present application is installed on the top surface of the matrix cylinder. When spreading the powder, the metal powder falls into the corresponding cylinder body after passing through the matrix through-slot from the top surface of the powder trough body. When scraping the powder, the scraper scrapes from the top surface of the powder trough body. In the actual powder spreading process, the amount of residual powder is not much, and the residual powder is scraped into the residual powder trough, and then falls into the residual powder collection tube at the bottom through the powder guide, and then the powder in the residual powder collection tube is sucked out of the powder trough body through the external driving source of the powder suction component. When the scraper is scraping the metal powder, the unit through-slots distributed in each matrix are divided into different materials. At the same time, it is not easy to scrape the residual powder into different cylinders, which improves the problem of mutual contamination of powder and helps to improve the quality of metal products.
[0007] Optionally, adjacent residual powder grooves are connected to each other, two side walls in the width direction of the residual powder groove are inclined, and the cross-section of the residual powder groove is in an inverted trapezoidal shape.
[0008] By adopting the above technical solution, the residual powder can be scraped into the residual powder groove more comprehensively, and the residual powder can be easily guided into the powder guide member.
[0009] Optionally, the residual powder collecting tubes are interconnected, and a plurality of powder suction interfaces are provided on the peripheral side of the matrix through grooves, and the powder suction interfaces are connected to the connection points of adjacent residual powder collecting tubes; The powder suction assembly includes multiple powder suction joints and multiple powder suction tubes. The powder suction joints are arranged inside one end of the powder trough body and are arranged in a column. The powder suction joints are externally connected to a driving source. The powder suction tube is connected to the powder suction interface through its own end or an extended branch pipe, and the end of the powder suction tube away from the matrix through groove is connected to the powder suction joint.
[0010] By adopting the above technical solution, when sucking powder, the driving source is started, such as the driving source adopts an air pump, and the residual powder in each residual powder collection tube is sucked out through the powder suction joint and the powder suction tube, which is conducive to the continuous spreading of powder and residual powder discharge. And through the setting of the powder suction interface, powder suction tube and branch pipe in this application, the comprehensiveness of the residual powder being sucked out of each residual powder collection tube can be improved. The powder suction joint is set inside one end of the powder tank body and arranged in a row, so that the powder tank body structure is centralized and neat.
[0011] Optionally, the outlet of the powder suction joint is arranged on the bottom surface of the powder trough body, and the inner wall of the powder suction joint is provided with threads.
[0012] By adopting the above technical solution, it is convenient to connect with an external driving source.
[0013] Optionally, the upper side of the residual powder gathering tube is gradually expanded, and the lower side of the residual powder gathering tube is square.
[0014] By adopting the above technical solution, it is convenient for the residual powder to enter the residual powder collecting pipe.
[0015] Optionally, the powder guide component is a Tesla valve and is provided in plurality, wherein the Tesla valves are arranged on the peripheral side of each unit through groove, the top end of the Tesla valve is connected to the residual powder groove, and the bottom end of the Tesla valve is connected to the residual powder gathering pipe; the direction of the residual powder groove toward the residual powder gathering pipe is the acceleration end of the Tesla valve, and the direction of the residual powder gathering pipe toward the residual powder groove is the inhibition end of the Tesla valve.
[0016] By adopting the above technical solution, the residual powder in the residual powder trough can smoothly enter the residual powder gathering tube from top to bottom, but the powder in the residual powder gathering tube is difficult to re-enter the residual powder trough from bottom to top, thereby preventing the residual powder from flowing back and causing powder cross-contamination, and further improving the mutual contamination problem caused by powder cross-contamination.
[0017] A 3D printer comprises the above-mentioned powder recovery tank for preventing powders from contaminating each other.
[0018] In summary, the present application includes at least one of the following beneficial technical effects: 1. When scraping the powder, the scraper scrapes from the top surface of the powder tank body. In the actual powder spreading process, the amount of residual powder is not much, and the residual powder is scraped into the residual powder tank, and then falls into the residual powder collection tube at the bottom through the powder guide. Then, the powder in the residual powder collection tube is sucked out of the powder tank body through the external driving source of the powder suction component, so that when the scraper is scraping the metal powder, it is not easy to scrape the residual powder into different cylinders, which improves the problem of mutual contamination of powder and helps to improve the quality of metal products; 2. The driving source is started. For example, if the driving source adopts an air pump, the residual powder in each residual powder collection tube is sucked out through the powder suction joint and the powder suction pipe, which is conducive to the continuous spreading of powder and residual powder discharge; and through the setting of the powder suction interface, powder suction pipe and branch pipe in this application, the comprehensiveness of the residual powder in each residual powder collection tube can be improved. The powder suction joint is set inside one end of the powder trough body and arranged in a row, so that the powder trough body structure is centralized and neat; 3. Through the setting of Tesla valve, the residual powder in the residual powder tank can smoothly enter the residual powder collection tube from top to bottom, but the powder in the residual powder collection tube is difficult to re-enter the residual powder tank from bottom to top, thereby preventing the residual powder from flowing back and causing powder cross-contamination, and further improving the mutual contamination problem caused by powder cross-contamination. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] Figure 1It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a powder recovery trough for avoiding mutual contamination of powders in an embodiment of the present application.
[0020] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Enlarged view of point A in the middle.
[0021] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram used to show the bottom surface of the powder tank body in the embodiment of the present application.
[0022] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure inside the powder tank body after the top surface of the powder tank body is hidden.
[0023] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure showing the periphery of the unit through slot after a portion of the powder slot body is cut off from the side.
[0024] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the Tesla valve used to illustrate the embodiment of the present application.
[0025] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the residual powder collection tube used to illustrate the embodiment of the present application.
[0026] Explanation of the reference numerals: 1. powder trough body; 2. matrix through-trough; 21. unit through-trough; 22. powder suction interface; 3. residual powder trough; 4. residual powder gathering pipe; 5. powder suction assembly; 51. powder suction joint; 52. powder suction pipe; 53. branch pipe; 6. Tesla valve. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] The following is combined with Figure 1-7 This application is described in further detail.
[0028] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses a powder recovery trough for preventing powders from contaminating each other.
[0029] Reference Figure 1-4 , used to avoid mutual contamination of powders, a powder recovery tank includes a powder tank body 1, which is fixed by bolts on the top surface of a matrix cylinder used in conjunction with the powder tank body 1, and a matrix through groove 2 is provided on the top surface of the powder tank body 1, and the matrix through groove 2 includes a plurality of unit through grooves 21, and the unit through grooves 21 are connected to the cylinder body of the matrix cylinder in a one-to-one correspondence. The matrix through groove 2 of the embodiment of the present application is provided with five rows and five columns, with a total of 25 unit through grooves 21. A residual powder groove 3 is provided on the circumferential side of each unit through groove 21, and the residual powder groove 3 is provided on the top surface of the powder tank body 1.
[0030] Reference Figure 5-7A residual powder gathering tube 4 is arranged inside the powder trough body 1 and near the bottom of the powder trough body 1. The residual powder gathering tube 4 is arranged corresponding to the residual powder trough 3, and the residual powder gathering tube 4 and the residual powder trough 3 are correspondingly connected through a powder guide piece; a powder suction component 5 is connected to the residual powder gathering tube 4, and the powder suction component 5 is externally connected to a driving source for sucking the powder in the residual powder gathering tube 4 out of the powder trough body 1.
[0031] Before using the matrix cylinder, the powder tank body 1 of the present application is installed on the top surface of the matrix cylinder. When spreading the powder, the metal powder falls into the corresponding cylinder body from the top surface of the powder tank body 1 through the matrix through groove 2. When scraping the powder, the scraper scrapes from the top surface of the powder tank body 1. In the actual spreading process, the amount of residual powder is not much, and the residual powder is scraped into the residual powder tank 3, and then falls into the residual powder collection tube 4 at the bottom through the powder guide, and then the powder suction component 5 is connected to the external driving source to suck the powder in the residual powder collection tube 4 out of the powder tank body 1. When the scraper is scraping the metal powder, it is not easy to scrape the residual powder into different cylinders, which improves the problem of mutual contamination of powder, and helps to improve the quality of metal products.
[0032] Referring to 5-7, the powder guide is a Tesla valve 6 and multiple Tesla valves 6 are provided. The Tesla valves 6 are arranged around each unit through groove 21. The top of the Tesla valve 6 is connected to the residual powder groove 3, and the bottom of the Tesla valve 6 is connected to the residual powder gathering tube 4. The direction of the residual powder groove 3 toward the residual powder gathering tube 4 is the acceleration end of the Tesla valve 6, and the direction of the residual powder gathering tube 4 toward the residual powder groove 3 is the suppression end of the Tesla valve 6. The residual powder in the residual powder groove 3 can smoothly enter the residual powder gathering tube 4 from top to bottom, but the powder in the residual powder gathering tube 4 is difficult to re-enter the residual powder groove 3 from bottom to top, thereby preventing the residual powder from flowing back and causing powder channeling, and further improving the mutual contamination problem caused by powder channeling.
[0033] Reference Figure 2 and Figure 4 , adjacent residual powder grooves 3 are interconnected, and the two side walls of the residual powder groove 3 in the width direction are inclined. The cross-section of the residual powder groove 3 is set in an inverted trapezoidal shape, which can make the residual powder scraped into the residual powder groove 3 more comprehensively and facilitate the residual powder to enter the powder guide. The residual powder collection tubes 4 are interconnected, and a plurality of powder suction interfaces 22 are provided on the peripheral side of the matrix through groove 2, and the powder suction interface 22 is connected to the connection of adjacent residual powder collection tubes 4. The powder suction component 5 includes a plurality of powder suction joints 51 and a plurality of powder suction pipes 52. The powder suction joints 51 are arranged inside one end of the powder groove body 1 and arranged in a column. The powder suction joints 51 are externally connected to a driving source; the powder suction pipes 52 are connected to the powder suction interface 22 through their own ends or extending branch pipes 53, and the end of the powder suction pipes 52 away from the matrix through groove 2 is connected to the powder suction joint 51.
[0034] When sucking powder, the driving source is started, such as the driving source adopts an air pump, and the residual powder in each residual powder collection tube 4 is sucked out through the powder suction joint 51 and the powder suction pipe 52, which is conducive to the continuous spreading of powder and residual powder discharge. And through the setting of the powder suction interface 22, the powder suction pipe 52 and the branch pipe 53 in the present application, the comprehensiveness of the residual powder being sucked out of each residual powder collection tube 4 can be improved. The powder suction joint 51 is set inside one end of the powder tank body 1 and arranged in a row, so that the structure of the powder tank body 1 is centralized and neat.
[0035] Reference Figure 3 and Figure 7 The outlet of the powder suction joint 51 is arranged on the bottom surface of the powder tank body 1, and the inner wall of the powder suction joint 51 is provided with threads, so as to facilitate docking with an external driving source. The upper side of the residual powder collection tube 4 is gradually expanded, and the lower side of the residual powder collection tube 4 is square, so as to facilitate the residual powder to enter the residual powder collection tube 4.
[0036] A 3D printer comprises the above-mentioned powder recovery tank for preventing powders from contaminating each other.
[0037] The implementation principle of the powder recovery trough for avoiding mutual contamination of powders in the embodiment of the present application is as follows: before the matrix cylinder is used, the powder trough body 1 of the present application is installed on the top surface of the matrix cylinder. When spreading the powder, the metal powder falls into the corresponding cylinder body after passing through the matrix through groove 2 from the top surface of the powder trough body 1. When scraping the powder, the scraper scrapes from the top surface of the powder trough body 1, and the remaining powder is scraped into the remaining powder trough 3, and then falls into the remaining powder collection tube 4 at the bottom through the Tesla valve 6. At this time, the driving source is started, and the remaining powder in each remaining powder collection tube 4 is continuously sucked out through the powder suction joint 51 and the powder suction tube 52. When the scraper is scraping the metal powder, it is not easy to scrape the remaining powder into different cylinder bodies, which improves the problem of mutual contamination of powder and helps to improve the quality of metal products.
[0038] The above are all preferred embodiments of the present application, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Therefore, any equivalent changes made according to the structure, shape, and principle of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.
Claims
1. A powder recovery tank for preventing powders from contaminating each other, characterized in that: The powder trough body (1) is fixedly arranged on the top surface of a matrix cylinder used in conjunction with the powder trough body (1), and a matrix through groove (2) is provided on the top surface of the powder trough body (1). The matrix through groove (2) includes a plurality of unit through grooves (21), and the unit through grooves (21) are connected to the cylinder body of the matrix cylinder in a one-to-one correspondence. A residual powder groove (3) is provided on the peripheral side of each unit through groove (21), and the residual powder groove (3) is provided on the top surface of the powder groove body (1); A residual powder collecting pipe (4) is arranged inside the powder trough body (1) and near the bottom of the powder trough body (1); the residual powder collecting pipe (4) is arranged corresponding to the residual powder trough (3); the residual powder collecting pipe (4) and the residual powder trough (3) are connected to each other via a powder guide piece; a powder suction component (5) is connected to the residual powder collecting pipe (4); the powder suction component (5) is externally connected to a driving source for sucking powder in the residual powder collecting pipe (4) out of the powder trough body (1).
2. A powder recovery tank for avoiding mutual contamination of powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: Adjacent residual powder grooves (3) are connected to each other, two side walls in the width direction of the residual powder groove (3) are arranged obliquely, and the cross section of the residual powder groove (3) is arranged in an inverted trapezoidal shape.
3. A powder recovery tank for avoiding mutual contamination of powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The residual powder collecting pipes (4) are connected to each other, and a plurality of powder suction interfaces (22) are provided on the peripheral side of the matrix through groove (2), and the powder suction interfaces (22) are connected to the connection points of adjacent residual powder collecting pipes (4); The powder suction assembly (5) comprises a plurality of powder suction joints (51) and a plurality of powder suction pipes (52); the powder suction joints (51) are arranged inside one end of the powder tank body (1) and arranged in a row; the powder suction joints (51) are externally connected to a driving source; the powder suction pipes (52) are connected to the powder suction interface (22) through their own ends or extended branches (53); and one end of the powder suction pipes (52) away from the matrix through slots (2) is connected to the powder suction joints (51).
4. A powder recovery tank for avoiding mutual contamination of powders according to claim 3, characterized in that: The outlet of the powder suction joint (51) is arranged on the bottom surface of the powder tank body (1), and the inner wall of the powder suction joint (51) is provided with threads.
5. The powder recovery tank for avoiding mutual contamination of powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper side of the residual powder gathering tube (4) is gradually expanded, and the lower side of the residual powder gathering tube (4) is square.
6. A powder recovery tank for avoiding mutual contamination of powders according to claim 1, characterized in that: The powder guide member is a Tesla valve (6) and is provided in plurality. The Tesla valve (6) is arranged on the peripheral side of each unit through groove (21). The top end of the Tesla valve (6) is connected to the residual powder groove (3), and the bottom end of the Tesla valve (6) is connected to the residual powder gathering pipe (4). The direction of the residual powder groove (3) toward the residual powder gathering pipe (4) is the acceleration end of the Tesla valve (6), and the direction of the residual powder gathering pipe (4) toward the residual powder groove (3) is the suppression end of the Tesla valve (6).
7. A 3D printer, characterized in that: The invention comprises a powder recovery trough for avoiding mutual contamination of powders as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.