CN115583015B

CN115583015B - A three-dimensional object manufactured using additive manufacturing technology and a manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN115583015B
Application number: CN202110760940.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卢伊丝; 车弘毅
Original assignee: Qingfeng Beijing Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Luxcreo Beijing Inc
Priority date: 2021-07-06
Filing date: 2021-07-06
Publication date: 2025-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 2041-07-06
Also published as: CN115583015A

Abstract

The present application discloses a three-dimensional object manufactured using additive manufacturing technology and a manufacturing method thereof. The three-dimensional object includes a cavity, the cavity including an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface and outer surface of the cavity being the inner surface and outer surface of the three-dimensional object. The three-dimensional object uses a support structure during the additive manufacturing process. After the support structure is removed, all contact points between the support structure and the three-dimensional object are located on the inner surface of the three-dimensional object.

Description

Three-dimensional object manufactured by using additive manufacturing technology and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of 3D printing, in particular to a three-dimensional object manufactured by using an additive manufacturing technology and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background

The technical principle of 3D printing is that a three-dimensional model is layered, contour information or image information of each layer is obtained, and printing of a printing piece is completed by applying powdery metal or resin and other bondable materials in a layer-by-layer printing mode. Since 3D printing is to cure materials layer by layer and stack them layer by layer, in principle, the upper layer structure of the model is generally required to have support of the lower layer part, so as to prevent the printed part from being deformed due to the action of gravity in the printing process. However, if some parts of the printing member are suspended, it is necessary to design a support structure to complete printing together with the printing member, thereby supporting the suspended parts of the printing member. After 3D printing is completed, the support structure needs to be removed from the printed article, which is often done by manual operation, which is inefficient. In addition, in the prior art, after the support structure is removed from the print, the contact points of the support structure remaining on the surface of the print can affect the appearance of the print, and more likely the normal use of the print.

Disclosure of Invention

One embodiment of the application provides a three-dimensional object manufactured by using additive manufacturing technology, which comprises a cavity, wherein the cavity comprises an inner surface and an outer surface, namely the inner surface and the outer surface of the three-dimensional object, the three-dimensional object uses a supporting structure in the additive manufacturing process, and after the supporting structure is removed, all contact points of the supporting structure and the three-dimensional object are positioned on the inner surface of the three-dimensional object.

In some embodiments, the three-dimensional object uses a flipped digital model of the three-dimensional object during additive manufacturing, the flipped digital model being flipped with respect to the cavity by the digital model of the three-dimensional object, the inner and outer surfaces being interchanged.

In some embodiments, the flipped digital model of the three-dimensional object has the same structure as the three-dimensional object digital model before flipping.

In some embodiments, the support structure used by the three-dimensional object in the additive manufacturing process is coupled to an outer surface of a flipped digital model of the three-dimensional object.

In some embodiments, the three-dimensional object is a sleeve.

In some embodiments, the three-dimensional object is a shoe cover or sock cover.

One embodiment of the application also provides a method for preparing a three-dimensional object by using an additive manufacturing technology, wherein the three-dimensional object comprises a cavity, the cavity comprises an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface and the outer surface are the inner surface and the outer surface of the three-dimensional object, the method comprises the steps of (a) obtaining a turnover digital model of the three-dimensional object, wherein the turnover digital model is obtained by turnover of the cavity through mutual exchange of the inner surface and the outer surface of the cavity by the digital model of the three-dimensional object, (b) adding a support structure on the turnover digital model to obtain a printing model, and the support structure is connected with the outer surface of the turnover digital model of the three-dimensional object, (c) printing the printing model by using the additive manufacturing technology to obtain a printing piece comprising the support structure, (d) removing the support structure on the printing piece, and (e) overturning the cavity of the printing piece to enable the inner surface and the outer surface of the printing piece to be exchanged to obtain the three-dimensional object to be prepared.

Drawings

The application will be further described by way of exemplary embodiments, which will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are not limiting, in which like numerals represent like structures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a digital model of a sleeve according to some embodiments of the application;

FIG. 2a is a schematic diagram of an inverted digital model of the sleeve shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of a process of turning over the digital model of the sleeve shown in FIG. 1 to obtain the turned-over digital model shown in FIG. 2a;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a printing model with support structures added to the inverted digital model shown in FIG. 2 a;

fig. 4 is a flow chart of a method of preparing a three-dimensional object according to some embodiments of the application.

The reference numerals indicate that 100 is a digital model of the sleeve, 110 is a cavity, 120 is a cavity inner surface, 130 is a cavity outer surface, 140 is a cavity opening, 200 is a turnover digital model of the sleeve, 210 is a cavity, 220 is a cavity inner surface, 230 is a cavity outer surface, 240 is a supporting structure, 250 is a contact point, 300 is a printing model of the sleeve, and 400 is a process flow of a method for preparing the three-dimensional object.

Detailed Description

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are required to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some examples or embodiments of the present application, and it is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the present application may be applied to other similar situations according to the drawings without inventive effort. Unless otherwise apparent from the context of the language or otherwise specified, like reference numerals in the figures refer to like structures or operations.

It will be appreciated that "system," "apparatus," "unit" and/or "module" as used herein is one method for distinguishing between different components, elements, parts, portions or assemblies at different levels. However, if other words can achieve the same purpose, the words can be replaced by other expressions.

As used in the specification and in the claims, the terms "a," "an," "the," and/or "the" are not specific to a singular, but may include a plurality, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In general, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" merely indicate that the steps and elements are explicitly identified, and they do not constitute an exclusive list, as other steps or elements may be included in a method or apparatus.

A flowchart is used in the present application to describe the operations performed by a system according to embodiments of the present application. It should be appreciated that the preceding or following operations are not necessarily performed in order precisely. Rather, the steps may be processed in reverse order or simultaneously. Also, other operations may be added to or removed from these processes.

In 3D printing, in order to prevent deformation of the printed article due to gravity, a support structure is generally required to be constructed for the printed article to support the printed article. If some portion of the print is suspended, it is necessary to design a support structure to complete printing with the print to support the suspended portion of the print. The support structure can be designed based on the printing piece and can perform 3D printing together with the printing piece. After 3D printing is completed, the support structure needs to be removed from the print. In the prior art, after the support structure is removed from the printed article, the contact points of the support structure remained on the surface of the printed article affect the appearance of the printed article, and the normal use of the printed article is more likely to be affected. If smaller contact points are used in designing the support structure, although such a design may allow the support structure to be more easily removed while leaving smaller marks on the printed article, the smaller contact points may cause the support structure to be unable to effectively support the printed article during printing, thereby resulting in a print failure. While larger and/or more contact points, while effective in increasing the security of the support, may leave larger and/or more marks, thereby affecting the appearance or even the use of the printed article.

The embodiment of the application provides a method for manufacturing a three-dimensional object by using an additive manufacturing technology, which solves the problem that the appearance and the use of a printed part are affected by contact points of a 3D printed object supporting structure. The application also relates to the 3D printing object obtained by the method, and the printing object can be applied to various aspects of medical use, industry, life, art and the like. Those skilled in the art can obtain, use and/or modify the digital model of the printed object to be processed on Rhino, solidworks, catia or UG, etc. software and complete the printing by various 3D printing devices. The application does not limit the 3D printing object and the application scene thereof.

In some embodiments, what is needed is a three-dimensional object having a cavity with an inner surface and an outer surface, i.e., the inner and outer surfaces of the cavity, that is, the inner and outer surfaces of the three-dimensional object, fabricated using additive manufacturing techniques. The three-dimensional object is required to be added with a supporting structure due to the requirements of the structure and the printing process in the additive manufacturing process. After printing, the printed article may be first subjected to post-treatment processes such as cleaning, post-curing, etc., and then the support structure removed. In the prior art, after the support structure is removed, the contact point of the support structure with the print remains on the outer surface of the print, affecting its appearance and even its performance in use. Therefore, in the prior art, the 3D printing piece needs to be polished on the outer surface of the printing piece after removing the supporting structure, which is time-consuming and labor-consuming and increases the production cost. The method disclosed by the invention firstly processes the digital model of the three-dimensional object to be printed, overturns the cavity contained in the digital model, and exchanges the inner surface and the outer surface of the cavity, thereby obtaining the overturned digital model of the original digital model of the three-dimensional object. I.e. the inner surface of the original digital model is the outer surface of the inverse digital model and the inner surface of the original digital model is the outer surface of the inverse digital model. And adding a supporting structure on the obtained turnover digital model according to the requirement to obtain a printing model, wherein the supporting structure is connected with the outer surface of the turnover digital model in the printing model. The printing model is then printed using a suitable additive manufacturing method to obtain a print comprising the support structure. The printing member containing the support structure may be subjected to post-treatment procedures such as cleaning, post-curing, etc. according to the requirements of different components of different materials, and then the support structure is removed. The contact points of the support structure and the printing piece are located on the outer surface of the printing piece after the support structure is removed. The cavity of the print is then turned over, i.e. the inner surface of the cavity of the print is turned out and the inner and outer surfaces are exchanged, resulting in the desired three-dimensional object. After the cavity is turned over, the contact points of the support structure, which are connected with the printing piece after being removed, are positioned on the inner surface of the three-dimensional object, and the outer surface of the three-dimensional object is smooth because the contact points of the support structure are not arranged. The method can simplify the working procedures of polishing, polishing and the like on the outer surface of the printed part, save manpower and material resources and reduce the production cost, and can consider increasing the density and the number of the supporting structures and the cross-sectional area of the contact points of the supporting structures in the step of designing the supporting structures due to the simplification of the post-treatment working procedure, thereby improving the success rate of the printing process.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a digital model of a sleeve according to some embodiments of the application. As shown in fig. 1, the sleeve 100 may include a cavity 110, the cavity 110 including an inner surface 120, an outer surface 130, and an opening 140, the inner surface 120 and the outer surface 130 being the inner and outer surfaces of the sleeve 100. If the cavity 110 of the sleeve 100 is turned over from the opening 140, i.e. the inner surface 120 is turned out from the opening 140, the turned-over state of the sleeve 100 is obtained, the inner surface 120 of the original sleeve is the outer surface of the turned-over state, and the outer surface 130 of the original sleeve is the inner surface of the turned-over state.

In some embodiments, the three-dimensional object manufactured using the disclosed additive manufacturing methods may be a sleeve, such as a shoe cover, sock cover, etc., and in other embodiments, the three-dimensional object manufactured using the disclosed additive manufacturing methods may be a container.

Fig. 2a is a flipped digital model 200 flipped according to the sleeve digital model 100 shown in fig. 1, the flipped digital model 200 comprising a cavity 210, the cavity 210 comprising an inner surface 220 and an outer surface 230. The original digital model inner surface 120 is the outer surface 230 of the inverse digital model 200, and the original digital model outer surface 130 is the inner surface 220 of the inverse digital model 200. Fig. 2b is a schematic diagram of the process of turning over the digital model 100 of the sleeve. In some embodiments, digital model 100 and its inverse digital model 200 have the same structure, while in other embodiments, digital model 100 and its inverse digital model 200 have different structures, such as the sleeve digital model 100 and its inverse digital model 200 shown in FIG. 1. The connecting pillars 121 of the hollowed-out lattice of the inner surface 120 of the digital model 100 are thinner than the connecting pillars 131 of the hollowed-out lattice of the outer surface 130. The resulting open lattice connecting pillars 131 of the inner surface 220 of the inverted digital model 200 after the digital model 100 is inverted with respect to its cavity 110 are thicker than the open lattice connecting pillars 121 of the outer surface 230. The acquisition of the flipped digital model may be done automatically by software algorithms (e.g., rhino, solidworks, catia or UG), or may be designed and tuned manually.

Fig. 3 is a print model 300 of the digital roll-over model 200 shown in fig. 2a with the addition of a support structure 240. The support structure 240 is connected to the outer surface 230 of the digital rollover model 200 by a plurality of contact points 250. The design and construction of the support structure 240 may be accomplished automatically by software algorithms (e.g., rhino, solidworks, catia or UG), or may be designed and adjusted manually. In some embodiments, the support structure may be a columnar, sheet-like, or mesh structure. In some embodiments, the cross-sectional area of the contact points 250 may be smaller than the cross-sectional area of the support structure itself, thereby facilitating removal of the support structure from the print.

After the print model 300 is obtained, the model may be manufactured to obtain a print using an additive manufacturing apparatus, which may be a photo-curing 3D printer, a fused deposition 3D printer, a powder-bonded 3D printer, or the like, and the present invention is not limited in any way. After the print is manufactured, the support structure is removed after a series of post-processing steps. Post-treatment processes may include, but are not limited to, cleaning (to remove uncured excess resin from the surface of the print), post-curing (which may include photo-curing, thermal curing, and/or moisture curing), and the like. After the support structure is removed, the cavity of the printing piece is turned over, and the inner surface of the printing piece is turned out from the opening of the cavity, so that the inner surface and the outer surface are exchanged. At this time, the supporting structure contact points 250 left on the surface of the printed article after the supporting structure is removed are transferred from the outer surface of the printed article to the inner surface thereof, so that the influence of the residual traces of the supporting structure contact points 250 on the appearance of the printed article is avoided. In some embodiments, the support structure contact points 250 may be first subjected to some treatment, such as polishing, buffing, etc., prior to cavity inversion of the print.

The application also provides a method for preparing the three-dimensional object by using the additive manufacturing technology, which aims at solving the problem of how to treat the contact point of the residual supporting structure on the surface of the printing part in the additive manufacturing process, and uses the digital model shown in figures 1 to 3 for additive manufacturing of the three-dimensional object. Fig. 4 is a flow chart of a method of preparing a three-dimensional object according to some embodiments of the application. As shown in fig. 4, a method 400 of preparing a three-dimensional object using additive manufacturing techniques may include the steps of:

Step 410, obtaining a turned-over digital model 200 of the three-dimensional object, wherein the three-dimensional object comprises a cavity 110, the cavity 110 is provided with an inner surface 120 and an outer surface 130, the inner surface 120 and the outer surface 130 are the inner surface and the outer surface of the three-dimensional object, and the turned-over digital model 200 of the three-dimensional object is obtained by performing cavity turning over on the digital model 100 of the three-dimensional object, and the inner surface and the outer surface are mutually exchanged. In some implementations, the flipped digital model 200 of the three-dimensional object has the same structure as the three-dimensional object digital model 100 before flipping. In these embodiments, acquiring the flipped digital model 200 of the three-dimensional object is acquiring the digital model 100 of the three-dimensional object because the digital model has the same structure as the flipped digital model. In other embodiments, acquiring the inverse digital model 200 of the three-dimensional object may entail first acquiring the digital model 100 of the three-dimensional object and then processing the digital model 100 to obtain the inverse digital model 200. The acquisition of the flipped digital model may be done automatically by software algorithms (e.g., rhino, solidworks, catia or UG), or may be designed and tuned manually.

In step 420, adding a support structure 240 to the flipped digital model 200 of the three-dimensional object obtained in step 410 to obtain a printed model 300, wherein the support structure 240 is connected to the outer surface 230 of the flipped digital model 200 of the three-dimensional object, and all the contact points 250 of the support structure 240 and the printed model 300 are located on the outer surface 230 of the flipped digital model 200. The design and construction of the support structure 240 may be accomplished automatically by software algorithms (e.g., rhino, solidworks, catia or UG), or may be designed and adjusted manually. In some embodiments, the support structure 240 may be a columnar, sheet-like, or mesh structure. In some embodiments, the cross-sectional area of the contact points 250 may be smaller than the cross-sectional area of the support structure 240 itself, thereby facilitating removal of the support structure 240 from the print.

Step 430, printing the print model obtained in step 420 using an additive manufacturing apparatus to obtain a print comprising the support structure 240. The additive manufacturing device may be a photo-curing 3D printer, a fused deposition 3D printer, a powder bonding 3D printer, or the like, and the present invention is not limited in any way. In some embodiments, materials that may be used in the photo-curing 3D printing methods of three-dimensional objects disclosed herein may include, but are not limited to, acrylates, methacrylates, olefins, N-vinyl, acrylamides, methacrylamides, styrenes, epoxy, thiols, 1, 3-dienes, halogenated vinyl, acrylonitrile, vinyl esters, maleimides, vinyl ethers, olefins (such as methoxyethylene, 4-methoxystyrene, styrene, 2 methylpropan-1-ene, 1, 3-butadiene, and the like), vinyl ethers, N-vinylcarbazole, lactones, lactams, cyclic ethers (e.g., epoxides), cyclic acetals, cyclic siloxanes, and oligomers and/or prepolymers comprising one or more of the foregoing monomers. In some embodiments, the materials that may be used in the photo-curing 3D printing method of the three-dimensional object disclosed herein may be resin materials having multiple curing mechanisms, such as those disclosed in US 9,598,606,US 9,453,142,US 9,982,164,US 9,676,963, US10,155,882, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Such as the resin materials with a dual component dual cure mechanism disclosed in PCT/CN2020/095715, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, the material used in the photocuring 3D printing method of the three-dimensional object disclosed by the invention is an elastic resin material, the elastic modulus of the material can be 1-50MPa, the tensile strength can be 5-50MPa, and the elongation at break can be 50-600%.

Step 440, removing the support structure on the print. The print may be subjected to a post-treatment process prior to removal of the support structure, which may include, but is not limited to, cleaning for removing uncured excess resin from the surface of the print, post-curing (which may include photo-curing, thermal curing, and/or moisture curing), and the like. At this time, the contact points of the support structure left after the support structure is removed are all positioned on the outer surface of the printing piece. In some embodiments, the support structure contact points on the outer surface of the print may be treated, such as polished, ground, etc.

And 450, turning over the cavity of the printed piece after the support structure is removed, turning out the inner surface of the cavity, and exchanging the inner surface and the outer surface of the cavity to obtain the three-dimensional object to be printed. The contact points of the support structure with the print during printing are all located on the inner surface of the printed three-dimensional object, while the outer surface remains smooth as there are no support structure contact points as there are no connections to the support structure.

The method for processing the contact points of the 3D printing object supporting structure has the advantages that (1) the contact points of the supporting structure and the prepared three-dimensional object are all positioned on the inner surface of the three-dimensional object after the supporting structure is removed, and the outer surface of the three-dimensional object is free of the contact points of the supporting structure and is kept smooth. And (2) more support structures and/or more firmly connected support structure contact points can be designed when the support structure of the printing model is designed, so that the success rate of the printing process is increased.

While the basic concepts have been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing detailed disclosure is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting. Although not explicitly described herein, various modifications, improvements and adaptations of the application may occur to one skilled in the art. Such modifications, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested within the present disclosure, and therefore, such modifications, improvements, and adaptations are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Meanwhile, the present application uses specific words to describe embodiments of the present application. Reference to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is associated with at least one embodiment of the application. Thus, it should be emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various positions in this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, certain features, structures, or characteristics of one or more embodiments of the application may be combined as suitable.

Furthermore, the order in which the elements and sequences are presented, the use of numerical letters, or other designations are used in the application is not intended to limit the sequence of the processes and methods unless specifically recited in the claims. While certain presently useful inventive embodiments have been discussed in the foregoing disclosure, by way of example, it is to be understood that such details are merely illustrative and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the application. For example, while the system components described above may be implemented by hardware devices, they may also be implemented solely by software solutions, such as installing the described system on an existing server or mobile device.

Similarly, it should be noted that in order to simplify the description of the present disclosure and thereby aid in understanding one or more inventive embodiments, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. This method of disclosure does not imply that the subject application requires more features than are set forth in the claims. Indeed, less than all of the features of a single embodiment disclosed above.

In some embodiments, numbers describing the components, number of attributes are used, it being understood that such numbers being used in the description of embodiments are modified in some examples by the modifier "about," approximately, "or" substantially. Unless otherwise indicated, "about," "approximately," or "substantially" indicate that the number allows for a 20% variation. Accordingly, in some embodiments, numerical parameters set forth in the specification and claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the individual embodiments. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should take into account the specified significant digits and employ a method for preserving the general number of digits. Although the numerical ranges and parameters set forth herein are approximations in some embodiments for use in determining the breadth of the range, in particular embodiments, the numerical values set forth herein are as precisely as possible.

Each patent, patent application publication, and other material, such as articles, books, specifications, publications, documents, etc., cited herein is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Except for the application history file that is inconsistent or conflicting with this disclosure, the file (currently or later attached to this disclosure) that limits the broadest scope of the claims of this disclosure is also excluded. It is noted that the description, definition, and/or use of the term in the appended claims controls the description, definition, and/or use of the term in this application if there is a discrepancy or conflict between the description, definition, and/or use of the term in the appended claims.

Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of the present application. Other variations are also possible within the scope of the application. Thus, by way of example, and not limitation, alternative configurations of embodiments of the application may be considered in keeping with the teachings of the application. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present application are not limited to the embodiments explicitly described and depicted herein.

Claims

1. A method for producing a three-dimensional object using additive manufacturing technology, characterized in that the three-dimensional object includes a cavity, the cavity includes an inner surface and an outer surface, and the inner surface and outer surface are the inner surface and outer surface of the three-dimensional object, respectively. The method comprises:

a) obtaining a flipped digital model of the three-dimensional object, wherein the flipped digital model is obtained by flipping the digital model of the three-dimensional object about the cavity and exchanging the inner and outer surfaces;

b) adding a support structure to the flipped digital model to obtain a printed model, wherein the support structure is connected to an outer surface of the flipped digital model of the three-dimensional object;

c) printing the printing model using additive manufacturing technology to obtain a printed part including a support structure;

d) Remove the support structure on the printed part;

e) Flipping the cavity of the printed part so that the inner and outer surfaces are exchanged to obtain the desired three-dimensional object.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the flipped digital model of the three-dimensional object has the same structure as the digital model of the three-dimensional object before flipping.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the support structure is removed, all contact points between the support structure and the three-dimensional object are located on the inner surface of the three-dimensional object.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: polishing the outer surface of the printed part cavity after removing the support structure.

The method according to claim 1 , wherein the three-dimensional object is a casing.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional object is a shoe cover or a sock cover.