阅读说明：本技术 一种3d打印设备的下粉装置 (Powder discharging device of 3D printing equipment ) 是由 袁梦清 马睿 麦恒嘉 程云 于 2021-08-26 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种3D打印设备的下粉装置,包括储料斗,还包括气膜悬浮结构、振动破层结构、气旋风结构；所述气膜悬浮结构设置在储料斗内壁,用于使所述储料斗内的粉末材料与储料斗内壁分离；所述振动破层结构设置在储料斗外壁,用于使所述粉末材料振动；所述气旋风结构设置在储料斗内侧且位于气膜悬浮结构的下端,用于向下引流所述粉末材料。本发明的装置使得粉末材料的下粉过程更为均匀、流畅、不堵塞,且其结构设计巧妙,各零部件结构简单且布局紧凑,占用面积小,便于安装和拆卸,适用范围广。(The invention relates to a powder discharging device of 3D printing equipment, which comprises a storage hopper, an air film suspension structure, a vibration layer breaking structure and an air cyclone structure, wherein the air film suspension structure is arranged on the storage hopper; the air film suspension structure is arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper and is used for separating the powder material in the storage hopper from the inner wall of the storage hopper; the vibration layer breaking structure is arranged on the outer wall of the storage hopper and is used for vibrating the powder material; the air cyclone structure is arranged on the inner side of the storage hopper and is positioned at the lower end of the air film suspension structure, and is used for downwards guiding the powder material. The device of the invention ensures that the powder discharging process of the powder material is more uniform and smooth without blockage, and the device has the advantages of ingenious structural design, simple and compact structure of each part, small occupied area, convenient installation and disassembly and wide application range.)

1. The utility model provides a 3D printing apparatus's lower powder device, includes storage hopper, its characterized in that: the device also comprises an air film suspension structure, a vibration layer breaking structure and an air cyclone structure;

the air film suspension structure is arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper and is used for separating the powder material in the storage hopper from the inner wall of the storage hopper;

the vibration layer breaking structure is arranged on the outer wall of the storage hopper and is used for vibrating the powder material;

the air cyclone structure is arranged on the inner side of the storage hopper and is positioned at the lower end of the air film suspension structure, and is used for downwards guiding the powder material.

2. The powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment according to claim 1, wherein the air film suspension structure comprises air butterflies and an air supply system, the air butterflies are attached to the inner wall of the storage hopper, the inner wall of the storage hopper is provided with openings, air butterfly pipe joints are sleeved in the openings, and the air butterflies are connected with the air supply system through the air butterfly pipe joints.

3. The powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment according to claim 2, wherein the air butterfly is of a cavity structure, a plurality of air outlet holes are formed in one surface, away from the inner wall of the storage hopper, of the air butterfly, an air inlet is formed in one surface, attached to the inner wall of the storage hopper, of the air butterfly, and the air inlet is connected with an air butterfly pipe joint.

4. The powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment according to claim 2, wherein at least one layer of air butterfly is arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper.

5. A powder discharging device of a 3D printing device according to claim 4, wherein at least two air butterflies are arranged on each layer.

6. The powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment according to claim 5, wherein the air butterflies are uniformly arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper.

7. The powder discharging device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vibration layer breaking structure comprises an excitation vibrator, and the excitation vibrator is fixed on an outer wall of the storage hopper.

8. The powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment according to claim 1, wherein the air cyclone structure comprises a blowback ring and an air supply system; the blowback ring includes cyclic annular portion and connecting portion, cyclic annular portion sets up the lower part of storage hopper inner wall, the storage hopper inner wall be equipped with the through-hole that connecting portion match, connecting portion one end with cyclic annular portion connects, and the other end passes the through-hole with air supply system connects.

9. The powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of air holes are uniformly distributed on the inner side of the annular part.

10. The discharging device of 3D printing equipment according to claim 9, wherein the included angle between the central axis of the air hole and the central axis of the annular part is 15-85 °.

Technical Field

The invention relates to 3D printing equipment, in particular to a powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment.

Background

At present, among the current 3D printing apparatus, powder material is in the powder unloading in-process of powder device down, because powder material humidity is poor when big, and under the effect of gravity, powder material is crowded each other easily and is leaned on piling up together, it is inhomogeneous to lead to the powder material ejection of compact, the phenomenon that the material accumulation bonded together often can appear, cause powder material to circulate not smoothly, lead to powder material to block up even, thereby influence the normal operating of powder process down, therefore, powder is inhomogeneous when current powder material's powder unloading device exists, powder material flows not smoothly, easy jam scheduling problem, lead to production efficiency low.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a powder discharging device of 3D printing equipment, aiming at the problems that powder discharging is unsmooth and uneven and powder material blockage is easily formed due to the fact that powder materials are difficult to naturally fall when the humidity of the powder materials is high in the prior art. 3D printing apparatus's powder discharging device can make high humidity powder material become more even and smooth at the powder discharging in-process, and difficult emergence is blockked up to improve 3D printing apparatus's work efficiency.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

a powder discharging device of 3D printing equipment comprises a storage hopper, an air film suspension structure, a vibration layer breaking structure and an air cyclone structure; the air film suspension structure is arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper and is used for separating the powder material in the storage hopper from the inner wall of the storage hopper; the vibration layer breaking structure is arranged on the outer wall of the storage hopper and is used for vibrating the powder material; the air cyclone structure is arranged on the inner side of the storage hopper and is positioned at the lower end of the air film suspension structure, and is used for downwards guiding the powder material.

Further, the air film suspension structure comprises an air butterfly and an air supply system; the butterfly valve is attached to the inner wall of the storage hopper, an opening is formed in the inner wall of the storage hopper, a butterfly valve pipe joint is sleeved in the opening, and the butterfly valve is connected with the gas supply system through the butterfly valve pipe joint.

Furthermore, the gas butterfly is the cavity structure, the one side that the gas butterfly kept away from the storage hopper inner wall sets up a plurality of ventholes, the laminating of gas butterfly the one side of storage hopper inner wall sets up an air inlet, the air inlet with the gas butterfly coupling is connected.

Further, the inner wall of the storage hopper is at least provided with a layer of air butterfly.

Further, each layer is provided with at least two air butterflies.

Further, the air butterflies are evenly arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper.

Further, the vibration layer breaking structure comprises an excitation vibrator, and the excitation vibrator is fixed on the outer wall of the storage hopper.

Further, the air cyclone structure comprises a back flushing ring and an air supply system; the blowback ring includes cyclic annular portion and connecting portion, cyclic annular portion sets up the lower part of storage hopper inner wall, the storage hopper inner wall be equipped with the through-hole that connecting portion match, connecting portion one end with cyclic annular portion connects, and the other end passes the through-hole with air supply system connects.

Furthermore, a plurality of air holes which are uniformly distributed are formed on the inner side of the annular part.

Furthermore, the included angle between the central axis of the air hole and the central axis of the annular part is 15-85 degrees.

The use method of the powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment comprises the following steps:

firstly, a high material level sensor of 3D printing equipment outputs a signal (I) to a controller, the controller generates a corresponding signal (II) which is read by a computer, and the computer outputs a control signal (III) to the controller after program operation;

step two, the controller outputs a control signal to a first valve piece according to the control signal and the control signal, the first valve piece is opened and is ventilated to the cavity of the air butterfly, and the air is sprayed out from the air outlet;

step three, the controller outputs a control signal to a second valve according to the control signal, the second valve moves forward to ventilate to a storage hopper switch valve, and the storage hopper switch valve controls a storage hopper switch executive component to open;

step four, the controller outputs a control signal to a relay switch according to the control signal III, and after the logical operation of the relay switch, the excitation vibrator is switched on and drives the storage hopper to vibrate;

step five, the controller outputs a control signal to a third valve piece according to the control signal (c), the third valve piece is opened, air is ventilated to the back flushing ring, and air is sprayed out from an air hole on the back flushing ring;

step six, feeding back a signal for stopping feeding when the 3D printing equipment receives the materialTo a controller, which is based on the feed stop signalAt the same time, outputting control signal,Closing the first valve piece, the third valve piece, the first valve piece and the third valve piece, stopping conveying gas to the butterfly valve and the back flushing ring, and simultaneously outputting a control signal to power off a relay switch and exciting the vibrator to stop working;

step seven, the controller stops feeding according to the feeding stopping signalAnd a control signal is output to the second valve, and the second valve reversely acts and is ventilated to the storage hopper switch valve to drive the storage hopper switch actuating member to close.

The powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment provided by the invention is ingenious in structural design, simple in structure and compact in layout of parts, small in occupied area, convenient to mount and dismount and wide in application range. When the powder discharging device of the 3D printing equipment is used, the powder material is separated from the storage hopper by the air suspension structure, the friction force between the powder material and the container in the powder discharging process is reduced, the powder material is ensured to be in a flowing state by the exciting vibrator, and the powder discharging process of the powder material is more uniform and smooth and is not blocked by the back blowing of the air cyclone structure.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a powder discharging device of a 3D printing apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the overall structure of the powder feeding device of the 3D printing apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a gas butterfly of a powder feeding device of the 3D printing equipment

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a gas butterfly gas supply system of a powder feeding device of the 3D printing equipment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a blowback ring of a powder feeding device of the 3D printing apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an air supply system for a powder discharging device blowback ring and a storage hopper switch valve member of the 3D printing apparatus according to the present invention;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of the operation of the powder discharging device of the 3D printing apparatus according to the present invention.

The labels in the figure are: 1. excitation vibrator, 2, storage hopper switch valve member, 3, storage hopper switch actuating member, 4, blowback loop joint, 5, air butterfly air pipe joint, 6, storage hopper, 7, air butterfly, 8, blowback loop, 9, storage hopper outlet, 10, air flow line, 11, first valve member, 12, second valve member, 13, third valve member, 14, first gas receiving pipe, 15, second gas receiving pipe, 16, third gas receiving pipe, 17, first gas distributing tank, 18, second gas distributing tank, 71, gas outlet, 72 and gas inlet.

Detailed Description

To facilitate an understanding of the invention, the invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. As used herein, the terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," "top," "bottom," "top," "end," and the like are for purposes of illustration only and do not represent the only embodiments.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used herein in the description of the invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

In one embodiment, a powder discharging device of a 3D printing apparatus includes: the device comprises a storage hopper, an air film suspension structure, a vibration layer breaking structure and an air cyclone structure; the air film suspension structure is arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper and is used for separating the powder material in the storage hopper from the inner wall of the storage hopper; the vibration layer breaking structure is arranged on the outer wall of the storage hopper and is used for vibrating the powder material; the air cyclone structure is arranged on the inner side of the storage hopper and is positioned at the lower end of the air film suspension structure, and is used for downwards guiding the powder material.

When the powder material discharging device is used, firstly, a gas film suspension structure is adopted to spray gas towards the powder material in the storage hopper, so that the powder material is separated from the inner wall of the storage hopper, the friction force between the powder material and a container in the powder discharging process is reduced, when the powder material is separated from the interior of the storage hopper, the powder material is in a suspension state, and when no external force is damaged, the powder material is in a static state, so that the material in the storage hopper is extruded and cannot naturally flow downwards; therefore, the outer wall of the storage hopper is additionally provided with a vibration layer breaking structure, so that the storage hopper vibrates, and the static state of the powder material in the storage hopper is further destroyed to be in an internal flowing state; however, when the opening of the storage hopper is opened, the powder material is in a suspension and self-flowing state and cannot naturally fall down, at the moment, an air cyclone structure is arranged at the opening position of the storage hopper, so that compressed air is rotationally sprayed to form a spiral rising state, and when the suspended powder material is met, air reversely flows downwards from the opening of the storage hopper, so that the powder material is taken away from the storage hopper. Therefore, through the cooperative matching of the structures, the high-humidity powder material is more uniform and smooth in the powder discharging process, and the blockage of the high-humidity powder material is avoided

The invention concept of the powder discharging device of the 3D printing apparatus is further explained with reference to specific embodiments. A D printing apparatus's powder device down includes: storage hopper 6, air film suspension structure, vibration broken layer structure, gas whirlwind structure and switch board.

Specifically, referring to fig. 1-2, the storage hopper 6 includes a storage hopper outlet 9 disposed at a lower end thereof, a storage hopper switch actuator 2 disposed at the storage hopper outlet 9, and a storage hopper switch valve 2, and the storage hopper switch valve 2 is mounted at an input end of the storage hopper switch actuator 3 through a fastening member. The storage hopper switch actuating piece 3 is automatically controlled to be switched on and off through the storage hopper switch valve piece 2.

In one embodiment, the air film suspension structure is arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper 6 and is used for separating the powder material from the inner wall of the storage hopper; the air film suspension structure comprises air butterflies 7 and an air butterfly air supply system, the air butterflies 7 are attached to the inner wall of the storage hopper 6, the side wall of the storage hopper 6 is provided with openings, the air butterfly pipe joint 5 is sleeved in the openings of the side wall of the storage hopper, the air butterflies 7 are attached to the inner wall of the storage hopper 6 through the air butterfly pipe joint 5, and the air butterflies 7 are connected with the air butterfly air supply system through the air butterfly pipe joint 5.

Referring to fig. 3, the inside of the air butterfly 7 is a cavity structure, a plurality of air outlet holes 71 are uniformly distributed on one surface of the air butterfly 7 away from the inner wall of the storage hopper 6, and the size and the distribution density of the air outlet holes 71 are determined according to the amount of the powder material in the storage hopper 6 and the number of the used air butterflies; the shape of the air butterfly 7 is arranged along with the shape of the inner wall of the storage hopper 6. One side of the butterfly pipe joint 5, which is attached to the inner wall of the storage hopper 6, is provided with an air inlet, the air inlet is fixedly connected with the output end of the butterfly pipe joint 5, the connection can be a screw joint or a clamping joint, the part of the butterfly pipe joint 5, which is outside the storage hopper, is connected with an air supply system at the input end, and the part, which is close to the outer wall of the storage hopper 6, is locked by a buckle or a bolt, so that the butterfly 7 is stably attached to the inner wall of the storage hopper 6, and of course, the butterfly pipe joint 5 can also be provided as a bent pipe according to actual requirements; the gas butterfly gas supply system sends gas into the cavity of the gas butterfly, the gas is sprayed out from each gas outlet 71, the sprayed gas enables the powder material to be separated from the inner wall of the storage hopper 6 and enables the powder material to be in a suspension state, and the gas outlets 71 are uniformly distributed to ensure that the gas is uniformly sprayed out towards the inner side of the storage hopper.

The number of layers of the gas butterfly on the inner wall of the storage hopper 6 is at least one, the layers are attached to the inner wall of the storage hopper 6 and distributed from bottom to top, the layers cannot be overlapped, and the number of the layers of the gas butterfly can be set according to the amount of required powder materials; at least two air butterflies are arranged on each layer, and each air butterfly is uniformly arranged on the inner wall of the storage hopper and is connected with an air butterfly air supply system through respective air butterfly pipe joints. This arrangement ensures that the butterflies blow air uniformly into the powder material in symmetrical directions.

In an embodiment, please refer to a schematic diagram of a butterfly air supply system shown in fig. 4, where the butterfly air supply system shown in fig. 4 has three layers, each layer of butterfly air is installed on an opening of a side wall of the storage hopper 6 through a corresponding butterfly air pipe joint 5, an input end of the butterfly air pipe joint 5 is sleeved with a first air receiving pipe 14, the first air receiving pipe 14 is not limited to a hose, a specific line pipe may be used, the other end of the first air receiving pipe 14 is connected to a corresponding first valve 11, which is a one-way valve, the first valve 11 is connected to a first air dividing tank 17, and a control signal sent by a controller controls the on/off of the first air receiving pipe 14, when the first valve 11 is opened, compressed air in the first air dividing tank 17 is sent into a cavity structure of the butterfly air 7 through the first air receiving pipe 14, air is ejected through an air outlet 71 on the butterfly air 7, and an air film suspension structure starts to play its role; when the first valve element 11 is closed, the supply of compressed gas to the butterfly 7 is stopped.

In one embodiment, the vibration floor breaking structure is arranged on the outer wall of the storage hopper and used for vibrating the powder material, referring to fig. 1, the vibration floor breaking structure comprises an excitation vibrator 1, the excitation vibrator 1 is fixed on the outer wall of the storage hopper 6 through a fastener, the vibration frequency range of the excitation vibrator 1 is generally from medium frequency to high frequency, the excitation vibrator 1 is connected with a relay switch in a control cabinet through a circuit, when a controller sends an opening signal, the relay switch is used for controlling the excitation vibrator 1 to be electrified through the circuit after logical operation, the excitation vibrator 1 starts to vibrate, so that the storage hopper 6 is driven to shake, and the vibration floor breaking structure starts to play a role; when the controller sends a closing signal, after the logical operation of the relay switch, the circuit controls the exciting vibrator 1 to be powered off, and the exciting vibrator 1 stops vibrating.

In one embodiment, the gas cyclone arrangement comprises a blow-back ring 8 and a blow-back ring gas supply system. Referring to fig. 5, the back-blowing ring 8 includes an annular portion and a connecting portion, wherein the annular portion is disposed at a lower portion of an inner wall of the storage hopper 6, a through hole matched with the connecting portion is disposed on the inner wall of the storage hopper 6, one end of the connecting portion is connected to the annular portion, and the other end of the connecting portion passes through the through hole and is connected to the air supply system. With continued reference to fig. 5, the inner side of the annular portion is provided with a plurality of uniformly distributed gas holes, the central axis of the gas holes forms an angle of 15 ° to 85 ° with the central axis of the annular portion, and this arrangement ensures that the gas emitted from the gas holes can be along the direction of the gas flow line 10 shown in fig. 5. Wherein, the size of the air outlet can be set according to the granularity and humidity of the powder material. Wherein, the connecting portion of blowback ring 8 and the output end joint of blowback ring joint 4 or spiro union, blowback ring gas supply system carry compressed gas in blowback ring 8, and gas is spout by the gas pocket on the annular portion, and gas is upwards moved along the air current line 10 shown in fig. 5, and when the air current met powder material, the air current direction took place reverse change, and at this moment, decurrent air current leaves the powder material strip from the storage hopper.

In an embodiment, please refer to the schematic diagram of the valve member air supply system of the back flushing ring and the storage hopper shown in fig. 6, an input end of the back flushing ring joint 4 is sleeved with a third air receiving pipe 16, the third air receiving pipe 16 is not limited to a hose, any specific line pipe can be used, the other end of the third air receiving pipe 16 is connected with a third valve member 13 which is a one-way valve, the third valve member 13 is connected with a second air dividing tank 18, the third valve member 13 is controlled to be opened and closed by a control signal sent by a controller, when the third valve member 13 is opened, the gas in the air dividing tank is sent into the back flushing ring 7 by the third air receiving pipe 16, the gas hole in the ring part ejects the gas, the gas cyclone structure starts to play its role, and when the third valve member 13 is closed, the gas stops being sent to the back flushing ring 8.

In an embodiment, please continue to refer to fig. 6, a second air receiving pipe 15 is sleeved on an end portion of the storage hopper switch valve 2, the second air receiving pipe 15 is not limited to a hose, a specific line pipe is available, the other end of the second air receiving pipe 15 is connected to a second valve 12, the second valve 12 is connected to a second air dividing tank 18, the second valve 12 is a two-way valve, the second valve 12 is controlled by a control signal sent by a controller, when the controller sends an air ventilation signal, the second valve 12 forwards transmits air to the storage hopper switch valve 2, and the storage hopper switch valve 2 controls the storage hopper switch actuator 3 to open; when the controller sends an air exhaust signal, the second valve 12 performs reverse air exhaust, and the storage hopper switch valve 2 controls the storage hopper switch actuator 3 to close.

In an embodiment, referring to fig. 7, when the powdering device of a 3D printing apparatus according to the present invention is used, the method includes the following steps:

firstly, a high material level sensor of 3D printing equipment outputs a signal (I) to a controller, the controller generates a corresponding signal (II) which is read by a computer, and the computer outputs a control signal (III) to the controller after program operation;

step two, the controller outputs a control opening signal (fourth) to the first valve piece 11 according to the control signal (third), the first valve piece 11 is opened, the gas in the first gas dividing tank 17 is conveyed to the cavity of the gas butterfly 7, and the gas is sprayed out from the gas outlet hole 71 on the upper end surface of the gas butterfly 7, so that the powder material is separated from the inner wall of the storage hopper 6 and is in a suspension state;

step three, the controller outputs a control ventilation signal to the second valve 12 according to the control signal c, the second valve 12 forwards conveys gas to the storage hopper switch valve 2, and the storage hopper switch valve 2 controls the storage hopper switch executive component 3 to open;

step four, the controller outputs a control energizing signal to the relay switch according to the control signal III, after the logical operation of the relay switch, the excitation vibrator 1 is switched on, and the excitation vibrator 1 drives the storage hopper 6 to vibrate, so that the powder material is in a self-flowing state;

step five, the controller outputs a control opening signal to a third valve element 13 according to the control signal (c), the third valve element 13 is opened, the gas in the second gas distributing tank 18 is conveyed to the back flushing ring 8, the gas is sprayed out from the gas hole on the back flushing ring 8, and the powder material is carried away from the storage hopper 6 by the gas fluid 10;

step six, feeding back the device for receiving the material by the 3D printing equipmentSignal to stop feedingTo a controller, which is based on the feed stop signalAt the same time, outputting control closing signal,The first valve element 11, the third valve element 13, the first valve element 11 and the third valve element 13 are closed, the gas distributing tank stops ventilating the gas butterfly 7 and the back blowing ring 8, and the controller stops feeding the material according to the material stopping signalOutputting a control power-off signal to a relay switch, stopping energizing the excitation vibrator 1 after the logical operation of the relay switch, and stopping the work of the excitation vibrator 1;

step seven, the controller stops feeding according to the feeding stopping signalAnd a control air exhaust signal is output to the second valve element 12, the controller reversely exhausts air from the second valve element 12, and the storage hopper switch valve element 2 drives the storage hopper switch actuating element 3 to close.

The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments described above are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.