Multi-powder-beam collaborative laser cladding forming metal additive manufacturing equipment for special-shaped complex component

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of laser cladding, in particular to a multi-powder-beam cooperative special-shaped complex component laser cladding forming metal additive manufacturing device which comprises a wide light spot light path mechanism, a multi-feeding-port mechanism and a feeding control mechanism, the multi-feeding-port mechanism is used for conveying multiple strands of materials into the feeding control mechanism at the same time, and the multi-powder-beam cooperative special-shaped complex component laser cladding forming metal additive manufacturing device comprises a wide light spot light path mechanism and a multi-powder-beam cooperative special-shaped complex component laser cladding forming metal additive manufacturing device. The feeding control mechanism can be used for independently regulating and controlling the conveying amount of each strand of materials and enabling the multiple strands of materials to be sprayed out in a uniform and ordered state through the material uniformizing transmission assembly, and the wide light spot light path mechanism is used for reflecting multiple beams of light so that wide light spots can be formed on a base plate at the bottom of a spraying opening of the feeding control mechanism. Through the synergistic effect of the multiple feeding pipes, the control valves corresponding to the feeding pipes and the screw rods, the powder beam conveying amount and the powder beam conveying morphology can be changed in response to the requirements according to the size requirement or the part section morphology requirement of the laser cladding part; and laser surface repairing or forming of the special-shaped complex component is completed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of laser cladding technology, and in particular to metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding forming of special-shaped complex components with the cooperation of multiple powder beams. Background Art

[0002] Currently, a search in the field of laser cladding technology has found a laser broadband cladding device with patent number CN106444049B, which discloses laser broadband cladding technology. Compared with traditional narrow-band cladding, the technology of this patented technology has a larger forming width, reaching 10-40mm in a single scan (narrow cladding is only φ1-5mm), with high cladding efficiency. In addition, large-area laser broadband cladding can greatly reduce the number of overlaps and heat exposure, thereby reducing the resulting defects, uneven thickness, and structural properties. However, this patented technology still has the following problems: Using one powder feeder to simultaneously divert powder to multiple feed pipes makes it difficult to ensure consistent powder delivery from each powder feed pipe, resulting in poor consistency in the height and width of the cladding layer, difficulty in accurately controlling the forming accuracy, and reduced cladding surface accuracy. The existing solution is only suitable for repairing surfaces of a single shape and cannot meet the repair needs of complex, irregular parts with varying widths, heights, and cross-sections.

[0003] In addition, in the field of laser cladding technology, it was also discovered through searches that the technologies involved in patent numbers CN105562951A, CN107627002A, CN107217257A, and CN106583726A all have the problem of too small a spot of a single laser beam from the laser head. Consequently, when repairing a large area, the small spot results in a small area scanned per unit time, resulting in low repair efficiency. Furthermore, most solutions have only one powder feeding pipe, and the powder feeding amount can only be adjusted within a relatively small range, resulting in low powder feeding efficiency and poor adjustability. At the same time, the cladding surface has low flatness and requires subsequent milling, which increases the process and cost and reduces overall efficiency. Therefore, there is an urgent need to propose a laser cladding technology that can accurately control the powder feeding amount, improve forming accuracy, and meet the repair needs of special-shaped and complex components. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention provides a metal additive manufacturing device for laser cladding of special-shaped complex components in cooperation with multiple powder beams to solve the problems raised in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: Metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex and special-shaped components using multiple powder beams in collaboration includes a wide-spot optical path mechanism, a multi-feed port mechanism, and a feed control mechanism. The multi-feed port mechanism is used to simultaneously deliver multiple strands of material into the feed control mechanism, and the feed control mechanism can be used to independently regulate the delivery volume of each strand of material, and enable multiple strands of material to be ejected in a uniform and orderly state through a material leveling transmission assembly. The wide-spot optical path mechanism is used to reflect multiple beams of light to form a wide light spot on a substrate at the bottom of the ejection port of the feed control mechanism.

[0006] Preferably, the feeding pipe includes multiple feeders and multiple feeding pipes, the multiple feeding pipes are connected to the multiple feeders in a one-to-one correspondence, and the cooperation between the multiple feeders and the multiple feeding pipes is used to simultaneously convey multiple strands of material into the feeding control mechanism.

[0007] Preferably, the feeding control mechanism includes a shell provided at one end of a plurality of feeding pipes, a control valve installed on each of the feeding pipes, a collecting hopper connected to the bottom of the shell, and a material leveling transmission assembly provided in the inner cavity of the shell. The inner wall of the shell is provided with feeding openings corresponding one-to-one to the pipe openings of the plurality of feeding pipes. The material leveling transmission assembly is provided directly below the plurality of feeding openings and is located between the feeding openings and the collecting hopper.

[0008] Preferably, the material leveling transmission assembly includes an engine and a screw rod connected to the output end of the engine, and the engine is fixedly mounted on the outer wall of the shell, and the screw rod is arranged directly below the multiple material ports and is rotatably mounted in the inner cavity of the shell.

[0009] Preferably, a plurality of funnels are provided on the outer wall of the shell, and one end of the plurality of funnels is connected to the plurality of material passage openings in a one-to-one correspondence, and one end of the plurality of feeding pipes is respectively provided inside the corresponding funnels.

[0010] Preferably, the wide spot optical path mechanism includes a QBH laser head for emitting laser light, a collimator mechanism for calibrating the divergent laser beam into a parallel laser beam, a beam splitter for splitting the parallel laser beam into parallel and opposite directions, and a reflector for reflecting and converging the laser beam.

[0011] Preferably, the wide spot optical path mechanism further includes a protective shell, the collimator mechanism is fixedly mounted on the outer wall of the protective shell, and the beam splitter and the reflector are respectively mounted in the inner cavity of the protective shell.

[0012] Preferably, two reflective light path through holes are provided at the bottom of the protective shell, the two reflective light path through holes are respectively communicated with the inner cavity of the protective shell, and protective lenses are respectively provided in the two reflective light path through holes.

[0013] Preferably, the protective lens is made of light-transmitting material.

[0014] Preferably, two reflectors are provided, and the two reflectors are symmetrically arranged with the beam splitter as the axis of symmetry.

[0015] By adopting the above technical solution, the beneficial effects achieved by the present invention are as follows: In the present invention, through the coordinated action of multiple feed tubes, control valves corresponding to the feed tubes, and screw rods, the present invention can achieve changes in the powder beam delivery amount and the powder beam delivery morphology in response to the requirements of the laser cladding part size or the part cross-sectional morphology, thereby completing the laser surface repair or forming of special-shaped complex components.

[0016] In the present invention, by setting up multiple feeding pipes and cooperating with corresponding control valves, the material delivery size of a single channel can be controlled to achieve precise control of the powder delivery amount of each feeding pipe; and by setting up an engine to drive the rotation of the screw rod, the screw rod can promote the homogenization of the material, preventing the disorderly spraying of the material from leading to poor repair quality and poor surface performance and precision of the molded parts. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 It is a schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of the wide spot optical path mechanism of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the planar front view structure of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 It is a schematic cross-sectional structural diagram of the feeding control mechanism of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 5 Schematic diagram showing the comparison between a single beam spot (left a) and a wide spot (right b).

[0022] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the forming of rectangular parts of equal width according to the present invention.

[0023] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the forming of a variable height trapezoidal material according to the present invention.

[0024] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the forming of a material containing a concave notch according to the present invention.

[0025] In the figure: 1. Wide spot optical path mechanism; 11. QBH laser head; 12. Collimator mechanism; 13. Beam splitter; 14. Reflector; 15. Protective shell; 16. Protective lens; 2. Multiple feeding port mechanism; 21. Feeder; 22. Feeding pipe; 3. Feeding control mechanism; 31. Housing; 32. Control valve; 33. Collection hopper; 34. Feeding port; 35. Funnel; 4. Material distribution transmission assembly; 41. Engine; 42. Screw rod. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to more clearly understand the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention, the present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present application and the features therein can be combined with each other.

[0027] In the following description, many specific details are set forth to facilitate a full understanding of the present invention. However, the present invention may also be implemented in other ways than those described herein. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0028] like Figures 1-8 As shown, the present invention provides a metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding forming of special-shaped complex components with multiple powder beams, including a wide light spot optical path mechanism 1, a multi-feed port mechanism 2 and a feeding control mechanism 3. The multi-feed port mechanism 2 is used to simultaneously convey multiple strands of material into the feeding control mechanism 3, and the feeding control mechanism 3 can be used to independently regulate the conveying amount of each strand of material, and make the multiple strands of material be ejected in a uniform and orderly state through the material leveling transmission component 4. The wide light spot optical path mechanism 1 is used to reflect multiple beams of light to form a wide light spot on the substrate at the bottom of the ejection port of the feeding control mechanism 3.

[0029] Combine Figure 2 As shown, as a further example, the wide spot optical path mechanism 1 includes a QBH laser head 11 for emitting laser, a collimator mechanism 12 for calibrating the divergent laser beam into a parallel laser beam, a beam splitter 13 for dividing the parallel laser beam into parallel and opposite directions, and a reflector 14 for reflecting and converging the laser beam. Two reflectors 14 are provided, and the two reflectors 14 are symmetrically arranged with the beam splitter 13 as the symmetry axis; and the wide spot optical path mechanism 1 also includes a protective shell 15, the collimator mechanism 12 is fixedly mounted on the outer wall of the protective shell 15, and the beam splitter 13 and the reflector 14 are respectively mounted in the inner cavity of the protective shell 15, and the protective shell 15 is used to protect internal components to form a closed space, and the internal components are two reflectors 14 and one beam splitter 13.

[0030] Specifically, the light beam is emitted from the QBH laser head 11 and calibrated into several parallel beams by the collimator mechanism 12. Then, all the light beams are homogenized by the beam splitter 13 and divided into two parallel beams in opposite directions. Finally, the light is reflected by the reflector 14 and converged on the substrate to form a wide light spot (i.e. Figure 5Center right b).

[0031] Combine Figure 5 More specifically, the filled areas in image a on the left and image b on the right represent the portion of the material covered by the laser spot. Compared to a single beam, the wide laser spot of this solution covers a wider area of ​​material, allowing more material to be clad in the same amount of time, significantly improving the efficiency of laser green repair.

[0032] Combine Figure 2 As shown, as a further step, two reflective light path holes are opened at the bottom of the protective shell 15, and the two reflective light path holes are respectively communicated with the inner cavity of the protective shell 15, and protective lenses 16 are respectively provided in the two reflective light path holes. The protective lenses 16 are made of a light-transmitting material. The protective lenses 16 made of a light-transmitting material can not only form a closed space inside the protective shell 15, but also ensure the normal transmission of the laser, so that the reflected light beam can be converged on the substrate through the reflective light path holes to perform material cladding.

[0033] Combine Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, as a further example, the feeding pipe 22 includes a plurality of feeders 21 and a plurality of feeding pipes 22, the plurality of feeding pipes 22 are connected to the plurality of feeders 21 in a one-to-one correspondence, and the cooperation of the plurality of feeders 21 and the plurality of feeding pipes 22 is used to simultaneously convey a plurality of strands of material into the feeding control mechanism 3, wherein, Figure 3 The direction of the arrow in the middle is the direction of material conveying.

[0034] Combine Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, as a further example, the feeding control mechanism 3 includes a shell 31 provided at one end of a plurality of feeding pipes 22, a control valve 32 installed on each feeding pipe 22, a collecting hopper 33 connected to the bottom of the shell 31, and a material leveling transmission assembly 4 provided in the inner cavity of the shell 31. The inner wall of the shell 31 is provided with material passages 34 corresponding to the pipe openings of the plurality of feeding pipes 22. The material leveling transmission assembly 4 is provided directly below the plurality of material passages 34 and between the material passages 34 and the collecting hopper 33. The control valve 32 is used to collect signals to control the delivery amount of material in the feeding pipe 22, thereby realizing the control of the delivery amount of material at a certain position on the substrate.

[0035] Among them, the material leveling transmission assembly 4 includes an engine 41 and a screw rod 42 connected to the output end of the engine 41, and the engine 41 is fixedly installed on the outer wall of the shell 31, and the screw rod 42 is arranged directly below the multiple material ports 34 and is rotatably installed in the inner cavity of the shell 31.

[0036] Specifically, the surface of the spiral rod 42 is provided with a groove profile, and the spiral rod 42 relies on the surface groove profile to collect the falling materials, and is driven by the operation of the engine 41 to enable the materials to be evenly arranged and fall in an orderly manner, thereby preventing the materials from being sprayed out in a disorderly manner, thereby avoiding the problem of poor repair quality and poor surface performance and precision of the molded parts caused by the disorderly spraying.

[0037] Furthermore, the outer wall of the housing 31 is provided with a plurality of funnels 35, and one end of each of the funnels 35 is connected to a plurality of feed openings 34 in a one-to-one correspondence, and one end of each of the feed pipes 22 is respectively provided inside the corresponding funnels 35. The funnels 35 are used to collect the materials transported by the feed pipes 22 and spray the materials into the inner cavity of the housing 31 through the feed openings 34. It should be noted that Figure 4 In the figure, the green dots are used to simulate the material.

[0038] It should be noted that the present invention is intended to protect the physical structure, and does not protect the control program of the feeder 21, the controller of the engine 41, and the electronic control part of the control valve 32. Therefore, the present invention does not elaborate on each electronic control program part. Although the present invention does not elaborate on it in detail, each electronic control program part is a technology that is well known and applied by those skilled in the art, and can achieve specific functions in conjunction with the physical structure to be protected by the present invention.

[0039] Combine Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 6 As shown, when forming rectangular parts of equal width, multiple feeders 21 are used to feed materials through corresponding feeding pipes 22 at the same time. During this period, the control valve 32 on each feeding pipe 22 is in an open state, so that the feeding amount is consistent; in this way, after the material transported by the feeding pipe 22 enters the funnel 35, the material can fall into the inner cavity of the shell 31 along the funnel 35. At the same time, the engine 41 drives the rotation of the screw rod 42, so that when the screw rod 42 rotates, it can collect the material by relying on the groove profile on the surface, and as it rotates, the material can fall evenly and orderly, and finally the collecting hopper 33 collects and sprays the material to ensure that the material sprayed to each position on the substrate is consistent, completing the forming of rectangular parts of equal width.

[0040] Combine Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 7As shown, when forming variable height trapezoidal parts, multiple feeders 21 are used to feed materials through corresponding feeding pipes 22 at the same time. During this period, since the thickness of the equal-width rectangular parts gradually increases from right to left, the feeding amount of the feeding pipes 22 from right to left is regulated by the control valve 32 to achieve a gradual increase in the feeding amount, which is conducive to the forming of variable height trapezoidal parts.

[0041] During this period, due to the gradual increase in the feeding amount, the material passing through the shell 31 is also the same, and the material sprayed onto the substrate is also in the same gradual increase. Therefore, the variable height trapezoidal material parts can be fully covered with one spray, without moving the nozzle mouth multiple times, and the operation is simple.

[0042] Combine Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 8 As shown, when forming a material containing a recessed notch, multiple feeders 21 are used to feed the material through the corresponding feed pipe 22 at the same time. During this period, since the width of each part of the material containing the recessed notch is consistent, the feeding amount is consistent when feeding the lower part. When forming the upper part, since there is a notch in the middle, after reaching a sufficient height during the spraying process, the feeder 21 and the control valve 32 at the corresponding position are closed, so that the other parts continue to work to realize the forming of the material containing the recessed notch.

[0043] It should be noted that during the forming of the various shapes of the above-mentioned parts, the light beam is emitted by the QBH laser head 11 and then calibrated into several parallel light beams by the collimator mechanism 12. Then, all the light beams are homogenized by the beam splitter 13 and divided into two parallel light beams in opposite directions. Finally, the light is reflected by the reflector 14 and converged on the substrate to form a wide light spot, which is used to complete the repair or forming of the surface of the part in combination with the material.

[0044] In summary, the present invention sets up multiple feeding pipes 22, and cooperates with corresponding control valves 32 to control the material delivery size of a single channel, so as to achieve precise control of the powder delivery amount of each feeding pipe 22; and by setting up an engine 41 to drive the rotation of the screw rod 42, the screw rod 42 can promote the homogenization of the material, thereby preventing the disorderly spraying of the material from leading to poor repair quality and poor surface performance and precision of the molded parts.

[0045] Therefore, according to the laser cladding part size requirements or part cross-sectional morphology requirements, the present invention realizes the changes in the powder beam delivery amount and the powder beam delivery morphology according to the demand response through the coordinated action of multiple feeding tubes 22 + control valves 32 + screw rods 42, thereby realizing laser surface repair or forming of special-shaped complex components.

[0046] In the present invention, the term "plurality" refers to two or more, unless otherwise expressly defined. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the relevant listed items. Terms such as "installed", "connected", "connected", and "fixed" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, "connected" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; "connected" can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0047] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "assembled to," "mounted to," "fixed to," or "disposed on" another element, it may be directly on the other element or there may be an intermediate element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intermediate element. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only implementation methods.

[0048] Throughout this specification, terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," and "specific embodiments" mean that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in conjunction with that embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, schematic representations of these terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0049] While embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions, and alterations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, and that the scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex and irregular components using multiple powder beams, characterized in that: The invention comprises a wide light spot optical path mechanism (1), a multi-feeding port mechanism (2) and a feeding control mechanism (3), wherein the multi-feeding port mechanism (2) is used to simultaneously feed multiple strands of material into the feeding control mechanism (3), and the feeding control mechanism (3) can be used to independently regulate the feeding amount of each strand of material and enable the multiple strands of material to be ejected in a uniform and orderly manner through a material leveling transmission component (4), and the wide light spot optical path mechanism (1) is used to reflect multiple beams of light to form a wide light spot on a substrate at the bottom of the ejection port of the feeding control mechanism (3).

2. The metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex shaped components using multiple powder beams in collaboration with others according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The feeding pipe (22) includes a plurality of feeders (21) and a plurality of feeding pipes (22), the plurality of feeding pipes (22) are connected to the plurality of feeders (21) in a one-to-one correspondence, and the cooperation between the plurality of feeders (21) and the plurality of feeding pipes (22) is used to simultaneously convey a plurality of strands of material into the feeding control mechanism (3).

3. The multi-powder beam coordinated laser cladding forming metal additive manufacturing equipment for special-shaped complex components according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The feeding control mechanism (3) comprises a housing (31) provided at one end of a plurality of feeding pipes (22), a control valve (32) installed on each of the feeding pipes (22), a collecting hopper (33) connected to the bottom of the housing (31), and a material leveling transmission assembly (4) provided in the inner cavity of the housing (31). The inner wall of the housing (31) is provided with material passage openings (34) corresponding one-to-one to the pipe openings of the plurality of feeding pipes (22). The material leveling transmission assembly (4) is provided directly below the plurality of material passage openings (34) and is located between the material passage openings (34) and the collecting hopper (33).

4. The metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex shaped components using multiple powder beams in collaboration with others according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The material leveling transmission assembly (4) includes a motor (41) and a screw rod (42) connected to the output end of the motor (41), wherein the motor (41) is fixedly mounted on the outer wall of the housing (31), and the screw rod (42) is arranged directly below the plurality of material passage openings (34) and is rotatably mounted in the inner cavity of the housing (31).

5. The metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex shaped components using multiple powder beams in collaboration with others according to claim 3 is characterized in that: The outer wall of the shell (31) is provided with a plurality of funnels (35), and one end of the plurality of funnels (35) is connected to the plurality of material passage openings (34) in a one-to-one correspondence, and one end of the plurality of feeding pipes (22) is respectively provided in the interior of the corresponding funnels (35).

6. The metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex shaped components using multiple powder beams in collaboration with others according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The wide spot optical path mechanism (1) comprises a QBH laser head (11) for emitting laser light, a collimator mechanism (12) for calibrating a divergent laser beam into a parallel laser beam, a beam splitter (13) for splitting the parallel laser beam into parallel beams in opposite directions, and a reflector (14) for reflecting and converging the laser beam.

7. The metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex shaped components using multiple powder beams in collaboration with each other according to claim 6 is characterized in that: The wide spot optical path mechanism (1) further comprises a protective shell (15), the collimator mechanism (12) is fixedly mounted on the outer wall of the protective shell (15), and the beam splitter (13) and the reflector (14) are respectively mounted in the inner cavity of the protective shell (15).

8. The metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of special-shaped complex components using multiple powder beams as a collaborative method according to claim 7 is characterized in that: The bottom of the protective shell (15) is provided with two reflective light path through holes, the two reflective light path through holes are respectively communicated with the inner cavity of the protective shell (15), and protective lenses (16) are respectively provided in the two reflective light path through holes.

9. The metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex shaped components using multiple powder beams in collaboration with each other according to claim 8 is characterized in that: The protective lens (16) is made of a light-transmitting material.

10. The metal additive manufacturing equipment for laser cladding of complex and special-shaped components using multiple powder beams in collaboration with each other according to claim 8, characterized in that: Two reflectors (14) are provided, and the two reflectors (14) are symmetrically arranged with the beam splitter (13) as a symmetry axis.

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