KR102161641B1 - 3D printer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a 3D printer, and is mounted in the center of a main elevating body installed to be elevating and descending with respect to a frame above a water tank in which a photocurable resin is stored, and the forming position of the build plate provided in the tank by adjusting the traveling direction of the beam Among the first and second division areas that are divided to scan light to be irradiated with the beam scanning unit and the main elevating body, which are mounted on one side with the beam scanning unit as the center, to share the shaping area of the build plate. The first surface irradiation unit, which is capable of irradiating light to the first divided area, is mounted on the main elevating body, and is mounted on the other side opposite the first surface irradiation unit with the beam scanning unit as the center, and irradiates light to the second divided area. A second surface irradiation unit configured to be irradiated, a beam scanning unit, and a control unit for controlling driving of the first and second surface irradiation units according to information on formation of a molded article are provided. According to this 3D printer, it provides the advantage of increasing both the molding precision and the molding speed while performing surface irradiation and line scanning together.

Description

3D printer{3D printer}

The present invention relates to a 3D printer, and more particularly, to a 3D printer capable of generating a surface irradiation beam and a line scanning beam together to irradiate a photocurable resin.

A 3D printer refers to a device capable of forming a three-dimensional shape to be formed by a printing technique.

Recently, a so-called 3D printing method has emerged in which product designers and designers create 3D modeling data using CAD or CAM, and produce a prototype of a 3D three-dimensional shape using the generated data. Is being used in a wide variety of fields such as industry, life, and medicine.

The basic principle of a typical 3D printer is to create a 3D object by stacking thin 2D layers.

In other words, the 3D printer method includes SLA (Stereo Lithography Apparatus) using the principle that the scanned part is cured by scanning a laser beam on a photocurable resin, and a functional polymer or metal powder is used instead of the photocurable resin in SLA. SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) and FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) using the principle of solidifying and molding functional polymers or metal powders by scanning with, and the principle of partial curing by irradiating light to the bottom of the storage tank in which the photocurable resin is stored. There are a DLP (Digital Light Processing) method and a photocuring method of printing using an LCD.

The existing SLA method is a method using a photocurable resin and is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,575,330. This SLA method has a disadvantage that the larger the molding area, the longer the molding time is required.

In addition, the DLP method is published in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1533374.

However, while the DLP method has a higher molding speed than the SLA method, it is difficult to precisely shape the contour line.

Accordingly, there is a demand for a light irradiation method capable of increasing both the molding accuracy and the molding speed.

The present invention has been invented to solve the above requirements, and an object thereof is to provide a 3D printer capable of increasing both molding precision and molding speed while performing surface irradiation and line scanning together.

In order to achieve the above object, the 3D printer according to the present invention is mounted in the center of the main elevating body installed to be elevating and descending with respect to the frame from the top of the water tank in which the photocurable resin is stored, and by adjusting the traveling direction of the beam. A beam scanning unit for scanning light so as to irradiate the formed build plate to a molding position; It is mounted on the main elevating body, mounted on one side of the beam scanning unit, and irradiates light to the first divided area among the first and second divided areas divided to share the forming area of the build plate. A first-side irradiation unit; A second surface irradiation unit mounted on the main elevating body and mounted on the other side opposite to the first surface irradiation unit around the beam scanning unit, and configured to irradiate light to the second divided area; And a control unit for controlling driving of the beam scanning unit and the first and second surface irradiation units according to the formation information of the molded article.

Preferably, the control unit processes a contour line along the edge of the forming area to be formed to be irradiated by the beam scanning unit.

In addition, according to an aspect of the present invention, the first surface irradiation unit and the second surface irradiation unit each includes a first light source for emitting light; A balanced beam generator for converting the light emitted from the first light source into a balanced beam; And a beam pattern forming unit for selectively forming a beam pattern corresponding to a shaping pattern with respect to the incident light generated by the balanced beam generating unit, wherein the beam pattern forming unit adjusts a reflection angle of the incident light. A beam pattern formed by a plurality of micro-mirrors is applied.

Further, an auxiliary bar extending from the main elevating body toward the water tank; A distance sensor mounted at the lower end of the auxiliary bar and measuring a distance to the water surface of the water tank; A resin supply unit installed to supply and recover the photocurable resin into the water tank; further comprising, the control unit supplying resin to the resin supply unit using distance information of the water surface of the water tank detected by the distance sensor. Alternatively, the number of times and the elevation of the main elevating body are controlled.

Preferably, the parallel beam generator comprises at least one collimating lens for converting the light emitted from the first light source into a parallel beam; And a beam equalization member arranged to receive light traveling through the collimating lens and in which a plurality of fly-eye lenses are arrayed.

According to the 3D printer according to the present invention, it is possible to increase both the molding precision and the molding speed while performing surface irradiation and line scanning together.

1 is a view schematically showing a 3D printer according to the present invention,
2 is a perspective view showing an example of the beam scanning unit of FIG. 1,
3 is a plan view showing a light irradiation area for explaining a process of allocating a forming area by the 3D printer of FIG. 1,
4 is a block diagram showing the control system of the 3D printer of FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, a 3D printer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a 3D printer according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a 3D printer 100 according to the present invention includes a light irradiation device 101, a water tank 10, and a build plate 20.

The light irradiation device 101 includes a main elevating body 110, a beam scanning unit 120, and first and second surface irradiation units 130a and 130b.

The main elevating body 110 is installed to be elevating and descending with respect to the frame 30 at the top of the water tank 10 in which the photocurable resin 40 is stored.

The main elevating body 110 provides an area in which the beam scanning unit 120 and the first and second surface irradiation units 130a and 130b, which will be described later, are integrally mounted.

The beam scanning unit 120 is mounted at the center of the main elevating body 110 and scans light to irradiate it to the molding position of the build plate 20 provided in the water tank 10 by adjusting the traveling direction of the beam.

The detailed structure of the beam scanning unit 120 will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

The beam scanning unit 120 includes a laser light source 110, a beam size adjusting unit 130, and a beam scanning unit 140.

The laser light source 110 emits laser light.

The laser light source 110 may be applied to emit light of 355 to 405 nm.

A collimating lens (not shown) for converting light emitted from the laser light source 110 into a parallel beam may be provided between the laser light source 110 and the beam size adjusting unit 130.

The beam size adjusting unit 130 is configured to adjust the size of the cross-sectional area of the light beam emitted from the laser light source 110.

It goes without saying that the beam size adjustment unit 130 may be omitted.

The beam scanning unit 140 adjusts the traveling direction of the light so that the light beam traveling through the beam size adjusting unit 130 is irradiated to a set target position.

The beam scan unit 140 may be constructed in a conventional structure, and as illustrated, the irradiation direction in the first direction with respect to the shaping surface 152 for the light passing through the beam size adjusting unit 130 A first direction adjuster 143 for adjusting and adjusting the angle of the reflector 141, and a second reflector 142 for a second direction orthogonal to the first direction for light traveling through the first reflector 141 It can be built with a second direction adjuster 145 to adjust by adjusting the angle of.

Reference numeral 147 denotes an ftheta (f-θ) lens.

The first surface irradiation unit 130a is mounted on the main elevating body 110, and is mounted on one side around the beam scanning unit 120, and a second surface irradiation unit 130b to be described later in the forming area of the build plate 20 It is possible to irradiate light to the first divided area among the first and second divided areas divided so that they can be shared together.

In the drawing, the first surface irradiation unit 130a is mounted on the left side of the beam scanning unit 120, and as illustrated in FIG. 3, the first divided area 60a and the second divided area 60b are the build plate It is enough to apply appropriately so that the molding area of (20) can be shared with each other.

The second surface irradiation unit 130b is mounted on the main elevating body 110, but is mounted on the other side opposite to the first surface irradiation unit 130a with respect to the beam scanning unit 120, and the second divided area 60b It is designed to be able to irradiate light.

That is, the second surface irradiation unit 130b is mounted on the right side of the beam scanning unit 120.

In this structure, the first and second surface irradiation units 130a and 130b are capable of surface-irradiating light while dividing the left and right sides of the forming area on the upper surface of the build plate 20 and sharing the same. Since they are arranged in a symmetrical arrangement, they will be described below with the same reference numerals.

The first surface irradiation unit 130a and the second surface irradiation unit 130b are respectively a first light source 132 emitting light, a balanced beam generation unit 132, a beam pattern forming unit 136, and a beam diffusion unit 138 It is equipped with.

The first light source 132 emits light, and a laser light source that emits light of 355 to 405 nm may be applied.

The balanced beam generating unit 134 converts the light emitted from the first light source 132 into a balanced beam.

In the illustrated example, the balanced beam generation unit 134 is disposed to receive light traveling through one collimating lens 134a and collimating lens 134a, and a plurality of fly-eye lenses 135a are vertically arranged. And a beam equalizing member 135 arranged left and right.

Reference numeral 133 denotes a focusing lens that focuses light emitted from the beam uniforming member 135 to the beam pattern forming unit 136.

The beam pattern forming unit 136 selectively forms a beam pattern with respect to the incident light generated by the balanced beam generating unit 132 to correspond to a forming pattern having a forming shape.

The beam pattern forming unit 136 is formed of a plurality of micro-mirrors 136a capable of respectively adjusting a reflection angle of incident light.

The beam diffusing unit 138 diffuses the light emitted from the beam pattern forming unit 136 to each of the first divided regions 60a or the second divided regions allocated to the upper portion of the tank 10 in which the photocurable resin is stored. In 60b), it is investigated corresponding to the molding pattern.

Unlike the illustrated example, the beam pattern forming unit 136 may be applied with a liquid crystal display (LCD) that selectively projects light for each pixel.

The control elements of the 3D printer will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

The auxiliary bar 114 extends downward from the main elevating body 110 toward the water tank 10.

The distance sensor 116 is mounted at the bottom of the auxiliary bar 114 to measure the distance to the water surface of the water tank 10 and provide it to the control unit 210.

The resin supply unit 170 is installed to supply and recover the photocurable resin 40 into the water tank 10.

In the illustrated example, resin is supplied from the main resin supply tank (not shown) to the auxiliary tank 174 mounted on the main elevating body 110 through the supply hose 172, and the auxiliary bar ( It goes without saying that the resin can be supplied and recovered through the flow path leading to the lower end of 114), and can be formed in a resin supply structure different from the illustrated example.

A pump (not shown) capable of recovering resin by suction is incorporated in the auxiliary tank 174, and a valve (not shown) for opening and closing a flow path leading to the auxiliary bar 114 is provided.

The first elevating driver 180 is controlled by the control unit 210 to elevate and descend the main elevating body 110.

The first elevating driver 180 rotates the screw 182 extending vertically to the frame 30 and is screwed to the first motor 184 and the screw 182 rotated forward and backward by the control unit 210 The lifting nut 186 and the support bar 187 coupled with the main elevating body 110 through the support bar 187 are constructed with a vertical bar 188 installed to elevate and descend in a penetrating state.

The second elevating driver 190 is controlled by the control unit 210 to elevate and descend the build plate 20.

The second elevating driver 190 rotates the screw 182 extending vertically to the frame 30 and is screwed to the second motor 194 and the screw 192 rotated forward and backward by the control unit 210 The lifting nut 196 and the support bar 197 coupled to the build plate 20 through the support bar 197 are constructed of a vertical bar 198 installed to be elevated and lowered in a penetrating state.

The control unit 210 controls the driving of the beam scanning unit 120 and the first and second surface irradiation units 130a and 130b according to the formation information of the molded article.

The control unit 210 is in charge of the forming area to be formed in the first and second divided areas 60a and 60b described above by light irradiation of the first and second surface irradiation units 130a and 130b. And, the contour line along the edge of the forming area is treated to be irradiated by the beam scanning unit 120.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the first divided area 60a and the second divided area 60b are in charge of the first surface irradiation unit 130a and the second surface irradiation unit 130b, and the contour line 60c of the shaping layer ) Is treated to be irradiated by the beam scanning unit 120, it is possible to increase the molding accuracy while increasing the molding speed.

The control unit 210 controls the first and second motors 184 and 194 to smoothly shape the positions of the main elevating body 110 and the build plate 20 according to the stacking of the forming layers. Control the lowering position.

In addition, the control unit 210 uses the distance information of the water surface of the water tank 10 detected by the distance sensor 116 to maintain a constant distance to the water surface from the distance sensor 116. It is controlled through the resin supply unit 170.

On the other hand, in the case of the conventional method in which the light irradiation device is fixed to the water tank 10, the photocurable resin must be constantly filled in the water tank 10 regardless of the height of the molded object, and the printing operation is performed. Although a lot of occurrences are generated, the 3D printer of the present invention has the advantage of being able to adjust the photocurable resin to be filled in the water tank 10 to minimize waste by allowing height adjustment of the water tank 10.

According to the 3D printer described above, it is possible to increase both the molding precision and the molding speed while performing surface irradiation and line scanning together.

10: tank 20: build plate
101: light irradiation device 110: main elevating body
120: beam scanning unit 130a: first surface irradiation unit
130b: second surface irradiation unit

Claims (5)

It is mounted in the center of the main elevating body installed so as to be elevated with respect to the frame from the top of the water tank in which the photocurable resin is stored, and scans the light to irradiate it to the molding position of the build plate provided in the water tank by adjusting the traveling direction of the beam. A beam scanning unit;
It is mounted on the main elevating body, mounted on one side of the beam scanning unit, and irradiates light to the first divided area among the first and second divided areas divided to share the forming area of the build plate. A first-side irradiation unit;
A second surface irradiation unit mounted on the main elevating body and mounted on the other side opposite to the first surface irradiation unit around the beam scanning unit, and configured to irradiate light to the second divided area;
And a control unit for controlling the driving of the beam scanning unit and the first and second surface irradiation units according to the formation information of the molded article,
The control unit processes the contour line along the edge of the forming area to be formed to be irradiated by the beam scanning unit,
The first surface irradiation unit and the second surface irradiation unit, respectively
A first light source for emitting light;
A balanced beam generator for converting the light emitted from the first light source into a balanced beam;
And a beam pattern forming unit for selectively forming a beam pattern corresponding to a forming pattern with respect to the incident light generated by the balanced beam generating unit, and
The beam pattern forming unit is formed of a plurality of micro-mirrors that form a beam pattern by respectively adjusting a reflection angle for incident light,
An auxiliary bar extending from the main elevating body toward the water tank;
A distance sensor mounted at the lower end of the auxiliary bar and measuring a distance to the water surface of the water tank;
A resin supply unit installed to supply and recover the photocurable resin into the water tank; further comprising,
The control unit is
Using the distance information of the water surface of the water tank detected by the distance sensor to control the supply or collection of resin of the resin supply unit and the elevation of the main elevating body,
The parallel beam generator
At least one collimating lens for converting the light emitted from the first light source into a parallel beam;
A 3D printer comprising: a beam equalization member arranged to receive light traveling through the collimating lens and in which a plurality of fly-eye lenses are arrayed.
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