Dual-switch 3D print head having synergistic printing of resin and continuous fibers

Abstract

A dual-switch 3D print head having synergistic printing of resin and continuous fibers, the print head comprising a main frame (1), wherein a resin head extrusion mechanism (3) is provided on the main frame (1); the main frame (1) is connected to a continuous fiber printing mechanism (6) by means of a dual-nozzle switching mechanism (2); a continuous fiber cutting mechanism (7) and a wire feeding and clamping coordination mechanism (63) are provided on the continuous fiber printing mechanism (6); the continuous fiber printing mechanism (6) comprises a continuous fiber printing mounting plate (61); a fiber clamping mounting base (631) is provided on one side of the top of the continuous fiber printing mounting plate (61); a fiber clamping actuator is mounted on the fiber clamping mounting base (631); a clamping connecting rod (635) is movably connected to the end of the fiber clamping actuator; the other end of the clamping connecting rod (635) is connected to a fiber guide wheel (633); a wire feeding gear (634) is provided beside the fiber guide wheel (633); and the wire feeding gear (634) is mounted on the continuous fiber printing mounting plate (61). The dual-switch 3D print head can ensure the precision of the relative positions between dual nozzles during multiple switchings for a long time, and also achieve the organic combination of active wire feeding and passive wire feeding for a continuous fiber wire material is also realized, thereby realizing high-quality printing of continuous fibers.

Description

Dual-switch 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber collaborative printing TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of continuous fiber reinforced composite 3D printing, in particular to a dual-switch 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber collaborative printing. BACKGROUND

[0002] Continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite (CFRTP) is a composite material prepared by using continuous fibers as reinforcing materials and thermoplastic resin as matrix. Continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite components have many advantages such as light weight, high strength, excellent mechanical properties, etc. and have been widely used in many fields such as aerospace, national defense and military industry, transportation, energy, etc. and are continuously expanding to civilian fields. In order to balance the surface quality and mechanical properties, current continuous fiber printers usually use two or more printing heads to handle different types of materials, such as thermoplastic resin and continuous fibers. The design of dual printing head switching allows the printer to seamlessly switch materials during printing, thereby realizing the manufacturing of multi-material composite structures.

[0003] Taking the most common dual printing head collaborative switching device as an example, the mainstream way is to use a sliding rail or a belt movement device to realize the switching of the relative positions of the two printing heads through the movement of the two printing heads. Since the movement switching device lacks hard limit, and both printing heads are in a moving state, this will greatly affect the relative position accuracy of the printing heads during long-time and multiple switching, ultimately leading to errors during multi-material matching forming.

[0004] In addition, the printing technology of continuous fiber active feeding through a feeding gear has the requirement of matching the continuous fiber feeding speed and the continuous fiber forming speed. Due to the objective limitation that the nozzle diameter is relatively larger than the continuous fiber wire diameter, when printing long-time and multi-radian components, the speed mismatch between the two may cause fiber drag, wear, fracture and other failure damages during final forming. Although the passive drag feeding printing technology of the unformed part dragged by the formed part of the continuous fiber wire can weaken the above-mentioned disadvantages to a certain extent, the low level of digital control is not suitable for fiber cutting requirements and is difficult to meet the continuous fiber forming of complex paths. SUMMARY

[0005] To solve the above problems, the application discloses a double-switch 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber collaborative printing, and the continuous fiber printing head is automatically switched relative to the position-fixed resin printing head through a switching device with mechanical hard limit, so that the relative position accuracy between the double nozzles is ensured during long-time and multiple switching.

[0006] The application discloses a double-switch 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber collaborative printing, which comprises a main frame.

[0007] Further, the double-nozzle switching mechanism comprises a sliding rail, a switching sliding block, a switching electric push rod and a follow-up roller.

[0008] Further, the continuous fiber cutting mechanism comprises a cutting mechanism mounting bracket fixed on the continuous fiber laying mounting plate, a driving steering engine, a steering engine connecting rod and a cutting blade.

[0009] Further, the lower parts of the continuous fiber laying mechanism and the resin head extrusion mechanism are sequentially provided with a multi-channel water cooling module, a heating module and an air cooling module.

[0010] Further, the rear side of the multi-channel water cooling module is connected with a water cooling connector, and the side surface of the multi-channel water cooling module is provided with a water cooling plug.

[0011] Further, each of the heating modules is composed of a throat pipe, a heating block and a nozzle from top to bottom.

[0012] Further, the air cooling module comprises an air cooling support and a turbine fan; wherein the turbine fan is fixed on the air cooling support.

[0013] The working principle of the present application is as follows:

[0014] The switching electric push rod drives the cutting slider to move transversely on the slide rail, thereby driving the follow-up roller shaft connected with the switching slider to move in the position of the switching groove, thereby driving the whole continuous fiber laying installation plate to move downward, thus driving the continuous fiber laying mechanism to move downward. Since the switching groove is inclined, the follow-up roller shaft can drive the continuous fiber laying installation plate to move up and down. Meanwhile, in the initial state, the continuous fiber wire material is fed, and the fiber tensioning cooperation mechanism is cooperated to drive the continuous fiber wire material to feed downward. The fiber tensioning execution mechanism drives the execution rod to move, thereby driving the fiber guide wheel and the fiber feeding gear to clamp and convey the continuous fiber wire material. When the fiber material can be attached to the processing, the fiber feeding tensioning cooperation mechanism is reset. After the continuous fiber wire material processing is completed, the driving rudder drives the rudder connecting rod to move, thereby driving the cutting blade to cut. Then, the switching electric push rod drives the switching slider to reset, thereby driving the continuous fiber laying installation plate to move upward and reset. Then, the resin head extrusion mechanism feeds and adds layers.

[0015] Meanwhile, whether the short fiber or the continuous fiber is cooled by the water cooling module first, then heated by the throat pipe and the heating block, and finally sprayed out through the nozzle.

[0016] The present application has the following advantages:

[0017] 1. A double-nozzle switching device with mechanical hard limit is designed, which realizes automatic switching of two fixed positions of the continuous fiber printing head relative to the position-fixed resin printing head, so as to guarantee the relative position accuracy between the double nozzles during long-time and multiple switching.

[0018] 2. A continuous fiber feeding and clamping device is designed, which realizes the organic combination of active fiber feeding and passive fiber feeding by matching the continuous fiber feeding and cutting action to the continuous fiber wire material clamping state, and realizes high-quality continuous fiber printing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Fig. 1 is a structural schematic view of the present application;

[0020] Fig. 2 is a partial schematic view of the double-nozzle switching mechanism;

[0021] Fig. 3 is a partial schematic view of the feeding and clamping cooperation mechanism;

[0022] Figure 4, partial view of the continuous fiber cutting mechanism.

[0023] List of reference signs: 1 - main frame; 2 - double nozzle switching mechanism; 3 - resin head extrusion mechanism; 5 - air cooling module; 6 - continuous fiber printing mechanism; 8 - water cooling module; 9 - heating module; 91 - throat pipe; 92 - heating block; 93 - nozzle; 51 - air cooling support; 52 - turbine fan; 21 - sliding rail; 22 - switching slider; 23 - switching electric push rod; 24 - follow-up switching roller; 61 - continuous fiber printing mounting plate; 10 - switching groove; 631 - fiber clamping mounting seat; 632 - fiber clamping electric push rod; 635 - clamping connecting rod; 633 - fiber guide wheel; 634 - fiber feeding gear; 636 - driving motor; 71 - cutting mechanism mounting support; 72 - driving steering engine; 73 - steering engine connecting rod; 74 - cutting blade. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The present application will be further clarified by the following description and examples with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the following description and examples are intended to explain the present application and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. It should be noted that the terms "front", "rear", "left", "right", "upper" and "lower" used in the following description refer to the directions in the drawings, and the terms "inner" and "outer" refer to the directions towards or away from the geometric center of a particular component.

[0025] As shown in Figures 1-4, a double switching 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber collaborative printing according to the present embodiment comprises a main frame 1, wherein the main frame 1 is provided with a resin head extrusion mechanism 3, and the main frame 1 is connected with a continuous fiber printing mechanism 6 through a double nozzle switching mechanism 2, the continuous fiber printing mechanism 6 is provided with a feeding and clamping cooperation mechanism 63 and a continuous fiber cutting mechanism 7, and the lower part of the continuous fiber printing mechanism 6 and the resin head extrusion mechanism 3 are sequentially provided with a multi-channel water cooling module 8, a heating module 9 and an air cooling module 5, the rear side of the multi-channel water cooling module 8 is connected with a water cooling connector 81, and the side of the multi-channel water cooling module 8 is provided with a water cooling plug 82, each of the heating modules 9 is composed of a throat pipe 91, a heating block 92 and a nozzle 93 from top to bottom, the air cooling module 5 comprises an air cooling support 51 and a turbine fan 52, and the turbine fan 52 is fixed on the air cooling support 51.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 2, the double nozzle switching mechanism 2 includes a sliding rail 21, a switching sliding block 22, a switching electric push rod 23, and a follow-up switching roller 24; wherein the sliding rail 21 and the switching electric push rod 23 are both fixed on the main body frame 1; the extension shaft of the switching electric push rod 23 is connected with the switching sliding block 22; the switching sliding block 22 is arranged on the sliding rail 21 and has the follow-up switching roller 24 connected at the bottom; wherein the follow-up switching roller 24 is matched with the switching groove 10 on the continuous fiber printing mounting plate 61, and the switching groove 10 is in an inclined shape.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 3, the wire feeding clamping cooperation mechanism 63 is installed on the continuous fiber printing mounting plate 61; one side of the top of the continuous fiber printing mounting plate 61 is provided with a fiber clamping mounting seat 631; the fiber clamping mounting seat 631 is installed with a fiber clamping electric push rod 632; the end of the execution rod on the fiber clamping electric push rod 632 is movably connected with a clamping connecting rod 635; the other end of the clamping connecting rod 635 is connected with a fiber guide wheel 633; wherein the fiber guide wheel 633 is provided with a wire feeding gear 634; wherein the wire feeding gear 634 is installed on the continuous fiber printing mounting plate 61 and rotates through a driving motor 636.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 4, the continuous fiber cutting mechanism 7 includes a cutting mechanism mounting bracket 71 fixed on the continuous fiber printing mounting plate 61, a driving steering engine 72, a steering engine connecting rod 73, and a cutting blade 74; wherein the driving steering engine 72 is installed on the cutting mechanism mounting bracket 71; wherein the driving steering engine 72 is connected with the cutting blade 74 through the steering engine connecting rod 73.

[0029] The functional logic of the position switching action of the continuous fiber printing mechanism 6 relative to the resin head extrusion mechanism 3 in the vertical direction is as follows:

[0030] The switching power is provided by the above-mentioned switching electric push rod 23, so that the follow-up switching roller 24 realizes the one-way reciprocating action in the horizontal direction due to the constraint of the switching sliding block 22 on the sliding rail 21, and the continuous fiber printing mechanism 6 is mechanically driven due to the constraint of the follow-up switching roller 24 in the switching groove 10, and finally realizes the position switching action at the upper and lower limit positions in the vertical direction relative to the resin head extrusion mechanism 3.

[0031] The functional logic of the clamping cooperation action of the feeding clamping cooperation mechanism 63 when the continuous fiber printing mechanism 6 performs the continuous fiber printing operation is as follows:

[0032] Non-cutting fiber feeding mode: the fiber clamping electric push rod 632 is in the extended state (as shown in FIG. 3), the clamping connecting rod 635 is pressed down, the fiber guide wheel 633 is offset relative to the right side, and is tightly clamped with the fiber feeding gear 634. At this moment, the driving motor 636 receives a signal, and starts to synchronously rotate and drive the fiber feeding gear 634. The continuous fiber 62 is fed by the fiber feeding gear 634 to realize the fiber feeding action. The fiber feeding length is recorded, and when the continuous fiber 62 is fed out by 8 mm from the lower end surface of the nozzle 93, the fiber clamping and feeding action is terminated, that is, the fiber clamping electric push rod 632 is retracted, the fiber guide wheel 633 is returned to be loose with the fiber feeding gear 634, and the driving motor 636 receives a signal to stop the fiber feeding action. At this moment, the continuous fiber printing mechanism 6 feeding printing preparation process is completed, and the printing action of the continuous fiber 62 is started. Since the continuous fiber 62 is fed out by 8 mm from the lower end surface of the nozzle 93, the fiber can be adhered to the formed layer when the continuous fiber printing mechanism 6 performs the printing path action, and the subsequent continuous fiber 62 is passively pulled out of the nozzle 93 to realize the passive fiber feeding action.

[0033] Fiber cutting mode: the fiber clamping electric push rod 632 is in the extended state (as shown in FIG. 3), the clamping connecting rod 635 is pressed down, the fiber guide wheel 633 is offset relative to the right side, and is tightly clamped with the fiber feeding gear 634 to fix the position of the continuous fiber 62. At this moment, the continuous fiber cutting mechanism 7 performs the cutting action. After the action in this mode is completed, the non-cutting fiber feeding mode is entered.

[0034] The technical means disclosed in the scheme of the present application is not limited to the technical means disclosed in the above-mentioned embodiments, but also includes the technical scheme composed of any combination of the above technical features.

Claims

1. A dual-switch 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber synergistic printing, comprising a main frame (1); wherein the main frame (1) is provided with a resin head extrusion mechanism (3); characterized in that: The main frame (1) is connected with a continuous fiber laying mechanism (6) through a double nozzle switching mechanism (2); the continuous fiber laying mechanism (6) is provided with a continuous fiber cutting mechanism (7) and a wire feeding and tensioning matching mechanism (63); the continuous fiber laying mechanism (6) comprises a continuous fiber laying mounting plate (61); one side of the top of the continuous fiber laying mounting plate (61) is provided with a fiber tensioning mounting seat (631); a fiber tensioning actuating mechanism (632) is mounted on the fiber tensioning mounting seat (631); the end of an actuating rod on the fiber tensioning actuating mechanism (632) is movably connected with a tensioning connecting rod (635); the other end of the tensioning connecting rod (635) is connected with a fiber guide wheel (633); wherein a wire feeding gear (634) is arranged beside the fiber guide wheel (633); wherein the wire feeding gear (634) is mounted on the continuous fiber laying mounting plate (61) and rotates through a driving motor (636).

2. A dual-switching 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber co-printing according to claim 1, characterized in that: The double nozzle switching mechanism (2) comprises a sliding rail (21), a switching sliding block (22), a switching electric push rod (23) and a follow-up roller (24); wherein the sliding rail (21) and the switching electric push rod (23) are both fixed on the main frame (1); the telescopic shaft of the switching electric push rod (23) is connected with the switching sliding block (22); the switching sliding block (22) is slidingly arranged on the sliding rail (21) and is connected with the follow-up roller (24) at the bottom; wherein the follow-up roller (24) and a switching groove (10) on the continuous fiber laying mounting plate (61) are matched with each other, wherein the switching groove (10) is inclined.

3. A dual-switching 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber co-printing according to claim 1, characterized in that: The continuous fiber cutting mechanism (7) comprises a cutting mechanism mounting bracket (71) fixed on the continuous fiber laying mounting plate (61), a driving steering gear (72), a steering gear connecting rod (73) and a cutting blade (74); wherein the driving steering gear (72) is mounted on the cutting mechanism mounting bracket (71); wherein the driving steering gear (72) is connected with the cutting blade (74) through the steering gear connecting rod (73).

4. A dual-switching 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber co-printing according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lower part of the continuous fiber laying mechanism (6) and the resin head extrusion mechanism (3) is sequentially provided with a multi-channel water cooling module (80), a heating module (9) and an air cooling module (5).

5. A dual-switching 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber co-printing according to claim 4, characterized in that: The rear side of the multi-channel water cooling module (80) is connected with a water cooling connector (81); the side of the multi-channel water cooling module (8) is provided with a water cooling plug (82).

6. A dual-switching 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber co-printing according to claim 4, characterized in that: Each of the heating modules (9) is composed of a throat pipe (91), a heating block (92) and a nozzle (93) from top to bottom.

7. A dual-switching 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber co-printing according to claim 5, characterized in that: The air cooling module (5) comprises an air cooling support (51) and a turbine fan (52); wherein the turbine fan (52) is fixed on the air cooling support (51).

8. A dual-switching 3D printing head with resin and continuous fiber co-printing according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fiber tensioning actuating mechanism adopts an electric push rod.

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