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US-12617153-B2 - Three-dimensional printing system with resin vessel positioning system

US12617153B2US 12617153 B2US12617153 B2US 12617153B2US-12617153-B2

Abstract

A three-dimensional (3D) printing system includes a print engine and a resin vessel. The print engine includes a pair of support plates in facing relation that define a receiving space therebetween. The pair of support plates include a pair of profiled ramps and a pair of hooks extending into the receiving space. An outer surface of the resin vessel includes a plurality of fixed rollers and a pair of cam rollers. The plurality of fixed rollers are configured to partially engage the pair of profiled ramps when the resin vessel is translated into the receiving space. In response to being revolved about the horizontal axis, the pair of cam rollers are configured to engage the pair of hooks and to lift and translate the plurality of fixed rollers into complete engagement with the pair of profiled ramps.

Inventors

  • Eric M. INNES
  • James Howey

Assignees

  • 3D SYSTEMS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20241011

Claims (14)

  1. 1 . A three-dimensional (3D) printing system comprising: a print engine including: a pair of support plates in facing relation and defining a receiving space therebetween and including a pair of profiled ramps and a pair of hooks extending into the receiving space; a resin vessel having opposing inner and outer surfaces, the inner surface defining a reservoir configured to contain photocurable resin, the outer surface including: a plurality of fixed rollers configured to partially engage the pair of profiled ramps when the resin vessel is initially translated into the receiving space thus partially loaded into the receiving space and the print engine; a pair of cam rollers coupled to a horizontal axle and configured to be received by the pair of hooks when the resin vessel is initially translated into the receiving space; in response to being revolved about the horizontal axle, the pair of cam rollers are configured to engage the pair of hooks and to lift and translate the plurality of fixed rollers into complete engagement with the pair of profiled ramps as the resin vessel is fully loaded into the receiving space.
  2. 2 . The three-dimensional (3D) printing system of claim 1 wherein the print engine further includes: a build plate; a vertical movement mechanism coupled to the build plate; an imaging subsystem; and a controller configured to operate, inter alia, the vertical movement mechanism and the imaging subsystem to fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) article in a layer-by-layer manner.
  3. 3 . The three-dimensional (3D) printing system of claim 1 wherein the pair of profiled ramps individually include a curved leading portion, a flat middle portion, and a curved trailing portion.
  4. 4 . The three-dimensional (3D) printing system of claim 3 wherein the pair of hooks are located directly above the curved leading portion of the pair of profiled ramps.
  5. 5 . The three-dimensional (3D) printing system of claim 3 wherein the plurality of fixed rollers includes a pair of leading rollers and a pair of trailing rollers, partial engagement of the plurality of fixed rollers includes the pair of leading rollers individually engaging a top surface of the flat middle portion and the pair of trailing rollers individually engaging a top surface of the curved leading portion.
  6. 6 . The three-dimensional (3D) printing system of claim 5 wherein the pair of leading rollers are above the pair of trailing rollers to enable the partial engagement.
  7. 7 . The three-dimensional (3D) printing system of claim 5 wherein complete engagement of the plurality of fixed rollers includes the pair of leading rollers individually engaging a top surface of the curved trailing portion and the pair of trailing rollers individually engaging the flat middle portion.
  8. 8 . The three-dimensional (3D) printing system of claim 1 wherein the pair of cam rollers includes a handle and wherein revolution of the handle about the horizontal axle revolves the pair of cam rollers about the horizontal axis.
  9. 9 . The three dimensional (3D) printing system of claim 8 wherein the handle has two positions including a raised position and a lowered position, in the raised position the plurality of fixed rollers are partially engaged with the pair of profiled ramps, in the lowered position the plurality of fixed rollers are fully engaged with the pair of profiled ramps.
  10. 10 . A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional (3D) article comprising: providing a three-dimensional (3D) printing system including: a print engine including: a pair of support plates in facing relation and defining a receiving space therebetween and including a pair of profiled ramps and a pair of hooks extending into the receiving space; a resin vessel having opposing inner and outer surfaces, the inner surface defining a reservoir configured to contain photocurable resin, the outer surface including: a plurality of fixed rollers configured to partially engage the pair of profiled ramps when the resin vessel is initially and partially loaded into the receiving space; a pair of cam rollers coupled to a horizontal axle and configured to be received by the pair of hooks when the resin vessel is initially and partially translated into the receiving space; in response to revolution about the horizontal axle, the pair of cam rollers are configured to engage the pair of hooks and to lift and translate the plurality of fixed rollers into complete engagement with the pair of profiled ramps as the resin vessel is fully loaded into the receiving space; translating the resin vessel into the receiving space of the print engine and: partially engaging the plurality of fixed rollers with the pair of profiled ramps; receiving the pair of cam rollers by the pair of hooks; rotating the pair of cam rollers and engaging the pair of hooks by the pair of cam rollers and thus fully loading the resin vessel into the receiving space including lifting and translating the plurality of fixed rollers into complete engagement with the pair of profiled ramps.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the 3D printing system further includes a build plate, a vertical movement mechanism coupled to the build plate, and an imaging system, the method further including operating, inter alia, operating the vertical movement mechanism and the imaging system to fabricate the 3D article.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the pair of profiled ramps individually include a curved leading portion, a flat middle portion, and a curved trailing portion, the plurality of fixed rollers includes a pair of leading rollers and a pair of trailing rollers, partial engagement of the plurality of fixed rollers includes the pair of leading rollers individually engaging a top surface of the flat middle portion and the pair of trailing rollers individually engaging a top surface of the curved leading portion.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 12 wherein complete engagement of the plurality of fixed rollers includes the pair of leading rollers individually engaging a top surface of the curved trailing portion and the pair of trailing rollers individually engaging the flat middle portion.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 10 the pair of cam rollers includes a handle and wherein revolution of the handle about the horizontal axle revolves the pair of cam rollers about the horizontal axis, rotating the pair of cam rollers and engaging the pair of hooks by the pair of cam rollers and thus fully loading the resin vessel into the receiving space including lifting and translating the plurality of fixed rollers into complete engagement with the pair of profiled ramps.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This non-provisional patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/591,139, Entitled “Three-Dimensional Printing System with Resin Vessel Positioning System” by Eric M. Innes et al., filed on Oct. 18, 2023, incorporated herein by reference under the benefit of U.S.C. 119(e). FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure concerns an apparatus and method for the digital fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) articles by a layer-by-layer solidification of a build material. More particularly, the present disclosure concerns a way of accurately positioning a resin vessel into a print engine. BACKGROUND 3D printing systems are in wide use for prototyping and manufacturing articles. One type of 3D printing system utilizes a process called stereolithography. A typical stereolithography system includes a resin vessel and a print engine. The resin vessel is extremely heavy and can be mounted upon swivel wheels or casters. The resin vessel is pushed into the print engine before a fabrication process starts. One challenge is when a factory floor under the resin vessel and print engine is uneven. The result can be manufacturing accuracy issues due to relative vertical and angular positioning between the resin vessel and the print engine. SUMMARY In a first aspect of the disclosure, a three-dimensional (3D) printing system includes a print engine and a resin vessel. The print engine includes a pair of support plates in facing relation that define a receiving space therebetween. The pair of support plates include a pair of profiled ramps and a pair of hooks extending into the receiving space. The resin vessel has opposing inner and outer surfaces. The inner surface defines a reservoir configured to contain photocurable resin. The outer surface includes a plurality of fixed rollers and a pair of cam rollers. The plurality of fixed rollers are configured to partially engage the pair of profiled ramps when the resin vessel is initially translated into the receiving space which partially loads the resin vessel into the print engine. The pair of cam rollers are coupled to a horizontal axle and configured to be received by the pair of hooks when the resin vessel is initially translated into the receiving space. In response to being revolved about the horizontal axis, the pair of cam rollers are configured to engage the pair of hooks and to lift and translate the plurality of fixed rollers into complete engagement with the pair of profiled ramps as the resin vessel is fully loaded into the receiving space. This system allows a very heavy resin vessel to be accurately and easily positioned relative to the print engine even with a non-level floor. Engagement of the profiled ramps with the fixed rollers provides a stable and accurate positioning of the resin vessel. The cam rollers engaging the hooks facilitates loading and unloading of the resin vessel and fixed rollers onto and off of portions of the profiled ramps. In one implementation, the print engine further includes a build plate, a vertical movement mechanism coupled to the build plate, an imaging subsystem, and a controller. The controller is configured to operate, inter alia, the vertical movement mechanism and the imaging subsystem to fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) article in a layer-by-layer manner. In another implementation the pair of profiled ramps individually include a curved leading portion, a flat middle portion, and a curved trailing portion. The pair of hooks can be located directly above the curved leading portion of the pair of profiled ramps. The plurality of fixed rollers includes a pair of leading rollers and a pair of trailing rollers. Partial engagement of the plurality of fixed rollers includes the pair of leading rollers individually engaging a top surface of the flat middle portion and the pair of trailing rollers individually engaging a top surface of the curved leading portion. The pair of leading rollers are above the pair of trailing rollers to enable the partial engagement. The complete engagement of the plurality of fixed rollers includes the pair of leading rollers individually engaging a top surface of the curved trailing portion and the pair of trailing rollers individually engaging the flat middle portion. In yet another implementation, the pair of cam rollers includes a handle and wherein revolution of the handle about the horizontal axle revolves the pair of cam rollers about the horizontal axis. The handle has two positions including a raised position and a lowered position. In the raised position the plurality of fixed rollers are partially engaged with the pair of profiled ramps. In the lowered position the plurality of fixed rollers are fully engaged with the pair of profiled ramps. In a second aspect of the disclosure, a method for manufacturing a three-dimensional article includes providing the 3D printing system of the first aspect and then: (1) translating