METHOD AND MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING PIECES MADE OF CERAMIC OR METALLIC MATERIAL BY THE TECHNIQUE OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Abstract

The disclosed method includes selecting a suspension ceramic or metal photocurable composition (CPC or MPC); preparing a sacrificial organic material (SOM) forming a photocurable layer destroyed by heating; for manufacturing pieces, on the working tray, forming successive layers of SOM cured by irradiation, the one or more CPC or MPC-based pieces being manufactured by machining a recess in a layer of cured SOM; depositing the CPC or MPC within the recesses; curing the CPC or MPC to obtain a hard horizontal surface level with the adjacent layer of cured SOM, when forming each recess, it is delimited by previously defined patterns, the depth(s) selected in order to ensure the continuity of the one or more pieces to be manufactured; and obtaining one or more green pieces inserted in the SOM, which are subjected to debinding by heating in order to destroy the SOM in which they are trapped.

Claims

1. A machine for manufacturing at least one piece made of at least one of ceramic materials and metallic materials, the machine comprising: a frame surrounding a working tray comprising a working surface; irradiating means facing the working surface; means for supplying and spreading into layers, on the working tray, a sacrificial photocurable organic material (SOM); machining means able to form at least one recess in a layer of photocured SOM from the upper part thereof; means for blowing and sucking the debris resulting from said machining; means for filling the one or more recesses formed in each layer of photocured SOM in order to complete the layer thus recessed by one of a ceramic photocurable composition (CPC) and a metallic photocurable composition (MPC) able to flow; irradiating means arranged above the working tray and able to irradiate, for curing each layer of SOM once spread, and irradiate, for curing the CPC or MPC once located within the recesses made in the successive layers of cured SOM.

2. The machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a gantry having at least one scraping blade and being configured to move on the frame above the working surface such that the free edge of the one or more scraping blades is able to spread the layers of SOM paste on the working surface, or wherein the SOM is supplied by at least one dispensing nozzle movable in front of at least one scraping blade which spreads the SOM into a uniform layer when passing thereon.

3. The machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a tank to be filled with a SOM suspension, in which the working tray is configured to be lowered step by step in order to form thereon, at each step, a layer to be irradiated, as well as a recoater in order to ensure that the SOM suspension is dispensed on the entire surface to be irradiated.

4. The machine according to claim 1, wherein the means for supplying at least one CPC or MPC on the working surface are constituted by at least one dispensing nozzle movable above a corresponding recess in order to apply the corresponding composition therein.

5. The machine according to claim 2, wherein the at least nozzle is supplied with one of SOM, CPC, or MPC by a hose connected to a tank.

6. The machine according to claim 2, wherein the at least one nozzle is supplied with one of SOM, CPC, or MPC by a cartridge which forms the upper part of the nozzle, said cartridge containing a stock of the one of SOM, CPC, or MPC and being refillable from a supply tank mountable on the machine, or which when empty is replaceable by a full cartridge, wherein this replacement can be ensured by a robotic arm.

7. The machine according to claim 2, wherein the at least one nozzle is movably mounted by means of a robotic arm.

8. The machine according to claim 2, wherein the at least one nozzle is movably mounted on a gantry which has both a slide that moves the nozzle along the horizontal axis x of the working tray and a slide that moves the nozzle along the horizontal axis y of the working tray.

9. The machine according to claim 2, wherein the at least one nozzle is movably mounted on a gantry having at least one scraping blade that allows displacement thereof along the horizontal axis x of the scraping blade, said gantry also comprising a slide allowing displacement along the horizontal axis y.

10. The machine of claim 5, wherein the tank is a piston supply tank.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0064] In order to better illustrate the subject-matter of the present invention, a particular embodiment of it will be described below, for indicative and non-limiting purposes, with reference to the appended drawings.

[0065] In the drawings:

[0066] FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view of a piece to be manufactured, comprising a three-dimensional cylindrical passage;

[0067] FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic views of the piece of FIG. 1 in yz and xz planes, respectively;

[0068] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the piece being manufactured according to the invention;

[0069] FIG. 5 shows schematic views of the piece manufactured according to the invention before the debinding, in the zy and zx planes;

[0070] FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective schematic views of the piece of FIG. 5 before and after debinding, respectively;

[0071] FIGS. 8-11 illustrate the successive steps for forming a layer of sacrificial photocurable material;

[0072] FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate the formation of a layer constituted both by a sacrificial organic material and a photocurable ceramic material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0073] When referring to FIGS. 4-6, it can be seen that the formation of a piece P according to the invention within a shell or hull S made of cured sacrificial organic material is illustrated, the passage p being also filled with sacrificial organic material S.

[0074] When referring to FIG. 8, a machine 1 for manufacturing green pieces has been schematically shown, comprising a device 2 for scraping a paste layer on a working surface of a horizontal working tray 3.

[0075] The scraping device 2, slidably mounted on the frame 4 of the machine, comprises a gantry 5 carrying, at the front part thereof, a scraping blade 6 having a horizontal scraping edge and which moves forwards when referring to FIG. 8, that is, along the horizontal axis x.

[0076] The front vertical wall of the gantry 5 has a horizontal slide 7 along which two nozzles 8, 9 can move along the horizontal axis y, perpendicular to the axis x, one (8) for depositing a photocurable sacrificial organic material and the other (9) for depositing a ceramic photocurable composition.

[0077] In FIG. 11, the galvanometric head 10, which directs the laser beam, is also shown.

[0078] FIG. 8

[0079] A layer of sacrificial organic material 11 is deposited on the working surface of the working tray 3 by moving the scraping device 2 along the axis x and the nozzle 8 along the axis y.

[0080] FIG. 9

[0081] By forward movement, the scraping device 2 has leveled the layer of sacrificial organic material 11 by moving the blade 6.

[0082] FIG. 10

[0083] The scraping device 2 has been returned to the initial position thereof and raised.

[0084] FIG. 11

[0085] The layer 11 thus deposited is caused to polymerize by applying the laser beam, the galvanometric head 10 being in use.

[0086] FIG. 12

[0087] A laser machining of the cured layer 11 is performed in order to form therein a recess 12, this laser machining operation being performed by blowing and sucking the debris together with lasing.

[0088] FIG. 13

[0089] Using the second nozzle 9, a photocurable ceramic composition 13 has been deposited within the recess, which composition is polymerized by applying the laser beam (the galvanometric head 10 being in use).

[0090] The formation of a cured layer of sacrificial organic material and ceramic material has been described, both being photocured.

[0091] The piece being searched is built layer after layer of photocured sacrificial organic material, the recesses intended to be filled with photocurable ceramic material being drilled in at least one layer of previously-cured sacrificial organic material, the depths of the recesses and the locations thereof on the layers of sacrificial organic material being selected in order to ensure the formation of the ceramic piece being searched.