3D Systems Sinterstation Pro, User Manual, Page: 139 / 280

SLS p r o c e s s 1 3 9 I R S & I P C
u s e r ’ s g u i d e h o w t h e I R S & I P C w o r k
H ow t h e I R S & I P C Wo r k
The IRS receives used powder from the BOS ,
blends it with virgin powder from the IPC in a
preset ratio (defined by the “ Percent Virgin ”), and
feeds the blended powder to up to three
(maximum) SLS systems. Each SLS system sends a
separate refill request to the IRS when its feed
hopper is low.
Receiving and storing powder
Used powder, virgin powder, and blended
powder are received and stored in three separate
bins on the IRS:
Used bin – (in the left rear corner) receives and
stores used powder from the BOS. The BOS sends
a message to the IRS when it has powder to send.
The BOS waits for the IRS to reply “okay to send,”
then it sends powder. The IRS replies “okay to
send” to refill the Used bin.
Virgin bin – (in the right rear corner) receives and
stores virgin powder from the IPC. You connect
the umbilical to the IPC to unload virgin powder
from the IPC to the Virgin bin. After the initial fill,
the IRS draws powder from the IPC until the
Virgin bin is full. After
Blender bin – (smaller bin in the right front
corner) receives, blends, and stores powder from
the Used bin and Virgin bin before the IRS sends
it to the SLS system(s)
The IRS monitors the powder level and weight in
the three bins and refills them continually (as
soon as the drop below 95% full).
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The IRS tries to keep all three bins full.
It also monitors the powder level in the IPC and
alerts you when it’s almost empty.
Blending and sending powder
When the IRS refills the Blender bin, it does so
one
batch at a time using specific portions of
used and virgin powder. The Percent Virgin
setting controls these portions; for example, a
batch with 30 Percent Virgin is 70 percent used
powder.
The IRS always tries to blend a full batch, but will
blend a partial batch if there’s not enough used
or virgin powder to make a full batch. (A batch of
blended powder weighs about 5 kg.)
Blending is the highest priority for the IRS. It must
finish blending before it can send powder to the
SLS systems or receive powder from the BOS.