Dual-mode biological 3D printing head assembly and dual-mode biological 3D printer

Abstract

A dual-mode biological 3D printing head assembly comprises a bottom plate, an in-place device, a UV curing lamp, a normal-temperature printing head and a thermal printing head are arranged on the bottom plate, and the normal-temperature printing head and the thermal printing head are used for printing high-viscosity materials; the bottom plate is further provided with a plurality of electromagnetic valves and a control circuit board electrically connected with the electromagnetic valves, and the control circuit board is used for spot-jet printing of low-viscosity materials. A nozzle is arranged at the bottom of the electromagnetic valve, and a top inlet is communicated with the low-viscosity charging barrel through a gas path; the low-viscosity charging barrel is sequentially communicated with a proportional valve and an air pump through an air path and is used for extruding and discharging materials to the electromagnetic valve; a heating assembly is arranged outside the thermal printing head and comprises a heat conduction block, a heating rod and a thermocouple are arranged on the heat conduction block, and a heat insulation layer is arranged on the periphery. The utility model further discloses a dual-mode biological 3D printer with the printing head assembly. According to the utility model, high-viscosity materials and low-viscosity materials can be printed at the same time, spot spraying and extrusion are combined, the defect that the low-viscosity materials cannot be printed in a pure pneumatic extrusion mode is overcome, and normal-temperature printing and heating printing can be realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of biological 3D printing, and in particular to a dual-mode biological 3D printing head component and a dual-mode biological 3D printer. Background Art

[0002] Bio-3D printing is a branch of 3D printing technology, and is a cross-application of 3D printing technology in the biomedical field. It has rapidly developed into a popular research technology in tissue engineering manufacturing. Bio-3D printing refers to configuring cells, biological factors, biological materials, etc. into printable "bio-ink" in a certain proportion, and then using 3D printing technology to construct "bio-ink" into complex and diverse tissue engineering scaffolds and organs through layer-by-layer stacking.

[0003] Extrusion bioprinting technology is widely used in the field of biological 3D printing due to its low equipment cost, strong molding ability and wide range of adaptable materials. It has more prominent advantages in high-viscosity liquid printing. The feeding methods of extrusion biological 3D printing include push rod extrusion, screw extrusion and pneumatic extrusion. The most widely used one is pneumatic extrusion. The main reason is that the pneumatic module is mature, easier to commercialize and simpler to operate. In addition, pneumatic extrusion causes minimal damage to cells and has less impact on biological activity. The extrusion pressure can be precisely controlled by controlling the compressed gas, so the cell survival rate is higher.

[0004] Extrusion bioprinting is only compatible with highly viscous biomaterials, and although highly viscous biomaterials have the advantage of providing high stiffness and thus greater mechanical stability, highly viscous materials have low "printability" (i.e. poor shear thinning behavior). Cell viability after the printing phase may range from 45% to 90%. Utility Model Content

[0005] In view of the problems and shortcomings in the prior art, the utility model provides a dual-mode biological 3D printing head assembly, the purpose of which is to add a solenoid valve on the basis of the existing pneumatic extrusion printing, so that the printer using the print head assembly has both high-viscosity material and low-viscosity material printing functions, and realizes the combination of dot spraying and extrusion. In addition, the utility model also provides a dual-mode biological 3D printing having the above dual-mode biological 3D printer print head assembly.

[0006] The technical solution of this utility model is as follows:

[0007] A dual-mode biological 3D printing head assembly comprises a base plate, on which a positioner, a UV curing lamp, a normal temperature printing head, and a thermal printing head are arranged.

[0008] The positioner is used to locate the initial position during printing, and the UV curing lamp is used to light cure the printed layer by layer of materials. The normal temperature print head includes a normal temperature barrel and a normal temperature nozzle. The normal temperature barrel is connected to the proportional valve and the air pump in sequence through the air path, and is used to continuously print normal temperature high viscosity materials through pneumatic extrusion. The thermal print head includes a heating barrel and a thermal printing nozzle. The heating barrel is connected to the proportional valve and the air pump in sequence through the air path, and is used to continuously print heated high viscosity materials through pneumatic extrusion.

[0009] The base plate is also provided with a plurality of solenoid valves for printing low-viscosity materials by dot-jet printing, and they are electrically connected to a control circuit board fixed on the base plate; a nozzle is provided at the bottom of the solenoid valve, and a top inlet is connected to a low-viscosity barrel through an air path; the low-viscosity barrel is connected in sequence to a proportional valve and an air pump through an air path, and is used to extrude material into the solenoid valve.

[0010] The extrusion mode of the dual-mode biological 3D printing head assembly of the utility model is dual-mode, including two modes of point spraying and continuous extrusion.

[0011] Printing low-viscosity materials at room temperature by dot-jet printing. First, the upper computer sets the holding time, communicates with the lower computer, and then outputs the starting voltage to open the solenoid valve, and then controls the power-on time of the holding voltage, and then controls the opening time of the solenoid valve.

[0012] Print high-viscosity materials by continuous extrusion. When printing high-viscosity materials at room temperature, the host computer sets the appropriate air pressure, controls the corresponding air pressure through communication with the lower computer to perform pneumatic extrusion of the material in the room-temperature barrel at room temperature, and controls the three-dimensional motion platform to move to the printing starting point for printing; when printing heated high-viscosity materials, the host computer sets the appropriate temperature and air pressure, controls the heating rod to heat and increase the temperature through communication with the lower computer, and then realizes closed-loop temperature control through thermocouples to achieve precise temperature control. Then control the corresponding air pressure to heat and pneumatically extrude the material in the heated barrel, and control the three-dimensional motion platform to the printing starting point for printing.

[0013] In this way, two printing methods, dot-jet and extrusion, can be realized. Then the corresponding air pressure is controlled to extrude the material, and the 3D motion system is controlled to the printing starting point for printing.

[0014] The above-mentioned thermal print head is provided with a heating component on the outside, and the heating component includes a heat conductive block, a heating rod and a thermocouple are provided on the top, and an insulating layer is provided on the periphery. In a specific implementation, the heat conductive block can be made of a metal heat conductive block, such as aluminum or copper. After the heating rod starts heating, the heat is transferred to the heating barrel on the top of the thermal print head through the heat conductive block to heat the printing material. At the same time, the thermocouple detects the temperature of the heat conductive block and feeds back the temperature detection result to the lower computer, thereby adjusting the heating temperature and heating time of the heating rod.

[0015] In a specific implementation, the bottom plate is an L-shaped plate, the UV curing lamp, the positioner and the normal temperature print head are arranged on the long side of the bottom plate at intervals along the long side, and the solenoid valve is arranged on the short side of the bottom plate. Specifically, the UV curing lamp, the positioner, the normal temperature print head and the solenoid valve are vertically fixed on the bottom plate through a cylindrical connector and pass through the bottom plate from top to bottom.

[0016] The above-mentioned solenoid valves are arranged in multiples side by side and fixedly connected to the side of the short side of the base plate through a fixing plate. The nozzle of the part is located below the bottom surface of the base plate, and the top inlet is connected to the low-viscosity barrel through an air path, and is electrically connected to the control circuit board located on one side. The thermal print head is arranged behind the UV curing lamp and the positioner, and its right side and rear side are flush with the right side and rear side of the base plate respectively. The base plate is fixedly connected to the Z-axis moving module of the printer through a first fixing seat vertically fixed on its top surface. In this embodiment, three solenoid valves are arranged, which are arranged at intervals along the short side of the base plate, and the solenoid valves adopt ultra-micro solenoid valves.

[0017] In a specific implementation, the heat conductive block is a regular hexahedron block, and the thermal print head, the heating rod and the thermocouple are vertically inserted therein. The heat insulating layer is a heat insulating plate, including an upper side plate, a lower side plate, a left side plate, a right side plate, a front side plate and a rear side plate arranged on the periphery of the heat conductive block. The heat insulating plate is a mica plate. The thermal print head is fixedly connected to the Z-axis moving module of the printer through a second fixing seat arranged on the rear side plate. Specifically, the heating barrel of the thermal print head is located inside the heat conductive block and the insulation plate, and the thermal print head is located below the lower side plate for easy printing.

[0018] A dual-mode biological 3D printer includes a molding platform, a 3D motion system, a pneumatic extrusion system and a control system. The 3D motion system includes an X-axis moving module, a Y-axis moving module and a Z-axis moving module. The Z-axis moving module is fixedly connected to the above-mentioned print head assembly.

[0019] The molding platform is used to place the printed material, and the 3D motion system is connected to it through a bracket. The 3D motion system includes an X-axis moving module, a Y-axis moving module and a Z-axis moving module that are interconnected, wherein the Z-axis moving module is connected to the above-mentioned print head assembly, and the pneumatic extrusion system includes an air pump, a proportional valve and a gas delivery pipeline, which are used to pressurize the print head assembly to extrude the printing material. The control system is used to control the 3D motion system, the pneumatic extrusion system and the solenoid valve, the heating rod and the thermocouple, so as to realize the dot spraying or continuous discharge of materials with different viscosities.

[0020] The beneficial effects of the utility model are:

[0021] 1. Improve production flexibility: Specifically, it is to achieve simultaneous printing of high-viscosity materials and low-viscosity materials, combine dot-jet and extrusion, and achieve good control and multi-nozzle parallel printing.

[0022] 2. Improve the compatibility range of printing materials: It can be compatible with high-viscosity materials and low-viscosity materials, making up for the shortcoming that the simple pneumatic extrusion type cannot print low-viscosity materials, and the pneumatic extrusion type can realize printing in both room temperature and heating modes.

[0023] 3. Expand 3D printing methods: Introduce solenoid valve printing method to achieve the combination of dot-jet and extrusion, and to a certain extent make up for the shortcomings of pneumatic extrusion printing, realize the complementary advantages and disadvantages of multiple printing methods, better realize printing, and improve printing efficiency.

[0024] 4. Improve production efficiency and reduce printing time and cost: Dual-mode 3D printing can use multiple nozzles to print different materials at the same time, instead of printing them separately. Through control, more parts can be printed at the same time. Compared with traditional single-nozzle printers, it can greatly improve printing efficiency and save time and resources.

[0025] 5. Improve printing reliability: Compared with single-nozzle printing, multi-nozzle printing can reduce the possibility of contamination of printed materials and space when changing materials in the middle of the printing process, and improve the reliability and stability of printing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 A perspective view of the embodiment from the front perspective;

[0027] Figure 2 A perspective view of the embodiment from the rear perspective;

[0028] Figure 3 for Figure 1 A top view of

[0029] Figure 4 An exploded view of a thermal print head and a heating assembly;

[0030] 1. Bottom plate; 2. UV curing lamp; 3. Positioner; 4. Normal temperature print head; 5. Thermal print head; 6. Heating assembly; 7. Solenoid valve; 8. Control circuit board; 9. Fixing plate; 11. First fixing seat; 61. Heat conducting block; 62. Thermocouple; 63. Heating rod; 64. Insulating layer; 65. Second fixing seat; 641. Upper side plate; 642. Lower side plate; 643. Left side plate; 644. Right side plate; 645. Front side plate; 646. Rear side plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The following will further describe the technical means adopted to achieve the predetermined inventive purpose of the present utility model in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present utility model.

[0032] See also Figure 1-Figure 3As shown, a dual-mode biological 3D printing head assembly includes a base plate 1, on which a positioner 3, a UV curing lamp 2, a normal temperature printing head 4, and a thermal printing head 5 are provided.

[0033] The positioner 3 is used to locate the initial position during printing, and the UV curing lamp 2 is used to light cure the printed layer by layer material. The normal temperature print head 4 includes a normal temperature barrel and a normal temperature nozzle, and the normal temperature barrel is sequentially connected to a proportional valve and an air pump through an air path, and is used to continuously print normal temperature high viscosity materials by pneumatic extrusion. The thermal print head 5 includes a heating barrel and a thermal printing nozzle, and the heating barrel is sequentially connected to a proportional valve and an air pump through an air path, and is used to continuously print heated high viscosity materials by pneumatic extrusion.

[0034] The bottom plate 1 is also provided with a plurality of solenoid valves 7 for printing low-viscosity materials by dot-jet printing, and the solenoid valves 7 are electrically connected to a control circuit board 8 fixed on the bottom plate 1; a nozzle is provided at the bottom of the solenoid valve 7, and a top inlet is connected to a low-viscosity barrel through an air path; the low-viscosity barrel is sequentially connected to a proportional valve and an air pump through an air path, and is used to extrude the material to the solenoid valve 7. The solenoid valve adopts an ultra-micro solenoid valve 7, and the XY5012 ultra-micro solenoid valve 7 produced by Shenzhen Xinxiang Company can be adopted.

[0035] The extrusion mode of the dual-mode biological 3D printing head assembly of the utility model is dual-mode, including two modes of point spraying and continuous extrusion.

[0036] The low viscosity material at room temperature is printed by dot-jet printing. First, the upper computer sets the length of the holding time, communicates with the lower computer, and then outputs the starting voltage to open the solenoid valve 7, and then controls the power-on time of the holding voltage, and then controls the opening time of the solenoid valve 7.

[0037] Print high-viscosity materials by continuous extrusion. When it is necessary to print high-viscosity materials at room temperature, the host computer sets the appropriate air pressure, controls the corresponding air pressure by communicating with the lower computer to perform pneumatic extrusion of the materials in the room-temperature barrel at room temperature, and controls the three-dimensional motion platform to move to the printing starting point for printing; when it is necessary to print heated high-viscosity materials, the host computer sets the appropriate temperature and air pressure, controls the heating rod 63 by communicating with the lower computer to heat and heat, and then realizes closed-loop temperature control through the thermocouple 62 to achieve precise temperature control. Then control the corresponding air pressure to heat and pneumatically extrude the materials in the heated barrel, and control the three-dimensional motion platform to the printing starting point for printing.

[0038] In this way, two printing methods, dot-jet and extrusion, can be realized. Then the corresponding air pressure is controlled to extrude the material, and the 3D motion system is controlled to the printing starting point for printing.

[0039] The solenoid valve 7 can be used to switch between point spraying and continuous extrusion. When the droplet spraying mode is selected for printing, the nozzle can be controlled to discharge materials intermittently; when the continuous extrusion mode is selected for printing, the nozzle can be controlled to extrude continuously according to the needs.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 1 , the above-mentioned thermal print head 5 is provided with a heating assembly 6 outside, and the heating assembly 6 includes a heat conductive block 61, on which a heating rod 63 and a thermocouple 62 are provided, and an insulating layer 64 is provided on the periphery thereof. In a specific implementation, the heat conductive block 61 can be a metal heat conductive block 61, such as made of aluminum or copper. After the heating rod 63 starts heating, the heat is transferred to the heating barrel on the upper part of the thermal print head 5 through the heat conductive block 61 to heat the printing material. At the same time, the thermocouple 62 detects the temperature of the heat conductive block 61, and feeds back the temperature detection result to the lower computer, thereby adjusting the heating temperature and heating time of the heating rod 63.

[0041] See also Figure 3 As shown, in a specific implementation, the bottom plate 1 is an L-shaped plate, see Figure 1-Figure 3 As shown, the UV curing lamp 2, the positioner 3 and the normal temperature print head 4 are arranged on the long side of the bottom plate 1 at intervals along the long side, and the solenoid valve 7 is arranged on the short side of the bottom plate 1. Specifically, the UV curing lamp 2, the positioner 3, the normal temperature print head 4 and the solenoid valve 7 are all vertically fixed on the bottom plate 1 and pass through the bottom plate 1 from top to bottom.

[0042] See also Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, the solenoid valves 7 are arranged in multiple numbers side by side and fixedly connected to the side of the short side of the bottom plate 1 through a fixing plate 9. The nozzle at the bottom is located below the bottom surface of the bottom plate 1, and the top inlet is connected to the low-viscosity barrel through an air path, and is electrically connected to the control circuit board 8 located on one side. The thermal print head 5 is arranged behind the UV curing lamp 2 and the positioner 3, and its right side and rear side are flush with the right side and rear side of the bottom plate 1 respectively. The bottom plate 1 is fixedly connected to the Z-axis moving module of the printer through a first fixing seat 11 vertically fixed on its top surface. In this embodiment, three solenoid valves 7 are arranged, which are spaced apart along the short side of the bottom plate 1, and the solenoid valve 7 adopts an ultra-micro solenoid valve 7.

[0043] See also Figure 4As shown, in a specific implementation, the above-mentioned heat-conducting block 61 is a regular hexahedron block, and the thermal print head 5, the heating rod 63 and the thermocouple 62 are vertically inserted inside it. The heat-insulating layer 64 is a heat-insulating plate, including an upper side plate 641, a lower side plate 642, a left side plate 643, a right side plate 644, a front side plate 645 and a rear side plate 646 arranged on the periphery of the heat-conducting block 61. The heat-insulating plate is a mica plate. The thermal print head 5 is fixedly connected to the Z-axis moving module of the printer through a second fixed seat 65 arranged on the rear side plate 646. Specifically, the heating barrel of the thermal print head 5 is located inside the heat-conducting block 61 and the insulation board, and the thermal printing nozzle is located below the lower side plate 642 for convenient printing.

[0044] A dual-mode biological 3D printer includes a molding platform, a 3D motion system, a pneumatic extrusion system and a control system. The 3D motion system includes an X-axis moving module, a Y-axis moving module and a Z-axis moving module. The Z-axis moving module is fixedly connected to the above-mentioned print head assembly.

[0045] The molding platform is used to place the printed material, and the 3D motion system is connected to it through a bracket. The 3D motion system includes an X-axis moving module, a Y-axis moving module and a Z-axis moving module that are interconnected, wherein the Z-axis moving module is connected to the above-mentioned print head assembly, and the pneumatic extrusion system includes an air pump, a proportional valve and a gas delivery pipeline, which are used to pressurize the print head assembly to extrude the printing material. The control system is used to control the 3D motion system, the pneumatic extrusion system and the solenoid valve 7, the heating rod 63 and the thermocouple 62, thereby realizing the dot spraying or continuous discharge of materials with different viscosities.

[0046] The operating steps when using the utility model are:

[0047] 1) Collect and analyze printed drawings, and perform slicing and path planning.

[0048] 2) Add the materials to be printed.

[0049] 3) The upper computer calibrates the Z-axis moving module to a suitable position by the positioner 3, and then adjusts the position of each print head.

[0050] 4) When it is necessary to print high-viscosity materials at room temperature, the upper computer sets the appropriate air pressure, controls the corresponding air pressure through communication with the lower computer, and performs pneumatic extrusion of the material in the room-temperature barrel at room temperature, while controlling the 3D motion system to move to the printing starting point for printing.

[0051] 5) When printing and heating high-viscosity materials, the upper computer sets the appropriate temperature and air pressure, controls the heating rod 63 to heat up through communication with the lower computer, and then implements closed-loop temperature control through the thermocouple 62 to achieve precise temperature control. Then, the corresponding air pressure is controlled to heat the material in the heating barrel for pneumatic extrusion, and the 3D motion system is controlled to print at the starting point of printing.

[0052] 6) When it is necessary to print a low-viscosity material at room temperature, the upper computer sets the holding time, communicates with the lower computer, and then outputs a starting voltage to open the solenoid valve 7, and then controls the power-on time of the holding voltage, and then controls the opening time of the solenoid valve 7. Then the corresponding air pressure is controlled to extrude the material, and the 3D motion system is controlled to print to the printing starting point.

[0053] 7) When it is necessary to print high and low viscosity materials at the same time, the upper computer sets the appropriate temperature and air pressure, and controls the corresponding air pressure to extrude the material by communicating with the lower computer. If heating is required, heat it first, and then control the normal temperature / heating pneumatic extrusion nozzle to the printing starting point to print high viscosity materials. After printing one layer, control the 3D motion system to move the solenoid valve 7 to the printing starting point to print low viscosity materials.

[0054] 8) When the material needs to be cured by the UV curing lamp 2, the UV curing lamp 2 can be controlled to be turned on to perform a curing operation on the material.

[0055] The above is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and examples. Various changes, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the knowledge scope of those skilled in the art without departing from the concept of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A dual-mode biological 3D printing head assembly, comprising a base plate (1), on which a positioner (3), a UV curing lamp (2), a normal temperature printing head (4) and a thermal printing head (5) are arranged, wherein the normal temperature printing head and the thermal printing head are used for printing high-viscosity materials, characterized in that: The bottom plate is also provided with a plurality of solenoid valves (7) and a control circuit board (8) electrically connected thereto, which are used for dot-jet printing of low-viscosity materials; a nozzle is provided at the bottom of the solenoid valve (7), and a top inlet is connected to a low-viscosity barrel through an air path; the low-viscosity barrel is connected to a proportional valve and an air pump in sequence through the air path, and is used for extruding the material toward the solenoid valve (7); A heating assembly (6) is provided outside the thermal print head (5), and the heating assembly comprises a heat-conducting block (61) on which a heating rod (63) and a thermocouple (62) are provided, and an insulating layer (64) is provided on the periphery of the heat-conducting block.

2. The print head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom plate is an L-shaped plate, the UV curing lamp (2), the positioner (3) and the normal temperature print head (4) are arranged on the long side of the bottom plate at intervals along the long side, and the solenoid valve (7) is arranged on the short side of the bottom plate.

3. The print head assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that: A plurality of solenoid valves (7) are arranged side by side and are fixedly connected to the side surface of the short side of the bottom plate via a fixing plate (9).

4. The print head assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that: The thermal print head (5) is arranged behind the UV curing lamp (2) and the positioner (3).

5. The print head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom plate is fixedly connected to the Z-axis moving module of the printer via a first fixing seat (11) vertically fixed on the top surface thereof.

6. The print head assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that: The heat-conducting block (61) is a regular hexahedron block, and the thermal print head (5), the heating rod (63) and the thermocouple (62) are vertically inserted inside the block.

7. The print head assembly according to claim 6, wherein: The heat insulating layer is a heat insulating plate, comprising an upper side plate (641), a lower side plate (642), a left side plate (643), a right side plate (644), a front side plate (645) and a rear side plate (646) arranged on the periphery of the heat conducting block (61).

8. The print head assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that: The thermal insulation board is a mica board.

9. The print head assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that: The thermal print head (5) is fixedly connected to the Z-axis moving module of the printer via a second fixing seat (65) arranged on the rear side plate (646).

10. A dual-mode biological 3D printer, comprising a molding platform, a 3D motion system, a pneumatic extrusion system and a control system, wherein the 3D motion system comprises an X-axis moving module, a Y-axis moving module and a Z-axis moving module, characterized in that: The Z-axis moving module is fixedly connected to the print head assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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