A laser processing device for additive manufacturing

Abstract

This invention belongs to the technical field of additive manufacturing equipment, and more particularly to a laser processing device for additive manufacturing. It includes a sealed housing, a worktable, a laser galvanometer emitting assembly, a scraper, a powder supply pipeline, a support and adjustment assembly, multiple lifting cylinders, a lifting and adjustment assembly, a contour support pad, and a limiting powder dropping template. The worktable is vertically slidably mounted on the inner wall of the sealed housing, and the laser galvanometer emitting assembly is located on the top inner wall of the sealed housing. The support and adjustment assembly is located inside the sealed housing and connected to the worktable for adjusting the lifting of the worktable. This invention is rationally designed and can flexibly adjust the effective working size of the forming cylinder to meet the additive manufacturing needs of different sizes, reducing the amount of powder used per cycle. This not only avoids waste but also reduces the workload of subsequent powder recycling and processing, and it is well-suited for processing small and regular workpieces.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of additive manufacturing equipment technology, and in particular to a laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing. Background Technology

[0002] Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a technology that uses three-dimensional CAD data to create solid parts by adding materials layer by layer. Compared with traditional subtractive manufacturing technologies such as machining, it is a "bottom-up" manufacturing method that can produce complex structural parts that are difficult to process using traditional methods, and has a wide range of application prospects in many fields.

[0003] Selective laser sintering is a widely used additive manufacturing process. This process uses a powder spreading device to evenly spread powder material on the upper surface of the part to be formed, and then uses a laser to selectively sinter the powder material, completing the processing layer by layer to obtain the formed workpiece.

[0004] However, the forming cylinders of existing laser additive manufacturing equipment are of a single specification and have a relatively fixed volume. When the workpiece to be processed does not match the forming cylinder, such as when the size of the forming cylinder is much larger than the size of the workpiece, it is still necessary to fill the forming cylinder with powder, consuming a large amount of powder at a time. This not only consumes more work in the subsequent powder recycling process, but also wastes the powder. At the same time, when processing smaller and more regular workpieces, even if a small forming cylinder is used, it is still difficult to avoid the problem of powder redundancy due to the mismatch between the cylinder volume and the actual space occupied by the workpiece. Existing equipment lacks the function of dynamically adjusting the effective volume of the forming cylinder, and can only adapt to different specifications of workpieces by changing the forming cylinder, which is difficult to meet the high-efficiency processing needs of multiple specifications and small batches of workpieces.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention proposes a laser processing device for additive manufacturing to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to address the shortcomings mentioned in the background section by providing a laser processing device for additive manufacturing.

[0007] The above-mentioned technical objective of the present invention is achieved through the following technical solution: a laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing, comprising a sealed housing, a worktable, a laser galvanometer emitting assembly, a scraper, a powder supply pipeline, a support adjustment assembly, multiple lifting cylinders, a lifting adjustment assembly, a contour support pad, and a limiting powder dropping template; the worktable is vertically slidably mounted on the inner wall of the sealed housing, and the laser galvanometer emitting assembly is disposed on the top inner wall of the sealed housing; the support adjustment assembly is disposed inside the sealed housing and connected to the worktable for lifting and adjusting the worktable; multiple lifting cylinders are vertically slidably mounted on the worktable and coaxially arranged, and the inner diameter of the multiple lifting cylinders increases sequentially from the inside to the outside; the lifting adjustment assembly is disposed on the worktable and connected to the multiple lifting cylinders for lifting and adjusting the multiple lifting cylinders separately; the contour support pad is detachably mounted on the worktable and located directly below the laser galvanometer emitting assembly; the limiting powder dropping template is detachably mounted on the top side of one of the lifting cylinders, and the limiting powder dropping template has contour die holes adapted to the shape of the workpiece to be processed and matching the contour support pad.

[0008] Preferably, the support adjustment assembly includes two ball screws, a dual-axis motor, and four bevel gears; both ball screws are rotatably mounted on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing, both ball screws are threadedly engaged with the worktable, and the threads of the two ball screws are in opposite directions; the dual-axis motor is fixedly mounted on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing; the four bevel gears are respectively fixedly sleeved on the two ball screws and on the two output shafts of the dual-axis motor, and the two bevel gears located on the same side of the dual-axis motor mesh with each other.

[0009] Preferably, strip plates are fixedly installed on both inner walls of the sealed housing, the top ends of the two ball screws are rotatably connected to the corresponding strip plates, elastic telescopic dust covers are fixedly installed on the bottom sides of the two strip plates, the bottom ends of the two elastic telescopic dust covers are fixedly installed on the top side of the workbench, and the two elastic telescopic dust covers are respectively covered on the outside of the corresponding ball screws.

[0010] Preferably, protective shells are fixedly installed on both sides of the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing, and the two output shafts and two ball screws of the dual-axis motor are rotatably connected to the corresponding protective shells, and the four bevel gears are located in the corresponding protective shells.

[0011] Preferably, the lifting adjustment assembly includes multiple multi-stage electric cylinders and multiple lifting frames; the multiple multi-stage electric cylinders are all fixedly installed on the workbench; the multiple lifting frames are respectively fixedly installed on the bottom side of the corresponding lifting cylinder, and the telescopic ends of the multiple multi-stage electric cylinders are respectively fixedly installed on the corresponding lifting frames.

[0012] Preferably, a plurality of vertically arranged slide bars are fixedly installed on the workbench, and a plurality of lifting frames are slidably connected to the corresponding plurality of slide bars.

[0013] Preferably, wear-resistant and dustproof sealing rings are fixedly installed on the inner and outer walls of the plurality of lifting cylinders, and the wear-resistant and dustproof sealing rings are in a sealing sliding fit with the worktable.

[0014] Preferably, four guide rods are vertically fixedly installed on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing. The top ends of the four guide rods are respectively fixedly connected to the corresponding strip plates, and all four guide rods are slidably connected to the worktable.

[0015] Preferably, the laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing further includes multiple positioning pins, which are fixedly installed on the top side of the corresponding lifting cylinder. The limiting powder dropping template has multiple positioning holes. The top of the multiple positioning pins is tapered, and the bottom opening of the multiple positioning holes is flared. The multiple positioning holes are movably inserted into the corresponding positioning pins.

[0016] Preferably, the laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing also includes two motorized guide rails, which are fixedly mounted on the top inner wall of the sealed housing in a parallel manner, and the scraper is slidably mounted inside the sealed housing via the two motorized guide rails.

[0017] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0018] Multiple lifting cylinders with progressively larger inner diameters, working in conjunction with a lifting adjustment assembly, allow for individual adjustment of the height of the corresponding lifting cylinder based on the size of the workpiece. This enables flexible adjustment of the effective working size of the forming cylinder, eliminating the need to process small workpieces within a large forming cylinder, reducing the amount of processing powder used, and lowering processing costs. Furthermore, the use of detachable contour support blocks in conjunction with a limiting powder-feeding template with contour die holes allows for pre-installation of contour support blocks at corresponding positions when processing workpieces of various shapes. During processing, powder only falls within the contour die holes and is sintered layer by layer, eliminating the need for additional support structures and the subsequent removal of supports. This also avoids damage to the workpiece surface during support removal, effectively improving processing efficiency and finished product quality.

[0019] The adjustable support components enable the worktable to rise and fall stably, meeting the overall height adjustment requirements during processing. The dual-axis motor drives two ball screws with opposite rotation directions simultaneously through four bevel gears, providing a stable and synchronous driving force for the worktable's lifting and lowering. Combined with the elastic telescopic dust cover and protective shell, the transmission structure can be effectively protected, preventing powder from falling in and affecting transmission accuracy. Attached Figure Description

[0020] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0021] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of a laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing proposed in this invention.

[0022] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure;

[0023] Figure 3 for Figure 2 Front view structural diagram;

[0024] Figure 4 This is a partial three-dimensional structural diagram of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure from another perspective;

[0026] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the supporting adjustment component, the strip plate, and the elastic telescopic dust cover in this invention;

[0027] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the lifting cylinder, lifting adjustment assembly, wear-resistant dustproof sealing ring, and positioning pin in this invention;

[0028] Figure 8 This is a cross-sectional view of the powder-discharging template in this invention.

[0029] In the diagram: 1. Sealed housing; 11. Worktable; 111. Guide rod; 112. Slide rod; 12. Laser galvanometer emitting assembly; 13. Scraper; 131. Electric guide rail; 14. Powder supply pipeline; 2. Ball screw; 201. Elastic telescopic dust cover; 21. Dual-axis motor; 22. Bevel gear; 23. Strip plate; 3. Protective shell; 4. Lifting cylinder; 401. Positioning pin; 402. Wear-resistant dustproof sealing ring; 41. Lifting frame; 42. Multi-stage electric cylinder; 5. Limiting powder dropping template; 501. Positioning hole; 51. Contouring mold hole; 52. Contouring support pad. Detailed Implementation

[0030] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to specific embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] Reference Figure 1-8 A laser processing device for additive manufacturing includes a sealed housing 1, a worktable 11, a laser galvanometer emitting assembly 12, a scraper 13, a powder supply pipeline 14, a support and adjustment assembly, multiple lifting cylinders 4, a lifting and adjustment assembly, a contour support pad 52, and a limiting powder dropping template 5; the worktable 11 is vertically slidably mounted on the inner wall of the sealed housing 1, and the laser galvanometer emitting assembly 12 is disposed on the top inner wall of the sealed housing 1;

[0032] A support adjustment assembly is disposed within the sealed housing 1 and connected to the worktable 11. The support adjustment assembly includes two ball screws 2, a dual-axis motor 21, and four bevel gears 22. The two ball screws 2 are rotatably mounted on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing 1, and both ball screws 2 are threadedly engaged with the worktable 11, with the threads of the two ball screws 2 having opposite directions. The dual-axis motor 21 is fixedly mounted on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing 1, wherein the dual-axis motor 21 is preferably a servo motor. The four bevel gears 22 are respectively fixedly sleeved on the two ball screws 2 and on the two output shafts of the dual-axis motor 21. The two bevel gears 22 located on the same side of the dual-axis motor 21 mesh with each other, which can control the lifting and lowering adjustment of the worktable 11 as needed, and at the same time provide effective support for the worktable 11.

[0033] Multiple lifting cylinders 4 are vertically slidably mounted on the worktable 11 and are coaxially arranged, with the inner diameter of the multiple lifting cylinders 4 increasing sequentially from the inside to the outside; a lifting adjustment assembly is mounted on the worktable 11 and connected to the multiple lifting cylinders 4, the lifting adjustment assembly including multiple multi-stage electric cylinders 42 and multiple lifting frames 41; multiple multi-stage electric cylinders 42 are fixedly mounted on the worktable 11; multiple lifting frames 41 are respectively fixedly mounted on the bottom side of the corresponding lifting cylinder 4, and the telescopic ends of the multiple multi-stage electric cylinders 42 are respectively fixedly mounted on the corresponding lifting frames 41, which can control the lifting of the corresponding lifting cylinder 4 separately, thereby facilitating the use of lifting cylinders 4 of the required size as needed;

[0034] The contour support pad 52 is detachably connected to the top side of the worktable 11 by a snap-fit ​​limiting method and is located directly below the laser galvanometer emitting assembly 12. The limiting powder dropping template 5 is detachably installed on the top side of one of the lifting cylinders 4, and the limiting powder dropping template 5 has a contour die hole 51 that is adapted to the shape of the workpiece to be processed and matches the contour support pad 52. During use, the powder will fall onto the contour support pad 52 through the contour die hole, and then the laser galvanometer emitting assembly 12 will scan and sinter the powder to form the shape. During the processing, the contour support pad 52 can directly serve as the support structure for the bottom of the workpiece of this shape. At the same time, the side wall of the contour die hole 51, with a small amount of powder, provides support for the side of the workpiece of this shape, which can greatly reduce the amount of powder required when processing the workpiece of this shape, and thus effectively reduce the workload of powder recycling after processing.

[0035] Based on the above, in order to provide shielding and protection for ball screw 2, refer to Figure 1-6 As shown,

[0036] Strip plates 23 are fixedly installed on both inner walls of the sealed housing 1. The top ends of the two ball screws 2 are rotatably connected to the corresponding strip plates 23. Elastic telescopic dust covers 201 are fixedly installed on the bottom sides of the two strip plates 23. The bottom ends of the two elastic telescopic dust covers 201 are fixedly installed on the top side of the workbench 11, and the two elastic telescopic dust covers 201 are respectively covered on the outside of the corresponding ball screws 2.

[0037] Based on the above, in order to provide effective shielding and protection for the bevel gear 22, and at the same time provide support for the output shaft of the dual-axis motor 21, refer to Figure 2-3 As shown, protective shells 3 are fixedly installed on both sides of the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing 1. The two output shafts of the dual-axis motor 21 and the two ball screws 2 are rotatably connected to the corresponding protective shells 3, and the four bevel gears 22 are located in the corresponding protective shells 3.

[0038] Based on the above, in order to provide stable guidance for the lifting of the lifting frame 41, refer to Figure 2-5 As shown, a plurality of vertically arranged slide bars 112 are fixedly installed on the workbench 11, and a plurality of lifting frames 41 are slidably connected to the corresponding plurality of slide bars 112.

[0039] Based on the above, in order to prevent powder leakage through the gap between the lifting cylinder 4 and the worktable 11, while not affecting the normal lifting and lowering of the lifting cylinder 4, refer to Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 7 As shown, wear-resistant and dustproof sealing rings 402 are fixedly installed on the inner and outer walls of multiple lifting cylinders 4, and the wear-resistant and dustproof sealing rings 402 are in a sealing sliding fit with the worktable 11.

[0040] Based on the above, in order to provide stable guidance for the lifting and lowering of the worktable 11, refer to Figure 1-5 As shown, four guide rods 111 are vertically fixedly installed on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing 1. The top ends of the four guide rods 111 are respectively fixedly connected to the corresponding strip plates 23, and the four guide rods 111 are slidably connected to the worktable 11.

[0041] Based on the above, and referring to Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 7 As shown, the laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing also includes multiple positioning pins 401, which are fixedly installed on the top side of the corresponding lifting cylinder 4. The limiting powder dropping template 5 is provided with multiple positioning holes 501. The top of the multiple positioning pins 401 is tapered, and the bottom opening of the multiple positioning holes 501 is flared. The multiple positioning holes 501 are movably inserted into the corresponding positioning pins 401, which facilitates the rapid positioning and installation of the limiting powder dropping template 5, improves the installation efficiency, and ensures the positional accuracy of the limiting powder dropping template 5 after installation.

[0042] Based on the above, and referring to Figure 3 As shown, the laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing also includes two electric guide rails 131, which are fixedly installed on the top inner wall of the sealed housing 1 in a parallel manner. The scraper 13 is slidably installed in the sealed housing 1 through the two electric guide rails 131, which can drive the scraper 13 to move horizontally, thereby leveling the falling powder and ensuring that the powder is evenly spread.

[0043] In this embodiment, the powder supply pipeline 14 is fixedly installed on one side of the sealed housing 1. The powder outlet end of the powder supply pipeline 14 is flat and can quantitatively output the powder raw materials required for molding and perform preliminary spreading of the powder.

[0044] In this embodiment, a vacuum pump (not shown in the figure) is also included for evacuating the inside of the sealed housing 1, which can prevent the powder from being oxidized during the processing and ensure the quality of additive molding.

[0045] In this embodiment, a sealed inspection door is provided on the front side of the sealed housing 1, and a laser protective observation window is provided on the sealed inspection door, which facilitates the inspection and maintenance of the equipment and the observation during the operation process, while ensuring the sealing performance.

[0046] In this embodiment, a retaining ring is also included, which is fixedly installed on the top of the workbench 11 and located on the outside of the lifting cylinder 4, to prevent molding powder from falling into the outer gap.

[0047] In this embodiment, the circuits and electrical control logic involved can be implemented by those skilled in the art based on existing mature technologies and current standards. Those skilled in the art can fully implement them, so there is no need to elaborate.

[0048] Working principle: In use, firstly, select the required contour die hole 51 limiting powder dropping template 5 and contour support pad 52, and install the contour support pad 52 on the workbench 11 using the existing snap-fit ​​limiting method. At the same time, with the cooperation of the positioning pin 401 and the positioning hole 501, the limiting powder dropping template 5 is installed on the suitable support lifting cylinder 4. Then, close the sealed maintenance door and perform a vacuum operation using a vacuum pump. After that, powder is supplied through the powder supply pipeline 14, and the scraper 13 is driven by the electric guide rail 131 to perform powder scraping operation. The material is then sintered using the laser galvanometer emitting assembly 12. As the process continues, the height of the supporting lifting cylinder 4 is adjusted by the corresponding multi-stage electric cylinder 42, and the material is scraped flat again by the scraper 13. Then, the sintering process is repeated. During this process, the supporting lifting cylinder 4 always supports the limiting powder dropping template 5 and uses the side wall of the contour die hole 51 to achieve side support, which can greatly reduce the amount of powder used and also effectively reduce the workload of powder recycling after processing.

[0049] When processing irregularly shaped workpieces, first open the sealed inspection door and remove the limiting powder dropping template 5 and the contour support pad 52. Then, according to the size of the workpiece, control the corresponding size of the lifting cylinder 4 to rise and adjust the working range through the lifting adjustment component. The lifting cylinder 4 corresponding to the area that is not needed is lowered to the level with the top surface of the worktable 11, and will not participate in powder receiving, reducing unnecessary powder waste. During the processing, the support adjustment component can drive the two ball screws 2 to rotate synchronously through the dual-axis motor 21, driving the worktable 11 to rise and fall stably, and cooperate to complete the layer-by-layer sintering process. The wear-resistant dustproof sealing ring 402 can prevent powder from falling into the gap between the lifting cylinder 4 and the worktable 11. The elastic telescopic dustproof cover 201 and the protective shell 3 can protect the ball screw 2 and the bevel gear 22 respectively, avoiding powder contamination that affects the transmission accuracy.

[0050] The laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing provided by this invention has been described in detail above. Specific embodiments have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this invention. The descriptions of these embodiments are merely for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this invention. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various improvements and modifications to this invention without departing from its principles, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the claims of this invention.

Claims

1. A laser processing device for additive manufacturing, comprising a sealed housing (1), a worktable (11), a laser galvanometer emitting assembly (12), a scraper (13), and a powder supply pipeline (14), wherein the worktable (11) is vertically slidably mounted on the inner wall of the sealed housing (1), and the laser galvanometer emitting assembly (12) is disposed on the top inner wall of the sealed housing (1), characterized in that, Also includes: The support adjustment assembly is set inside the sealed housing (1) and connected to the worktable (11) for the lifting and lowering adjustment of the worktable (11); Multiple lifting cylinders (4) are vertically slidably installed on the worktable (11) and are coaxially arranged, and the inner diameter of the multiple lifting cylinders (4) increases sequentially from the inside to the outside; The lifting adjustment assembly is set on the workbench (11) and connected to multiple lifting cylinders (4) for the separate lifting adjustment of the multiple lifting cylinders (4); The contour support pad (52) is detachably mounted on the worktable (11) and located directly below the laser galvanometer emitting assembly (12); The limiting powder dropping template (5) is detachably installed on the top side of one of the lifting cylinders (4). The limiting powder dropping template (5) has a contouring mold hole (51) that is adapted to the shape of the workpiece to be processed and matches the contouring support pad (52).

2. The laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The support adjustment component includes: Two ball screws (2) are rotatably mounted on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing (1). Both ball screws (2) are threadedly driven by the worktable (11), and the threads of the two ball screws (2) are opposite. A dual-axis motor (21) is fixedly installed on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing (1); Four bevel gears (22) are fixedly mounted on two ball screws (2) and two output shafts of a dual-axis motor (21), respectively. The two bevel gears (22) located on the same side of the dual-axis motor (21) mesh with each other.

3. The laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing according to claim 2, characterized in that, Strip plates (23) are fixedly installed on both inner walls of the sealed housing (1). The top ends of the two ball screws (2) are rotatably connected to the corresponding strip plates (23). Elastic telescopic dust covers (201) are fixedly installed on the bottom sides of the two strip plates (23). The bottom ends of the two elastic telescopic dust covers (201) are fixedly installed on the top side of the workbench (11), and the two elastic telescopic dust covers (201) are respectively covered on the outside of the corresponding ball screws (2).

4. A laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing according to claim 2, characterized in that, Protective shells (3) are fixedly installed on both sides of the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing (1). The two output shafts of the dual-axis motor (21) and the two ball screws (2) are rotatably connected to the corresponding protective shells (3). The four bevel gears (22) are located in the corresponding protective shells (3).

5. A laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lifting adjustment component includes: Multiple multi-stage electric cylinders (42) are fixedly installed on the workbench (11); Multiple lifting frames (41) are fixedly installed on the bottom side of the corresponding lifting cylinder (4), and the telescopic ends of multiple multi-stage electric cylinders (42) are fixedly installed on the corresponding lifting frames (41).

6. A laser processing device for additive manufacturing according to claim 5, characterized in that, Multiple vertically arranged slide bars (112) are fixedly installed on the workbench (11), and multiple lifting frames (41) are slidably connected to the corresponding multiple slide bars (112).

7. The laser processing equipment for additive manufacturing according to claim 1, characterized in that, Wear-resistant and dustproof sealing rings (402) are fixedly installed on the inner and outer walls of the multiple lifting cylinders (4), and the wear-resistant and dustproof sealing rings (402) are in a sealing sliding fit with the worktable (11).

8. A laser processing device for additive manufacturing according to claim 3, characterized in that, Four guide rods (111) are vertically fixedly installed on the bottom inner wall of the sealed housing (1). The top ends of the four guide rods (111) are fixedly connected to the corresponding strip plates (23), and the four guide rods (111) are slidably connected to the worktable (11).

9. A laser processing device for additive manufacturing according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes multiple positioning pins (401), which are fixedly installed on the top side of the corresponding lifting cylinder (4). The limiting powder dropping template (5) is provided with multiple positioning holes (501). The top of the multiple positioning pins (401) is tapered, and the bottom opening of the multiple positioning holes (501) is flared. The multiple positioning holes (501) are movably inserted into the corresponding positioning pins (401).

10. A laser processing device for additive manufacturing according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes two electric guide rails (131), which are fixedly installed on the top inner wall of the sealing housing (1) in a parallel manner, and the scraper (13) is slidably installed in the sealing housing (1) through the two electric guide rails (131).

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