Inverted Submerged Wire EDM for Fast Build Plate Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wire EDM machines are inadequate for efficiently separating additively manufactured metal pieces from build plates, requiring high-pressure flushing, cumbersome rotary tables, and water additives, leading to increased costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
An inverted EDM machine with a gravity-fed build plate system, using brass or molybdenum wire, operates without water additives, and features a dual spooler design, dual-axis control, and a compact, integrated control panel for precise cutting of large metal pieces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high pressure flushing is used to cut fast, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases due to water additives and cleaning operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the water additive system from the EDM machine, using only pure deionized water for submerged cutting. This removes the complexity of water additives while maintaining fast cutting speeds through the inverted build plate configuration and pure water flushing system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the flushing medium from water additives to pure deionized water, and modifies the build plate orientation to inverted position. These parameter changes enable fast cutting without the need for complex water additive systems, resolving the contradiction between productivity and device complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If reusable molybdenum wire EDMs use rotary tables to invert the build plate, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the build plate configuration from the conventional upright position to an inverted position. This inversion eliminates the need for complex rotary tables while maintaining manufacturing precision through the inverted EDM cutting process and gravity-fed wire system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical rotary table system with a gravity-fed wire system and inverted build plate configuration. This substitution maintains cutting accuracy while eliminating the complexity of rotary tables, directly resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and device complexity.
3Reliability
If water additives are used to support submerged cutting, then reliability is improved, but loss of substance increases due to additive consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates water additives from the submerged cutting process, using only pure deionized water. This removes the source of substance loss while maintaining cutting reliability through the inverted build plate configuration and optimized flushing system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses pure deionized water as a disposable flushing medium instead of expensive water additives. While water is consumed, it eliminates the need for costly additives that require replacement, reducing overall substance loss and operational costs.
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 fast, accurate, and cost-effective cutting of 3D printed metal pieces up to 80 kg without damaging them, reducing operational costs and space requirements.
Implementation Method 1
wire electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a machining process which can quickly and accurately cut any electrically conductive metal using electrical discharges
Implementation Method 2
An inverted EDM machine with a gravity-fed build plate system
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method are disclosed for submerged wire EDM. The system includes a workpiece, a build plate, and a carrier plate, and a portable cart with rails supporting the carrier plate. The cart rails rotate the carrier plate into an inverted position via gravity. The cart includes a powered lift for positioning the carrier plate for loading. The EDM machine includes a support positioned at a height for loading of the inverted carrier plate from the portable build plate cart, a clamping system to secure the loaded carrier plate, an EDM cutting wire, a cutting unit that when driven by a servo motor moves the reciprocating cutting wire across a face of the inverted build plate; and a submersion tank containing water to submerge the workpiece so that when parts are cut from the inverted build plate, the parts fall to the bottom of the submersion tank.