Isolation assembly for 3D printing forming of small amount of resin

Abstract

The isolation assembly comprises an upper isolation cavity and a lower isolation cavity, the upper isolation cavity is arranged on a printing platform, the lower isolation cavity is attached to the lower portion of the printing platform, and the upper isolation cavity and the lower isolation cavity jointly form a sub-container. The sub-container is attached to the printing platform so as to move up and down along with the printing platform. The lower isolation cavity is composed of a lower attachment part and a soft film bag, the lower attachment part is a hard shell attached to the lower portion of the printing platform, and the soft film bag wraps the outer edge of the lower attachment part. According to the isolation assembly, the heights of the liquid levels inside and outside the sub-containers are kept consistent through the similar communicating vessel principle, and hardware support is provided for 3D printing forming of a small amount of liquid raw materials.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of photocuring 3D printing, in particular to an isolation component for a liquid material tank of a top-down photocuring resin 3D printer. Background Art

[0002] Stereolithography 3D printing is a technology that selectively cures liquid photosensitive materials with high-intensity light, usually in the form of laser or projection. The target printed model is stacked by curing each layer of material through light irradiation, and the thickness of the resin cured at one time is usually less than 250μm. After a new layer of resin is cured, the printing platform rises or falls, changing the position of the target printed part in the resin tank and exposing a new layer of resin to be cured. This process continues until the entire model is printed.

[0003] However, there are often restrictions on the actual printing process. For large industrial printers, no matter the size of the printed model, the resin tank needs to be filled to a certain liquid level before the machine can start printing. At this time, the amount of resin that needs to be filled is far greater than the amount of resin consumed by printing. When there is only a large industrial printer and the resin stock is not enough to fill the printer's resin tank to a certain liquid level, the printing process will be difficult to carry out. At this time, the only choice for the production staff is to purchase more resin or buy a small printer, which will undoubtedly slow down the printing process of the part and reduce the efficiency of molding. Summary of the invention

[0004] In the prior art, top-down photocuring 3D printers use a large amount of raw resin, and the raw material must fill the resin tank. As a result, the problem of "3D printing cannot be performed because the resin tank cannot be filled despite the stock of raw materials being much larger than the consumption required for molding the target part" often occurs. The utility model provides an isolation component for top-down photocuring 3D printing, which is embedded in the resin tank as a sub-container of the original resin tank of the 3D printer and directly attached to the printing platform (screen). The amount of raw resin required to fill the sub-container with resin until the liquid level reaches a specified height is much less than the amount of resin used in the entire resin tank. The printer can perform printing and molding in the sub-container, meeting the need to print small items even with only a small amount of resin.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the utility model to solve its technical problems is: an isolation component as a sub-container, including an upper isolation chamber and a lower isolation chamber, the upper isolation chamber includes an upper attachment, which is arranged above the printing platform; the lower isolation chamber includes a lower attachment and a soft film bag, the lower attachment is arranged below the printing platform, the soft film bag is wrapped around the outer edge of the lower attachment, the contact area between the two is fixed and sealed by gluing, and the lower attachment and the soft film bag together constitute an isolation space below the printing platform. The upper attachment and the lower attachment are aligned by positioning and matching, and the inner edge range (also called inner edge) of the contact part of either of the two with the printing platform (screen) shall not be larger than the outer edge range (outer edge) of the other to ensure the sealing of the sub-container cavity wall.

[0006] In the above isolation assembly, the soft film bag can ensure good isolation between the resin inside the sub-container and the surrounding liquid, and also ensure the consistency of the liquid level inside and outside the sub-container through the principle of approximate communicating vessels.

[0007] The utility model has the beneficial effect that the isolation assembly of the utility model forms a smaller sub-container space in the originally larger resin tank, and only a small amount of resin is needed to fill the sub-container compared to filling the resin tank. To reach the set liquid level height outside the sub-container, other liquids (non-raw material resin) can be used to replace the molding resin to fill the resin tank. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The utility model is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0009] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the utility model. In the figure: 1, printing platform, 2, upper attachment, 3, lower attachment, 4, soft film bag, 5, resin tank. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] As shown in the figure, the upper attachment 2 is a hard annular member with a certain taper and height, which is directly attached to the appropriate position above the printing platform 1 (screen) to form an upper isolation chamber. In order to ensure that the upper and lower isolation chambers are connected, the lower attachment 3 adopts an annular structure, which is attached to the bottom of the printing platform 1 and aligned with the upper attachment 2 through positioning, so as to use the original through hole on the printing platform 1 (screen) in the inner area of ​​the ring as a through flow channel. In order to ensure sealing (isolation), the inner contour diameter of the contact part of either the upper attachment 2 or the lower attachment 3 with the printing platform 1 is not greater than the outer edge diameter of the other, so that there will be no grid pores of the printing platform 1 at the connection between the upper attachment 2, the lower attachment 3 and the printing platform 1. The soft film bag 4 is coated on the downward protruding outer edge of the lower attachment 3 by gluing (curing), and the lower attachment 3 and the soft film bag 4 together form a lower isolation chamber. In addition to the circular ring in this embodiment, the upper attachment 2 and the lower attachment 3 can also adopt a rectangular, elliptical, or even an irregular curve as the cross-sectional shape.

[0011] The soft film bag (4) is formed of a polytetrafluoroethylene film with a thickness of less than 0.1 mm. The polytetrafluoroethylene film is corrosion-resistant and can ensure good isolation between the resin inside the sub-container and the external liquid; the thin thickness makes the film bag soft and easy to deform, and can achieve an effect similar to a communicating vessel, ensuring that the liquid levels inside and outside the sub-container are consistent.

Claims

1. An isolation component for 3D printing of a small amount of resin, characterized by: The printing apparatus is divided into an upper isolation chamber and a lower isolation chamber; the upper isolation chamber is arranged on the printing platform (1) and is composed of an upper attachment (2); the lower isolation chamber comprises a lower attachment (3) and a soft film bag (4); the lower attachment (3) is arranged below the printing platform (1), the soft film bag (4) is wrapped around the outer edge of the lower attachment (3), and the lower attachment (3) and the soft film bag (4) together constitute an isolation space below the printing platform (1); the upper isolation chamber and the lower isolation chamber are connected and communicated through the printing platform (1) between them.

2. The isolation assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that The soft film bag (4) is formed of a polytetrafluoroethylene film with a thickness of less than 0.1 mm.

Images