Bidirectional powder spreading guide device and 3D printing equipment

Abstract

The utility model relates to a bidirectional powder spreading guide device and 3D printing equipment. The two-way powder spreading guide device comprises a supporting structure, a discharging hopper, a material conveying mechanism, a material guiding mechanism and a scraper. The discharging hopper, the conveying mechanism, the guiding mechanism and the scraper are sequentially arranged from top to bottom. The material conveying mechanism is constructed to be capable of receiving powder falling out of the discharging hopper at the material receiving opening and conveying the powder to the discharging opening. And the discharge port is positioned right above the left spreading side. And the material guide mechanism is configured to switch the working state of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device to a first direction spreading state or a second direction spreading state. And in the first-direction material spreading state, the material guide mechanism and the material falling path of the material outlet are completely staggered. And when the material guiding mechanism is in the second direction material spreading state, the material guiding mechanism is located on the material falling path of the material outlet and used for guiding and conveying the powder falling from the material outlet to the right material spreading side. The bidirectional powder spreading guide device has the advantages of being simple in structure and high in maintainability while enabling the 3D printing equipment to achieve bidirectional powder spreading printing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of 3D printing equipment, in particular to a two-way powder spreading guide device and 3D printing equipment. Background Art

[0002] With the popularization of sand 3D printer technology, more and more industries have begun to use sand 3D printers. Sand 3D printing (3DP) is a kind of rapid prototyping technology. It is a technology that uses digital model files as the basis, uses silica sand, artificial sand, ceramic powder and other bondable materials, and constructs objects by printing layer by layer. And as the scope of application expands, higher requirements are placed on equipment efficiency, and it has gradually evolved into two-way sand laying to improve production efficiency.

[0003] At present, when sand mold 3D printing is performed in two-way sanding, the two-way material conveying structure is complex, and the corresponding material feeding mechanism of the double sanding system and other structures also needs to be configured with multiple sets, which increases the complexity of the equipment and makes the equipment maintainability poor. Utility Model Content

[0004] Based on this, it is necessary to provide a two-way powder spreading guide device and 3D printing equipment with a simple structure and high maintainability.

[0005] A two-way powder spreading guide device comprises a supporting structure, a lower hopper, a feeding mechanism, a material guiding mechanism and a scraper; the lower hopper, the feeding mechanism, the material guiding mechanism and the scraper are sequentially arranged on the supporting structure from top to bottom;

[0006] The feeding mechanism has a receiving port and a discharging port; the feeding mechanism is configured to receive the powder material falling out of the lower hopper at the receiving port and transport it to the discharging port;

[0007] The scraping end of the scraper faces downward, and the left and right sides of the scraper are respectively defined as the left material spreading side and the right material spreading side; the discharge port is located directly above the left material spreading side;

[0008] The material guiding mechanism is configured to switch the working state of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device to a first direction spreading state and a second direction spreading state;

[0009] When in the first direction of material spreading state, the material guiding mechanism is completely offset from the material falling path of the material discharge port; when in the second direction of material spreading state, the material guiding mechanism is located on the material falling path of the material discharge port, and is used to guide the powder material falling from the material discharge port to the right material spreading side.

[0010] A 3D printing device comprises a printing platform, a bidirectional powder spreading guide device as described above, and a translation device; the bidirectional powder spreading guide device is arranged above the printing platform; the translation device is connected to the support structure, and is constructed to be able to drive the support structure to translate in a direction from the right spreading side to the left spreading side when the bidirectional powder spreading guide device is in the first direction powder spreading state, and to drive the support structure to translate in a direction from the left spreading side to the right spreading side when the bidirectional powder spreading guide device is in the second direction powder spreading state.

[0011] The above-mentioned two-way powder spreading guide device and 3D printing equipment can switch the two-way powder spreading guide device between the first direction powder spreading state and the second direction powder spreading state through the material guide mechanism. When in the first direction powder spreading state, the powder material coming out of the material outlet directly falls to the left powder spreading side, and at the same time, the translation device drives the two-way powder spreading guide device to translate in the direction from the right powder spreading side to the left powder spreading side, so as to use a scraper to scrape the powder material falling from the left powder spreading side to the printing platform flat; when in the second direction powder spreading state, the powder material coming out of the material outlet directly falls on the material guide mechanism, and is guided to the right powder spreading side by the material guide mechanism, and at the same time, the translation device drives the two-way powder spreading guide device to translate in the direction from the left powder spreading side to the right powder spreading side, so as to use a scraper to scrape the powder material falling from the right powder spreading side to the printing platform flat. In this way, only one of the above-mentioned two-way powder spreading guide devices needs to be set up to enable the 3D printing equipment to realize two-way powder spreading printing. Therefore, the 3D printing equipment including the above-mentioned two-way powder spreading guide device has the advantages of simple structure and high maintainability while realizing two-way powder spreading printing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device in a preferred embodiment of the utility model when it is in a powder spreading state in the first direction;

[0013] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device in a preferred embodiment of the utility model when it is in the second direction powder spreading state.

[0014] Description of the accompanying drawings in the specific implementation method: 100, two-way powder spreading guide device; 110, supporting structure; 120, lower hopper; 130, feeding mechanism; 131, material receiving port; 132, material discharge port; 133, rotating roller; 134, fixed half barrel; 135, feeding channel; 136, powder overflow plate; 140, material guiding mechanism; 141, rotating structure; 142, material guiding plate; 150, scraper; 151, left powder spreading side; 152, right powder spreading side. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] In order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, the present invention will be described more comprehensively with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings provide preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the understanding of the disclosure of the present invention more thorough and comprehensive.

[0016] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art in the technical field of the present invention. The terms used herein in the specification of the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. The term "and / or" used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items.

[0017] When describing positional relationships, unless otherwise specified, when an element is referred to as being "on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there can be an intermediate element. It is also understood that when an element is referred to as being "between" two elements, it can be the only one between the two elements, or there can be one or more intermediate elements.

[0018] In the case of using “including”, “having”, and “comprising” described herein, another component may be added unless a clear limiting term such as “only”, “consisting of”, etc. is used. Unless mentioned otherwise, a term in the singular form may include a plural form and should not be understood as being one in number.

[0019] In addition, the drawings are not drawn to a 1:1 scale, and the relative sizes of the elements in the drawings are drawn only as examples and not necessarily according to the true scale.

[0020] The utility model provides a two-way powder spreading guide device and a 3D printing device, wherein the 3D printing device comprises a printing platform, a two-way powder spreading guide device and a translation device.

[0021] The bidirectional powder spreading guide device is arranged above the printing platform and is used for bidirectional powder spreading on the printing platform during 3D printing. The translation device is connected to the bidirectional powder spreading guide device and is used for driving the bidirectional powder spreading guide device to translate in two opposite directions.

[0022] Figure 1 and Figure 2 The structure of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device in one embodiment of the utility model in two different working states is shown. For the convenience of description, the accompanying drawings only show the structure related to the embodiment of the utility model.

[0023] See also Figure 1 and Figure 2The bidirectional powder spreading guide device 100 in the preferred embodiment of the utility model comprises a support structure 110, a lower hopper 120, a feeding mechanism 130, a guiding mechanism 140 and a scraper 150. The lower hopper 120, the feeding mechanism 130, the guiding mechanism 140 and the scraper 150 are sequentially arranged on the support structure 110 from top to bottom.

[0024] The feeding mechanism 130 has a receiving port 131 and a discharging port 132. The feeding mechanism 130 is configured to receive the powder material falling out of the lower hopper 120 at the receiving port 131 and convey it to the discharging port 132. The conveying mechanism may be a feeding pipe structure, or a channel structure formed on the supporting structure 110, or other structures capable of receiving the powder material falling out of the lower hopper 120 and conveying the powder material to the receiving port 131.

[0025] The scraping end of the scraper 150 faces downward, and the left and right sides of the scraper 150 are defined as a left material spreading side and a right material spreading side, respectively. The discharge port 132 is located directly above the left material spreading side.

[0026] The material guiding mechanism 140 is constructed to be able to switch the working state of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device to a first direction spreading state and a second direction spreading state.

[0027] When in the first direction, the guide mechanism 140 is completely offset from the material path of the discharge port 132. When in the second direction, the guide mechanism 140 is located on the material path of the discharge port 132 and is used to guide the powder falling from the discharge port 132 to the right material spreading side.

[0028] In actual use, the bidirectional powder spreading guiding device 100 can be switched between a powder spreading state in a first direction and a powder spreading state in a second direction through the operation of the material guiding mechanism 140 .

[0029] In the 3D printing device, the support structure 110 is connected to the translation device to realize the assembly between the bidirectional powder spreading guide device and the translation device. The translation device is configured to drive the support structure 110 to translate in a direction from the right spreading side to the left spreading side when the bidirectional powder spreading guide device 100 is in a first direction spreading state, and to drive the support structure 110 to translate in a direction from the left spreading side to the right spreading side when the bidirectional powder spreading guide device 100 is in a second direction spreading state.

[0030] When the 3D printing device is located on a horizontal plane, the direction from the left powder-laying side 151 to the right powder-laying side 152 is the horizontal rightward direction, and the direction from the right powder-laying side 152 to the left powder-laying side 151 is the horizontal leftward direction.

[0031] When it is necessary to spread powder from right to left, it is only necessary to switch the working state of the two-way powder spreading guide device 100 to the first direction powder spreading state through the material guiding mechanism 140. At this time, the powder in the lower hopper 120 falls to the receiving port 131 of the feeding mechanism 130 under the action of its own gravity, and the feeding mechanism 130 is used to transport the powder from the receiving port 131 to the discharge port 132. After coming out of the discharge port 132, it falls onto the printing platform through the left powder spreading side 151 under the action of its own gravity. At the same time, the translation device drives the two-way powder spreading guide device 100 to translate from right to left as a whole, so as to use the scraper 150 to scrape the powder dropped on the printing platform flat.

[0032] When it is necessary to spread powder from left to right, it is only necessary to switch the working state of the two-way powder spreading guide device 100 to the second direction powder spreading state through the material guiding mechanism 140. At this time, the powder in the lower hopper 120 falls to the material receiving port 131 of the conveying mechanism under the action of its own gravity, and is conveyed from the material receiving port 131 to the material discharge port 132 by the material feeding mechanism 130, and falls onto the material guiding mechanism 140 after coming out of the material discharge port 132 under the action of its own gravity, so that the powder is guided to the right powder spreading side 152 by the material guiding mechanism 140, and falls onto the printing platform through the right powder spreading side 152, and at the same time, the translation device drives the two-way powder spreading guide device 100 to translate as a whole from left to right, so that the scraper 150 can be used to scrape the powder dropped on the printing platform.

[0033] In actual use, the working state of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device 100 can be repeatedly switched between the first direction powder spreading state and the second direction powder spreading state to achieve rapid prototyping of 3D printed products.

[0034] In this way, only one bidirectional powder spreading guide device 100 is needed to enable the 3D printing device to realize bidirectional powder spreading printing. Therefore, the 3D printing device including the bidirectional powder spreading guide device 100 has the advantages of simple structure and high maintainability while realizing bidirectional powder spreading printing.

[0035] In some embodiments, the feeding mechanism 130 includes a rotating roller 133 and a fixed half barrel 134. The rotating roller 133 is rotatably mounted on the support structure 110. The fixed half barrel 134 is fixed on the support structure 110 and extends along the circumference of the rotating roller 133. A feeding channel 135 is formed between the inner wall of the fixed half barrel 134 and the roller surface of the rotating roller 133. The feeding channel 135 opens at one end toward the lower hopper 120 as a receiving port 131, and opens at one end toward the guide mechanism 140 as a discharge port 132. The rotating roller 133 can be operated to rotate in a direction from the right material laying side to the left material laying side to catch the powder falling from the lower hopper 120 and transport it to the discharge port 132 through the feeding channel. It should be noted that the rotating roller 133 is used as a power roller, and its structure and the structure that drives it to rotate are both prior art, and the working principle is also well known, so it will not be repeated here.

[0036] For ease of understanding, the working process of the feeding mechanism 130 is briefly described below: the powder in the lower hopper 120 falls directly onto the surface of the rotating roller 133, and enters the feeding channel through the receiving port 131 under the rotation of the rotating roller 133; the powder in the feeding channel is transported to the discharge port 132 under the rotation of the rotating roller 133 and its own gravity; and the powder at the conveying port is brought out of the conveying port under the rotation of the rotating roller 133, and falls downward under the gravity of the powder itself.

[0037] Therefore, during the powder spreading process, the conveying mechanism can not only absorb the impact force of the powder falling from the lower hopper 120, but also change the conveying direction of the powder to ensure the smooth and orderly progress of the subsequent two-way powder spreading. Therefore, the above-mentioned conveying mechanism can ensure the smooth and orderly progress of the subsequent two-way powder spreading with a simple structure.

[0038] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the position height of the receiving port 131 is lower than the highest point of the rotating roller 133. In the rotation direction of the rotating roller 133, the orthographic projection of the bottom opening of the lower hopper 120 on the surface of the rotating roller 133 is located between the highest point of the rotating roller 133 and the receiving port 131.

[0039] In this way, it can be ensured that the powder falling from the lower hopper 120 to the roller surface of the rotating roller 133 will basically enter the feeding channel 135 through the receiving port 131, thereby reducing powder waste, improving powder spreading accuracy, and being beneficial to improving the quality of molded products.

[0040] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the scraper 150 is located directly below the rotating roller 133. The height of the discharge port 132 is higher than the lowest point of the inner wall of the fixed half barrel 134. In this way, the powder in the feeding channel 135 will not fall out of the discharge port 132 directly under the action of its own gravity, but will only overflow from the discharge port 132 under the rotation of the rotating roller 133, so as to ensure the stability of the amount of material falling during the powder spreading process, which is conducive to further improving the quality of the molded product.

[0041] Further, in some embodiments, a powder overflow plate 136 is fixed to the edge of the fixed half barrel 134 at one end of the discharge port 132. The powder overflow plate 136 is spaced apart from the roller surface of the rotating roller 133. Among them, the space between the powder overflow plate 136 and the roller surface of the rotating roller 133 serves as the discharge port 132. The powder overflow plate 136 is used to block the powder in the feeding channel 135 to ensure that the powder in the feeding channel 135 can overflow from the discharge port 132 at a relatively uniform speed, so that the amount of material falling during the powder spreading process is more stable, which is conducive to further improving the quality of the molded product.

[0042] In some embodiments, the material guide mechanism 140 includes a rotating structure 141 and a material guide plate 142. The rotating structure 141 is mounted on the support structure 110, and the material guide plate 142 is fixedly connected to the rotating structure 141. The rotating structure 141 is used to drive the material guide plate 142 to operably drive the material guide plate 142 to swing left and right, so as to switch the working state of the two-way powder spreading guide device 100 to the first direction powder spreading state or the second direction powder spreading state. When in the first direction powder spreading state, the material guide plate 142 is completely staggered from the material falling path of the discharge port 132. When in the second direction powder spreading state, the material guide plate 142 is tilted relative to its gravity direction and is located on the powder falling path of the discharge port 132, so as to guide the powder falling from the discharge port 132 to the right material spreading side.

[0043] During actual use, when it is necessary to spread powder from right to left, the rotating structure 141 drives the guide plate 142 to swing in the direction from the left powder spreading side 151 to the right powder spreading side 152, until the guide plate 142 and the falling path of the discharge port 132 are completely staggered, so as to facilitate the powder at the discharge port 132 to fall directly onto the printing platform through the left powder spreading side 151; when it is necessary to spread powder from left to right, the rotating structure 141 drives the guide plate 142 to swing in the direction from the right powder spreading side 152 to the left powder spreading side 151, until the guide plate 142 is tilted on the powder falling path of the discharge port 132, so as to ensure that the powder at the discharge port 132 can fall on the guide plate 142, and slide from the guide plate 142 to the right powder spreading side 152 under the action of the powder's own gravity. In this way, the change of the powder spreading direction during bidirectional powder spreading is achieved through a simple swing mechanism, which further reduces the structure of the 3D printing device with bidirectional powder spreading function and further improves the maintainability.

[0044] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the scraper 150 is located at a rotating shaft of the rotating structure 141 and is located directly above the scraper 150, and the guide plate 142 is located on the side of the rotating structure 141 away from the scraper 150. In this way, the guide plate 142 is located on the upper side of the rotating structure 141, so that the guide mechanism 140 does not need a large swing of the guide plate 142, and the two-way powder spreading guide device 100 can be switched between the first direction powder spreading state and the second direction powder spreading state, and because the guide plate 142 is located above the rotating structure 141, the rotating structure 141 will not interfere with the powder on the guide plate 142, ensuring that the powder on the guide plate 142 smoothly and reliably enters the right powder spreading side 152, thereby improving the reliability of the two-way powder spreading.

[0045] Of course, in other embodiments, the guide plate 142 can also be located below, on the left side, etc. of the rotating structure 141. It is only necessary to ensure that when the two-way powder spreading guide device 100 is in the first direction powder spreading state, the guide plate 142 avoids the powder falling path of the discharge port 132 to ensure that all or most of the powder at the discharge port 132 can fall to the left powder spreading side 151, and ensure that when the two-way powder spreading guide device 100 is in the second direction powder spreading state, the guide plate 142 can guide the powder falling from the discharge port 132 to the right powder spreading side 152.

[0046] The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0047] The above-mentioned embodiments only express several implementation methods of the utility model, and the description is relatively specific and detailed, but it cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the utility model patent. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this field, several modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention, which all belong to the protection scope of the utility model. Therefore, the protection scope of the utility model patent shall be based on the attached claims.

Claims

1. A two-way powder spreading guide device, characterized in that: It includes a supporting structure, a lower hopper, a material feeding mechanism, a material guiding mechanism and a scraper; the lower hopper, the material feeding mechanism, the material guiding mechanism and the scraper are arranged on the supporting structure in sequence from top to bottom; The feeding mechanism has a receiving port and a discharging port; the feeding mechanism is configured to receive the powder material falling out of the lower hopper at the receiving port and transport it to the discharging port; The scraping end of the scraper faces downward, and the left and right sides of the scraper are respectively defined as the left material spreading side and the right material spreading side; the discharge port is located directly above the left material spreading side; The material guiding mechanism is configured to switch the working state of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device to a first direction spreading state and a second direction spreading state; When in the first direction of material spreading state, the material guiding mechanism is completely offset from the material falling path of the material discharge port; when in the second direction of material spreading state, the material guiding mechanism is located on the material falling path of the material discharge port, and is used to guide the powder material falling from the material discharge port to the right material spreading side.

2. The bidirectional powder spreading guide device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The feeding mechanism comprises a rotating roller and a fixed half barrel; the rotating roller is rotatably mounted on the supporting structure; the fixed half barrel is fixed on the supporting structure and extends along the circumference of the rotating roller; a feeding channel is formed between the inner wall of the fixed half barrel and the roller surface of the rotating roller; The feeding channel opens at one end toward the lower hopper as the material receiving port, and opens at one end toward the material guiding mechanism as the material discharging port; the rotating roller can be operated to rotate in the direction from the right material spreading side to the left material spreading side to catch the powder falling from the lower hopper and transport it to the material discharging port through the feeding channel.

3. The bidirectional powder spreading guide device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The position height of the material receiving port is lower than the highest point of the rotating roller surface; in the rotation direction of the rotating roller, the orthographic projection of the bottom opening of the lower hopper on the rotating roller surface is located between the highest point of the rotating roller surface and the material receiving port.

4. The bidirectional powder spreading guide device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The scraper is located directly below the rotating roller; the discharge port is located at a height higher than the lowest point of the inner wall of the fixed half barrel.

5. The bidirectional powder spreading guide device according to claim 2, characterized in that: A powder overflow plate is fixed to the edge of the fixed half barrel at one end of the discharge port; the powder overflow plate is spaced apart from the roller surface of the rotating roller.

6. The bidirectional powder spreading guide device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material guiding mechanism includes a rotating structure and a material guiding plate; the rotating structure is installed on the supporting structure, and the material guiding plate is fixedly connected to the rotating structure; the rotating structure is used to drive the material guiding plate to swing left and right in an operably manner, so as to switch the working state of the bidirectional powder spreading guide device to the first direction powder spreading state or the second direction powder spreading state; when in the first direction powder spreading state, the material guiding plate and the material falling path of the material outlet are completely staggered; when in the second direction powder spreading state, the material guiding plate is inclined relative to its gravity direction and is located on the powder falling path of the material outlet, so as to guide the powder falling from the material outlet to the right material spreading side.

7. The bidirectional powder spreading guide device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The scraper is located at a rotating shaft of the rotating structure and is located directly above the scraper. The material guide plate is located at a side of the rotating structure that is away from the scraper.

8. A 3D printing device, characterized in that: It comprises a printing platform, a two-way powder spreading guide device and a translation device as described in any one of claims 1 to 7; the two-way powder spreading guide device is arranged above the printing platform; the translation device is connected to the support structure, and is constructed to be able to drive the support structure to translate in a direction from the right material spreading side to the left material spreading side when the two-way powder spreading guide device is in the first-direction powder spreading state, and to drive the support structure to translate in a direction from the left material spreading side to the right material spreading side when the two-way powder spreading guide device is in the second-direction powder spreading state.

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