3D-Printed Electronic Component Recycling Using Production Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current electronic waste recycling processes are complex, labor-intensive, and generate significant unreusable waste, particularly due to the difficulty in disassembling and recycling 3D printed electronic components with embedded materials and components that are not easily recognizable for recycling or repair.
Innovation Solution
The method involves determining post-processing information from construction and manufacturing information to create machine-readable control command sets for automated recycling and repair devices, allowing for comprehensive recycling and repair of electronic components using 3D printing technology, which simplifies the recycling process, reduces manual effort, and enables precise material recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If 3D printing is used to manufacture electronic components with embedded materials and components, then manufacturing flexibility and integration are improved, but recycling complexity and difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by storing disassembly information and material data in a data carrier during the manufacturing phase. This pre-prepared information enables automated recycling devices to efficiently dismantle and separate materials without manual intervention, thus resolving the contradiction between manufacturing flexibility and recycling complexity.
2Loss of substance
If manual disassembly and sorting is used for e-waste recycling, then material recovery is possible, but labor intensity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical disassembly with an automated recycling device that uses stored disassembly information to guide the dismantling process. This substitution eliminates labor-intensive manual sorting while maintaining material recovery efficiency, and significantly reduces the time required for recycling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a data carrier as an intermediary that stores disassembly information and material data. This intermediary enables the automated recycling device to access precise manufacturing information, facilitating efficient material separation and recovery without manual intervention, thus reducing both labor intensity and recycling time.
3Productivity
If automated recycling devices are implemented, then recycling efficiency is improved, but initial setup complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing an automated recycling device that can process multiple types of electronic components using the same basic mechanism. The device reads disassembly information from data carriers to adapt to different component types, achieving high recycling efficiency without requiring complex specialized equipment for each component type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by storing disassembly information and material data in a data carrier that can be read by the automated recycling device. This information copy from the manufacturing phase enables the recycling device to efficiently dismantle components without requiring complex programming or setup, thus achieving high productivity with reduced system complexity.
4Productivity
If complete automation of manufacturing is implemented, then production efficiency is improved, but post-processing information availability for recycling decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by storing disassembly information and material data in a data carrier during the automated manufacturing phase. This pre-prepared information ensures that complete post-processing information is available for recycling, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing automation efficiency and information availability for recycling.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for preparing the automated production of an electronic component (5), in which method at least one SMD component (19) and/or at least one conductor track (18) are arranged on at least one substrate, for production by 3D printing, wherein structural information describing the structure of the electronic component, particularly created by a CAD and/or CAM device (9), is used to determine first production information comprising a first machine-readable control command set (1) for a production device (12), which is designed at least in part for 3D printing, wherein, together with the first control command set (1), post-processing information (4) is determined from the structural information and/or the production information, which comprises recycling information comprising a second, machine-readable control command set (2) for a recycling device (13) designed for an at least partial, particularly complete, automated recycling of the electronic component (5) by recovery of at least one material of the electronic component (5) and/or repair information comprising a third machine-readable control command set (3) for a repair device designed for an at least partial automatic repair of the electronic component (5), and is reserved for the post-processing, particularly the recycling of, and/or repair of the electronic component (5).