Three-dimensional printing method, package arranging computer program, storage unit, computing device and post-processing workstation

Abstract

The invention discloses a three-dimensional printing method, a package arranging computer program, a storage unit, a computing device and a post-processing workstation. According to the three-dimensional printing method, in the cooling stage, a cooling needle with a cooling channel is inserted into a printing material which is moved out of a middle body of a printing cavity, and air flow is formed in the cooling channel so as to cool a printing piece in the middle body. The package arranging computer program, the storage unit and the computing device are used for enabling the space occupation of the printed piece in the printing cavity to avoid the preset depth of the position corresponding to at least part of the cooling holes in the package arranging process, and the post-processing work station is used for achieving the three-dimensional printing method. By adopting the technical scheme, a new technical scheme can be provided for shortening the cooling time, and compared with a technical scheme for constructing a cooling pipeline piece, the bag discharge rate can be improved, or a material basis or method support can be provided for realizing the technical effects.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of 3D printing, and particularly to a 3D printing method, a nesting computer program, a storage unit, a computing device, and a post-processing workstation. Background Art

[0002] In the prior art, there is a 3D printing technology that forms a printed part by selectively sintering layer by layer of printing materials in a printing cavity of a movable printing platform. The above 3D printing method mainly includes a nesting stage, a printing stage, a cooling stage, and an unpacking stage. The nesting stage is used to determine the spatial occupancy of the printed part in the printing cavity; the printing stage is used to form an intermediate body in the printing cavity; the intermediate body includes the formed printed part and the printing materials wrapping the printed part; the cooling stage is used to cool the printed part; the unpacking stage is used to extract the printed part from the intermediate body. Among them, the nesting stage obtains the printing information of the printed part, and the printing information includes the geometric model information of each printed part, and may also include the quantity information of each printed part to be printed; nesting determines the spatial occupancy of the printed part in the printing cavity by automatic or manual means, and generates slice information based on the spatial occupancy information of the printed part in the printing cavity; the printing stage controls the 3D printer to form the printed part layer by layer in the printing cavity based on the slice information; in the cooling stage, the intermediate body generally remains in the printing cavity, and the time required for the cooling stage generally reaches more than 30 hours, several times that of the printing stage, so a 3D printer often needs to be configured with multiple printing platforms; the unpacking stage is often performed at a post-processing workstation, the movable printing platform is attached to the post-processing workstation, and then the printed part is finally extracted from the intermediate body by crushing and sucking the printing materials.

[0003] In order to avoid the movable printing platform being occupied during the cooling stage, a prior art solution proposes to move the intermediate body out of the printing cavity to the housing of the cooling cover by lifting the carrier of the printing platform, and transfer the intermediate body to the support plate by the horizontal movement of the support plate, so that the housing and the support plate together form a cooling cover, and the intermediate body is cooled in the cooling cover, thereby improving the utilization rate of the movable printing platform. In order to accelerate the cooling speed, this technical solution also opens cooling holes in the housing and the support plate of the cooling cover to shorten the time required for the cooling stage.

[0004] In order to further shorten the cooling time, there is also a technical solution that proposes to construct a cooling pipe member during the nesting stage and the printing stage, and after moving the intermediate body out of the printing cavity, suck the printing materials in the cooling pipe member through a dredging device with a flexible straw to make the cooling pipe member penetrate, and then introduce air flow into the cooling channel formed after the cooling pipe member penetrates to accelerate the cooling of the printed part.

[0005] However, since the printing material close to the inner wall of the cooling pipe member may become caked during the selective sintering process, for the convenience of dredging, the inner diameter of the cooling pipe member needs to be designed to be relatively large, which will result in a relatively large volume occupied by the cooling pipe member in the printing cavity, thus reducing the packing rate (i.e., the ratio of the volume of all printed parts to the total volume of the printing cavity). Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of the present application is to overcome the above-mentioned defects or problems existing in the background technology, and provide a three-dimensional printing method, a packing computer program, a storage unit, a computing device and a post-processing workstation. It can provide a new technical solution for shortening the cooling time and can improve the packing rate compared with the technical solution of constructing a cooling pipe member, or provide a material basis or method support for achieving the above technical effects.

[0007] To achieve the above purpose, the following technical solutions are adopted:

[0008] The first technical solution relates to a three-dimensional printing method, which includes: a packing stage for determining the spatial occupancy of the printed part in the printing cavity of the printing platform; a printing stage for forming an intermediate body in the printing cavity, the intermediate body including the formed printed part and the printing material wrapping the printed part; and a cooling stage for cooling the printed part in the intermediate body by inserting a cooling needle with a cooling channel into the printing material in the intermediate body removed from the printing cavity and forming an air flow in the cooling channel.

[0009] The second technical solution is based on the first technical solution, wherein the intermediate body is removed from the printing cavity to a cooling cover, the cooling cover is provided with cooling holes, and the cooling needle is inserted into the printing material of the intermediate body through the cooling holes.

[0010] The third technical solution is based on the second technical solution, wherein the cooling needle stops in the printing material after being inserted.

[0011] The fourth technical solution is based on the second technical solution, wherein the cooling needle penetrates through the cooling cover and the intermediate body.

[0012] The fifth technical solution is based on the second technical solution, wherein during the insertion of the cooling needle, the printing material entering the cooling channel is sucked out by pumping air from the cooling channel.

[0013] The sixth technical solution is based on the second technical solution, wherein the cooling needle selects the cooling hole to be inserted and / or the insertion depth according to the spatial occupancy of the printed part in the printing cavity output by the packing stage.

[0014] The seventh technical solution is based on the sixth technical solution, wherein the cooling needle is inserted into the intermediate body at a preset depth; in the packing stage, the spatial occupancy of the printed part in the printing cavity avoids the preset depth corresponding to at least part of the positions of the cooling holes.

[0015] The eighth technical solution relates to a nesting computer program, which is used to determine the spatial occupancy of a printed part in a printing chamber in the three-dimensional printing method as described in the seventh technical solution; wherein, the spatial occupancy of the printed part in the printing chamber avoids a preset depth at the corresponding positions of at least part of the cooling holes.

[0016] The ninth technical solution relates to a storage unit, which stores the nesting computer program as described in the eighth technical solution.

[0017] The tenth technical solution relates to a computing device, which includes: an input unit, which is used to obtain printing information, the positions of the cooling holes corresponding to the printing chamber, and the preset depth of the cooling needles inserted into the intermediate body, and the printing information at least includes the geometric model information of the printed part; an output unit, which is used to output the spatial occupancy information of the printed part in the printing chamber; a storage unit, which is as described in the ninth technical solution; and a computing unit, which obtains the printing information, the positions of the cooling holes corresponding to the printing chamber, and the preset depth of the cooling needles inserted into the intermediate body from the input unit, and also retrieves and executes the nesting computer program from the storage unit, and outputs the execution result of the nesting computer program to the output unit.

[0018] The eleventh technical solution relates to a post-processing workstation, which includes: a station body, which is suitable for attaching a printing platform; a cooling cover, which is provided with cooling holes and is used to cover the intermediate body lifted by the printing platform; a cooling needle, which is provided with a cooling channel and moves relative to the cooling cover to pass through the cooling holes; a first driving member, which is installed on the station body and is used to drive the cooling needle to move; a ventilation member, which is communicated with the cooling channel and is used to form an air flow; and a control module, which is used to control the printing platform attached to the station body to lift the intermediate body.

[0019] The twelfth technical solution is based on the eleventh technical solution, wherein the first driving member drives the cooling needle to move in a spiral manner.

[0020] The thirteenth technical solution is based on the eleventh technical solution, wherein the ventilation member evacuates air during the process of the cooling needle inserting into the intermediate body.

[0021] The fourteenth technical solution is based on the eleventh technical solution, wherein the control module also obtains the spatial occupancy information of the printed part in the printing chamber, and controls the first driving member to drive the cooling needle to insert into the corresponding cooling holes and the depth of inserting into the intermediate body according to the spatial occupancy information to avoid the printed part.

[0022] The fifteenth technical solution is based on the eleventh technical solution, wherein the cooling cover includes a cover body, and the cover body is used to cover the intermediate body lifted by the printing platform.

[0023] The sixteenth technical solution is based on the fifteenth technical solution, and further includes a second driving member. The cooling cover further includes a supporting plate. The second driving member is installed on the station body and is used to drive the supporting member to move horizontally to support the intermediate body and jointly form a cooling cover with the cover body.

[0024] The seventeenth technical solution is based on the eleventh technical solution. The wall of the cooling cover includes a wall body and a shielding portion. The cooling hole is opened on the wall body. The shielding portion is used to close the cooling hole. When the cooling needle is inserted, it pierces the shielding portion to insert into the printing material from the cooling hole.

[0025] The eighteenth technical solution is based on the eleventh technical solution. The wall of the cooling cover includes a wall body and a shielding portion. The cooling hole is opened on the wall body. The shielding portion is adapted to shield the cooling hole or move relative to the cover body to open the cooling hole.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the above solutions have the following beneficial effects:

[0027] In the first technical solution, moving the intermediate body out of the printing cavity, compared with cooling the intermediate body in the printing cavity, the cooling speed is faster.

[0028] In the first technical solution, a cooling needle with a cooling channel is inserted into the printing material in the intermediate body, and an air flow is formed in the cooling channel to cool the printed part in the intermediate body. Compared with constructing a cooling pipe member and then introducing an air flow into the cooling channel formed after the cooling pipe member is penetrated to accelerate the cooling of the printed part, not only the discharge rate is improved, but also the operation is simpler. First, the applicant innovatively proposed the hypothesis that a needle-shaped rigid cooling member could be directly inserted into the intermediate body, and based on this hypothesis, experiments were conducted to verify that the needle-shaped rigid cooling member could be inserted into the printing material of the intermediate body. Based on this experimental result, the applicant creatively proposed to directly insert a cooling needle with a cooling channel into the printing material of the intermediate body and use this cooling channel to form an air flow to accelerate the cooling of the printed part. Since the cooling needle is directly inserted into the printing material, compared with the cooling needle inserted into the cooling pipe member to suck the printing material, the defect that the discharge rate decreases due to the increase in the inner diameter of the cooling pipe member caused by the easy caking of the printing material near the inner wall of the cooling pipe member is greatly improved, so it has a higher discharge rate and efficiency. Again, since there is no longer a need to suck the printing material in the cooling pipe member through a dredging device to penetrate the cooling pipe member and then pull out the dredging device to ventilate, the operation is simpler.

[0029] In the second technical solution, moving the intermediate body from the printing cavity into the cooling cover can control the cooling speed by adjusting the temperature or wall thickness of the cooling cover according to different printing materials. At the same time, covering the cooling cover outside the intermediate body is beneficial to ensuring the integrity of the shape of the intermediate body and avoiding the leakage or collapse of the printing material in the intermediate body.

[0030] In the second technical solution, the cooling needle is inserted into the printing material of the intermediate body through the cooling holes on the cooling cover. When the cooling cover is disposed on the intermediate body, it is easier to determine the insertion position of the cooling needle relative to the intermediate body, avoiding damage to the printed part due to incorrect insertion position.

[0031] In the third technical solution, the cooling needle stops in the printing material after being inserted, which is applicable to scenarios with low requirements for the dimensional accuracy of the printed part. After the cooling needle is inserted and stops in the printing material, whether it is air extraction or blowing when forming an air flow, the air flow will directly enter the intermediate body, and communicate with the surface of the intermediate body through the gaps in the powdery printing material, and then communicate with the atmosphere through the cooling cover. At this time, since the path of the air flow in the intermediate body is unpredictable, it may cause the cooling speed of some surfaces of the printed part to be faster due to being close to the air flow, while the cooling speed of other surfaces far from the air flow is slower, resulting in the possibility of deformation of the printed part. Therefore, it is only applicable to scenarios with low requirements for the dimensional accuracy of the printed part. However, at the same time, since the air flow directly passes through the inside of the intermediate body, a convection is formed inside the intermediate body, so the cooling speed is faster.

[0032] In the fourth technical solution, the cooling needle penetrates through the cooling cover and the intermediate body. Therefore, the air flow can only be formed in the cooling channel and cannot enter the inside of the intermediate body. Compared with the third technical solution, there is no convection inside the intermediate body, and it can only be cooled by the heat conduction effect with the cooling needle. The cooling is more stable, and the printed part is less likely to deform due to different cooling speeds of each part, which is applicable to scenarios with higher dimensional accuracy. Moreover, compared with the solution using a cooling pipe component, it is also more beneficial to avoid deformation of the printed part. This is because when the air flow enters the cooling pipe component, the wall of the cooling pipe component may contract violently due to too fast cooling speed and cause rupture. This rupture will cause the air flow to overflow into the intermediate body, which may cause deformation of the printed part, thus affecting the dimensional accuracy of the printed part, and this rupture cannot be controlled and monitored during the cooling process.

[0033] In the fifth technical solution, during the insertion process of the cooling needle, air is extracted from the cooling channel to suck out the printing material entering the cooling channel, which is beneficial to always keep the cooling channel unobstructed to form an air flow more efficiently.

[0034] In the sixth technical solution, the cooling needle selects the inserted cooling holes and / or the inserted depth according to the space occupancy of the printed part output in the packet discharging stage in the printing cavity, which can avoid the cooling needle from touching or being too close to the printed part, and is beneficial to avoid damage or deformation of the printed part.

[0035] In the seventh technical solution, during the bag arrangement stage, the spatial occupancy of the printed part in the printing chamber avoids the preset depth at the corresponding positions of at least some of the cooling holes, which is beneficial to arranging the bags based on the preset depth of the cooling needles, thereby more effectively improving the bag arrangement rate and implementing the second technical solution at the same time. In this application, the "preset depth" not only includes the depth at which the cooling needle is inserted into the printing material when it stops in the printing material, but also includes the entire dimension of the printing material along the insertion direction of the cooling needle when the cooling needle penetrates the intermediate body.

[0036] The eighth, ninth, and tenth technical solutions are implementation manners of the seventh technical solution. Specifically, whether it is manual bag arrangement or automatic bag arrangement, the key to the bag arrangement computer program is to limit the spatial occupancy of the printed part to avoid the preset depth at the corresponding positions of at least some of the cooling holes, so that the spatial occupancy of the printed part can only be arranged in the printing chamber excluding the preset depth at the corresponding positions of the cooling holes.

[0037] The eleventh technical solution provides the material basis for implementing the second technical solution. The post-processing workstation can control the printing platform attached to the station body to lift the intermediate body and drive the cooling needle to move through the cooling hole of the cooling cover and insert it into the intermediate body through the first driving member. The ventilation member is used to form an air flow in the cooling channel by pumping air or blowing air to accelerate the cooling of the printed part.

[0038] In the twelfth technical solution, the first driving member drives the cooling needle to move in a spiral manner, making it easier to insert into the intermediate body.

[0039] In the thirteenth technical solution, the ventilation member pumps air during the process of the cooling needle inserting into the intermediate body, having the same technical effect as the fifth technical solution.

[0040] In the fourteenth technical solution, the control module controls the first driving member to drive the cooling needle to insert into the corresponding cooling hole and the depth of inserting into the intermediate body according to the spatial occupancy information of the printed part in the printing chamber, and can automatically and effectively avoid the printed part.

[0041] In the sixteenth technical solution, the second driving member drives the supporting member to move horizontally to support the intermediate body, so that the movable printing platform can be removed from the station body, improving the utilization rate of the printing platform.

[0042] In the seventeenth and eighteenth technical solutions, the shielding part can shield the cooling hole when the cooling needle is not inserted into the cooling hole to prevent the printing material from leaking from the cooling hole. The shielding part is punctured or moves to open the cooling hole when the cooling needle is inserted into the cooling hole, which are two specific implementation manners for realizing the insertion of the cooling needle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments, the following briefly introduces the drawings to be used:

[0044] Figure 1Schematic structural diagram of the three-dimensional printing system in Embodiment 1;

[0045] Figure 2 Schematic structural diagram of the printing platform in Embodiment 1;

[0046] Figure 3 Schematic structural diagram of the computing device in Embodiment 1;

[0047] Figure 4 Schematic structural diagram of the printing platform and the intermediate after the printing stage in Embodiment 1;

[0048] Figure 5 Schematic structural diagram of the post-processing workstation in Embodiment 1;

[0049] Figure 6 Schematic structural diagram of the post-processing workstation in Embodiment 2.

[0050] Description of the main reference numerals:

[0051] 100, three-dimensional printing system;

[0052] 10, printing platform; 11, carrier; 12, lifting drive member; 13, printing chamber;

[0053] 20, computing device; 21, input unit; 22, output unit; 23, storage unit; 24, computing unit;

[0054] 30, three-dimensional printer;

[0055] 40, post-processing workstation; 41, station body; 42, cooling cover; 421, cover body; 422, supporting plate; 423, wall body; 424, cooling hole; 425, shielding portion; 43, cooling needle; 431, cooling channel; 44, first drive member; 45, second drive member; 46, ventilation member; 461, ventilation joint;

[0056] 200, intermediate; 210, printed part; 220, printing material. Detailed implementation manners

[0057] In the claims and the description, unless otherwise defined, the terms "first", "second", or "third", etc., are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order.

[0058] In the claims and the description, unless otherwise defined, the terms "center", "lateral", "longitudinal", "horizontal", "vertical", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc. indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation and positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of simplified description, rather than implying that the indicated device or element must have a specific orientation or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation.

[0059] In the claims and the description, unless otherwise defined, the term "fixed connection" or "fixedly connected" shall be understood in a broad sense, that is, any connection method without displacement relationship and relative rotation relationship between the two, that is, including non-removable fixed connection, removable fixed connection, being integrated as one, and being fixed connected through other devices or elements.

[0060] In the claims and the description, unless otherwise defined, the terms "comprise", "have" and their variants mean "including but not limited to".

[0061] In the claims and the description, unless otherwise defined, the term "provided with" means that the technical feature located behind it is a part of the technical feature located in front of it.

[0062] In the claims and the description, unless otherwise defined, the term "preset depth" includes not only the depth at which the cooling needle is inserted into the printing material when it stops in the printing material, but also the entire dimension of the printing material along the insertion direction of the cooling needle when the cooling needle penetrates the intermediate body.

[0063] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings.

[0064] Embodiment 1

[0065] See Figure 1 , Figure 1 which shows the three-dimensional printing system 100 in Embodiment 1. As Figure 1 shown, the three-dimensional printing system 100 includes a printing platform 10, a computing device 20, a three-dimensional printer 30, and a post-processing workstation 40.

[0066] As Figure 1 shown, the printing platform 10 is movable and can be attached to the three-dimensional printer 30 or the post-processing workstation 40. See Figure 2 , Figure 2 which shows the structure of the printing platform 10 in Embodiment 1. As Figure 2As shown, the printing platform 10 includes an enclosure, a carrier 11, and a lifting drive 12. The carrier 11 is disposed within the enclosure and can be driven by the lifting drive 12 to move up and down relative to the enclosure to form a printing cavity 13. The printing cavity 13 is used for forming printed parts. During three-dimensional printing, the lifting drive 12 drives the carrier 11 to descend layer by layer to carry printing materials layer by layer.

[0067] Refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 which shows the computing device 20 in the first embodiment. As Figure 3 shown, the computing device 20 includes an input unit 21, an output unit 22, a storage unit 23, and a computing unit 24. Among them, the input unit 21 is used to obtain printing information, the position of the cooling holes corresponding to the printing cavity, and the preset depth of the cooling needles inserted into the intermediate body. The printing information includes at least the geometric model information of each printed part, and may also include the quantity information of each printed part to be printed. The position of the cooling holes corresponding to the printing cavity and the preset depth of the cooling needles inserted into the intermediate body will be described in detail later. The output unit 22 is used to output the spatial occupancy information and slicing information of the printed parts in the printing cavity 13. Among them, the spatial occupancy information of the printed parts in the printing cavity 13 is output to the post-processing workstation 40; the slicing information is output to the 3D printer 30. The storage unit 23 stores a packing computer program. In this embodiment, by executing the packing computer program, the spatial occupancy information of the printed parts in the printing cavity 13 is automatically generated, and it is ensured that the spatial occupancy of the printed parts in the printing cavity 13 avoids the preset depth of at least part of the positions corresponding to the cooling holes. The preset depth of the positions corresponding to the cooling holes will be described in detail later. The computing unit 24 obtains the printing information, the position of the cooling holes corresponding to the printing cavity, and the preset depth of the cooling needles inserted into the intermediate body from the input unit 21, also retrieves and executes the packing computer program from the storage unit 23, and outputs the execution result of the packing computer program, that is, the spatial occupancy information of the printed parts in the printing cavity 13, to the output unit 22, and outputs the slicing information to the output unit 22 according to the spatial occupancy of the printed parts in the printing cavity 13. It should be noted that under the current technical conditions, from the perspective of the packing computer program, the position of the cooling holes corresponding to the printing cavity and the preset depth of the cooling needles inserted into the intermediate body can be virtually regarded as special virtual printed parts, so that the ready-made packing computer program can be used for automatic packing, thereby outputting the spatial occupancy information of the printed parts in the printing cavity 13. At the same time, generating slicing information based on the spatial occupancy information of the printed parts in the printing cavity 13 is also an existing technology, except that the above virtual printed parts do not perform slicing when generating slicing information.

[0068] The three-dimensional printer 30 is used for three-dimensional printing on the printing platform 10 attached thereto. Specifically, the three-dimensional printer 30 obtains slicing information from the output unit 22, controls the lifting drive 12 to lower the carrier 11 layer by layer, then lays the printing material in the printing chamber 13 and selectively sinters the laid printing material based on the slicing information, so as to finally form an intermediate body in the printing chamber 13.

[0069] Refer to FIG. 4, Figure 4 which shows the printing platform 10 in the first embodiment and the intermediate body 200 formed in the printing chamber 13. As Figure 4 shown, the intermediate body 200 includes the formed printed parts 210 and the printing material 220 wrapping the printed parts 210. After the three-dimensional printer 30 finishes printing, the intermediate body 200 is located in the printing chamber 13.

[0070] Refer to Figure 5 , Figure 5 which shows the post-processing workstation 40 in the first embodiment. As Figure 5As shown in the figure, the post-processing workstation 40 includes a station body 41, a cooling cover 42, cooling needles 43, a first driving member 44, a ventilation member 46, and a control module (not shown in the figure). The station body 41 is adapted for the printing platform 10 to be attached thereto. The cooling cover 42 is provided with a cover body 421. The cover body 421 opens downward and is used to cover the intermediate body 200 lifted by the printing platform 10. The wall of the cover body 421 includes a wall body 423 and a shielding portion 425. Each of the two side walls of the wall body 423 in the left-right direction is provided with three cooling holes 424. The three cooling holes 424 are located in the middle of the side wall in the front-back direction and are arranged in the up-down direction. The positions of the three cooling holes 424 on the wall body 423 can virtually correspond to the positions in the printing chamber 13. The cooling holes 424 on the two side walls are arranged corresponding to each other in the left-right direction. Six shielding portions 425 are attached to the wall body 423 and are respectively used to close the cooling holes. In this embodiment, the shielding portion 425 is made of paper material. The cooling needles 43 are arranged corresponding to the three cooling holes 424 on the right side wall and extend in the left-right direction. The cooling needles 43 are provided with cooling channels 431 along their extending directions. The cooling channels 431 penetrate through both ends of the cooling needles 43 in the left-right direction. In this embodiment, the cooling needles 43 are adapted to penetrate through the corresponding cooling holes 424 on the right side wall from right to left and insert into the printing material 220 of the intermediate body 200 and then extend out from the cooling holes 424 on the left side wall. Therefore, in this embodiment, the depth of the cooling needles 43 inserted into the intermediate body 200 is the entire dimension of the printing chamber 13 in the left-right direction. The first driving member 44 is arranged corresponding to the cooling needles 43 and is used to drive the corresponding cooling needles 43 to perform a spiral movement. The ventilation member 46 communicates with the right ends of each cooling channel 431 and is provided with a ventilation joint 461 on the left side of the station body 41. In this embodiment, the ventilation member 46 is an air pump for forming an air flow in the cooling channels 431. The control module obtains the space occupancy information of the printed part 210 in the printing chamber 13 from the output unit 22. The control module is used to control the lifting driving member 12 of the printing platform 10 attached to the station body 41 to drive the carrier 11 to move upward until the intermediate body 200 is moved into the cooling cover 42; the control module also selectively controls the first driving member 44 to drive the cooling needles 43 to insert into the corresponding cooling holes 424 and the depth of insertion into the intermediate body 200 according to the space occupancy information of the printed part 210 in the printing chamber 13 to avoid the printed part 210 in the intermediate body 200.

[0071] The following describes a three-dimensional printing method with a typical printing process. The three-dimensional printing method includes a packing stage, a printing stage, a cooling stage, and an unpacking stage.

[0072] In the bag arrangement stage, the input unit 21 obtains printing information, the positions of the cooling holes 424 corresponding to the printing chamber 13, and the preset depth at which the cooling needles are inserted into the intermediate body 200. Specifically in this embodiment, the positions of the cooling holes 424 corresponding to the printing chamber 13 correspond to the positions of the cooling holes 424 on the housing 421 of the cooling cover 42. The preset depth at which the cooling needles 43 are inserted into the intermediate body 200 is the entire dimension of the printing chamber 13 in the left-right direction. The calculation unit 24 obtains the printing information, the positions of the cooling holes 424 corresponding to the printing chamber 13, and the preset depth at which the cooling needles 43 are inserted into the intermediate body 200 from the input unit 21. The calculation unit 24 retrieves and executes the bag arrangement computer program from the storage unit 23. When executing, it automatically selects the cooling hole 424 located in the middle in the up-down direction as a virtual printed part and performs automatic bag arrangement, thereby generating the spatial occupancy information and slicing information of the printed part 210 in the printing chamber 13 and sending them to the output unit 22. The output unit 22 sends the spatial occupancy information of the printed part 210 in the printing chamber 13 to the control module of the post-processing workstation 40, and sends the slicing information to the 3D printer 30. The slicing information does not include the slicing information of the virtual printed part.

[0073] In the printing stage, the 3D printer 30 prints according to the slicing information and forms the intermediate body 200 in the printing chamber 13 of the printing platform 10 attached thereto. Among them, the spatial occupancy of the printed part 210 in the printing chamber 13 avoids the positions of the cooling holes 424 corresponding to the printing chamber 13 and the preset depth at which the cooling needles are inserted into the intermediate body 200. The printing material 220 then wraps each printed part 210.

[0074] During the cooling stage, the printing platform 10 is moved from the 3D printer 30 to the station body 41 and attached to the station body 41. The control module controls the lifting drive 12 of the printing platform 10 to drive the carrier 11 to move upward until the intermediate body 200 is moved into the cooling cover 42. Subsequently, the control module controls the first drive 44 corresponding to the cooling needle 43 corresponding to the middle cooling hole 424 to drive the cooling needle 43 to perform a spiral movement from right to left. During the insertion of the cooling needle 43, the shielding part 425 is punctured and the cooling needle 43 extends into the printing material 220 of the intermediate body 200. Then the control module controls the ventilation part 46 to start, and air is extracted from the cooling needle 43, so that the printing material that enters the cooling channel 431 during the insertion of the cooling needle 43 into the intermediate body 200 is extracted. After the cooling needle 43 penetrates the intermediate body 200, it is inserted into the cooling hole 424 in the left side wall and punctures the corresponding shielding part 425, and continues to extend to the left until it extends into the corresponding ventilation joint 461 and stops. The control module continues to control the ventilation part 46 to extract air to form a circulating air flow in the cooling channel 426. This circulating air flow can be temperature-controlled through a heat exchanger. Of course, in other embodiments, a circulating air flow may not be formed. By controlling the temperature of the circulating air flow, the cooling speed of the intermediate body 200 can be controlled. After the intermediate body 200 is cooled, the control module controls the first drive 44 to pull out the cooling needle 43 from the intermediate body 200 and controls the ventilation part 46 to stop the air flow.

[0075] During the unpacking stage, the cooling cover 42 is removed, and finally the printed part 210 is extracted from the printing material 220 by crushing and sucking the printing material of the intermediate body 200.

[0076] Embodiment 2

[0077] The main difference between Embodiment 2 and Embodiment 1 lies in the post-processing workstation 40. Refer to Figure 6 , Figure 6 which shows the post-processing workstation 60 in Embodiment 2. As Figure 6As shown, in the second embodiment, the post-processing workstation 40 includes a station body 41, a cooling cover 42, a cooling needle 43, a first driving member 44, a second driving member 45, a venting member 46, and a control module (not shown in the figure). The station body 41 is adapted for the printing platform 10 to be attached thereto. The cooling cover 42 includes a cover body 421 and a supporting plate 422. The cover body 421 is used to cover the intermediate body 200 lifted by the printing platform 10. The wall of the cover body 421 includes a wall body 423 and a shielding portion 425. A cooling hole 424 is provided at the center of the top wall of the wall body 423. The shielding portion 425 is provided corresponding to the cooling hole 424. The shielding portion 425 slides relative to the wall body 423 between a first position for shielding the cooling hole 424 and a second position for opening the cooling hole 424. In this embodiment, the material of the shielding portion 425 is the same as that of the cover body 424, both being metal materials. The supporting plate 422 is located below the cover body 421 and is adapted to move horizontally relative to the cover body 421 in the left-right direction. The supporting plate 422 is used to horizontally insert into the bottom of the intermediate body 200 in the left-right direction after the printing platform 10 lifts the intermediate body 200 to support the intermediate body 200 and jointly form the cooling cover 422 with the cover body 421. After the supporting plate 422 supports the intermediate body 200, the printing platform 10 can be moved out of the post-processing workstation 40 for reuse. The cooling needle 43 is provided corresponding to the cooling hole 424 and extends in the up-down direction. A cooling channel 431 is provided along the extending direction of the cooling needle 43, and the cooling channel 431 penetrates through both ends of the cooling needle 43 in the up-down direction. In this embodiment, the cooling needle 43 is adapted to penetrate through the cooling hole 424 from top to bottom and insert into the printing material 220 of the intermediate body 200 and stop at the central position of the intermediate body 200. Therefore, in this embodiment, the depth of the cooling needle 43 inserted into the intermediate body 200 is half of the size of the printing cavity 13 in the up-down direction. The first driving member 44 is used to drive the cooling needle 43 to move linearly in the up-down direction. The second driving member 45 is used to drive the supporting plate 422 to move linearly in the left-right horizontal direction. The venting member 46 is communicated with the upper end of the cooling channel 431. In this embodiment, the venting member 46 is a vacuum pump and is used to form an air flow in the cooling channel 431. The control module obtains the spatial occupancy information of the printed part 210 in the printing cavity 13 from the output unit 22. The control module is used to control the lifting driving member 12 of the printing platform 10 attached to the station body 41 to drive the bearing member 11 to move upward until the intermediate body 200 is moved into the cooling cover 42; the control module is also used to control the second driving member 45 to drive the supporting plate 422 to move left and right to support the intermediate body 200. The control module also selectively controls the first driving member 44 to drive the cooling needle 43 to insert into the corresponding cooling hole 424 and the depth of insertion into the intermediate body 200 according to the spatial occupancy information of the printed part 210 in the printing cavity 13 to avoid the printed part 210 in the intermediate body 200.

[0078] The bag discharging stage, printing stage, and unpacking stage of the second embodiment are not essentially different from those of the first embodiment, except that they are adjusted according to the position of the cooling holes 424 and the depth at which the cooling needles 43 are inserted into the intermediate body 200.

[0079] In the cooling stage of the second embodiment, the printing platform 10 is moved from the three-dimensional printer 30 to the station body 41 and attached to the station body 41. The control module controls the lifting drive 12 of the printing platform 10 to drive the carrier 11 to move upward until the intermediate body 200 is moved into the cooling cover 42. Subsequently, the control module controls the second drive 45 to drive the support plate 422 to move from left to right until it supports the intermediate body 200, and together with the cover body 421, forms the cooling cover 42, with a gap formed between the support plate 422 and the cooling cover 421. After manually moving the shielding part 425 from the first position to the second position, the control module controls the first drive 44 to drive the cooling needle 43 to move downward from top to bottom. The cooling needle 43 is inserted into the cooling hole 424 and extends into the printing material 220 of the intermediate body 200 to the middle position of the intermediate body 200. The control module then controls the ventilation member 46 to start, extracting air from the cooling needle 43, so that external air enters the pores between the printing materials 220 of the intermediate body 200 through the gap between the cover body 421 and the support plate 422 and is discharged from the cooling channel 431. After the intermediate body 200 is cooled, the control module controls the first drive 44 to pull out the cooling needle 43 from the intermediate body 200 and controls the ventilation member 46 to stop the air flow.

[0080] In the above two embodiments, moving the intermediate body 200 out of the printing chamber 13 results in a faster cooling speed compared to cooling the intermediate body 200 within the printing chamber 13.

[0081] In the above two embodiments, the cooling needle 43 having the cooling channel 431 is inserted into the printing material 220 within the intermediate body 200, and an air flow is formed in the cooling channel 431 to cool the printed part 210 within the intermediate body 200. Compared with constructing a cooling pipe member and then introducing an air flow into the cooling channel formed after the cooling pipe member is penetrated to accelerate the cooling of the printed part 210, not only is the bag discharging rate improved, but the operation is also simpler. Since the cooling needle 43 is directly inserted into the printing material 220, compared with the cooling needle 43 being inserted into the cooling pipe member to suck the printing material 220, the defect that the inner diameter of the cooling pipe member increases due to the easy caking of the printing material 220 near the inner wall of the cooling pipe member, resulting in a decrease in the bag discharging rate, is greatly improved. Therefore, it has a higher bag discharging rate and efficiency. Again, since there is no longer a need to suck the printing material 220 in the cooling pipe member through a dredging device, then penetrate the cooling pipe member, and then pull out the dredging device to ventilate, the operation is simpler.

[0082] In the above two embodiments, moving the intermediate 200 from the printing chamber 13 into the cooling cover 42 can control the cooling rate by adjusting the temperature or wall thickness of the cooling cover 42 according to the different printing materials 220. At the same time, covering the cooling cover 42 outside the intermediate 200 is beneficial to ensure the integrity of the form of the intermediate 200 and prevent the printing material 220 inside the intermediate 200 from leaking or collapsing.

[0083] In the above two embodiments, the cooling needle 43 is inserted into the printing material 220 of the intermediate 200 through the cooling hole 424 on the cooling cover 42, which makes it easier to determine the insertion position of the cooling needle 43 relative to the intermediate 200 when the cooling cover 42 covers the intermediate 200, and avoid damaging the printed part 210 due to incorrect insertion position.

[0084] In the second embodiment, the cooling needle 43 stops in the printing material 220 after insertion, which is suitable for scenarios where the dimensional accuracy requirements of the printed part 210 are not high. After the cooling needle 43 stops in the printing material 220, whether it is air extraction or air blowing when forming the air flow, the air flow will directly enter the intermediate 200, and communicate with the surface of the intermediate 200 through the gaps of the powdery printing material, and then communicate with the atmosphere through the cooling cover 42. At this time, since the path of the air flow inside the intermediate 200 is unpredictable, it may cause the cooling rate of some surfaces of the printed part 210 to be faster due to being close to the air flow, while the cooling rate of other surfaces far from the air flow is slower, which may cause the printed part to deform. Therefore, it is only suitable for scenarios where the dimensional accuracy requirements of the printed part 210 are not high. However, at the same time, since the air flow directly passes through the inside of the intermediate 200 and forms convection inside the intermediate, the cooling rate is faster.

[0085] In the first embodiment, the cooling needle 43 penetrates through the cooling cover 42 and the intermediate 200. Therefore, the air flow can only be formed in the cooling channel 431 and cannot enter the inside of the intermediate 200. Compared with the second embodiment, there is no convection inside the intermediate 200 and it can only be cooled by the heat conduction effect with the cooling needle 43, so the cooling is more stable, and the printed part 210 is less likely to deform due to different cooling rates of each part, which is suitable for scenarios with higher dimensional accuracy. Moreover, compared with the solution using a cooling pipe component, it is also more beneficial to avoid deformation of the printed part. This is because when the air flow enters the cooling pipe component, the wall of the cooling pipe component may contract violently due to too fast cooling rate and cause rupture. This rupture will cause the air flow to overflow into the intermediate 200, which may cause the printed part 210 to deform, thus affecting the dimensional accuracy of the printed part 210, and this rupture cannot be controlled and monitored during the cooling process.

[0086] In the first embodiment, during the insertion process of the cooling needle 43, the printing material 220 entering the cooling channel 431 is sucked out by extracting air from the cooling channel 431, which is beneficial to always keep the cooling channel 431 unobstructed and form the air flow more efficiently.

[0087] In the above two embodiments, the cooling needle 43 selects the cooling holes 424 to be inserted and / or the insertion depth according to the spatial occupancy of the printed part 210 in the printing cavity 13 during the packet arranging stage, which can avoid the cooling needle 43 from touching or being too close to the printed part 210, and is beneficial to avoiding damage or deformation of the printed part 210.

[0088] In the above two embodiments, during the packet arranging stage, the spatial occupancy of the printed part 210 in the printing cavity 13 avoids the preset depth corresponding to at least part of the positions of the cooling holes 424, which is beneficial to packet arranging based on the preset depth of the cooling needle 43, thereby more effectively improving the packet arranging rate.

[0089] In the above two embodiments, the post-processing workstation 40 can control the printing platform 10 attached to the station body 41 to lift the intermediate body 200, and drive the cooling needle 43 to move through the first driving member 44 to insert into the intermediate body 200 through the cooling holes 424 of the cooling cover 42. The venting member 46 is used to form an air flow in the cooling channel 431 by pumping air or blowing air to accelerate the cooling of the printed part 210.

[0090] In the first embodiment, the first driving member 44 drives the cooling needle 43 to move in a spiral manner, making it easier to insert into the intermediate body 200.

[0091] In the above two embodiments, the control module controls the first driving member 33 to drive the cooling needle 43 to insert into the corresponding cooling holes 424 and the depth of insertion into the intermediate body 200 according to the spatial occupancy information of the printed part 210 in the printing cavity 13, which can automatically and effectively avoid the printed part 210.

[0092] In the second embodiment, the second driving member 45 drives the supporting member 422 to move horizontally to support the intermediate body 200, so that the movable printing platform 10 can be removed from the station body 41, improving the utilization rate of the printing platform 10.

[0093] In the above two embodiments, the shielding portion 425 can shield the cooling holes 424 when the cooling needle 43 is not inserted into the cooling holes 424 to prevent the printing material 220 from leaking from the cooling holes 424. The shielding portion 425 is punctured or moves to open the cooling holes 424 when the cooling needle 43 is inserted into the cooling holes 424, which are two specific implementation manners for realizing the insertion of the cooling needle 43.

[0094] The above description of the specification and embodiments is used to explain the protection scope of the present application, but does not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional printing method, characterized in that include: The packing stage is used to determine the space occupied by the printed part in the printing cavity of the printing platform; The printing stage is used to form an intermediate body in the printing chamber, wherein the intermediate body includes a formed printed part and a printing material wrapping the printed part; and The cooling stage is performed by inserting a cooling needle with a cooling channel into the printing material in the intermediate body removed from the printing chamber, and forming an air flow in the cooling channel to cool the printed part in the intermediate body.

2. The three-dimensional printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The intermediate body is moved out of the printing chamber into a cooling cover, the cooling cover is provided with cooling holes, and the cooling needle is inserted into the printing material of the intermediate body through the cooling holes.

3. The three-dimensional printing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The cooling needle stops in the printing material after being inserted.

4. The three-dimensional printing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The cooling needles penetrate the cooling shroud and the intermediate body.

5. The three-dimensional printing method according to claim 2, wherein: During the cooling needle insertion process, air is pumped out from the cooling channel to suck out the printing material entering the cooling channel.

6. The three-dimensional printing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The cooling needle selects the cooling hole to be inserted and / or the insertion depth according to the space occupied by the printed parts output in the packaging stage in the printing chamber.

7. The three-dimensional printing method according to claim 6, characterized in that the cooling The needle is inserted into the intermediate body at a preset depth; in the packaging stage, the space occupied by the printed part in the printing chamber avoids the preset depth of at least part of the corresponding position of the cooling hole.

8. A computer program for packing, used for determining the spatial location of a printed part in a printing cavity in the three-dimensional printing method as claimed in claim 7; characterized in that: The space occupied by the printed part in the printing chamber avoids the preset depth of the corresponding position of at least part of the cooling holes.

9. A storage unit, characterized in that: It stores the packaging computer program as claimed in claim 8.

10. A computing device, characterized in that include: An input unit, which is used to obtain printing information, the position of the cooling hole corresponding to the printing cavity and the preset depth of the cooling needle inserted into the intermediate body, wherein the printing information at least includes geometric model information of the printed part; An output unit, which is used to output the space occupation information of the printed part in the printing cavity; A storage unit as claimed in claim 9; and The computing unit obtains printing information, the position of the cooling hole corresponding to the printing cavity and the preset depth of the cooling needle inserted into the intermediate body from the input unit, and also retrieves and executes the packaging computer program from the storage unit, and outputs the execution result of the packaging computer program to the output unit.

11. A post-processing workstation, characterized in that include: A station body, which is suitable for attachment of a printing platform; A cooling cover, which is provided with cooling holes and is used to cover the intermediate body lifted by the printing platform; A cooling needle, which is provided with a cooling channel and moves relative to the cooling cover to pass through the cooling hole; A first driving member, which is mounted on the station body and is used to drive the cooling needle to move; a ventilator, which is in communication with the cooling channel and is used to form an airflow; and A control module is used to control a printing platform attached to the station body to lift the intermediate body.

12. The post-processing workstation according to claim 11, characterized in that: The first driving member drives the cooling needle to move spirally.

13. The post-processing workstation according to claim 11, characterized in that: The vent evacuates air during the insertion of the cooling needle into the intermediate body.

14. The post-processing workstation according to claim 11, characterized in that: The control module also obtains the space occupation information of the printed part in the printing cavity, and controls the first driving member to drive the cooling needle to insert into the corresponding cooling hole and the depth of the intermediate body to avoid the printed part according to the space occupation information of the printed part in the printing cavity.

15. The post-processing workstation according to claim 11, characterized in that: The cooling cover comprises a cover body, and the cover body is used to cover the intermediate body lifted by the printing platform.

16. The post-processing workstation according to claim 15, characterized in that: It also includes a second driving member, and the cooling cover also includes a supporting plate. The second driving member is installed on the station body and is used to drive the supporting member to move horizontally to support the intermediate body and form a cooling cover together with the cover body.

17. The post-processing workstation according to claim 11, characterized in that: The wall of the cooling cover includes a wall body and a shielding portion, the cooling hole is opened in the wall body, the shielding portion is used to close the cooling hole, and the cooling needle pierces the shielding portion when inserted to be inserted into the printing material from the cooling hole.

18. The post-processing workstation according to claim 11, characterized in that: The wall of the cooling cover comprises a wall body and a shielding portion, the cooling hole is opened in the wall body, and the shielding portion is suitable for shielding the cooling hole or moving relative to the cover body to open the cooling hole.

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