TWI577570B - Three-dimensional printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Three-dimensional printing device

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a three-dimensional printing apparatus.

With the development of technology, many different methods of constructing three-dimensional (3-D) models using additive manufacturing techniques such as layer-by-layer construction models have been proposed. In general, additive manufacturing technology converts design data of a 3-D model constructed using software such as computer-aided design (CAD) into a plurality of thin (quasi-two-dimensional) cross-section layers that are continuously stacked. .

A number of ways have been developed to form multiple thin cross-section layers. For example, the print head can typically be moved along the X-Y coordinate above the pedestal in accordance with the design data of the 3-D model, thereby spraying the construction material into the correct cross-sectional layer shape. The deposited material can then be naturally hardened or cured by, for example, a strong light source to form the desired cross-sectional layer and, in a layer-by-layer cured state, a three-dimensional object.

However, in the current light source for curing materials, laser light sources are mostly used, but limited by the corresponding optical components required for the laser light source, the laser light source must still have a certain focal length, that is, between the light source and the molding material. It is still necessary to maintain a fixed distance, so that the formed three-dimensional object is large, and thus the imaging speed is slow. Therefore, further improvement of existing light sources to improve the speed and quality of three-dimensional printing is still a major issue for developers in the field.

The invention provides a three-dimensional printing device, the light source of which has a relatively fast imaging speed and better imaging quality.

The three-dimensional printing device of the invention comprises a light source, a moving platform, a tank and a control unit. The light source is used to provide planar light. The light source includes an electron gun, a deflecting member, and a screen. An electron gun is used to generate an electron beam. The deflecting member is disposed beside the electron beam path. The screen has an ultraviolet phosphor layer. The electron beam passes through the deflecting member and is projected onto the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer on the screen to excite the planar light. In the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer, any two adjacent ultraviolet fluorescent powders form an adjacent region, and the adjacent side length of the adjacent region is greater than or equal to the edge of each ultraviolet fluorescent powder at the junction region The orthographic projection size on a plane, wherein the connection direction of the two ultraviolet fluorescent powders is the normal direction of the plane. The tank is used to hold liquid molding materials. The mobile platform is partially immersed in a liquid molding material. The control unit is electrically connected to the mobile platform and the light source. As the mobile platform moves in the liquid molding material, the control unit controls the electron beam to be projected onto at least one position on the screen, so that the light source generates different planar light to solidify the irradiated liquid molding material layer by layer. And a three-dimensional object is formed. The moving direction of the mobile platform is vertical plane light.

In an embodiment of the invention, the light source further includes a focusing member. Set along the electron beam path to focus the electron beam.

In an embodiment of the invention, the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer has a hexagonal stacked structure.

In an embodiment of the invention, the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer has a tetragonal stacked structure.

In an embodiment of the invention, the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer has a partially overlapping buildup structure.

In an embodiment of the invention, the contact area is an overlapping area of the ultraviolet luminescent powder, and the adjacent side length is a side length surrounding the overlapping area.

In an embodiment of the invention, the pitch of the center of the shape of the two adjacent ultraviolet phosphors is smaller than the sum of the sides of the ultraviolet phosphors.

In an embodiment of the invention, the adjacent side edges of the two adjacent ultraviolet light phosphors are larger than one of the ultraviolet light phosphors and have an orthographic projection size longer than a plane.

In an embodiment of the invention, the liquid molding material is a photosensitive resin.

Based on the above, in the above embodiment of the present invention, by using a light source capable of providing planar light as a solidified light source of the liquid molding material, the time for focusing imaging and scanning of the existing laser light source can be effectively reduced, thereby enabling stereo printing The printing efficiency of the device is improved. Furthermore, the planar light energy provided by the light source can be determined by the control unit, and a one-time illumination can be completed to complete the scanning of the conventional laser light source one by one. The area, thus improving the curing efficiency of the liquid molding material, does not require additional control over the area of the light scanning area, thus simplifying the existing three-dimensional printing process.

The above described features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

100‧‧‧Three-dimensional printing device

110‧‧‧Light source

112‧‧‧Electronic gun

112a‧‧‧Electron beam

113a, 113b‧‧‧Focus

114a, 114b‧‧‧ deflecting parts

115‧‧‧ screen

116‧‧‧UV phosphor powder layer

116a, 116b‧‧‧ UV phosphor powder

117‧‧‧Anode plate

120‧‧‧Mobile platform

130‧‧‧Control unit

140‧‧‧

200‧‧‧Liquid molding materials

210‧‧‧Three-dimensional objects

111‧‧‧Shell

A11, a12, a3, a51~a55‧‧‧ adjacent side length

A2, a4, a6‧‧‧ orthographic dimensions

A1, A3, A5‧‧ plane

A2, A4, A6‧‧‧ connection direction

R1, R2, R3‧‧‧ connected areas

D1‧‧‧ spacing

D2, d3‧‧‧

1 is a schematic view of a three-dimensional printing apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic view of a light source in the three-dimensional printing apparatus of FIG. 1.

3 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of the ultraviolet light phosphor layer on the screen in the light source of FIG. 2.

4 is a partial enlarged view of the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of an ultraviolet phosphor powder layer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of an ultraviolet phosphor powder layer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a schematic view of a three-dimensional printing apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, in the embodiment, the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100 is adapted to manufacture a solid object from a three-dimensional model (not shown), wherein the three-dimensional model can be modeled, for example, by computer aided design (CAD) or animation. Software, etc. The shape is transversely cut into a plurality of cross sections for the stereoscopic printing apparatus 100 to read the three-dimensional model, and a three-dimensional object is manufactured according to the cross section of the three-dimensional model.

Further, the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment includes a light source 110, a moving platform 120, a control unit 130, and a tank 140. At the same time, a right angle coordinate system is provided to facilitate the description of the relevant components and their motion state. The tank 140 is for holding the liquid molding material 200, and a part of the moving platform 120 is immersed in the liquid molding material 200. The light source 110 is used to provide planar light projection to the liquid molding material 200. The control unit 130 is electrically connected to the light source 110 and the moving platform 120 to drive the light source 110 to generate different planar light and to project to the liquid molding material 200 while moving part of the moving platform 120 in the liquid molding material 200, thereby layer by layer The irradiated liquid molding material 200 is cured to form a three-dimensional object 210. Here, the liquid molding material 200 is, for example, a photosensitive resin, and the light source 110 provides planar light including ultraviolet rays to photocure the irradiated liquid molding material 200.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile platform 120 is partially moved along the Z-axis in the liquid molding material 200, so that whenever the moving platform 120 moves to a position on the Z-axis, the planar light generated by the light source 110 will The liquid molding material 200 located at this position is projected to be solidified. As a result, as the mobile platform 120 moves layer by layer along the Z axis, the liquid molding material 200 at its position can be solidified layer by layer, eventually forming a complete three-dimensional object 210.

Based on the above, the planar light generated by the light source 110 is perpendicular to the moving direction of the moving platform 120 (that is, as shown in FIG. 1 , the light source 110 is substantially planar light that generates parallel XY planes, and the mobile platform 120 is Moving along the Z axis Therefore, the printing operation of the three-dimensional object 210 can be completed in conjunction with the movement mode of the mobile platform 120.

2 is a schematic view of a light source in the three-dimensional printing apparatus of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 simultaneously, in detail, the light source 110 of the present embodiment includes a housing 111 and an electron gun 112, focusing members 113a, 113b, deflecting members 114a, 114b, an anode plate 117, and a screen 115. The electron gun 112 and the screen 115 are located on opposite sides of the outer casing 111. The electron gun 112 is a cathode electron gun for generating an electron beam 112a, and causes the electron beam 112a to travel between the anode plates 117 in a high pressure state to be projected onto the screen 115, and the focusing members 113a, 113b and the deflecting members 114a, 114b are respectively disposed on the electrons. Next to the path of the beam 112a is used to control the size of the electron beam 112a and the position projected onto the screen 115. Furthermore, the screen 115 has an ultraviolet phosphor layer 116 toward the electron gun 112. Accordingly, the electron beam 122a generated by the electron gun 112 is projected onto the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer 116 on the screen 115, thereby impinging on the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer 116 to excite ultraviolet light. Here, the electron beam 122a strikes each of the ultraviolet fluorescent powders of the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer 116 one by one in a scanning manner, and the ultraviolet light generated by the impacted ultraviolet fluorescent powder continues for a while. Accordingly, by adjusting the scanning time of the electron beam 112a, and since the screen 115 is of a two-dimensional structure, the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer 116 can simultaneously generate ultraviolet light for a certain period of time, and the light source 110 can The above plane light is smoothly generated.

In the present embodiment, since the control unit 130 can control the light source 110 to generate different planar light according to the moving position of the moving platform 120 on the Z axis, that is, the control unit 130 can project on the screen 115 by controlling the electron beam 112a. Different locations The planar light of different patterns is generated, so that the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100 does not need to scan the liquid molding material 200 one by one on the X-Y plane by a conventional laser light source to cure it. In other words, the planar light generated by the light source 110 by the foregoing structure can complete the effect of curing the liquid layer of the liquid layer 200 only by generating a single-time illumination compared to the conventional laser light source, thereby effectively shortening the light source. 110 The time at which the liquid molding material 200 is irradiated.

On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the arrangement structure of the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer on the screen in the light source of FIG. 2. 4 is a partial enlarged view of the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer of FIG. 3. Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 at the same time. In this embodiment, in order to improve the resolution of the printed three-dimensional object 210, the structural configuration of the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer needs to be configured in different arrangements. As shown in FIG. 3, the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer of the present embodiment is composed of a plurality of ultraviolet luminescent powders of the same size and has a hexagonal stacked structure, especially a partially overlapping stacked structure state, thereby increasing the unit. The amount of UV phosphor in the area.

As shown in FIG. 4, taking a plurality of ultraviolet luminescent powders on a two-dimensional plane as an example, any two adjacent ultraviolet luminescent phosphors 116a and 116b form an interface region R1 (ie, two-dimensionally overlapping on the paper surface) The area, here shown by hatching, is a region of a parallelogram formed by the partial side lengths of the ultraviolet luminescent phosphors 116a and 116b, and the adjacent side of the same ultraviolet luminescent powder 116a at the contiguous region R1 The sum of a11 and a12 is larger than the maximum orthographic projection size a2 of the adjacent side length of the ultraviolet fluorescent powders 116a and 116b at the contact region R1 on the plane A1 (the aforementioned parallel region R1, two pairs thereof) The maximum projection size of the relative distance of the angle on the plane A1 is a2). Here, the adjacent side length is referred to as a plurality of side lengths surrounding the overlapping area, and the two ultraviolet light The connection direction A2 of the phosphors 116a and 116b is the normal direction of the plane A1. Similarly, the ultraviolet luminescent powder 116b on the other side of the plane A1 has the same correspondence relationship, and will not be described herein.

In other words, the ultraviolet ray phosphors 116 of the embodiment of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are partially overlapped structures, that is, any two adjacent ultraviolet fluoresce powders (such as the aforementioned 116a and 116b), The pitch d1 of the center of the shape is smaller than the sum of the side lengths d2 and d3 of the two ultraviolet fluorescent powders 116a and 116b, thereby causing the two ultraviolet fluorescent powders 116a and 116b to partially overlap each other.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of an ultraviolet phosphor powder layer according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the difference from the above is that the present embodiment is modified by a tetragonal stacked structure and adjacent to each other, and the effect of increasing the structural density of the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer can be achieved. In this embodiment, any two adjacent ultraviolet fluorescent powders form an interface region R2 (ie, formed on a one-dimensional line segment on the paper surface), wherein the adjacent side length a3 of the contact region is equal to each ultraviolet light phosphor powder. The orthographic projection dimension a4 of the side length at the intersection area on the plane A3, wherein the connection direction A4 of the two ultraviolet light phosphors is the normal direction of the plane A3.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of an ultraviolet phosphor powder layer according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the difference from the above is that the structure of the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer of the present embodiment is a mode in which a single-sided polygonal contact is applied to be stacked adjacent, that is, a non-linear line between any two adjacent phosphors. The boundaries are adjacent to each other, and the length of the adjacent boundary is greater than the projected length of the phosphor on the side. In other words, the two adjacent ultraviolet phosphors of the embodiment form the junction region R3 (ie, a bent one on the paper surface) The dimension line segment), and the sum of the adjacent side lengths a51~a55 of the adjacent area (ie, the sum of the lengths of the aforementioned bending line segments) is larger than the orthographic projection size of the side length of each ultraviolet light phosphor at the joint area on the plane A5 A6, and the connecting direction A6 of the two ultraviolet fluorescent powders is the normal direction of the plane A5. In this way, by increasing the contact portion between the phosphors, the energy per unit area of the projected planar light can be effectively increased, and the structure of the liquid molded material after curing can be further stabilized.

In summary, in the above embodiment of the present invention, the three-dimensional printing device uses a light source capable of providing planar light as a curing light source of the liquid molding material, thereby effectively reducing the time for focusing imaging and scanning of the existing laser light source, thereby enabling The printing efficiency of the three-dimensional printing device is improved. Furthermore, the planar light energy provided by the light source can be determined by the control unit, and the one-time illumination can complete the area where the conventional laser light source can be scanned one by one, thereby improving the curing efficiency of the liquid molding material, and There is no need to control the area of the light scanning area, thus simplifying the existing three-dimensional printing process. In addition, the three-dimensional printing device further increases the structural density by changing the structural configuration of the ultraviolet light phosphor layer on the screen, thereby improving the resolution and fineness of the planar light after being cured by the liquid molding material.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some changes and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100‧‧‧Three-dimensional printing device

110‧‧‧Light source

120‧‧‧Mobile platform

130‧‧‧Control unit

140‧‧‧

200‧‧‧Liquid molding materials

210‧‧‧Three-dimensional objects

Claims (6)

A three-dimensional printing device comprises: a light source for providing a planar light, the light source comprising: an electron gun for generating an electron beam; a deflecting member disposed beside the electron beam path; and a screen having an ultraviolet light a layer of phosphor powder, the electron beam is projected through the deflecting member to the ultraviolet phosphor powder layer on the screen to excite the planar light, and any two of the ultraviolet phosphor powder layers are connected The ultraviolet luminescent powder forms an contiguous region, and the adjacent side length of the contiguous region is greater than or equal to the orthographic projection size of each side of the ultraviolet luminescent phosphor at the contiguous region on a plane, wherein the two The connecting direction of the ultraviolet fluorescent powder is the normal direction of the plane, and the adjacent side length of the connecting region of the two ultraviolet fluorescent powders is equal to either side of each of the ultraviolet fluorescent powders; a platform; a tank for holding a liquid molding material, the mobile platform partially immersed in the liquid molding material; and a control unit electrically connecting the moving platform and the light source, wherein the mobile platform is Moving in a liquid molding material, The control unit controls the electron beam to be projected onto at least one position on the screen, so that the light source generates different planar light to solidify the irradiated liquid molding material layer by layer to form a three-dimensional object, and the moving direction of the moving platform is perpendicular to the Plane light. The three-dimensional printing device of claim 1, wherein the light source further comprises: A focusing member is disposed between the electron gun and the deflecting member and positioned beside the electron beam path to focus the electron beam. The three-dimensional printing device according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer has a hexagonal stacked structure. The three-dimensional printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet fluorescent powder layer has a tetragonal stacked structure. The three-dimensional printing device according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent side edges of the two adjacent ultraviolet phosphors are larger than the orthographic projections of one side of each of the ultraviolet phosphors being longer than the plane. . The three-dimensional printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid molding material is a photosensitive resin.