Technical Field of the I nvention

The invention subject to the application is related to a method of establishing support structures used in additive manufacturing methods based on the material layering with extrusion principle with 3D printers, wherein said method is characterized in that the additive manufacturing carried out by material layering with extrusion is performed in a recyclable particle tank (powder, dust, particle etc.) .

Known State of the Art ( Prior Art)

For the 3D printers operating with the material layering via extrusion technique of the prior art, it has been necessary to use support structures due to the limitations arising during production.

I n such printers, support structures are formed using different methods and these structures are then separated from the actual part after manufacturing.

For example, such support structures are made of the same material as the manufactured part and are produced with a design that makes separation easier and after manufacturing is completed the support structure is separated from the actual part by the user, using bladed articles.

I n another method, support structures made of a different material that are water soluble are used, and by this means following production, the actual part is immersed in water and it is enabled for the support structure to be dissolved.

The technical problems arising from these support structures of the prior art can be described as follows. The support structures that are separated by being cut off from the actual part after being manufactured as a monolithic structure, are disposed after production, thereby increasing production costs. Together with this, as the support structure needs to be separated from the actual part by cutting, severe deformations occur on the surface quality of the actual part. I f we take into consideration, support structures that have been produced with a different material than the actual part which are water soluble for example, the product material costs of the support structure is higher than the actual product material costs, and as these support structures are dissolved in water and thrown away, they are considered as loss and they highly increase manufacturing costs.

Brief Description of the I nvention and its Aims

A production method which enables to overcome the technical problems of the methods of the prior art and the problems mentioned above has been aimed to be developed by the present invention.

The additive manufacturing process based on material layering with extrusion principle in the production method of the invention, or in other words the 3-dimensional printing process is carried out inside a particle tank. The contents of said particle tank constitute fine sand powders or other similar materials.

By means of this method, the particles that are used as support structures can be re used and by this means manufacturing costs can be reduced. Additionally, said materials are completely from natural sources and therefore they are not harmful to human health or the environment.

Moreover, as production is to be carried out inside the particles, the hot molten material which enables production of the actual part shall be able to cool down in a controlled manner. The homogenous cooling environment, ensures the structure of the actual part to be more durable and the surface quality to be enhanced.

Together with this, by means of the method subject to the invention, application ease is provided during the production of especially lattice structures with remarkable voids. However, the workpiece that can be produced needs to have at least one material discharge hole.

Definition of the Figures Describing the I nvention

The figures and related descriptions that are used in order to further describe the production method developed by this invention have been provided below. Figure 1 : Sectional view of the printing system used in the manufacturing method subject of the invention.

Definitions of the aspects/ sections/ parts forming the invention

The parts and sections in the figures that are used in order to further describe the manufacturing method developed by this invention have each been numbered and the references of each number have been provided below.

1 . Printing Material

2. Printing Material Supply Apparatus

3. Extruder

4. X and Y Movement axis

5. Particle Tank

6. Workpiece

7. Perforated printing plate

8. Support Material Re-feeding Apparatus

9. Z Movement Axis

1 0. Spreading Apparatus

1 1 . Support Material Chamber

1 2. Support Material

1 3. Support Material Supply Mechanism

1 4. Electronically Controlled Particle Adjuster

Detailed Description of I nvention

With respect to the invention described as the molten filament manufacturing method on a powder bed, the workpiece (6) is shaped by feeding the filament printing material (1 ) through an extruder (3) having a certain temperature, in order to melt material, via a printing material supply apparatus (2) . This process that has been developed based on the additive manufacturing principles, enables to produce the desired workpiece by forming a bunch of molten material layers by being adhered to a special collapsible perforated printing plate (7) with the addition of materials on top of each other and by cooling of the layers.

The mentioned shaping process can be carried out by using X and Y movement axis (4) on each layer and the processes performed on these sequential layers can be enabled by using the Z movement axis (9) .

The support material (12) such as powder, sand, particles etc. that have crucial importance in the invention, are spread on layers each having different heights, thereby enabling flawless production based on using a workpiece (6) .

The spreading process is carried out by means of the process steps mentioned below;

• A predefined amount of support material (12) is poured into a particle tank (5) comprising the workpiece (6) using a support material chamber (1 1 ) and a support material supply mechanism (13) ,

• The support material (12) that has been poured is compressed by a spreading apparatus (10) and is flattened,

• The rigidity of the support material is adjusted

o by using a suitable binder/volatile substances or

o by using ferromagnetic material and magnetic field interaction or

o by using electrostatic loaded particles

in order to ensure the integrity of the support material (12) to remain intact, inside the particle tank (5) using an electronically controlled particle adjuster (14) .

The above-mentioned molten material shaping process, the support material spreading and solidifying process are repeated for each layer adjusted with Z movement axis (9) and thereby the workpiece can be produced.

Following the production process, the support material (12) located inside the particle tank (5) is re-supplied and can be re-used. The process is carried out by re-transferring the support material (12) back into the support material chamber (1 1 ) or the support material supply mechanism (13) . At this stage, the perforated printing plate (7) having a collapsible feature and the support material re-supply apparatus (8) are used. Following this, the workpiece (6) that remains unsupported in the particle tank (5) is lifted to a suitable height using Z movement axis (9) and it is then scraped off from the print plate (7) .