Three-dimensional printer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017348771-A1
Application number	US-201715605911-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 25, 2017
Priority date	Jun 1, 2016
Publication date	Dec 7, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A three-dimensional printer ( 1 ) includes a material supply device ( 3 ) that supplies material powder to a table which is movable vertically, a powder retaining wall ( 26 ) that surrounds the table and retains the material powder, a material-recovery bucket ( 30 ) that accommodates excess material powder and impurities discharged from the powder retaining wall, an impurity removing device ( 43 ) that removes the impurities from the material powder, and a material drying device ( 47 ) that dries the material powder. The material powder from which the impurities have been removed and which has been dried is returned and recycled to the material supply device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A three-dimensional printer comprising:
a chamber that covers a molding region on a base and is filled with inert gas at a predetermined concentration; a table that is disposed in the molding region in the chamber and is movable vertically; a material supply device that supplies non-sintered material powder onto the table; a powder retaining wall that surrounds the table and retains the material powder supplied from the material supply device on the table; a material-recovery bucket that accommodates excess material powder discharged from the powder retaining wall along with impurities; an impurity removing device that removes the impurities from the material powder comprising impurities in the material-recovery bucket; and a material drying device that dries the material powder which is returned from the material-recovery bucket to the material supply device, wherein the material powder from which the impurities have been removed by the impurity removing device is returned and recycled to the material supply device.

2 . The three-dimensional printer according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a material-recovery conveying device that conveys the material powder comprising impurities from the material-recovery bucket to the impurity removing device; a material-supply bucket that accommodates the material powder from which the impurities have been removed by the impurity removing device and dries the accommodated material powder using the material drying device; and a material-supply conveying device that conveys the dried material powder from the material-supply bucket to the material supply device.

3 . The three-dimensional printer according to claim 2 , wherein the material-supply bucket comprises the material drying device that dries the accommodated material powder and is disposed to separate from the base, the chamber, and the material supply device so as not to cause a thermal influence on the base, the chamber, and the material supply device.

4 . The three-dimensional printer according to claim 2 , wherein one or both of the material-recovery conveying device and the material-supply conveying device comprise a suction device, a cyclone type filter that separates solids from gas suctioned by the suction device, and a shutter that opens and closes a discharge port of the filter through which the solid separated from the gas are discharged.

5 . The three-dimensional printer according to claim 4 , wherein the material-recovery conveying device and the material-supply conveying device share the suction device.

6 . The three-dimensional printer according to claim 2 , wherein a plurality of three-dimensional printers, each of which is the three-dimensional printer, share at least the material-supply bucket,
the material powder in the material-recovery bucket of the desired three-dimensional printer among the plurality of three-dimensional printers is accommodated in the material-supply bucket at a desired timing, and the material powder in the material-supply bucket is supplied to the material supply device of the desired three-dimensional printer among the plurality of three-dimensional printers at a desired timing.

Assignees

• Sodick Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kawada Shuichi
• Okazaki Shuji

Classifications

• B29C64/307 Primary

  Handling of material to be used in additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B22F10/73

  of powder · CPC title

• B22F10/322

  of the gas flow, e.g. rate or direction · CPC title

• B22F10/77

  of gas · CPC title

• B22F10/28

  Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] · CPC title