Material change handling method for 3D printer, and related device

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a material change handling method for a 3D printer, and a related device. The 3D printer comprises at least two print heads, wherein each of the at least two print heads has at least one corresponding material tank. The material change handling method comprises: acquiring material parameters of materials used in each slice layer among a plurality of slice layers, which are included in a multi-colored model to be printed, wherein the material parameters comprise N material colors, and N is a positive integer; and on the basis of the number of print heads included in a 3D printer and the material parameters, grouping M materials to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each print head, wherein M is the number of color types of materials used in the plurality of slice layers, and materials in each target material combination are used for being placed in the material tanks corresponding to the print heads corresponding to the combination to which the materials belong. In the embodiments of the present application, materials are rationally placed in material tanks, such that the frequency of changing materials in print heads during subsequent printing of a multi-colored model is optimized.

Description

A material replacement processing method of a 3D printer and related equipment thereof

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 2024104635854, filed on April 16, 2024, and entitled "A material replacement processing method of a 3D printer and related equipment thereof", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of 3D printing, and in particular to a material replacement processing method of a 3D printer and related equipment thereof. BACKGROUND

[0003] A 3D printer may involve material replacement during printing of a multi-color model. Each material replacement consumes certain consumables and time to flush the nozzle of the 3D printer, so as to ensure that the color printed after the nozzle replacement is not affected by the color before the nozzle replacement. That is, the more the number of material replacements, the more materials consumed by the material replacements and the longer the printing time of the 3D printer. Therefore, how to reduce the number of material replacements of the 3D printer during printing of a multi-color model is a problem to be studied. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a material replacement processing method of a 3D printer and related equipment thereof, which can reduce the number of material replacements of the 3D printer during printing of a multi-color model by reasonably placing materials in the material tank.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a material replacement processing method of a 3D printer, the 3D printer comprising at least two nozzles, each nozzle of the at least two nozzles having at least one corresponding material tank, the material replacement processing method comprising:

[0006] obtaining material parameters of materials used in each slice layer of a plurality of slice layers included in a to-be-printed multi-color model; the material parameters comprising N material colors, N being a positive integer;

[0007] grouping M materials according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer and the material parameters, to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle; M being the number of color categories of the materials used in the plurality of slice layers, each material in the target material combination being used to be placed in the material tank corresponding to the nozzle corresponding to the combination.

[0008] In the present application, all color kinds of materials used in the plurality of slice layers are grouped according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer and the material colors of the materials used by each slice layer, so as to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle. The user can place the materials in the target material combination in the material tank of the corresponding nozzle, or the 3D printer can place the materials in the target material combination in the material tank of the corresponding nozzle. Through reasonable placement of the plurality of materials used in the multi-color model in the material tank, the number of material changes of the 3D printer during printing of the multi-color model can be reduced in the scenario where the 3D printer has at least two nozzles.

[0009] With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, each material in the target material combination is a material used in the plurality of slice layers.

[0010] In the present application, each material in the target material combination can be placed in the material tank of the nozzle corresponding to the combination, and each material in the target material combination can be a material used in the plurality of slice layers, that is, the materials used in the plurality of slice layers can be placed in the material tank of the corresponding nozzle, and reasonable placement of the plurality of materials used in the multi-color model in the material tank can be achieved.

[0011] With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, grouping the M materials according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer and the material parameters to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle comprises:

[0012] Grouping the M materials according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer, the material parameters, and the correspondence between each nozzle and the material tank to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle.

[0013] With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, grouping the M materials according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer and the material parameters to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle comprises:

[0014] Grouping the M materials according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer, the material parameters, and the number of material tanks corresponding to each nozzle to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle.

[0015] In the present application, when grouping the multiple color categories of materials used in the multiple slice layers, it can be mainly performed by grouping the number of nozzles, the material color categories of the materials used in each of the multiple slice layers, and the correspondence between each nozzle and the material tank, or by grouping the number of nozzles, the material color categories of the materials used in each of the multiple slice layers, and the number of material tanks corresponding to each nozzle, to obtain the target material combination for indicating reasonable material placement.

[0016] With reference to the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the number of material tanks is greater than the number of nozzles.

[0017] In the present application, unlike the one-to-one correspondence between the number of material tanks and the number of nozzles, the material replacement processing method provided in the present application can be applied to the scenario where the number of material tanks is greater than the number of nozzles.

[0018] With reference to the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, the number of color categories of the materials used in the multiple slice layers is greater than the number of nozzles, and the number of color categories is less than or equal to the number of material tanks.

[0019] With reference to the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, the material replacement processing method further includes:

[0020] displaying the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle.

[0021] In the present application, after obtaining the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, the foregoing target material combination can be displayed to inform the user of the material placement combination that can reduce the number of material replacements in the process of printing the multi-color model, so that the user can place the materials in the combination in the material tanks of the corresponding nozzles according to the target material combination.

[0022] With reference to the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner, the material replacement processing method further includes:

[0023] displaying the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle on the interface for sending the print.

[0024] In the present application, the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle can be displayed on the interface for sending the print, to inform the user of the material placement combination that can reduce the number of material replacements in the process of printing the multi-color model before starting the printing.

[0025] In a eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect or any of the preceding possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the plurality of slice layers includes a multi-color slice layer.

[0026] The grouping of the M materials includes:

[0027] The at least two colors of materials used by the multi-color slice layer are divided into different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles. For example, if the number of materials used by a multi-color slice layer is less than or equal to the number of nozzles, all the materials used by the multi-color slice layer are arranged in different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles. If the number of color types of materials used by a slice layer is greater than the number of nozzles, at least two materials used by the slice layer are arranged in different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles.

[0028] In the present application, a multi-color slice layer can be a slice layer using at least two colors of materials. When grouping the materials used by the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model, at least two colors of materials used by the multi-color slice layer can be divided into different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles, so that at least two materials used by a slice layer in a multi-color model can be arranged in different material grooves corresponding to different nozzles. At this time, compared with placing two colors of materials used by the same multi-color slice layer in two material grooves corresponding to the same nozzle, the printing of the slice layer can be completed without changing materials. In the present application, the two colors of materials used by the same multi-color slice layer are placed in different material grooves corresponding to different nozzles, so that the printing can be performed by switching different nozzles without changing materials. Based on the foregoing grouping strategy, the different colors of materials of the same multi-color slice layer are preferably arranged in different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles, which can reduce the number of times of changing materials during the printing of a multi-color model by a 3D printer.

[0029] In a ninth possible implementation manner of the first aspect or any of the preceding possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the material changing processing method further includes:

[0030] Monitoring the materials actually placed in each material groove corresponding to each nozzle;

[0031] If the materials actually placed in each material groove corresponding to each nozzle do not belong to the materials in the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, a warning message is displayed.

[0032] In the present application, after obtaining the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, the target material combination is mainly used to indicate the relationship between the materials and the nozzles. When the materials actually placed in each tank corresponding to each nozzle do not belong to the materials in the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, a warning information can be displayed to remind the user that the placement of the materials in the current tank does not conform to the material combination with the least number of times of material replacement.

[0033] With reference to the first aspect or any one of the preceding possible implementation modes of the first aspect, in a tenth possible implementation mode, the grouping of the M materials to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle comprises:

[0034] Based on the preset plurality of first initial material combinations, the materials used in all the slice layers at the same time and located in the same initial material combination are marked;

[0035] The number of times of marking of the materials used in each slice layer is counted, and the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle is obtained from the preset plurality of first initial material combinations.

[0036] With reference to the tenth possible implementation mode of the first aspect, in an eleventh possible implementation mode, the target material combination is the material combination with the least number of times of marking of the materials used in the plurality of slice layers in the preset plurality of first initial material combinations.

[0037] In the present application, the number of times of marking represents the number of times of material replacement. Based on the number of times of marking of the materials used in all the slice layers in the multi-color model to be printed, the material combination with the least number of times of marking in the preset plurality of first initial material combinations is taken as the target material combination, and the target material combination is the material combination with the least number of times of material replacement.

[0038] With reference to the first aspect or any one of the first to ninth possible implementation modes of the first aspect, in a twelfth possible implementation mode, the grouping of the M materials to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle comprises:

[0039] Based on the preset plurality of second initial material combinations, the number of times of material replacement of each slice layer is calculated;

[0040] And the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle is obtained from the preset plurality of second initial material combinations according to the number of times of material replacement of each slice layer.

[0041] With reference to the twelfth possible implementation mode of the first aspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation mode, the target material combination is the material combination with the least number of times of material replacement of each slice layer in the preset plurality of second initial material combinations.

[0042] In the present application, all the materials used in the multi-color model are grouped in advance to obtain a plurality of second initial material combinations, one of the second initial material combinations is selected, and all the slice layers in the to-be-printed multi-color model are traversed to obtain the number of material changes for printing all the slice layers in the to-be-printed multi-color model under the second initial material combination. The material combination with the least number of material changes in the plurality of second initial material combinations is selected as the target material combination, and the determination of the target material combination is realized.

[0043] In combination with the first aspect or any one of the first to ninth possible implementation manners described above in combination with the first aspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation manner, the grouping of the M materials to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle comprises:

[0044] Based on the plurality of third initial material combinations, all the materials used in the to-be-printed multi-color model at the same slice layer and located in the same initial material combination are marked;

[0045] The number of times of marking the materials used in each slice layer of the to-be-printed multi-color model is counted, and the various materials corresponding to the number of times of marking are arranged in different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles in order of the number of times of marking.

[0046] In the present application, the number of times of marking represents the number of times of changing materials. The present application adopts a maximum value elimination method, that is, K materials with larger number of times of marking are arranged in different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles, and K corresponds to the number of nozzles. After the K materials are arranged in different nozzles, the remaining materials with larger number of times of marking are arranged in different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles, until all the materials are arranged in different target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles. At this time, all the materials arranged in the same nozzle are all the elements in one target material combination.

[0047] In a second aspect, the present application discloses a terminal device, which comprises a processor and a memory, the memory is used to store instructions, and the processor is used to call the instructions in the memory, so that the terminal device executes the material changing processing method in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners described above in combination with the first aspect.

[0048] In a third aspect, the present application discloses a computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions, which comprises instructions, when the instructions run on a computer, so that the computer executes the material changing processing method in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners described above in combination with the first aspect.

[0049] In a fourth aspect, the present application discloses a computer program product, comprising program codes for executing the reloading method according to the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect when the computer runs the program codes.

[0050] It should be understood that the implementation and beneficial effects of the above aspects of the present application can be mutually referred to. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0051] Fig. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a 3D printer according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Fig. 2 is a step flow chart of a reloading method of a 3D printer according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Fig. 3a is a corresponding relationship diagram of a nozzle and a material tank according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Fig. 3b is another corresponding relationship diagram of a nozzle and a material tank according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Fig. 3c is still another corresponding relationship diagram of a nozzle and a material tank according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Fig. 4 is a model diagram of a multi-color model according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Fig. 5 is a slice layer diagram of a multi-color model according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Fig. 6 is a graphical user interface of a printing request according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0060] In order to facilitate understanding of the present application, first, the technical features possibly involved in the technical solutions provided by the present application will be described.

[0061] The 3D printing process usually includes: 1) obtaining a 3D model; 2) slicing the 3D model using slicing software; and 3) the 3D printer completing the printing of the 3D model based on the slicing result.

[0062] The slicing software is usually run on a terminal connected to the printer, which can be a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a smart screen, a mobile terminal, or the like. The slicing software can also be run on a 3D printer with a controllable screen. The terminal can also include a 3D printer with a controllable screen, specifically, a 3D printer with a controllable screen running the slicing software. That is, the terminal device involved in the present application can include a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a smart screen, a mobile terminal, or a 3D printer, each of which can have a processor and a memory, and the processor is used to call instructions in the memory.

[0063] For example, the process of slicing a 3D model using the slicing software includes the following steps:

[0064] Step 1: Model loading. The slicing software reads the model data from the outside and converts the 3D model into a combination of triangles represented by the data structure inside the slicing software.

[0065] Step 2: Plate arrangement. In the slicing software, plate arrangement refers to placing a 3D model in a specified position on a virtual printing platform with a determined orientation. Therefore, the orientation and placement of the 3D model need to be determined during the plate arrangement process. Plate arrangement can be performed on one 3D model, or on multiple 3D models, each of which can include multiple parts or multiple sub-models in a 3D model, and the 3D model is printed according to the layout during plate arrangement. The multi-color model in the present application can include a 3D model with multiple colors; or, the multi-color model can also include multiple single-color sub-models arranged in one plate, at least two of which have different colors; or, the multi-color model can also include multiple sub-models of different colors arranged in one plate; or, the multi-color model can also include multiple single-color parts arranged in one plate, at least two of which have different colors; or, the multi-color model can also include multiple parts of different colors arranged in one plate.

[0066] Step 3: Layering. Layering is to intersect a 3D model with an XY plane at certain heights to form multiple slice layers stacked on each other, and the distance between adjacent two slice layers is called layer height. Layering is essentially a process of converting a 3D model into a series of 2D planes.

[0067] Step 4: Path generation. In this step, the movement path of the nozzle is planned.

[0068] Step five: gcode generation. After the movement path is generated, the movement path of the nozzle needs to be translated into gcode code that can be executed by the processor of the 3D printer. For this purpose, the 3D printer can also include at least one memory for storing instructions and / or data, which can be called by the processor.

[0069] In some possible embodiments, referring to FIG. 1, which is a structural schematic diagram of a 3D printer provided by the embodiments of the present application, the 3D printer 102 includes at least two nozzles, such as nozzle 1021 and nozzle 1022. Each of the nozzles has at least one corresponding material tank 103.

[0070] For example, a feeding device can include at least one material tank for placing materials. The materials referred to in the present application are the printing materials of the 3D printer, which can also be referred to as consumables. The feeding device can provide the materials placed in the material tank to the 3D printer. The feeding device shown in FIG. 1 includes four material tanks 103, which is only an example and should not be construed as a limitation, i.e., the embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of material tanks included in the feeding device.

[0071] In some possible embodiments, the nozzle can be understood as a print head in the 3D printer, i.e., as shown in FIG. 1, the nozzle 1021 can include a hot end including a heating component and a nozzle a, which are in communication with each other; similarly, the nozzle 1022 can include a hot end including a heating component and a nozzle b. The heating component can heat the printing material to a molten state, and the nozzle can extrude the printing material in the molten state from the outlet of the nozzle onto the printing platform.

[0072] Optionally, the nozzle 1021 and the nozzle 1022 can correspond to different material tanks in one feeding device, or the nozzle 1021 and the nozzle 1022 can correspond to material tanks in different feeding devices.

[0073] Optionally, in some possible embodiments, the nozzle can be understood as a nozzle in the print head. Optionally, the 3D printer can include one print head, which can include at least two nozzles. The at least two nozzles can have different feeding channels. For example, one print head can include two nozzles, and at this time, the two nozzles in the same print head correspond to different material tanks in one feeding device. Alternatively, the 3D printer can also include two or more print heads, each of which can include one or more nozzles, and the nozzles in each print head can have the same feeding channel or different feeding channels. That is, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of print heads in the 3D printer, nor the number of nozzles included in the print head.

[0074] Optionally, in some possible implementations, the 3D printer further includes a display screen which can display a graphical user interface or a pop-up box of the 3D printer. For example, the display screen can display a send-to-print interface on which a send-to-print control and a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle can be displayed.

[0075] In the embodiments of the present application, the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle in the 3D printer is obtained by grouping the materials of M color categories used in the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer and the N materials used in each slice layer of the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed. Specifically, the target material combination can be obtained by the slice software of the terminal device based on the material parameters of the materials used in each slice layer of the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed and the number of nozzles. After obtaining the target material combination, a corresponding print file can be generated, and the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle can be displayed on the 3D printer or the slice software of the terminal device. Specifically, the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle can be displayed on the send-to-print interface, and then a print request can be generated based on a touch instruction on the send-to-print control, and the 3D printer is requested to perform subsequent printing according to the target material combination displayed on the send-to-print interface. Each material in the target material combination can be placed in the tank corresponding to the nozzle corresponding to the combination.

[0076] Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a step flowchart of a material replacement processing method of a 3D printer provided in the embodiments of the present application. The material replacement processing method can be executed by a terminal device. As shown in FIG. 2, the method can specifically include the following steps:

[0077] In step 201, the material parameters of the materials used in each slice layer of the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed are obtained.

[0078] For example, before step 201 is executed, the multi-color model to be printed is sliced. During the slicing of the multi-color model to be printed, the material parameters of the materials used in each slice layer of the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed are obtained. For example, the material parameters of the materials used in each slice layer can be obtained during the slicing and layering stage.

[0079] The material parameters include N materials, and N is a positive integer. Optionally, the material parameters can further include, but are not limited to, color or hue, glossiness, material type, etc., which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0080] In the process of printing a multi-color model, if the correspondence relationship shown in FIG. 3a is adopted, one nozzle is connected to multiple material tanks, and different materials are printed by one nozzle. Although the number of single nozzles only needs one set of extruder, the cost of the 3D printer can be reduced, but in the process of printing the multi-color model, multiple material changing operations are required, and each material changing will consume a certain amount of consumables and time to flush the nozzle to ensure that the color printed by the nozzle after the material changing is not affected by the color of the material before the material changing, which is time-consuming and costly. Another example is that if the correspondence relationship shown in FIG. 3b is adopted, one nozzle corresponds to one material tank, and different materials are printed by different nozzles. In the process of printing the multi-color model, multiple nozzles are involved, and each nozzle corresponds to a single material tank, that is, each nozzle can correspond to one material, and when changing the material, the nozzle can be replaced, which can save the time of flushing the nozzle, but the number of materials is strictly limited by the number of nozzles, and each nozzle is usually located on an independent tool head, which will increase the cost of the 3D printer.

[0081] In order to avoid the limitation of the number of printing materials by the number of nozzles, the embodiment of the present application can adopt a material changing method that can change the material by replacing the nozzle, and the correspondence relationship shown in FIG. 3c can be adopted. The 3D printer includes at least two nozzles, and each nozzle of the at least two nozzles is used to correspond to at least one material tank. Optionally, in some feasible embodiments, the material tank can be different material tanks in the same feeding device, or different material tanks in different feeding devices, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0082] The above FIGS. 3a to 3c take one nozzle as an example of the printing head of the 3D printer, and the printing head includes one nozzle. In some other feasible embodiments, the nozzle can be a nozzle, and one printing head can include multiple nozzles. The embodiment of the present application is applicable to the scenario where the number of material tanks is greater than the number of nozzles.

[0083] Optionally, the 3D printer can print a multi-color model, and a plurality of colors of materials are used in the process of printing the multi-color model, for example, M materials are used in a plurality of slice layers, and M is greater than 1; wherein N materials are used in each slice layer of the plurality of slice layers, and N is a positive integer. If the plurality of materials used are placed randomly in the material tank corresponding to any nozzle, the subsequent printing process cannot guarantee the minimum number of material replacement times, thereby failing to reduce the printing cost. For example, it is assumed that there is a multi-color model to be printed with a total of 100 layers, and the first 50 layers use two materials No. 3 and No. 4, and the 51st to 100th layers use two materials No. 1 and No. 2. If the two materials No. 1 and No. 2 are placed in different material tanks corresponding to the same nozzle, and the two materials No. 3 and No. 4 are placed in different material tanks corresponding to another nozzle, the printing process needs to be performed 101 times. If the two materials No. 1 and No. 3 are placed in different material tanks corresponding to the same nozzle, and the two materials No. 2 and No. 4 are placed in different material tanks corresponding to another nozzle, the printing process only needs to be performed twice. Compared with the previous material placement method, the number of material replacement times can be greatly reduced. As can be seen, the placement of materials will greatly affect the number of material replacement times when printing a multi-color model, thereby affecting the printing cost and printing time.

[0084] The embodiment of the present application can obtain material parameters of a plurality of materials used in a multi-color model to be printed, so as to determine the placement of the plurality of materials used in the material tank corresponding to the nozzle. The material used in each slice layer obtained by the present application can be part of the material used in part of the slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed or all the slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed, which is not limited by the present application.

[0085] For example, it is assumed that a multi-color model to be printed is shown in FIG. 4, and the model obtained after slicing can be shown in FIG. 5. At this time, the material parameters of the materials used in a plurality of slice layers, for example, materials No. 1-5, can be obtained.

[0086] In step 202, M materials are grouped according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer and the material parameters, and a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle is obtained.

[0087] In some possible embodiments, a printing file is generated based on the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, and the printing file is used to instruct the 3D printer to replace the material and print according to the placement of each material in the material tank corresponding to the nozzle. For example, the printing file can be a gcode file.

[0088] The placement of the materials is affected by the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer and the color types of the materials used in each of the plurality of slice layers, for example, assuming that there are 2 nozzles, 3 slice layers, the color types of the materials used in the first slice layer are black, red, and white, the color types of the materials used in the second slice layer are yellow and red, and the color types of the materials used in the third slice layer are blue and green, when the aforementioned 6 types of materials used in the plurality of slice layers are grouped, in order to reduce the number of material changes of the 3D printer during the printing of the multi-color model, the different nozzles are switched as much as possible without changing the materials. For example, black, red, white, and yellow are placed in the material tank corresponding to the first nozzle, and blue and green are placed in the material tank corresponding to the second nozzle, so that the materials need to be changed twice when printing the first slice layer, the materials need to be changed once when printing the second slice layer, and the materials need to be changed once when printing the third slice layer, a total of four times. In the embodiment of the present application, the plurality of slice layers include multi-color slice layers, and at least two colors of materials used in the multi-color slice layers are divided into different target material combinations corresponding to the nozzles, which can reduce the number of material changes. For example, black, red, and blue are placed in the material tank corresponding to the first nozzle as a target material combination, and white, yellow, and green are placed in the material tank corresponding to the second nozzle as another target material combination, so that the materials need to be changed once when printing the first slice layer, the materials do not need to be changed when printing the second slice layer, and the materials do not need to be changed when printing the third slice layer, a total of only once, greatly reducing the number of material changes.

[0089] Optionally, when the M types of materials used in the plurality of slice layers included in the printed multi-color model are grouped, the correspondence between each nozzle and the material tank will also be affected. As an example, the M types of materials can be grouped according to the number of nozzles, material parameters, and the correspondence between each nozzle and the material tank. The correspondence between the nozzle and the material tank can be a default setting, for example, a nozzle is by default corresponding to material tanks A, B, C, and D, and the nozzle has a physical connection with each material tank, for example, through a material pipe. That is, the correspondence between the nozzle and the material tank is fixedly configured, and at this time, the M types of materials can be grouped according to the number of nozzles, and the material types in each group are determined by the correspondence between the nozzle and the material tank. Specifically, which material is placed in the material tank corresponding to the nozzle is determined by the material parameters of the materials used in the slice layer.

[0090] As another example, the M materials can be grouped according to the number of nozzles, the material parameters, and the number of material slots corresponding to each nozzle. In the embodiments of the present application, the correspondence between the nozzles and the material slots can be a default setting, and the embodiments of the present application can not need to know the correspondence between the nozzles and the material slots, but can group the M materials under the condition of knowing the number of material slots corresponding to each nozzle. For example, each nozzle corresponds to four material slots by default, at which time the M materials can be grouped according to the number of nozzles, and the number of material types in each group is less than the number of material slots corresponding to the nozzle. The specific material placed in the material slot corresponding to the nozzle is determined by the material parameters of the material used in the slice layer where the material is located.

[0091] Alternatively, in some feasible implementations, the correspondence between the nozzles and the material slots is not fixed, and then the M materials are grouped according to the number of nozzles and the material parameters to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, at which time the corresponding number of material slots can be physically connected with the corresponding nozzles according to the number of materials in the target material combination. For example, the physical connection relationship between the material slots and the nozzles can be prompted while the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle is displayed.

[0092] Optionally, the number of color types of the materials used in the plurality of slice layers is greater than the number of nozzles, and the number of color types is less than or equal to the number of material slots.

[0093] Among them, the plurality of slice layers can include a multi-color slice layer, which can be a slice layer having at least two colors, that is, at least two color materials can be used in a slice layer of the multi-color model to be printed, at which time the at least two color materials used in a slice layer of the multi-color model to be printed can be divided into the target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles, and each material in the target material combination can be placed in the material slot corresponding to the nozzle corresponding to the combination, that is, the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle obtained by the division is a material placement combination that can optimize the number of nozzle material replacement times in subsequent printing of the multi-color model.

[0094] Optionally, in the process of grouping the M materials used in the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed, a grouping recommendation algorithm can be used to determine the target material combination.

[0095] Optionally, in some possible embodiments, based on the preset plurality of first initial material combinations, the materials used in the same slice layer and located in the same initial material combination can be marked, and then the number of times of marking of the materials used in each slice layer can be counted to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle from the preset plurality of first initial material combinations. Specifically, the target material combination can be the material combination with the least number of times of marking of the materials used in each slice layer from the preset plurality of first initial material combinations.

[0096] For example, in some possible embodiments, the preset plurality of first initial material combinations can refer to obtaining all grouping conditions in a combination number manner, which means that all materials are divided according to the number of nozzles as the number of combinations of single division, and each combination contains at least one grouping condition of the material, for example, assuming that there are M printing materials, if the number of nozzles is 2, the number of combinations of single division is 2, and each combination can contain at least one printing material when the M printing materials are divided into 2 combinations, thereby obtaining a plurality of combination conditions of single division; the marking can be represented as marking of the repetition of different materials used in the same slice layer, for example, marking with a repetition degree of 0 or 1.

[0097] For example, first, the materials used in each slice layer of the multi-color model to be printed after slicing can be traversed, at this time, the repetition degree between all materials can be accumulated, which can be used to indicate whether there are materials used simultaneously in the same slice layer, if multiple materials are used in the same slice layer, the repetition degree between the materials can be marked as 1; if only one material is used in the same slice layer, the repetition degree between all materials in this layer can be marked as 0. For example, if materials A and B are used in the same slice layer, the repetition degree between materials A and B can be marked as 1; if materials A, B and C are used in the same slice layer, the repetition degree between A and B can be marked as 1, the repetition degree between B and C can be marked as 1, and the repetition degree between A and C can be marked as 1; if only material A is used in the same slice layer, not only the repetition degree between material A and other materials can be marked as 0, but also the repetition degree between other materials, for example, materials B and C can be marked as 0. The repetition degrees marked above can be recorded in an initial repetition degree table, for example, assuming that there are M materials, an MxM table corresponding to the M materials can be used to record the repetition degree between each two materials, so as to sum the repetition degree between each two materials in each slice layer to obtain the total repetition degree between the two materials, which is used for grouping of material combinations. It should be noted that different slice layers need to be traversed, and the repetition degree between two materials for different slice layers can be superimposed.

[0098] In the present example, the preset plurality of first initial material combinations can refer to all grouping cases of the listed M materials divided into two groups, at this time one of the groups can be taken, based on the modification strategy of modifying the repetition degrees corresponding to two materials in different groups to 0, the obtained initial repetition degree table is modified to obtain a new repetition degree table, and a new total repetition degree is calculated. It should be noted that all grouping cases can be traversed and extracted, and the repetition degrees in the initial repetition degree table are modified according to the modification strategy, thereby obtaining a plurality of new repetition degree tables and a plurality of new total repetition degrees corresponding to the plurality of new repetition degree tables. At this time, the new total repetition degrees calculated under all grouping cases can be compared, and the grouping with the smallest total repetition degree is selected as the optimal grouping.

[0099] Taking the number of nozzles of a 3D printer as 2, one nozzle corresponding to 2 material slots and the other nozzle corresponding to 3 material slots as an example, assuming that the 3D printer prints a multi-color model as shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of materials used include materials 1-5, i.e. M = 5. After slicing the foregoing multi-color model, for the materials used for each slice layer, the repetition degrees between each two materials can be traversed and obtained, and recorded in a 5x5 repetition degree table. Specifically, it can be as shown in Table 1:

[0100] For all grouping cases of the above 5 materials divided into two groups, enumeration can be performed in a brute-force manner: (1, 2)(3, 4, 5), (1, 3)(2, 4, 5), (1, 4)(2, 3, 5), (1, 5)(2, 3, 4), (2, 3)(1, 4, 5), (2, 4)(1, 3, 5), (2, 5)(1, 3, 4), (3, 4)(1, 2, 5), (3, 5)(1, 2, 4), (4, 5)(1, 2, 3), (1)(2, 3, 4, 5), (2)(1, 3, 4, 5), (3)(1, 2, 4, 5), (4)(1, 2, 3, 5), (5)(1, 2, 3, 4), etc., wherein, the repetition degree in Table 1 above can be extracted and modified for each group to obtain a new repetition degree table and then calculate a new total repetition degree, after calculating the total repetition degrees corresponding to all grouping cases, the grouping with the minimum total repetition degree can be taken as the optimal solution, for example, in the result calculated according to the above grouping cases and Table 1, the total repetition degrees of grouping 1: (1, 2)(3, 4, 5) and grouping 2: (2, 3)(1, 4, 5) are 107, the aforementioned grouping 1 and grouping 2 are the combination with the minimum total repetition degree, at this time, any one of them can be taken as the optimal grouping for recommendation, that is, the target material combination determined can be (1, 2)(3, 4, 5) or (2, 3)(1, 4, 5), and according to the aforementioned target material combination, the material placement can optimize the number of nozzle material changes in subsequent printing of the multi-color model as much as possible.

[0101] Optionally, in some possible implementations, in the process of grouping the M materials used by the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed, a brute-force solution can be used to determine the target material combination.

[0102] Optionally, in some possible implementations, the number of material changes of each slice layer can be calculated based on the plurality of preset second initial material combinations, and the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle can be obtained from the plurality of preset second initial material combinations according to the number of material changes of each slice layer. Specifically, the target material combination can be the material combination with the least number of material changes of all slice layers in the plurality of preset second initial material combinations.

[0103] Exemplarily, in some possible implementation, the preset plurality of second initial material combinations can refer to obtaining all grouping cases in a combination manner, which means dividing all materials according to the number of the nozzles as the number of combinations of a single division, and each combination contains at least one grouping case of the material; at this time, one of the groupings can be taken, each slice layer is traversed, the number of material changes of each slice layer under the grouping case is directly calculated, and then the total number of material changes is accumulated; after all the grouping cases are traversed and extracted, and the total number of material changes under the corresponding grouping case is calculated, the grouping case with the least total number of material changes can be selected as the optimal grouping.

[0104] Optionally, in the process of grouping the M kinds of materials used by the plurality of slice layers included in the multi-color model to be printed, the maximum removal method can be used to determine the target material combination.

[0105] Optionally, in some possible implementation, based on the preset plurality of third initial material combinations, the materials used in the same slice layer and located in the same initial material combination can be marked, the number of markings of the materials used by each slice layer is counted, and the materials corresponding to the number of markings are respectively arranged in the target material combinations corresponding to different nozzles in the order of the number of markings.

[0106] For example, in some possible embodiments, the preset plurality of third initial material combinations can also refer to obtaining all grouping conditions in a combination manner, which means that all materials are divided according to the number of nozzles as the number of combinations of a single division, and each combination contains at least one grouping condition of the material. At this time, the above grouping recommendation algorithm can be referred to to traverse all slice layers to obtain the repetition degree between each two materials and establish the initial repetition degree table, and then the row number and column number (arrangement sequence number excluding the material number) corresponding to the maximum repetition degree are obtained according to the repetition degree table, for example, the maximum repetition degree in Table 1 is in row 2 and column 4, at this time, the materials corresponding to the row number and column number, that is, 2 and 4, can be divided into different material grooves corresponding to the nozzles, and after grouping, the corresponding maximum repetition degree in Table 1 can be set to 0 to obtain a new repetition degree table, and then the new repetition degree table can be used to continue to obtain the row number and column number corresponding to the maximum repetition degree, and the materials corresponding to the row number and column number corresponding to the maximum repetition degree are grouped, and after grouping, the maximum repetition degree in the repetition table is set to 0. The step is repeated until all materials are grouped, at which time the grouping result can be output. The grouping step based on iteration, as an example, when grouping, there can be a case where two materials are not grouped, at this time, all grouping conditions can be combined to take the grouping condition in which the total repetition degree calculated when 2 and 4 materials are grouped is the smallest; as another example, there can be a case where one material is grouped and the other material is not grouped, at this time, the material that has not been grouped can be allocated according to the grouping condition that can minimize the total repetition degree; as another example, there can be a case where two materials are grouped, at this time, the next maximum repetition degree can be set to 0, and the next grouping cycle can be performed until all materials are grouped.

[0107] Optionally, in some possible embodiments, color separation can also be performed in the 3D interval to roughly estimate the distribution of the materials in the material grooves corresponding to the nozzles, and the present application embodiment does not add details.

[0108] Optionally, in some possible embodiments, after obtaining the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, the target material combination can be displayed, that is, the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle is displayed to inform the user of the target material combination that can optimize the number of nozzle material replacement when printing a multi-color model. The target material combination can indicate that the material is placed in the material groove corresponding to the corresponding nozzle.

[0109] For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle can be displayed on the interface for sending the printing, for example, nozzle 1 corresponds to materials 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8, and nozzle 2 corresponds to materials 2, 4 and 6, so as to inform the user of the target material combination that can optimize the number of nozzle material replacement in the subsequent printing of the multi-color model. Alternatively, the user can further confirm whether to agree with the aforementioned material placement, so as to confirm whether to place the materials according to the aforementioned target material combination. In addition, the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle can be displayed on the interface for sending the printing, so as to inform the user of the material placement combination that can reduce the number of material replacement in the process of printing the multi-color model before starting the printing. The user can also be provided with the function of adjusting the material combination corresponding to each nozzle in the case of not agreeing with the aforementioned material placement combination, so as to adjust the placement of the printing materials in the material tank corresponding to each nozzle.

[0110] Optionally, in some possible embodiments, the target material combination is mainly used to indicate the placement of the materials in the material tank corresponding to each nozzle, and the actual materials placed in each material tank corresponding to each nozzle can be monitored. If the actual materials placed in each material tank corresponding to each nozzle do not belong to the materials in the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, a warning information can be displayed to inform the user that the placement of the materials in the current material tank does not conform to the optimal material combination.

[0111] The application further provides a terminal device, which comprises a processor and a memory for storing instructions, and the processor is configured to invoke the instructions in the memory, so that the terminal device performs the embodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

[0112] The application further provides a computer program product, which comprises a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the processor performs the embodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

[0113] The application further provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, and the computer program instructions are stored on the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the processor performs the embodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. It should be noted that the computer program used for execution can be located on software, a storage medium or a printer, and the embodiments of the application are not limited in this regard.

[0114] The non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions can be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disc or an optical disc, etc.

[0115] It should be noted that the above terms "first", "second" are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0116] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps of the above-mentioned method embodiments can be completed by program instruction related hardware, and the foregoing program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the program executes the steps including the above-mentioned method embodiments when executed; and the foregoing storage medium includes a mobile storage device, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disc or an optical disc, and various media that can store program codes.

[0117] Alternatively, the integrated units of the present application can be stored in a computer readable storage medium if they are realized in the form of software function modules and sold or used as independent products. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be embodied in the form of software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes a mobile storage device, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disc or an optical disc, and various media that can store program codes.

[0118] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of changing a material for a 3D printer, characterized by, The 3D printer comprises at least two nozzles, each of the at least two nozzles has at least one corresponding material tank, and the material replacement processing method comprises the following steps: Obtaining material parameters of materials used in each slice layer of a plurality of slice layers included in a multi-color model to be printed, wherein the material parameters comprise N material colors, and N is a positive integer; Grouping M materials according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer and the material parameters to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, wherein M is the number of color types of the materials used in the plurality of slice layers, and each material in the target material combination is placed in a material tank corresponding to the nozzle corresponding to the combination.

2. The refueling process of claim 1, wherein, Each material in the target material combination is a material used in the plurality of slice layers.

3. The refueling process of claim 1 or 2, wherein The grouping of the M materials to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle comprises the following steps: Grouping M materials according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer, the material parameters, and the correspondence between each nozzle and a material tank to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle.

4. The refueling process according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The grouping of the M materials to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle comprises the following steps: Grouping M materials according to the number of nozzles included in the 3D printer, the material parameters, and the number of material tanks corresponding to each nozzle to obtain a target material combination corresponding to each nozzle.

5. The refueling process of any of claims 1-4, wherein, The number of material tanks is greater than the number of nozzles.

6. The refueling process of any of claims 1-5, wherein, The number of color types of the materials used in the plurality of slice layers is greater than the number of nozzles, and the number of color types is less than or equal to the number of material tanks.

7. The refueling process of any of claims 1-6, wherein, The material replacement processing method further comprises displaying the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle.

8. The refueling process of any of claims 1-7, wherein, The material replacement processing method further comprises simultaneously displaying the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle on an interface for displaying and sending printing.

9. The refueling process of any of claims 1-8, wherein, The plurality of slice layers comprise multi-color slice layers. The grouping of the M materials comprises the following steps: Grouping at least two materials of different colors used in the multi-color slice layers in different target material combinations corresponding to nozzles.

10. The refueling process of any of claims 1-9, wherein, The material replacement processing method further comprises monitoring materials actually placed in each material tank corresponding to each nozzle. If the materials actually placed in each material tank corresponding to each nozzle do not belong to the materials in the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle, a warning message is displayed.

11. The refueling process of any of claims 1-10, wherein, The grouping of the M materials to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle comprises the following steps: Based on a plurality of preset first initial material combinations, materials used in the same slice layer and located in the same initial material combination are marked; The number of times of marking the materials used in each slice layer is counted to obtain the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle from the plurality of preset first initial material combinations.

12. The refueling process of claim 11, wherein, The target material combination is a material combination in the preset plurality of first initial material combinations, in which the number of labels of the material used by each slice layer is the least.

13. The refueling process of any of claims 1-10, wherein, The grouping of the plurality of materials used by the M nozzles comprises: Based on the preset plurality of second initial material combinations, the number of material changes of each slice layer is calculated; And according to the number of material changes of each slice layer, the target material combination corresponding to each nozzle is obtained from the preset plurality of second initial material combinations.

14. The refueling process of claim 13, wherein, The target material combination is a material combination in the preset plurality of second initial material combinations, in which the number of material changes of each slice layer is the least.

15. The refueling process of any of claims 1-10, wherein, The grouping of the plurality of materials used by the M nozzles comprises: Based on the preset plurality of third initial material combinations, the materials in the same initial material combination that are simultaneously used in the same slice layer of the to-be-printed multi-color model are labeled; The number of labels of the material used by each slice layer of the to-be-printed multi-color model is counted, and the materials corresponding to the number of labels are respectively arranged in the target material combination corresponding to the different nozzles in the order of the number of labels.

16. A terminal device, comprising: The terminal device comprises a processor and a memory, the memory is used for storing instructions, and the processor is used for calling the instructions in the memory, so that the terminal device executes the material change processing method as claimed in any one of claims 1-15.

17. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions, wherein: The instructions, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the material change processing method as claimed in any one of claims 1-15.

18. A computer program product, characterised in that, The program code, when executed by the computer, is used to execute the material change processing method as claimed in any one of claims 1-15.

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