Building Cylinder Transfer Layout for Continuous Powder Bed Fusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing machines for manufacturing shaped bodies layer by layer using selective laser melting or sintering face inefficiencies as the unpacking process often requires significant downtime, preventing simultaneous manufacturing and recycling of material powder, which can be valuable.
Innovation Solution
A machine with a transporting device that transfers building cylinders between operating and unpacking positions, allowing concurrent manufacturing and unpacking processes, with a separate process and unpacking chamber to maintain a gas-tight environment and facilitate recycling of non-consolidated material powder.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the unpacking process is carried out in the process space itself, then the machine structure remains simple, but the machine cannot be used to manufacture another shaped body during unpacking time, reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The machine is divided into two separate functional spaces: a process space for manufacturing and an unpacking space for removing finished shaped bodies. The building chamber can be removed from the workpiece manufacturing section and transferred to the post-treatment section, allowing simultaneous manufacturing and unpacking operations without interfering with each other.
Solution Approach 2:
The building chamber is designed to be removable and transferable between different sections of the machine. This dimensional mobility allows the same chamber to serve in both manufacturing and unpacking phases, enabling continuous operation without idle time between processes.
2Loss of substance
If material powder is recycled from the unpacking process, then resource reuse increases, but material powder may leave the machine or contamination may occur during removal
Solution Approach 1:
The unpacking space is separated from the process space, allowing non-consolidated material powder to be removed and recycled through a dedicated recycling device connected to the unpacking chamber. This separation enables controlled powder recovery without contaminating the manufacturing environment.
Solution Approach 2:
A recycling device serves as an intermediary system between the unpacking chamber and the material storage. This device captures and returns non-consolidated powder to the material storage, preventing powder loss and external contamination while enabling resource reuse.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables continuous operation by allowing the unpacking of one shaped body while another is being manufactured, increasing productivity and enabling efficient recycling of material powder, thus minimizing downtime and maximizing resource reuse.
Implementation Method 1
exposed to electromagnetic radiation or particle radiation, in particular focused laser radiation. The radiation causes heating and consequently a fusion or sintering of the material powder
Data Source
AI summary
A machine for manufacturing shaped objects layer by layer by locationally selectively fusing material powder to form connected regions by means of electromagnetic radiation or particle radiation. The machine includes a process chamber, which surrounds a process space, an unpacking chamber, which surrounds an unpacking space, a first building cylinder and a second building cylinder, which each have a workpiece table for material powder and a building space, wherein the workpiece tables can each be moved into the building space, and a transporting device for transferring the building cylinders between an operating position in the process space and an unpacking position in the unpacking space. According to the invention, the transporting device is configured to transfer the first building cylinder from the operating position into the unpacking position and the second building cylinder from the unpacking position into the operating position simultaneously.