阅读说明：本技术 通过增材打印的三维线圈结构 (Three-dimensional coil structure by additive printing ) 是由 周凯枫 植子聪 于 2020-11-16 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种三维打印线圈和用于由一组三维打印线圈制造物体的方法。打印线圈具有线圈针编弧、线圈柱和线圈脚,该线圈脚用于连接至纵行内的相邻线圈。第一纵行中的打印线圈可以与第二纵行中的打印线圈互连。所得物体可以使用三维打印机进行打印,并且具有弹性,该弹性基于如本文中所提供的互锁的打印线圈的物理特性。(The invention provides a three-dimensional printed coil and a method for manufacturing an object from a set of three-dimensional printed coils. The printed coil has a stitch loop, a coil post and a coil foot for connecting to an adjacent coil within the row. The print loop in the first column may be interconnected with the print loop in the second column. The resulting object can be printed using a three-dimensional printer and has elasticity based on the physical properties of the interlocked printed coils as provided herein.)

1. A 3D printed coil comprising a stitch loop, two coil legs descending from the stitch loop, and two coil feet descending from each coil leg.

2. The 3D printed coil according to claim 1, wherein each coil post is connected to an adjacent 3D printed coil.

3. The 3D printed coil according to claim 1, wherein the 3D printed coil is formed from a material having a shore a hardness of 85.

4. The 3D printed coil according to claim 1, wherein the 3D printed coil has a thickness of 1 mm.

5. The 3D printed coil according to claim 1, wherein the 3D printed coil has a thickness of 1.5 mm.

6. The 3D printed coil according to claim 1, wherein the 3D printed coil has a thickness of 0.05 mm.

7. The 3D printed coil according to claim 1, wherein the coil width of the 3D printed coil is 1.5 cm.

8. An object comprising a 3D printed stitch of a first wale and a 3D printed stitch of a second wale interlocked with the 3D printed stitch of the first wale, each 3D printed stitch comprising a stitch loop, two stitch columns descending from the stitch loop, and two stitch legs descending from each stitch column, wherein the stitch loops of the 3D printed stitch in the second wale are interlocked with the two stitch columns of the 3D printed stitch in the first wale.

9. The object according to claim 8, wherein the 3D printed coil is formed from a material having a shore a hardness of 85.

10. The object according to claim 8, wherein the 3D printed coil has a thickness of 1 mm.

11. The object according to claim 8, wherein the 3D printed coil has a thickness of 1.5 mm.

12. The object according to claim 8, wherein the 3D printed coil has a thickness of 0.05 mm.

13. The object of claim 8, wherein the 3D printed coil has a coil width of 1.5 cm.

14. The object according to claim 8, wherein the 3D printed coil is non-uniform in thickness.

15. The object according to claim 8, wherein the 3D printed coil has a coil height that is non-uniform.

16. The object according to claim 8, wherein the 3D printed coil has a non-uniform coil width.

17. A method for manufacturing an object using a 3D printer, comprising:

additively printing a first 3D printed coil and a second 3D printed coil, each 3D printed coil comprising a stitch loop, two coil posts descending from the stitch loop, and two coil feet descending from each coil post, wherein the stitch loop of the second 3D printed coil is interlocked with the two coil posts of the first 3D printed coil, and the first 3D printed coil is further connected to the second 3D printed coil by a dissolvable material; and

dissolving the dissolvable material.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a 3D printed coil, to an object comprising an interlocked 3D printed coil, and to a method of manufacturing an object using a 3D printer.

Background

Additive manufacturing (also commonly referred to as three-dimensional or 3D printing technology) is a computer-controlled process for creating 3D objects by depositing multiple layers of material on top of each other. The design is created based on a computer-aided design (CAD) model provided to the printer.

Many different types of source materials may be used for 3D printing, including but not limited to: ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), ASA (acrylate styrene acrylonitrile), PLA (polylactic acid), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), nylon, carbon fiber, polycarbonate, polypropylene, wire and wood filament. Other materials may also be used as dissolvable carriers during the process. During the printing process, a dissolvable carrier is printed to support an overhang (overhang) or other structure during the manufacturing process, and then the carrier is subsequently dissolved for removal from the final finished product. These materials include, but are not limited to, PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) and HIPS (high impact polystyrene, which may also be used as the primary source material). When used in 3D printing processes, a large fraction of these source materials can result in hard objects having limited elongation under tensile stress. Although flexible materials such as rubber may be used in some 3D processes, these materials often produce weak materials with limited industrial applicability. In addition, some 3D printing processes, such as polymer jetting (polyjet), may be used to produce softer final objects, but these final objects have weaker material strength. Thus, there is a technical problem that 3D printed materials and processes have a limited ability to produce strong but flexible and/or stretchable objects.

One potential solution to this would be to adapt knitting techniques with interlocking loop structures to build 2D or 3D objects. Knitting employs materials (e.g., yarns) with limited elongation and allows for the creation of stretchable 2D fabrics. The basic weft knit loop is shown in figure 1. The coil has a needle loop (H) that interlocks with a sinker loop (sinker loop) in a wale (wale) above the needle loop. The coil also has two coil legs (leg) (L) descending from the needle loop. The base of each coil leg of the coil is a coil leg (foot) (F) that rotates outward to start the next coil. The stitch legs of adjacent stitches form sinker loops (S) by which the needle loops of the stitches in the lower wale are interlocked. Knitted fabrics allow for large extensions, particularly in the direction orthogonal to the orientation of the needle loop loops (i.e., parallel to the wales). This makes them dimensionally unstable along the wales of the knitted fabric, that is, the objects may be stretched greatly and the deformation may be semi-permanent or permanent. In 3D objects (e.g., objects created by a 3D printer), this dimensional instability is even more severe.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, there is a need for a new stitch-like structure that can increase the elongation of a 3D printed object while maintaining the strength of the source material of the printed object and also maintaining the dimensional stability of the object.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a 3D printed coil includes a stitch loop, two coil legs descending from the stitch loop, and two coil feet descending from each coil leg.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an object comprises a first wale of 3D printed loops and a second wale of 3D printed loops interlocked with the 3D printed loops of the first wale, each 3D printed loop comprising a stitch loop, two loop legs descending from the stitch loop, and two loop feet descending from each loop leg, wherein the stitch loops of the 3D printed loops in the second wale are interlocked with the two loop legs of the 3D printed loops in the first wale.

According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method for manufacturing an object using a 3D printer includes: additively printing a first 3D printed coil and a second 3D printed coil, each 3D printed coil comprising a stitch loop, two coil posts descending from the stitch loop, and two coil feet descending from each coil post, wherein the stitch loop of the second 3D printed coil is interlocked with the two coil posts of the first 3D printed coil, and the first 3D printed coil is further connected to the second 3D printed coil by a dissolvable material, and dissolving the dissolvable material.

Drawings

Figure 1 depicts a prior art 2D weft knitted stitch and elements of the stitch.

Fig. 2 depicts a 3D printed coil according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3A and 3B depict two 3D printed coils interlocked together.

Fig. 4 depicts two layers of 3D printed coils interlocked together.

Fig. 5 depicts an array of 3D printed coils interlocked together.

Fig. 6 depicts two separate 3D coils according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 depicts an array of large printed coils interlocked together.

Detailed Description

Disclosed herein are coil structures that can be produced using rigid or inflexible materials by 3D printers having three elongation or stretch axes.

Fig. 2 depicts two views of a 3D printed coil 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. The printed coil 10 is formed by a stitch loop 12, two coil limbs 14 and four coil legs 16 and 18. More specifically, the loop needle loop 12 is the uppermost portion of the loop 10. The lower part of the coil 10 is formed by two coil limbs 14. Two coil limbs 16 and 18 branch off from each coil limb 14, the two coil limbs 16 and 18 extending generally radially outwardly and downwardly. The two coil legs 16 and 18 in a pair on one side are of different lengths and heights and therefore do not overlap. In some embodiments, such as fig. 2, there is a lower coil leg 16 with a greater downward angle and an upper coil leg 18 with a smaller downward angle. Similarly, on the other side, the two coil legs 16 and 18 of a pair may also have different lengths and heights, so as to provide a lower coil leg 16 and an upper coil leg 18. The coil legs 16 and 18 are then joined into the next adjacent coil 10, where the pattern may repeat or vary as further described herein.

In some embodiments, the coil structure may be formed by additive printing of a selected source material and a selected dissolvable material in a manner that forms interlocking coils and coil feet in situ. The source material is used to print the coil 10. Each layer of the coil 10 forms a two-dimensional column 20 of the coil 10 that may be interconnected with the printed coil legs 16 and 18 of the column 20 of the coil 10 above it. The stitch loop 12 of each stitch 10 in the lower wale 22 is interconnected with the two stitch legs 16 and 18 descending from the stitch 10 in the upper wale 20 thereof. During the printing process, the stitch loop 12 of the stitch 10 in the lower wale 22 may be supported by a dissolvable material connecting the stitch loop 12 to the two stitch legs 16 and 18 of the stitch 10 in the upper wale 20, the lower stitch loop 12 being connected through the two stitch legs 16 and 18. Upon dissolving the dissolvable material after printing, each wale 20 of the loop 10 becomes separated, thereby allowing limited movement between the loop and the layered wale and providing an extensible or stretchable layer.

Thus, the two front legs 16 and 18 of a given loop 10 in the upper column 20 will each pass through the loop 10 in front of the given loop 10 of the lower column 22. Similarly, the two trailing coil legs 16 and 18 of a given coil 10 in the upper column 20 will each pass over a different coil 10 of the lower column 22 that is behind the given coil 10 and on either side of the given coil 10. An example of two interconnected coils 10 shown separately is provided in fig. 3A and 3B. An example of the final layered structure using two layers of coils in a 10 x 5 x 2 element array is shown in fig. 4. The stitch loop 12 of the lower wale 22 is interconnected with the stitch legs 16 and 18 of the stitch 10 of the upper wale 20.

The coil 10 may also be defined by a number of parameters. The loop height refers to the distance from the top of the loop stitch loop to the bottom of the loop foot. The coil width is the distance from the end of one coil leg to the adjacent coil leg of the same coil on the x-axis. The coil depth is the distance from the end of one coil leg to an adjacent coil leg of the same coil on the y-axis, which is orthogonal to the x-axis. The coil leg length is the longitudinal length of each coil leg. Coil length refers to the total length of coil material printed when end-to-end. The length of the coil is equal to twice the length of the needle-knitted arc of the coil plus two times the length of the coil column plus the length of the coil foot above and below. The maximum elongation (i.e., stretchability) of the final object created using such an interlocking coil structure is related to the height, width, and depth of the coil. The maximum elongation (%) along the x-axis is equal to the coil length minus the coil width, and the result is divided by the coil width. The% maximum elongation on the y-axis is equal to the sum of the lengths of the upper and lower coil legs minus the coil depth, and the result is divided by the coil depth. The% maximum elongation in the z-axis is equal to half the coil length minus the coil height, and the result is divided by the coil height. Here, these equations are provided in algebraic form:

maximum elongation in x-axis ═ coil length-coil width/coil width

Maximum elongation on the y-axis [ ((length of upper coil leg + length of lower coil leg) ] -coil depth)/coil depth

Maximum elongation in z-axis ═ 1/2 coil length-coil height/coil height

In addition, longer stitch leg lengths allow for greater elongation, particularly in the z-axis (i.e., the axis extending from the needle loop to the stitch leg). However, the longer coil leg length also requires the use of other soluble support materials during printing to fill the larger spaces between the coil legs. This increases printing time and cost.

The angle of the needle loop, the coil post and the coil foot with respect to a given axis may be designed to provide a "self-supporting" angle. In 3D printing, the self-supporting angle provides a structure that allows the underlying material to support the overlying material during printing without the need for a dissolvable support material to provide additional support during printing. If the angle is less than the critical self-supporting angle, a dissolvable support material is required to support the "overhanging" section.

The coil thickness is the diameter of the cross section of the needle loop of the coil, i.e. the thickness of a single strand of printed material. The coil thickness is determined by the size of the nozzles of the printer. The coil thickness may be related to the maximum elongation of the coil, and thus also to the maximum elongation of the resulting object. For example, a material having a shore a hardness of 85 was tested for elongation at a coil thickness of 1mm and again at a coil thickness of 1.5mm using the ASTM 5035 standard elongation test. The maximum elongation of the 1mm coil is about 12% higher than the 1.5mm coil. Through such testing, the designer can select a particular material hardness and coil thickness and length to provide the desired maximum elongation for the final produced object.

Some non-limiting exemplary embodiments of a printer coil are provided herein. In a first embodiment, an array of coils is fabricated together. Each coil has a thickness of 0.05mm and the area of the array is about 2 square centimeters. An image of this embodiment is provided in fig. 5.

In a second embodiment, a coil array having a coil width of 1.5cm is provided, wherein the array has a width of about 25 cm. Images of this embodiment are provided in fig. 6 and 7. As is apparent from these embodiments, the size and configuration of the coil array forming the object may have widely varying volumes, materials, coil thicknesses, coil stiffness, coil length, coil width, and other physical characteristics.

The 3D printed coil disclosed herein provides a technical solution to the problems in the prior art. For example, the 3D printed coil may be made of a high hardness, high strength material while also allowing the resulting object to have a higher tensile elongation than if the object were made securely from the same material.

Furthermore, the multi-legged 3D printed coil provides tensile elongation in all three cartesian directions of the object.

Furthermore, the maximum amount of elongation allowed in any given direction can be designed based on the geometry of the 3D printed coil. This eliminates the uncertain elongation problems common in yarn-based 2D knitted structures.

Furthermore, the object may be formed of coils of different sizes and different thicknesses, thereby providing customizable elongation for particular portions of the object. This may be desirable where elongation is preferred in some portions of the printed object but not others.

Additional benefits and embodiments may be realized by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.