3D Printing Build Plate Assembly for Safe Part Detachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The removal of 3D printed components from building plates in additive manufacturing is cumbersome and can cause injury due to sharp-edged spatulas, and the adhesion between the printing film and building plate creates large forces, especially for large surface areas, with honeycomb structures often becoming partially filled with hardened resin, making cleaning difficult.
Innovation Solution
A building plate assembly with through-holes and detachable projections that can be moved into these holes to detach the component safely, reducing adhesion and allowing simultaneous cleaning, featuring a detachable plate with projections biased by springs and guided movement for easy detachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a single large build plate is used, then the build volume is increased, but the plate becomes heavy and difficult to manually handle and clean
Solution Approach 1:
The build plate is divided into multiple smaller modular plates that can be individually handled, cleaned, and replaced. Each plate maintains a manageable size while collectively providing a large build volume when multiple plates are used in the build chamber.
2Volume of moving object
If the build plate is made larger to increase build volume, then more material can be processed, but the plate requires more time to cool down after heating
Solution Approach 1:
Dividing the build space into multiple smaller plates reduces the thermal mass of each individual plate, allowing faster cooling cycles between builds while maintaining overall large build capacity through parallel or sequential use of multiple plates.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables periodic heating and cooling cycles of individual plates independently, allowing one plate to be heated for building while another is cooled for removal, thus overlapping the build and cooling processes to reduce total cycle time.
3Ease of manufacture
If the build plate is heated to melt support material, then support removal is facilitated, but the plate must be cooled before removal which extends the process time
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple smaller plates can be heated and cooled independently, allowing selective thermal processing of only the plate currently in use rather than heating a large entire build platform, reducing the thermal mass and cooling time.
4Productivity
If a large build plate is used, then fewer plates need to be changed, but the plate cannot be easily removed from the build chamber for cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The build chamber accommodates multiple smaller modular plates that can be individually removed, inserted, and cleaned. This segmentation allows easy access to each plate for cleaning operations while maintaining high productivity through efficient plate rotation and reuse.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple identical modular plates can be used interchangeably in the same build chamber, allowing one plate to be cleaned while another is in use, and vice versa. This universality enables continuous operation without downtime for cleaning the entire build system.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5a~6c
AI summary
The present invention provides a building plate assembly (1) for use in an additive manufacturing apparatus comprising means for additively manufacturing a component (2) through curing photocurable resin, the building plate assembly (1) comprising: a building plate (3) having a front surface (3a) on which said component (2) can be attached during the additive manufacturing; a plurality of through holes (3b) formed between the rear surface (3c) and the front surface (3a) of the building plate (3); characterized by further comprising: a detachment means (4) having one or more projections (4a) which can be relatively moved towards the rear surface (3c) and into the through-holes (3b) to detach the component (2) from the front surface (3a) and, retracted to at least partly clear the through-holes (3b), wherein the through-holes (3b) and the corresponding projections (4a) are arranged in a two-dimensional array.