An aerosol jet printing device and method with high on-off responsiveness

Abstract

The application belongs to the field of additive manufacturing, and discloses an aerosol jet printing device and method with high start-stop responsiveness. The jet printing device comprises a device body, an upper part of the device body being provided with a carrier gas inlet, an aerosol outlet and a sheath gas inlet, an internal sheath gas chamber being arranged, the carrier gas inlet and the aerosol outlet being communicated to form a carrier gas flow channel, and the sheath gas inlet being communicated with the sheath gas chamber to form a sheath gas channel; the sheath gas chamber is communicated with the carrier gas flow channel, and a communication intersection forms a gas collecting chamber; a sliding cavity and an aerosol lower flow channel are arranged in a lower part of the device body, a start-stop valve is arranged in the sliding cavity and located between the carrier gas flow channel and the aerosol lower flow channel, and an outlet of the aerosol lower flow channel is provided with a deposition nozzle; a first channel and a second channel are arranged in the start-stop valve, and an outlet of the second channel is provided with a recovery nozzle with a direction different from that of the outlet of the deposition nozzle. The application can realize rapid switching of an aerosol flow path in the jet printing device, and further realize high-precision start-stop control of an aerosol beam.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of additive manufacturing, and more particularly, to an aerosol jet printing device and method with high start-stop responsiveness. BACKGROUND

[0002] Aerosol jet printing technology is a new non-contact additive manufacturing technology. Compared with traditional screen printing, inkjet printing, micro-pen direct writing and other technologies, aerosol jet printing technology has the advantages of high manufacturing precision, wide range of raw material viscosity, high utilization rate, etc., and therefore has great application prospects in the field of printed electronics, etc. It has been successfully applied to the manufacturing of electronic components such as conformal antennas, radio frequency circuits, micro sensors, etc.

[0003] The printing accuracy of aerosol jet printing technology is related to the response of the start-stop control of the printing process in addition to the line deposition accuracy caused by the printing process. The stopping of the aerosol jet printing process is generally achieved by cutting off the aerosol beam, and the typical method is to use an external mechanical shutter with a response time of about 2 ms. The main working process is as follows: when the aerosol beam is cut off, the system sends an electrical signal to the shutter control system to move the shutter directly below the nozzle to cut off the aerosol beam and prevent it from depositing on the substrate surface; when printing starts, the external shutter is moved away from the aerosol beam to achieve the deposition of the aerosol beam on the substrate surface. This scheme has many problems: first, the aerosol beam will impact the mechanical shutter, and the impacted aerosol particles may be scattered in multiple directions, causing contamination of the substrate; second, the physical shutter has a limited area, and due to the repeated start-stop of the shutter, the inertia during acceleration and deceleration may cause the residual material on the shutter to leak or be thrown onto the substrate, causing contamination; third, the presence of the external shutter requires the distance between the nozzle and the substrate to be > 5 mm during printing, which exceeds the optimal focusing height of the aerosol beam, and to some extent, affects the forming accuracy of the printed line; finally, the large volume of the shutter control system is distributed on the side of the nozzle, which greatly limits the application of aerosol jet printing technology on irregular curved substrates. Another type of aerosol beam cutting-off scheme is to use internal pneumatic blocking. For example, Chinese patent documents CN116320818A and CN111655382B use internal flow channel design, combined with a pneumatic switching valve and a corresponding control system, to make the aerosol beam turn inside the printing head when printing is stopped, thereby cutting off the aerosol beam. However, the above scheme has the following problems: when the aerosol beam is cut off, the turned sheath gas enters from the sheath plenum port at the bottom of the converging chamber, which reverses the aerosol beam and also causes some sheath gas to be ejected from the nozzle, which may affect the printed pattern; in addition, the sheath gas (and pre-sheath gas) entering from the sheath plenum port reverses the aerosol beam, which may cause changes in the pressure distribution in the flow channel of the printing head, thereby affecting the response time and pattern printing quality when the aerosol jet printing is restarted. SUMMARY

[0004] In view of the defects of the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide an aerosol jet printing device and method with high start-stop response, which aims to solve the problems of complex structure, low start-stop response and poor pattern printing quality of existing aerosol jet printing devices.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the application provides an aerosol jet printing device with high start-stop responsiveness, which comprises a device body and a start-stop valve, an upper part of the device body is provided with a carrier gas inlet, an aerosol outlet and a sheath gas inlet, a sheath gas chamber is arranged in the device body, the carrier gas inlet and the aerosol outlet are communicated to form a carrier gas flow channel, and the sheath gas inlet is communicated with the sheath gas chamber to form a sheath gas channel; the sheath gas chamber is communicated with the carrier gas flow channel, and a converging chamber is formed at the communication intersection; a sliding cavity and an aerosol lower flow channel are arranged in a lower part of the device body, the start-stop valve is arranged in the sliding cavity and located between the carrier gas flow channel and the aerosol lower flow channel, and an outlet of the aerosol lower flow channel is provided with a deposition nozzle; a first channel and a second channel are arranged in the start-stop valve, an outlet of the second channel is provided with a recovery nozzle, and the recovery nozzle is oriented in a direction different from that of the deposition nozzle; the start-stop valve can be positively translated to sequentially connect the carrier gas flow channel, the first channel, the aerosol lower flow channel and the deposition nozzle to jet print aerosol, and to block the inlet of the second channel by the device body; and the start-stop valve can be reversely translated to connect the carrier gas flow channel, the second channel and the recovery nozzle to recover aerosol, and to block the first channel by the device body to stop jet printing.

[0006] Compared with the prior art, the above technical scheme conceived by the application has the advantages that the start-stop valve capable of moving quickly is arranged in the jet printing device, the aerosol flow path is quickly switched in the jet printing head, and high responsiveness start-stop control of the aerosol beam is realized.

[0007] Further, the size of the recovery nozzle is the same as that of the deposition nozzle.

[0008] Further, the carrier gas flow channel is a straight line channel, and the sheath gas chamber is annularly wrapped outside the carrier gas flow channel.

[0009] Further, the sheath gas chamber further comprises an intersection flow channel located on the inner side of the annular, the intersection flow channel is communicated with the carrier gas flow channel to form the converging chamber.

[0010] Further, the angle between the moving direction of the start-stop valve and the carrier gas flow channel is greater than 0° and less than or equal to 90°.

[0011] Further, the aerosol jet printing device further comprises a mechanical driving module and a control unit, the mechanical driving module is connected with the start-stop valve, the control unit is connected with the mechanical driving module, and the control unit is used for controlling the mechanical driving module to drive the start-stop valve to reciprocate.

[0012] Further, the maximum moving stroke of the start-stop valve is equal to the sum of the diameter of the first channel and the spacing between the first channel and the second channel.

[0013] Further, the carrier gas flow channel, the first channel and the second channel have the same diameter; or, the carrier gas flow channel and the first channel have the same diameter, and the second channel has a diameter larger than that of the first channel; and / or, the longitudinal section of the second channel is in the shape of L.

[0014] Further, the outlet end of the recovery nozzle is connected with an aerosol recovery device, and the aerosol recovery device is provided with a ventilation hole in communication with the external environment; and the total area of the ventilation hole is greater than or equal to the area of the outlet end of the recovery nozzle.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present application, an aerosol jet printing method is also disclosed, which is implemented by using the aerosol jet printing device as described above, and the method comprises the following steps:

[0016] S1 continuously introducing carrier gas and sheath gas carrying aerosol particles into the carrier gas inlet and the sheath gas inlet respectively, so as to generate an aerosol beam in the gas collection chamber;

[0017] S2 controlling the forward translation of the start-stop valve until the second channel is in communication with the carrier gas flow channel, the first channel is blocked to stop printing, the aerosol beam flows from the gas collection chamber into the second channel, and the next step is performed after the aerosol beam flows out of the recovery nozzle;

[0018] S3 controlling the reverse translation of the start-stop valve until the first channel is in communication with the carrier gas flow channel, the second channel is blocked, the aerosol beam flows from the gas collection chamber into the first channel, and the aerosol beam is jetted out of the deposition nozzle to print; during the printing process, when it is necessary to stop the aerosol beam, the step S2 is repeated;

[0019] S4 repeating the steps S2-S3 until the printing is completed.

[0020] Further, the sheath gas flow of the sheath gas inlet is not greater than 1000sccm, and the carrier gas flow of the carrier gas inlet is not greater than 500sccm; and / or, the diameter of the aerosol beam flowing out of the deposition nozzle is less than or equal to the line width value of the set printing pattern; and / or, the printing speed of the deposition nozzle is 0.1mm / s-100mm / s.

[0021] In general, the technical solution conceived by the present application can have the following technical advantages compared with the prior art:

[0022] 1. By setting a quick-moving start-stop valve inside the jet printing device, the aerosol flow path is quickly switched inside the jet printing head, thereby realizing high response start-stop control of the aerosol beam, the overall device structure is simple and convenient to operate, without adding or assembling any external mechanical parts near the deposition nozzle, the jet printing state and the stop state can be switched arbitrarily, and the switching response is high; the start-stop valve is in sealed connection with the upper and lower device bodies, and there is no risk of pollution caused by leakage of raw materials.

[0023] 2. The aerosol jet printing device and method provided by the application, by the internal structure design of the start-stop valve, i.e. connecting a recovery nozzle with the same inner diameter as the aerosol deposition nozzle at the end of the second channel of the start-stop valve, ensures that the pressure distribution in the carrier gas flow channel of the entire jet printing head does not change in the aerosol jet printing start and stop state, thereby making the line morphology obtained by restarting the jet printing process have no gradual change and no accumulation, the jet printing quality is stable and unchanged, and the consistency of the aerosol jet printing quality is ensured.

[0024] 3. The aerosol jet printing device provided by the application, the distance between the nozzle and the substrate can be adjusted within 0mm-5mm according to the focusing effect without limitation, and at the same time, the compatibility of the aerosol jet printing technology to non-planar substrates is also increased.

[0025] 4. The aerosol jet printing device provided by the application, when the aerosol jet printing is stopped, the aerosol beam is introduced into the aerosol recovery device from the second channel of the start-stop valve, and the deposition nozzle has no gas flow output, which will not cause gas flow impact on the substrate and will not have any effect on the already jet printed pattern, thereby ensuring the forming shape and forming precision of the jet printed pattern. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 is the initial state structure schematic diagram of the jet printing device provided by embodiment 1 of the application after being turned on;

[0027] Figure 2 is the jet printing state structure schematic diagram of the jet printing device provided by embodiment 1 of the application;

[0028] Figure 3 is the structure schematic diagram of the jet printing device provided by embodiment 1 of the application when the aerosol beam is stopped during the jet printing process;

[0029] Figure 4 is the schematic diagram of various shapes of the start-stop valve in the side view direction provided by embodiment 1 of the application;

[0030] Figure 5 is the overall structure schematic diagram of the jet printing device provided by embodiment 2 of the application;

[0031] Figure 6 is the jet printing state structure schematic diagram of the jet printing device provided by embodiment 2 of the application;

[0032] Figure 7 is a structure schematic diagram of the aerosol beam flow being stopped in the process of jet printing provided by the jet printing device in Embodiment 2 of the present application;

[0033] Figure 8 is a longitudinal section structure schematic diagram of the start-stop valve provided by Embodiment 2 of the present application.

[0034] In all the drawings, the same reference signs are used to represent the same elements or structures, wherein:

[0035] 1-carrier gas inlet, 2-sheath gas inlet, 3-sheath gas chamber, 4-gas mixing chamber, 5-aerosol middle flow channel, 6-aerosol lower flow channel, 7-start-stop valve, 8-first channel, 9-second channel, 10-recovery nozzle, 11-aerosol recovery device, 12-mechanical driving module, 13-deposition nozzle, 14-substrate, 15-control unit, 16-aerosol outlet, 17-vent hole, 18-sliding cavity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application more clear, the present application is further described in detail below in combination with the drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application, and are not used to limit the present application.

[0037] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "first", "second" are only for the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features limited by "first", "second" can be explicitly or implicitly included one or more of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, unless otherwise specifically limited.

[0038] In addition, throughout the specification, the reference to "one embodiment"; "one embodiment", "one example" or similar language means that the specific features, structures or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the appearance of the phrase "in one embodiment" and similar language throughout the specification may, but not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

[0039] Embodiment 1

[0040] The present embodiment provides an aerosol jet printing device with high start-stop response, such as Figures 1-4As shown, the device body and the start-stop valve 7 are included, the surface of the upper part of the device body is provided with a carrier gas inlet 1, an aerosol outlet 16 and a sheath gas inlet 2, and the inside is provided with a sheath gas chamber 3, the carrier gas inlet 1 and the aerosol outlet 16 are communicated to form a carrier gas flow channel; the sheath gas inlet 2 is communicated with the sheath gas chamber 3 to form a sheath gas channel; the sheath gas chamber 3 is also communicated with the carrier gas flow channel, and the communication intersection forms a gas collecting chamber 4.

[0041] Specifically, when the aforementioned gas collecting chamber 4 is located in the middle of the carrier gas flow channel, it divides the carrier gas flow channel into two parts, wherein the flow channel between the carrier gas inlet 1 and the gas collecting chamber 4 serves as the upper channel of the carrier gas and the aerosol, and the flow channel between the gas collecting chamber 4 and the aerosol outlet 16 serves as the middle flow channel 5 of the aerosol obtained after the sheath gas is combined.

[0042] The lower part of the device body is provided with a sliding cavity 18 and an aerosol lower flow channel 6, the sliding cavity 18 is a through cavity with open ends, the start-stop valve 7 is embedded in the sliding cavity 18 and located between the aerosol lower flow channel 6 and the carrier gas flow channel, and the start-stop valve 7 can also slide bidirectionally in the sliding cavity 18 along the line connecting the two open ends of the sliding cavity, and the contact surface of the start-stop valve 7 and the sliding cavity 18 is sealed during sliding to prevent aerosol from overflowing during printing.

[0043] The aforementioned start-stop valve 7 is provided with a first channel 8 and a second channel 9, the entrances of the first channel 8 and the second channel 9 are coplanar, and the outlets of the first channel 8 and the second channel 9 are directed in different directions; a deposition nozzle 13 is provided in the device body, a recovery nozzle 10 is provided at the outlet of the second channel 9, and the jetting directions of the deposition nozzle 13 and the recovery nozzle 10 are perpendicular to each other; the start-stop valve 7 can be translated forward and backward relative to the device body until the carrier gas flow channel, the first channel 8 and the deposition nozzle 13 are sequentially communicated for printing, and the entrance of the second channel 9 is blocked by the device body; or until the carrier gas flow channel, the second channel 9 and the recovery nozzle 10 are sequentially communicated to recover the aerosol, and the entrance of the first channel 8 is blocked to stop printing.

[0044] The maximum moving stroke of the aforementioned start-stop valve 7 is equal to the sum of the width of the entrance of the second channel 9 and the spacing between the first channel 8 and the second channel 9.

[0045] The size of the aforementioned recovery nozzle 10 is the same as that of the deposition nozzle 13, and the outlet ends of both are conical, and the diameters of the inlet ends are the same as those of the outlet ends of the first channel 8 and the second channel 9 corresponding to each other.

[0046] The aforementioned carrier gas flow channel is a straight-line cylindrical flow channel, and the aforementioned sheath gas chamber 3 is annularly wrapped outside the carrier gas flow channel. The sheath gas chamber 3 can be cylindrical, cubic, or the like, and is preferably a cylinder in the embodiment. A communication port is provided in the middle of the carrier gas flow channel and is in communication with the sheath gas chamber 3. The region of the carrier gas flow channel at the communication port serves as a gas collection chamber 4. The sheath gas and the carrier gas meet at the gas collection chamber 4, and the meeting gas is sent into the middle flow channel 5 of the aerosol under the action of an external force. The sheath gas inlet 2 of the sheath gas chamber 3 is located on the upper side of the device body. The sheath gas inlet 2 is in communication with the sheath gas chamber 3 to form a sheath gas flow channel. The internal size of the sheath gas flow channel is the same as the size of the sheath gas inlet 2.

[0047] As shown in Figure 4 , the profile of the aforementioned start-stop valve 7 along the longitudinal section of the central axis of the carrier gas flow channel can be any shape, such as a circle, a rectangle, a trapezoid, a triangle, a regular polygon, or the like. The cross section of the second channel 9 is located at the center of the aforementioned any shape, and the inner wall of the sliding cavity 18 is adapted to the appearance shape of the start-stop valve 7 and is sealingly connected when sliding. Therefore, the moving direction of the start-stop valve 7 and the included angle θ of the carrier gas flow channel are greater than 0° and less than or equal to 90°, and are preferably 90° in the embodiment, that is, the upper and lower surfaces of the sliding cavity 18 in sealing contact with the start-stop valve 7 are parallel, and the upper and lower surfaces of the sliding cavity 18 are both perpendicular to the carrier gas flow channel.

[0048] The aforementioned first channel 8 and the second channel 9 are both cylindrical channels, and the longitudinal section of the aforementioned second channel 9 is L-shaped. The diameters of the middle flow channel 5 of the aerosol, the lower flow channel 6 of the aerosol, and the first channel 8 are the same. The diameter of the inlet end of the second channel 9 is greater than the diameter of the first channel 8, and the diameter of the outlet end of the second channel 9 is the same as the diameter of the first channel 8.

[0049] The outlet end of the aforementioned recovery nozzle 10 is connected with an aerosol recovery device 11. The aerosol recovery device 11 is provided with a pair of micro-sized air holes 17 in communication with the external environment. The diameter of the air holes 17 is 0.5 mm, and the total area of the pair of air holes 17 is greater than or equal to the area of the outlet end of the recovery nozzle 10, so as to ensure that the internal pressure of the aerosol recovery device 11 is the same as the atmospheric pressure, and to avoid the aerosol flow being blocked.

[0050] The aerosol jet printing device further comprises a mechanical driving module 12 and a control unit 15. The mechanical driving module 12 is connected with the start-stop valve 7. The control unit 15 is connected with the mechanical driving module 12 and is used to drive the mechanical driving module 12 to drive the start-stop valve 7 to reciprocate in the sliding cavity 18. Specifically, the mechanical driving module 12 is electrically connected with the control unit 15. The control unit 15 controls the mechanical driving module 12 to drive the start-stop valve 7 to reciprocate through an electrical signal. The control unit 15 can also carry a pre-set control program and control the mechanical driving module 12 to drive the start-stop valve 7 to reciprocate according to the control program instructions.

[0051] In this embodiment, the width of the sliding cavity 18 in the moving direction of the start-stop valve 7 is 20 mm, which is greater than the width of the start-stop valve 7 in the moving direction, and can meet the maximum moving stroke requirement while reducing the processing cost.

[0052] The distance between the second channel 9 and the first channel 8 is not greater than 1 mm, and is 0.75 mm in this embodiment. If the distance is too large, the printing start-stop response time of the start-stop valve 7 at the same moving speed is too long, which affects the printing quality.

[0053] The diameter of the first channel 8, the diameter of the middle flow channel 5 of the aerosol, and the diameter of the lower flow channel 6 of the aerosol are all not greater than 3 mm, and are 2.5 mm in this embodiment, which can ensure the high response of the printing start-stop, that is, the maximum moving stroke of the start-stop valve 7 is 3.25 mm.

[0054] The deposition nozzle 13 is connected to the lower flow channel 6 of the aerosol, and the diameter of the outlet end of the deposition nozzle 13 is 0.3 mm. The diameter of the second channel 9 is greater than or equal to the diameter of the carrier gas flow channel, and is 3 mm in this embodiment. The diameter of the outlet end of the recovery nozzle 10 connected to the second channel 9 is 0.3 mm. The distance between the aforementioned deposition nozzle 13 and the substrate 14 is adjustable between 0-5 mm, and is 3 mm in this embodiment (in the figure, the position of the substrate is shown clearly, so that the distance between the deposition nozzle 13 and the substrate 14 is large).

[0055] Based on the above size, the carrier gas flow and the sheath gas flow are reasonably controlled, and because the distance between the first channel 8 and the second channel 9 is very small, the start-stop valve 7 can quickly realize the opening and closing of the first channel 8 or the second channel 9 when moving, so that a high-quality printing effect can be achieved.

[0056] Embodiment 2

[0057] As Figures 5-8The difference between the present embodiment and embodiment 1 is that the shape of the sheath gas chamber 3 is different. In the present embodiment, the aforementioned sheath gas chamber 31 is a ring-shaped cylindrical chamber and surrounds the carrier gas flow channel. A ring-shaped inner side is provided with a confluence flow channel 31, which can be a plurality of cylindrical linear channels in a scattered shape, or a ring-shaped plate-shaped channel surrounding the carrier gas flow channel, with an included angle greater than 0° and less than or equal to 90° with the carrier gas flow channel. The longitudinal section of the confluence flow channel 31 can be V-shaped, linear, or inverted V-shaped along the direction of the aerosol flow in the carrier gas flow channel, corresponding to different carrier gas flow rates and sheath gas flow rates in different shapes, to ensure the direction of the aerosol flowing from the carrier gas inlet 1 to the aerosol outlet 16. The height of the aforementioned sheath gas chamber 3 along the central axis direction of the carrier gas flow channel (i.e. the diameter of the cylindrical sheath gas chamber) is greater than or equal to the diameter of the confluence flow channel 31, so that the sheath gas chamber 3 has a larger volume, which can store a large amount of sheath gas, and in combination with the smaller confluence flow channel 31 to better control the flow rate of the sheath gas and the uniformity of the distribution of the sheath gas in the vertical direction of the central axis of the carrier gas flow channel.

[0058] Another difference between the present embodiment and embodiment 1 is that the width D3 of the sliding cavity 18 in the movement direction of the start-stop valve 7 is 25 mm, which is greater than the width of the start-stop valve 7 in its movement direction. The carrier gas flow channel, the first channel 8 and the second channel 9 are all cylindrical linear channels, and the diameters of the three are the same, i.e. the diameter D4 of the middle flow channel 5 of the aerosol, the diameter W2 of the first channel 8, the diameter W1 of the second channel 9 and the diameter D5 of the lower flow channel 6 of the aerosol are all the same, which is 3 mm; the distance L1 between the second channel 9 and the first channel 8 is 1 mm, so the maximum moving stroke L2 of the start-stop valve 7 is the sum of W1 and L1, i.e. 4 mm. The outlet end diameters D2 and D1 of the recovery nozzle 10 and the deposition nozzle 13 are both 0.5 mm.

[0059] Still another difference between the present embodiment and embodiment 1 is that the diameter of the air vent hole 17 provided on the aerosol recovery device 11 and communicating with the external environment is 1 mm.

[0060] Embodiment 3

[0061] For the aerosol jet printing device disclosed in embodiments 1 and 2, the present embodiment provides a method for using any of the above aerosol jet printing methods, which comprises:

[0062] S1 continuously introduces carrier gas and sheath gas into the carrier gas inlet and the sheath gas inlet respectively, so as to generate an aerosol beam flow in the gas collection chamber.

[0063] Specifically, the sheath gas inlet 2 and the carrier gas inlet 1 are opened, the sheath gas enters from the sheath gas flow channel, and the carrier gas carrying the aerosol enters the carrier gas flow channel from the carrier gas inlet 1. The sheath gas surrounds and restrains the aerosol from the outside of the aerosol in a ring shape, and forms an aerosol beam flow in the gas collection chamber 4.

[0064] S2 controls the on-off valve 7 to translate forward until the second channel 9 is in communication with the carrier gas flow channel, the first channel 8 is blocked, the aerosol beam flows from the gas collection chamber 4 into the second channel 9, and flows out from the recovery nozzle 10 until the flow is stable, and then the next step is performed.

[0065] S3 controls the on-off valve 7 to translate reversely until the first channel 8 is in communication with the carrier gas flow channel, the second channel 9 is blocked, the aerosol beam flows from the gas collection chamber 4 into the first channel 8, and sprays the aerosol to the substrate 14 directly below the deposition nozzle 13 for printing; during the printing process, when the aerosol beam needs to be stopped, the movement of the on-off valve in step S2 is repeated to close the first channel 8.

[0066] During the printing process, according to the required pattern trajectory, when the aerosol beam needs to be stopped, the mechanical driving module 12 controls the on-off valve 7 to switch the working channel, so that the second channel 9 is switched to be directly below the middle flow channel 5 of the aerosol, the aerosol beam flows from the middle flow channel 5 of the aerosol into the second channel 9 in the on-off valve 7, and flows out from the side recovery nozzle 10 into the aerosol recovery device 11, realizing the stopping of the aerosol printing. Then, according to the required pattern trajectory, when the aerosol beam needs to be started, the mechanical driving module 12 controls the on-off valve 7 to switch the channel reversely, the first channel 8 of the on-off valve 7 is switched to be directly below the middle flow channel 5 of the aerosol, the aerosol beam flows into the first channel 8, flows out from the deposition nozzle 13 and deposits on the surface of the substrate 14, realizing the starting of the aerosol printing.

[0067] S4 repeats steps S2-S3 until the workpiece printing is completed.

[0068] During the printing process, the flow rate of the sheath gas at the sheath gas inlet is 0-1000sccm; the flow rate of the carrier gas at the carrier gas inlet is 0-500sccm; the diameter of the aerosol beam flowing out of the deposition nozzle is less than or equal to the line width value of the set printing pattern; the printing speed of the deposition nozzle is 0.1-100mm / s; the distance between the deposition nozzle and the printing substrate 14 is greater than 0 and less than 5mm.

[0069] When the printing device in Example 1 is used for printing, in step S1, the flow rate of the sheath gas is adjusted to 100sccm, the flow rate of the carrier gas is adjusted to 10sccm, the distance between the deposition nozzle 13 and the substrate 14 is adjusted to 5mm, and the printing speed is adjusted to 2mm / s. After the printing effect is stable, the preset pattern is started to be printed.

[0070] When the printing device in Example 2 is used for printing, the flow rate of the sheath gas is adjusted to 100sccm, the flow rate of the carrier gas is adjusted to 30sccm, the distance between the deposition nozzle 13 and the substrate 14 is adjusted to 3mm, and the printing speed is adjusted to 5mm / s. After the printing effect is stable, the preset pattern is started to be printed.

[0071] Those skilled in the art will easily understand that the above-mentioned is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and is not used to limit the present application, any modification, equivalent replacement and improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An aerosol-jet printing device with high on-off responsiveness, characterized by, The device comprises a device body and a start-stop valve (7), wherein: The upper part of the device body is provided with a carrier gas inlet (1), an aerosol outlet (16) and a sheath gas inlet (2), and is internally provided with a sheath gas chamber (3). The carrier gas inlet (1) and the aerosol outlet (16) are communicated to form a carrier gas flow channel, and the sheath gas inlet (2) is communicated with the sheath gas chamber (3) to form a sheath gas passage. The sheath gas chamber (3) is communicated with the carrier gas flow channel, and the communication intersection forms a gas collecting chamber (4). The lower part of the device body is internally provided with a sliding cavity (18) and an aerosol lower flow channel (6). The start-stop valve (7) is installed in the sliding cavity (18) and located between the carrier gas flow channel and the aerosol lower flow channel (6). The outlet of the aerosol lower flow channel (6) is provided with a deposition nozzle (13). The start-stop valve (7) is internally provided with a first passage (8) and a second passage (9). The outlet of the second passage (9) is provided with a recovery nozzle (10). The inner diameter of the recovery nozzle (10) is the same as that of the deposition nozzle (13), but the orientations of the recovery nozzle (10) and the deposition nozzle (13) are different. The start-stop valve (7) can be positively translated to sequentially communicate the carrier gas flow channel, the first passage (8), the aerosol lower flow channel (6) and the deposition nozzle (13) to spray the aerosol, and to block the inlet of the second passage (9) by the device body. The start-stop valve (7) can be reversely translated to communicate the carrier gas flow channel, the second passage (9) and the recovery nozzle (10) to recover the aerosol, and to block the first passage (8) by the device body to stop the spraying.

2. The aerosol-jet printing apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The recovery nozzle (10) is the same as the deposition nozzle (13).

3. The aerosol-jet printing apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The carrier gas flow channel is a straight line channel, and the sheath gas chamber (3) is annularly wrapped outside the carrier gas flow channel.

4. The aerosol-jet printing apparatus of claim 3, wherein, The sheath gas chamber (3) further comprises an intersection flow channel (31) located on the inner side of the annulus. The intersection flow channel (31) is communicated with the carrier gas flow channel to form the gas collecting chamber (4).

5. The aerosol-jet printing apparatus of claim 3, wherein, The angle θ between the moving direction of the start-stop valve (7) and the carrier gas flow channel is greater than 0° and less than or equal to 90°.

6. The aerosol-jet printing apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The aerosol jet printing device further comprises a mechanical driving module (12) and a control unit (15). The mechanical driving module (12) is connected with the start-stop valve (7), and the control unit (15) is connected with the mechanical driving module (12) to control the mechanical driving module (12) to drive the start-stop valve (7) to reciprocate. The maximum moving stroke of the start-stop valve (7) is equal to the sum of the diameter of the first passage (8) and the spacing between the first passage (8) and the second passage (9).

7. The aerosol-jet printing apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The diameters of the carrier gas flow channel, the first passage (8) and the second passage (9) are the same. Alternatively, the diameters of the carrier gas flow channel and the first passage (8) are the same, and the diameter of the second passage (9) is greater than that of the first passage (8). Alternatively, the longitudinal section of the second passage (9) is L-shaped.

8. The aerosol-jet printing apparatus of claim 1, wherein, The outlet end of the recovery nozzle (10) is connected with an aerosol recovery device (11), the aerosol recovery device (11) is provided with a ventilation hole (17) in communication with the external environment, and the total area of the ventilation hole (17) is greater than or equal to the area of the outlet end of the recovery nozzle (10).

9. An aerosol jet printing method using the aerosol jet printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by, Comprise: S1: continuously introduce the carrier gas carrying the aerosol particles into the carrier gas inlet (1), and introduce the sheath gas into the sheath gas inlet (2), so that the aerosol beam current is generated in the gas collecting chamber (4); S2: control the forward translation of the start-stop valve (7) until the second channel (9) is in communication with the carrier gas flow channel, the first channel (8) is blocked to stop printing, the aerosol beam current flows from the gas collecting chamber (4) into the second channel (9), and then the next step is performed after flowing out of the recovery nozzle (10); S3: control the reverse translation of the start-stop valve (7) until the first channel (8) is in communication with the carrier gas flow channel, the second channel (9) is blocked, the aerosol beam current flows from the gas collecting chamber (4) into the first channel (8), and is sprayed out of the deposition nozzle (13) to print; During printing, when the aerosol beam current needs to be stopped, step S2 is repeated; S4: repeat steps S2-S3 until printing is completed.

10. The aerosol-jet printing method of claim 9, wherein, The sheath gas flow rate of the sheath gas inlet (2) is not greater than 1000sccm, and the carrier gas flow rate of the carrier gas inlet (1) is not greater than 500sccm; and / or, the diameter of the aerosol beam current flowing out of the deposition nozzle (13) is less than or equal to the line width value of the set printing pattern; and / or, the printing speed of the deposition nozzle (13) is 0.1mm / s~100mm / s.

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