CN113511013A - Electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism, molded object manufacturing system, and molded object manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism is provided with: an irradiation unit that irradiates the sheet with an electromagnetic wave; a relative movement unit that relatively moves the sheet and the irradiation unit; a reading unit that reads an identifier provided at an edge portion on the 1 st side of the sheet; and a control unit configured to cause the irradiation unit to irradiate the sheet with the electromagnetic wave while causing the irradiation unit to relatively move with respect to the sheet from an edge portion on the 1 st side of the sheet to an edge portion on the 2 nd side of the sheet opposite to the 1 st side by the relative movement unit when the reading unit reads the identifier, wherein the reading unit is provided on an opposite side of the irradiation unit from a direction from the 1 st side to the 2 nd side.

Description

Electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism, molded object manufacturing system, and molded object manufacturing method

The present application is a divisional application of a patent application having an application number of 201910144621.X, an application date of 2019, 2/26 and a name of "electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism".

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism.

Background

A technique of shaping a shaped object (also referred to as a three-dimensional object or the like) is known. For example, Japanese patent application laid-open Nos. 64-28660 and 2001-150812 disclose a method of forming a three-dimensional image, which is an image having a three-dimensional spread as a formation object. Specifically, in the methods disclosed in japanese patent laid-open nos. 64-28660 and 2001-150812, the back surface of the thermally expandable sheet is patterned with a material having excellent light absorption properties, and the thermally expandable sheet is heated by irradiating the formed pattern with light (electromagnetic waves) while being transported by a transport unit. Thereby, the patterned portion of the thermally expandable sheet expands and swells, and a stereoscopic image is formed. Further, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2013-129144 discloses the following apparatus: the thermally expandable sheet is placed on a stage, and a light source lamp as irradiation means is moved to expand the thermally expandable sheet.

In order to obtain a shaped object by appropriately irradiating the above-described thermally-expansible sheet with an electromagnetic wave, it is desired to irradiate the thermally-expansible sheet with an electromagnetic wave after accurately recognizing the target thermally-expansible sheet. For this reason, there is a demand for providing a means for identifying a thermally expandable sheet without occupying a large space. Furthermore, not only the thermally expandable sheet as described above, but also a general sheet is required to be provided with a means for recognizing a target sheet in a space-saving manner when the sheet is processed by irradiating the sheet with electromagnetic waves.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism which can save space.

In order to achieve the above object, an electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to an aspect of the present invention includes: an irradiation unit that irradiates the sheet with an electromagnetic wave; a relative movement unit that relatively moves the sheet and the irradiation unit; a reading unit that reads an identifier provided at an edge portion on the 1 st side of the sheet; and a control unit configured to cause the irradiation unit to irradiate the sheet with the electromagnetic wave while causing the irradiation unit to relatively move with respect to the sheet from an edge portion on the 1 st side of the sheet to an edge portion on the 2 nd side of the sheet opposite to the 1 st side by the relative movement unit when the reading unit reads the identifier, wherein the reading unit is provided on an opposite side of the irradiation unit from a direction from the 1 st side to the 2 nd side.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, space saving can be achieved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a thermally expandable sheet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2(a) is a view showing the back surface of a thermal expansion sheet of size 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2(b) is a view showing the back surface of the thermal expansion sheet of size 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a shaping system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view schematically showing the structure of an expansion device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a view of the tray on which the thermally expandable sheet is placed, as viewed from above, in the expansion device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a case where a barcode is read from the lower side of a thermally expandable sheet placed on a tray in an expansion device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a case where a barcode is read from the upper side of a thermally-expansible sheet placed on a tray in an expansion device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which a barcode reader is provided on the same side as the traveling direction of the irradiation section.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of a barcode reading process executed in the inflation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a state of an expansion process performed in the expansion device shown in fig. 6.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of a manufacturing process of a shaped object performed by the shaping system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14(a) to (e) are views showing steps of the production of the shaped article from the thermally expandable sheet shown in FIG. 13.

Fig. 15 is a view showing a case where a barcode is read from the lower side of a thermal expansion sheet being conveyed in a modification of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding portions are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional structure of a thermally expandable sheet 10 for forming a shaped article according to the present embodiment. The heat-expandable sheet 10 is a medium in which a preselected portion is expanded by heating to form a shaped object. In the present specification, the term "shaped article" broadly includes simple shapes, geometric shapes, characters, decorations, and the like. Here, decoration is a concept that gives a person a sense of beauty by visual and/or tactile sense. The term "shape (or form)" is not limited to the formation of a shaped article, and includes the concept of decoration and decoration formation. Further, the decorative shaped article means a shaped article formed as a result of decoration or decoration.

The shaped object of the present embodiment has irregularities in a direction (for example, Z axis) perpendicular to a specific two-dimensional plane (for example, XY plane) in a three-dimensional space as a reference. Such a shaped object is an example of a stereoscopic (3D) image, and is referred to as a 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) image or a pseudo-three-dimensional (pseudo-3D) image in order to be distinguished from a stereoscopic image manufactured by a so-called 3D printer technique. The technique for producing such a shaped object is an example of a three-dimensional image printing technique, but is referred to as a 2.5D printing technique or a pseudo three-dimensional (pseudo-3D) printing technique for distinguishing it from a so-called 3D printer.

As shown in fig. 1, the thermal expansion sheet 10 includes a substrate 11, a thermal expansion layer 12, and an ink receiving layer 13 in this order. Fig. 1 shows a cross section of the thermally expandable sheet 10 before the formation of the shaped object, that is, in a state where none of the portions is expanded.

The substrate 11 is a sheet-like medium that forms the basis of the thermally expandable sheet 10. The substrate 11 is a support for supporting the thermal expansion layer 12 and the ink receiving layer 13, and plays a role of maintaining the strength of the thermal expansion sheet 10. As the substrate 11, for example, a general printing paper can be used. Alternatively, the material of the substrate 11 may be synthetic paper, cloth such as canvas cloth, or a plastic film such as polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and the like, and is not particularly limited.

The thermal expansion layer 12 is a layer that is stacked on the upper side of the substrate 11 and expands when heated to a predetermined temperature or higher. The thermally-expansible layer 12 includes a binder and a thermally-expansible material dispersed and disposed in the binder. The adhesive is a thermoplastic resin such as an ethylene-vinyl acetate polymer or an acrylic polymer. The thermally expandable material is specifically a thermally expandable microcapsule (fine powder) having a particle diameter of about 5 to 50 μm, in which a substance vaporized at a low boiling point such as propane or butane is contained in a shell of a thermoplastic resin. When the heat-expandable material is heated to a temperature of about 80 to about 120 ℃, for example, the encapsulated substance is vaporized and foamed and expanded by the pressure thereof. In this manner, the thermal expansion layer 12 expands in response to the absorbed heat. The thermally expandable material is also referred to as a blowing agent.

The ink receiving layer 13 is a layer which is laminated on the upper side of the thermal expansion layer 12 and absorbs and receives ink. The ink receiving layer 13 receives printing ink used in an ink jet printer, printing toner used in a laser printer, ink for a ball-point pen or a fountain pen, graphite for a pencil, and the like. The ink receptive layers 13 are formed of a suitable material for securing them at the surface. As the material of the ink receiving layer 13, for example, a known material used for ink jet paper can be used.

Fig. 2(a) and (b) show the back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10. The back surface of the thermally-expansible sheet 10 is the surface of the thermally-expansible sheet 10 on the side of the substrate 11, and corresponds to the back surface of the substrate 11. Fig. 2(a) shows the back surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10 having the size of the sheet of the 1 st size, and fig. 2(b) shows the back surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10 having the size of the sheet of the 2 nd size. For example, the 1 st size is A3(297mm × 420mm) size, and the 2 nd size is a4(210mm × 297mm) size, which is a half of the 1 st size.

As shown in fig. 2(a) and (B), a plurality of barcodes B are provided on the edge portion on the 1 st side of the rear surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10. Here, the 1 st side edge corresponds to 1 side out of the 4 sides of the thermal expansion sheet 10. More specifically, the 1 st side edge portion corresponds to one side edge portion in the longitudinal direction in the 1 st-size thermal expansion sheet 10 shown in fig. 2(a), and corresponds to one side edge portion in the transverse direction in the 2 nd-size thermal expansion sheet 10 shown in fig. 2 (b). The barcode B is an identifier for identifying the thermal expansion sheet 10, and is an identifier indicating that the thermal expansion sheet 10 is a sheet dedicated for the shaped object. The barcode B is read by the expansion device 50 and used to determine whether or not the thermal expansion sheet 10 can be used in the expansion device 50.

The molding system 1 can mold a plurality of types of thermally expandable sheets 10 having different sizes. Carbon molecules are printed on the front or back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10 at the portions where the expansion layer 12 expands. Carbon molecules are contained in black (carbon black) or other color ink, and are one of electromagnetic wave heat conversion materials (heat generating agents) that absorb electromagnetic waves and convert them into heat. The carbon molecules generate heat by thermally vibrating by absorbing electromagnetic waves. In the thermally expandable sheet 10, when a portion where carbon molecules are printed is heated, the thermally expandable layer 12 in the portion expands to form a bump (protrusion). The thermal expansion sheet 10 is shaped by forming projections or irregularities from the projections (projections) of the thermal expansion layer 12.

< shaping System 1>

Next, the system 1 for forming a shaped object on the heat-expandable sheet 10 will be described with reference to fig. 3. As shown in fig. 3, the modeling system 1 includes a terminal device 30, a printing device 40, and an expansion device 50.

The terminal device 30 is an information processing device such as a personal computer, a smart phone, or a tablet computer, and is a control means for controlling the printing device 40 and the expansion device 50. As shown in fig. 4, the terminal device 30 includes a control unit 31, a storage unit 32, an operation unit 33, a display unit 34, a recording medium drive unit 35, and a communication unit 36. These respective units are connected by a bus for transmitting signals.

The control Unit 31 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The control unit 31 has a CPU that reads out a control program stored in a ROM and controls the operation of the entire terminal device 30 while using a RAM as a work memory.

The storage unit 32 is a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory or a hard disk. The storage unit 32 stores a program or data executed by the control unit 31, and color image data, table bubble data, and back bubble data printed by the printing apparatus 40.

The operation unit 33 includes an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, buttons, a touch panel, or a touch panel, and receives an operation from a user. The user can input color image data, edit front foam data and back foam data, operate the printing device 40 or the expansion device 50, and the like by operating the operation unit 33.

The display unit 34 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic el (electro luminescence) display, and a display driving circuit for displaying an image on the display device. For example, the display unit 34 displays color image data, front foam data, and back foam data. The display unit 34 displays information indicating the current state of the printing device 40 or the expansion device 50 as needed.

The recording medium drive unit 35 reads a program or data recorded on a removable recording medium. The portable recording medium includes a cd (compact Disc) -ROM, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) -ROM, a flash memory having a USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard connector, and the like. For example, the recording medium driving unit 35 reads out and acquires color image data, table bubble data, and back bubble data from a removable recording medium.

The communication unit 36 includes an interface for communicating with an external device including the printing device 40 and the expansion device 50. The terminal device 30 is connected to the printing device 40 and the expansion device 50 via a flexible cable, a wired line such as a Local Area Network (LAN), or a wireless line such as a wireless LAN or Bluetooth (registered trademark). The communication unit 36 communicates with the printing device 40 and the expansion device 50 in compliance with at least 1 communication standard out of these under the control of the control unit 31.

< printing apparatus 40>

The printing device 40 is a printing unit that prints an image on the front surface or the back surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10. The printing device 40 is an ink jet printer, and prints an image by making ink droplets and directly ejecting the ink onto a print medium.

Fig. 5 shows a detailed structure of the printing device 40. As shown in fig. 5, the printing device 40 includes a carriage 41 that is capable of reciprocating in a main scanning direction D2(X direction) orthogonal to a sub-scanning direction D1(Y direction) that is a direction in which the heat-expandable sheet 10 is conveyed.

A print head 42 for printing and ink cartridges 43(43k, 43c, 43m, 43y) for storing ink are mounted on the carriage 41. The ink cartridges 43K, 43C, 43M, and 43Y contain black K, cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y color inks, respectively. The ink of each color is ejected from the corresponding nozzle of the print head 42.

The carriage 41 is slidably supported by a guide rail 44 and is held by a drive belt 45. The carriage 41 moves in the main scanning direction D2 together with the print head 42 and the ink cartridge 43 by driving the belt 45 with the rotation of the motor 45 m.

A platen 48 is provided at a position facing the print head 42 at a lower portion of the frame 47. The platen 48 extends in the main scanning direction D2, and constitutes a part of the conveyance path of the thermal expansion sheet 10. A pair of feed rollers 49a (lower rollers not shown) and a pair of discharge rollers 49b (lower rollers not shown) are provided in the conveyance path of the thermal expansion sheet 10. The pair of feed rollers 49a and the pair of discharge rollers 49b convey the thermal expansion sheet 10 supported by the platen 48 in the sub-scanning direction D1.

The printing device 40 is connected to the terminal device 30 via a flexible communication cable 46. The terminal device 30 controls the print head 42, the motor 45m, the feed roller pair 49a, and the discharge roller pair 49b via the flexible communication cable 46. Specifically, the terminal device 30 controls the pair of feed rollers 49a and the pair of discharge rollers 49b to convey the thermal expansion sheet 10. The terminal device 30 rotates the motor 45m to move the carriage 41, and conveys the print head 42 to an appropriate position in the main scanning direction D2.

The printing device 40 acquires image data from the terminal device 30 and performs printing based on the acquired image data. Specifically, the printing device 40 acquires color image data, front foam data, and back foam data as image data. The color image data is data representing a color image printed on the surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10. The printing device 40 causes the printing head 42 to eject each of the cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y inks onto the heat-expandable sheet 10 to print a color image.

The table foaming data is data indicating a portion where foaming and expansion are performed on the surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10. The back foam data is data indicating a portion where foam and expansion are caused on the back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10. The printing device 40 causes the print head 42 to eject black ink of black K containing carbon black onto the heat-expandable sheet 10 to print a black gradation image (gradation pattern, heat conversion layer). Thereby, a conversion layer for converting electromagnetic waves into heat is formed on the front surface or the back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10. Black ink containing carbon black is an example of a material that converts electromagnetic waves into heat.

< expansion device 50>

The expansion device 50 is an expansion assembly as follows: the heat-expandable sheet 10 is irradiated with electromagnetic waves to generate heat in the dark and light image printed on the front or back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10, thereby expanding the portion of the heat-expandable sheet 10 on which the dark and light image is printed. The expansion device 50 functions as an electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism that irradiates the thermally expandable sheet 10 with electromagnetic waves.

The structure of the expansion device 50 is schematically shown in fig. 6. In fig. 6, the X direction corresponds to the width direction of the expansion device 50, the Y direction corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the expansion device 50, and the Z direction corresponds to the vertical direction. The X, Y and Z directions are orthogonal to each other.

The expansion device 50 includes a box-shaped case 51. The interior of the housing 51 is partitioned into 2 chambers, an upper housing 51a and a lower housing 51 b. This is to suppress an influence on the substrate and the like in the lower case 51b when the temperature in the upper case 51a increases due to the irradiation of the electromagnetic wave from the irradiation unit 60. The expansion device 50 includes a tray 53, a ventilation portion 54, a conveying motor 55, a conveying rail 56, an irradiation portion 60, and a barcode reader 65 in an upper case 51 a. The expansion device 50 includes a power supply portion 69 and a control portion 70 inside the lower case 51 b.

The tray 53 is a placement portion on which the thermally expandable sheet 10 is placed. The tray 53 is a member for placing the thermally expandable sheet 10 on a flat surface at an appropriate position in the housing 51, and functions as a sheet holding mechanism for stably holding the thermally expandable sheet 10.

Fig. 7 shows a state of the tray 53 when the thermally expandable sheet 10 having a size of a3 is placed, as viewed from above. In fig. 7, thick broken lines indicate the range of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. The thin dotted line indicates the position of the thermal expansion sheet 10 where the barcode B is provided. As shown in fig. 7, the tray 53 includes a pressing member 57 for fixing the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed thereon. The pressing member 57 is opened and closed by a user when the thermal expansion sheet 10 is attached to and detached from the tray 53, and is fixed by pressing the 4-sided peripheral edge portion of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 from above.

The pressing member 57 has 2 openings 58a and 58B in a portion thereof which presses the edge portion of the 1 st side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 where the barcode B is provided. The 2 openings 58a and 58B are provided to prevent the barcode B from being blocked by the pressing member 57 and being unreadable, that is, to allow the barcode reader 65 to optically read the barcode B beyond the pressing member 57. The tray 53 is provided with a sensor for detecting the thermal expansion sheet 10, detects whether or not the thermal expansion sheet 10 is provided, and detects the size of the thermal expansion sheet 10 when the thermal expansion sheet 10 is provided.

Returning to fig. 6, the ventilation unit 54 is provided at one end of the expansion device 50, and ventilates the inside of the expansion device 50. The ventilation unit 54 includes at least 1 fan, and ventilates the inside of the casing 51 by discharging the air inside the casing 51 to the outside.

The conveyance motor 55 is, for example, a stepping motor that operates in synchronization with pulse power, and moves the irradiation unit 60 along the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. Inside the housing 51, a conveying rail 56 is provided in the Y direction, i.e., in a direction parallel to the surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. The irradiation unit 60 is attached to the transport rail 56 so as to be movable along the transport rail 56. The irradiation unit 60 reciprocates along the transport rail 56 while keeping a constant distance from the thermally expandable sheet 10 using a driving force generated by the rotation of the transport motor 55 as a power source. The conveyance motor 55 functions as a relative movement unit (relative movement means) that relatively moves the thermally expandable sheet 10 and the irradiation unit 60.

The irradiation unit 60 is a mechanism that irradiates the heat-expandable sheet 10 with electromagnetic waves while moving along the heat-expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. As shown in fig. 6, the irradiation unit 60 includes a lamp heater 61, a reflection plate 62, a temperature sensor 63, and a cooling unit 64 inside a box-shaped housing.

The lamp heater 61 includes, for example, a halogen lamp as a radiation source, and radiates light in a near-infrared region (wavelength of 750 to 1400nm), a visible light region (wavelength of 380 to 750nm), or a mid-infrared region (wavelength of 1400 to 4000nm) to the thermally expandable sheet 10 as electromagnetic waves. The irradiation unit 60 and the lamp heater 61 function as irradiation means for irradiating the heat-expandable sheet 10 with energy by irradiating light in such a wavelength range. The lamp heater 61 is formed to be long in the X direction so that the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 can be irradiated with substantially uniform electromagnetic waves in the X direction (the width direction of the tray 53).

When light (energy) is irradiated to the thermal expansion sheet 10 on which a dark and light image formed by black ink containing carbon is printed, light is converted into heat more efficiently at the portion on which the dark and light image is printed than at other portions. Therefore, the heat-expandable sheet 10 is mainly heated at a portion where a light-and-dark image is printed, and expands when reaching a temperature at which the heat-expandable material starts to expand. The irradiation unit 60 thermally expands the thermally expandable sheet 10 by irradiating light (energy) while being conveyed by the conveyance motor 55. The light irradiated by the lamp heater 61 is not limited to the light in the wavelength range described above as long as it is an electromagnetic wave.

The reflector 62 is disposed so as to cover the upper side of the lamp heater 61, and reflects the light irradiated from the lamp heater 61 toward the thermally expandable sheet 10. The temperature sensor 63 is a thermocouple, a thermistor, or the like, and measures the temperature of the reflecting plate 62. The cooling unit 64 includes at least 1 fan for supplying air to the irradiation unit 60, sucks in outside air, and sends the sucked outside air to the reflection plate 62 to be cooled. The outside air sent to the reflection plate 62 further flows downward, thereby cooling the irradiation unit 60 and the inside of the housing 51.

The irradiation unit 60 reciprocates between a standby position (1 st position) P1 and a reverse position (2 nd position) P2 along the conveyance rail 56. The standby position P1 is the initial position (home position) of the irradiation unit 60, and is a position at which the irradiation unit 60 is in standby when the expansion device 50 is not in operation. The standby position P1 is set in advance to: the 1 st side of the barcode B, that is, the side where the ventilation part 54 is provided, is provided with respect to the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. On the other hand, the reverse position P2 is a position reached when the irradiation unit 60 moves from the standby position P1, and is set in advance as follows: and the 2 nd side opposite to the 1 st side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. The irradiation unit 60 moves from the standby position P1 to the reversing position P2 along the heat-expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53, reverses at the reversing position P2, and returns to the standby position P1. In this way, the irradiation unit 60 reciprocates with the path from the standby position P1 to the inversion position P2 as the outgoing path and the path from the inversion position P2 to the standby position P1 as the returning path.

The power supply unit 69 includes a power supply IC (Integrated Circuit) and the like, and generates and supplies power necessary for each unit in the expansion device 50. For example, the ventilation unit 54, the conveyance motor 55, the lamp heater 61, and the cooling unit 64 are operated by receiving electric power from the power supply 69.

The control unit 70 is provided on a substrate disposed at a lower portion of the housing 51. The control unit 70 includes a processor such as a CPU and a memory such as a ROM and a RAM, and is connected to each unit of the expansion device 50 via a system bus, which is a transmission path for transmitting commands and data. The control section 70 includes a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory or a hard disk, a timer such as a Real Time Clock (RTC), and a communication interface for communicating with the terminal device 30, although none of them are shown.

The CPU of the control unit 70 reads out a control program stored in the ROM, and functions as a control means for controlling the operation of the entire expansion device 50 while using the RAM as a work memory. Specifically, the controller 70 controls the transport motor 55 to move the irradiation unit 60 in a predetermined direction at a predetermined moving speed. The control unit 70 switches the irradiation of the electromagnetic wave from the irradiation unit 60 on and off, and causes the barcode reader 65 to read the barcode B.

The barcode reader 65 functions as a reading unit (reading means) for reading the barcode B provided on the 1 st edge of the thermally expandable sheet 10. The barcode reader 65 includes a light source for emitting light and an optical sensor for detecting light, and optically reads the barcode B by a known method such as a laser method. The barcode reader 65 thus obtains information as to whether or not the thermally-expansible sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 is a sheet suitable as a target for manufacturing a molded article.

The barcode reader 65 is provided outside the housing of the irradiation section 60, i.e., on the side of the irradiation section 60. The barcode reader 65 optically reads the barcode B provided on the thermally-expansible sheet 10 while moving along the thermally-expansible sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 in accordance with the movement of the irradiation unit 60 by the transport motor 55.

The case where the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B is explained with reference to fig. 8 and 9. Fig. 8 and 9 show a cross section of the tray 53 along the line C-C shown in fig. 7.

As shown in fig. 8 and 9, the thermal expansion sheet 10 is placed on the tray 53 with the edge portion on the 1 st side where the barcode B is provided facing the standby position P1. Since the barcode B is provided on the back surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10, when the thermal expansion sheet 10 is placed on the tray 53 with the front surface facing upward, the barcode B faces downward as shown in fig. 8, that is, the side opposite to the side on which the electromagnetic wave is irradiated by the irradiation target portion 60. On the other hand, when the thermally expandable sheet 10 is placed on the tray 53 with its back surface facing upward, the barcode B faces upward, i.e., the electromagnetic wave side is irradiated to the irradiation part 60, as shown in fig. 9.

The expansion device 50 includes a mirror 59 at a position below the 1 st side edge of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. The mirror 59 is provided so that the barcode reader 65 can read the barcode B from the lower side of the thermally expandable sheet 10. The mirror 59 is disposed with its reflecting surface facing upward, and when the thermally expandable sheet 10 is placed on the tray 53 with the barcode B facing downward, an image of the barcode B is projected to the barcode reader 65 through the 1 st opening 58 a.

As shown in fig. 8, when the thermal expansion sheet 10 is placed on the tray 53 with the barcode B facing downward, the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B at the 1 st reading position R1. The 1 st reading position R1 is a position at which the laser light irradiated from the barcode reader 65 passes through the 1 st opening 58a and the mirror 59 to the lower surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10.

Specifically, the control unit 70 causes the barcode reader 65 to irradiate the laser beam when the irradiation unit 60 is located at the 1 st reading position R1. The laser light emitted from the barcode reader 65 passes through the 1 st aperture 58a and is reflected by the mirror 59, and is irradiated to the portion of the lower surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10 where the barcode B is provided. Then, the laser light is reflected by the thermal expansion sheet 10, and the laser light is received by the barcode reader 65 while going back the same way. In this manner, the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B provided on the lower surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10.

In contrast, as shown in fig. 9, when the thermal expansion sheet 10 is placed on the tray 53 with the barcode B facing upward, the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B at the 2 nd reading position R2. The 2 nd reading position R2 is a position at which the laser light irradiated from the barcode reader 65 passes through the 2 nd opening 58b to the upper surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10.

Specifically, the control unit 70 causes the barcode reader 65 to irradiate the laser beam when the irradiation unit 60 is located at the 2 nd reading position R2. The laser light emitted from the barcode reader 65 is irradiated through the 2 nd opening 58B to the portion of the upper surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10 where the barcode B is provided. The laser beam is reflected by the thermally expandable sheet 10 and received again by the barcode reader 65 through the 2 nd aperture 58 b. In this manner, the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B provided on the upper surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10.

The line of sight of the barcode reader 65, that is, the irradiation direction of the laser beam of the barcode reader 65 is inclined from the 1 st side to the 2 nd side with respect to the direction perpendicular to the surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10. This is so that the barcode reader 65 can accurately read the barcode B from the lower side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 via the mirror 59. In other words, the barcode reader 65 irradiates the laser light in a direction inclined from the standby position P1 to the reverse position P2 with respect to the vertical downward direction. The angle of inclination is specifically 10 degrees or the like. In addition, the 2 openings 58a and 58b are also inclined when viewed from the side surface (X direction) of the tray 53 in accordance with the inclination of the line of sight of the barcode reader 65.

Here, the barcode reader 65 is provided on the side of the irradiation unit 60 on which the ventilation unit 54 is provided, that is, on the 1 st side. In other words, the barcode reader 65 is provided on the opposite side of the forward traveling direction (+ Y direction, i.e., the direction from the 1 st side to the 2 nd side) when the irradiation unit 60 reciprocates between the standby position P1 and the reverse position P2, and on the same side as the forward traveling direction (-Y direction, i.e., the direction from the 2 nd side to the 1 st side) when reciprocating on the return path. The reason why the barcode reader 65 is provided on the opposite side of the irradiation unit 60 in the traveling direction from the standby position P1 is to prevent the expansion device 50 from having a larger space than the configuration in which the barcode reader 65 is provided on the same side as the traveling direction of the irradiation unit 60.

Specifically, fig. 10 shows an example in which the barcode reader 65 is provided on the same side as the traveling direction of the irradiation section 60, as a comparison with the configuration shown in fig. 8. In the configuration shown in fig. 10, the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B at the 1 st reading position R1'. Here, the 1 st reading position R1' in fig. 10 becomes: the distance L corresponding to the width of the irradiation portion 60 in the Y direction is set to a position on the opposite side to the traveling direction on the outward route (-Y direction) of the irradiation portion 60 from the 1 st reading position R1 in the configuration shown in fig. 8 in which the barcode reader 65 is provided on the same side as the traveling direction on the outward route of the irradiation portion 60.

More specifically, as described above, the barcode B is provided at the edge portion of the thermal expansion sheet 10 on the standby position P1 side, and the line of sight direction of the barcode reader 65 is inclined toward the traveling direction side on the path of the irradiation unit 60. For this reason, the position of the barcode reader 65 for reading the barcode B needs to be closer to the-Y direction than the edge portion of the heat-expandable sheet 10 on the standby position P1 side. In addition to the position of the barcode reader 65, in a configuration in which the barcode reader 65 is provided on the same side as the traveling direction of the irradiation unit 60 on the outward route as shown in fig. 10, the irradiation unit 60 needs to be arranged further in the-Y direction than the barcode reader 65. Therefore, a space for disposing the irradiation part 60 is required outside the edge part of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 on the standby position P1 side, that is, between the tray 53 and the ventilation part 54.

In contrast, as shown in fig. 8 and 9, the standby position P1 of the irradiation unit 60 can be set to a position closer to the + Y direction by the configuration in which the barcode reader 65 is provided on the opposite side of the traveling direction of the irradiation unit 60 on the outward route. This can further reduce the space between the tray 53 and the ventilation part 54, and further reduce the length of the expansion device 50 in the longitudinal direction in the moving direction of the irradiation part 60. Therefore, the expansion device 50 can be reduced in size while saving space.

The control unit 70 controls the barcode reader 65 to execute a process of reading the barcode B provided on the upper or lower surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. The flow of the barcode B reading process executed by the control section 70 will be described below with reference to fig. 11.

The controller 70 drives the conveyance motor 55 to move the irradiation unit 60 from the standby position P1. When the irradiation unit 60 reaches the 1 st reading position R1 shown in fig. 8, the control unit 70 causes the barcode reader 65 to irradiate laser light, thereby reading the barcode B from the lower side of the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. As a result, the control unit 70 determines whether or not the barcode B is read from the lower side of the thermally expandable sheet 10 (step S101). When the barcode B is read from the lower side of the thermally expandable sheet 10 (yes in step S101), the control unit 70 determines that the upper side of the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 is the front side (step S102).

On the other hand, when the barcode B is not read from the lower side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 (no in step S101), the control unit 70 moves the irradiation unit 60 further by the conveyance motor 55. When the irradiation unit 60 reaches the 2 nd reading position R2 shown in fig. 9, the control unit 70 causes the barcode reader 65 to irradiate laser light to read the barcode B from the upper side of the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. As a result, the control unit 70 determines whether or not the barcode B is read from the upper side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 (step S103). When the barcode B is read from the upper side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 (yes at step S103), the control unit 70 determines that the upper side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 is the back side (step S104).

When the barcode B is not read from the lower side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 (no in step S103), that is, when the barcode B is not read from both the upper side and the lower side of the thermal expansion sheet 10, the control unit 70 determines that the thermal expansion sheet 10 is not normally placed on the tray 53, and abnormally ends. In this case, the control unit 70 stops the conveyance of the irradiation unit 60 by the conveyance motor 55. The control unit 70 then requests the user to correctly place the thermal expansion sheet 10 on the tray 53, for example, by issuing a warning.

On the other hand, when the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B, that is, when it is determined in step S102 that the upper side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 is the front side, or when it is determined in step S104 that the upper side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 is the back side, the control unit 70 normally ends the reading process of the barcode B. In this case, the transport motor 55 performs an expansion process of expanding the thermal expansion sheet 10 by moving the irradiation portion 60 along the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 in a state where the irradiation portion 60 is irradiated with the electromagnetic wave under the control of the control portion 70.

Since the barcode reader 65 is provided on the side of the irradiation unit 60 in this manner, when the irradiation unit 60 moves from the standby position P1 to the electromagnetic wave irradiation position, the barcode reader moves together, and reads the barcode B at the 2 different reading positions R1 and R2. Thus, the control unit 70 can perform the expansion process of the thermal expansion sheet 10 after recognizing whether the thermal expansion sheet 10 is placed on the tray 53 with the front surface facing upward or the rear surface facing upward. The expansion process of the thermally expandable sheet 10 is explained below.

< inflation treatment >

The control unit 70 irradiates the thermal expansion sheet 10, on which a dark or light image is printed with black ink containing carbon by the printing device 40, with electromagnetic waves to expand the thermal expansion sheet 10.

Fig. 12 shows a case where the expansion device 50 performs the expansion process. When the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B provided on the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53, the control unit 70 supplies a power supply voltage to the illuminating unit 60 to turn on the lamp heater 61. Then, the control unit 70 drives the conveyance motor 55 in a state where the irradiation unit 60 is irradiated with the electromagnetic wave. Thus, controller 70 moves irradiation unit 60 a predetermined distance in a direction (1 st direction) from standby position P1 to reverse position P2. The 1 st direction specifically corresponds to a direction from the 1 st side edge (i.e., the right side edge in fig. 12) of the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53, on which the barcode B is provided, to the 2 nd side edge (i.e., the left side edge in fig. 12) opposite to the 1 st side edge. In this way, the control unit 70 moves the irradiation unit 60 from the end to the end of the thermally expandable sheet 10, thereby irradiating electromagnetic waves over a wide range to the front surface or the back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10.

The predetermined distance differs depending on the size of the thermally expandable sheet 10. For example, if the size of the thermal expansion sheet 10 is a size a3, which is the size of the tray 53 that can be placed thereon, the predetermined distance corresponds to the distance from the end of the tray 53 in the Y direction. On the other hand, if the size of the thermal expansion sheet 10 is a4 size, the predetermined distance corresponds to half the distance from end to end of the tray 53 in the Y direction.

When the electromagnetic wave is irradiated from the irradiation section 60, the portion of the thermal expansion sheet 10 on which the black-and-white image is printed with black ink containing carbon black generates heat. The thermally expandable material in the thermally expandable layer 12 is heated to the expansion start temperature and expands. Whereby the thermal expansion layer 12 bulges.

The predetermined temperature is a temperature at which the thermally-expansible material contained in the thermally-expansible layer 12 starts to expand, and is, for example, a temperature of about 80 ℃ to about 120 ℃. The control unit 70 moves the irradiation unit 60, which irradiates electromagnetic waves with a predetermined intensity, at a predetermined speed, thereby heating the portion of the thermal expansion sheet 10 on which the shading image is printed to a predetermined temperature or higher. The predetermined strength and the predetermined speed are set in advance so that the thermal expansion sheet 10 can be heated to a predetermined temperature or higher.

Further, the heat transfer form from the upper surface on which the shade image is printed to the thermal expansion layer 12 differs between the case where the barcode B is read from the upper side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 (back foaming) and the case where the barcode B is read from the lower side of the thermal expansion sheet 10 (surface foaming). For this purpose, the given strength and the given speed can be set to different values for the front and back foam. In other words, the controller 70 may set the intensity of the electromagnetic wave irradiated by the irradiation unit 60 or the moving speed of the irradiation unit 60 to different values between the case where the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B at the 1 st reading position R1 and the case where the barcode B is read at the 2 nd reading position R2.

In this way, the controller 70 causes the irradiation unit 60 to irradiate electromagnetic waves while moving the irradiation unit 60 in the 1 st direction by the conveyance motor 55, thereby expanding the thermally expandable sheet 10. The portion of the thermal expansion sheet 10 on which the gradation image is printed expands to a height corresponding to the density. This enables the thermal expansion sheet 10 to be formed into a desired shape.

By the inflation process, the irradiation portion 60 reaches the inversion position P2. After the inflation process is performed, although not shown, the controller 70 performs the ventilation process of the ventilation unit 54 or the cooling process of the cooling unit 64 as necessary while moving the irradiation unit 60 in the direction from the inversion position P2 to the standby position P1 (the 2 nd direction), that is, while returning the irradiation unit 60 to the standby position P1. Specifically, the controller 70 drives the ventilator 54 to discharge the air in the casing 51 heated by the expansion process to the outside. The controller 70 drives the cooling unit 64 to cool the irradiation unit 60 and the thermally expandable sheet 10 heated by the expansion process.

< Process for producing shaped article >

Next, the flow of the process for producing formed objects performed by the printing device 40 and the expansion device 50 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in fig. 13 and the cross-sectional views of the thermal expansion sheet 10 shown in fig. 14(a) to (e).

First, the user prepares the thermal expandable sheet 10 before the production of the molded article, and specifies color image data, front foam data, and back foam data via the terminal device 30. Then, the thermal expansion sheet 10 is inserted into the printing device 40 with its surface facing upward. The printing apparatus 40 prints the conversion layer 14 on the surface of the inserted thermal expansion sheet 10 (step S1). The conversion layer 14 is a layer formed of ink containing an electromagnetic wave heat conversion material, for example, black ink containing carbon black. The printing device 40 applies black ink containing carbon black to the surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10 in accordance with the specified table foaming data. As a result, the conversion layer 14 is formed on the ink receiving layer 13 as shown in fig. 14 (a). In addition, although the conversion layer 14 is shown as being formed on the ink receiving layer 13 for easy understanding, more precisely, the conversion layer 14 is formed in the ink receiving layer 13 because the black ink is received in the ink receiving layer 13.

The user places the thermal expansion sheet 10 with the conversion layer 14 printed thereon on the tray 53 of the expansion apparatus 50 with the surface facing upward. The expansion device 50 performs a surface foaming process on the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 (step S2). Specifically, the expansion device 50 irradiates the surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10 with electromagnetic waves through the irradiation unit 60. The heat conversion material contained in the conversion layer 14 printed on the surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 absorbs the irradiated electromagnetic waves, thereby generating heat. As a result, the conversion layer 14 generates heat, and as shown in fig. 14(b), the region of the thermal expansion layer 12 of the thermal expansion sheet 10 on which the conversion layer 14 is printed expands and bulges.

In step 3, the heat-expandable sheet 10 in which a part of the heat-expandable layer 12 is expanded is inserted into the printing device 40 with its surface facing upward. The printing device 40 prints a color image (color ink layer 15) on the surface of the inserted thermal expansion sheet 10 (step S3). Specifically, the printing device 40 applies the respective inks of cyan C, magenta M, and yellow Y to the surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10 in accordance with the designated color image data. As a result, the color ink layer 15 is formed on the ink receiving layer 13 as shown in fig. 14 (c). In addition, although the color ink layer 15 is illustrated as being formed on the ink receiving layer 13, more precisely, the color ink is received in the ink receiving layer 13.

In the 4 th embodiment, the user places the thermal expansion sheet 10 on which the color ink layer 15 is printed on the tray 53 of the expansion device 50 with the back surface facing upward. The expansion device 50 performs a drying process on the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 (step S4). Specifically, the expansion device 50 irradiates the back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10 with electromagnetic waves through the irradiation unit 60. Thus, the expansion device 50 heats the color ink layer 15 printed on the surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10, and causes the solvent contained in the color ink layer 15 to act.

The user inserts the thermal expansion sheet 10 on which the color ink layer 15 is printed into the printing device 40 with the back surface facing upward. The printing apparatus 40 prints the conversion layer 16 on the back surface of the inserted thermal expansion sheet 10 (step S5). The conversion layer 16 is a layer formed of a material that converts electromagnetic waves into heat, specifically, black ink containing carbon black, as in the case of the conversion layer 14 printed on the surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10. The printing device 40 applies black ink containing carbon black to the back surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10 in accordance with the specified back foaming data. As a result, as shown in fig. 14(d), the conversion layer 16 is formed on the back surface of the base material 11.

The user places the thermal expansion sheet 10 with the conversion layer 16 printed thereon on the tray 53 of the expansion apparatus 50 with the back surface facing upward. The expansion device 50 performs a back foaming process on the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 (step S6). Specifically, the expansion device 50 irradiates the back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10 with electromagnetic waves through the irradiation unit 60. The conversion layer 16 printed on the back surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10 absorbs the irradiated electromagnetic wave to generate heat. As a result, as shown in fig. 14(e), the region of the thermal expansion layer 12 of the thermal expansion sheet 10 on which the conversion layer 16 is printed expands and bulges.

Through the above steps, the shaped object is formed on the surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10.

The conversion layers 14 and 16 may be formed only on the front or back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10. When the thermal expansion layer 12 is expanded only by the conversion layer 14 on the surface, the above-described processing is performed in steps S1 to S4. On the other hand, when the thermal expansion layer 12 is expanded only by the conversion layer 16 on the back surface, the above-described steps S3 to S6 are performed.

The back foaming process in steps S5 and S6 may be performed before the surface foaming process in steps S1 and S2, or the printing and drying process of the color ink layer 15 in steps S3 and S4 may be performed before the surface foaming process in steps S1 and S2. Alternatively, the process of table foaming in step S2 may be performed after the printing of the conversion layer 14 on the surface in step S1 and the printing of the color ink layer 15 in step S3 are performed. As described above, the processing sequence of steps S1 to S6 may be variously replaced.

As described above, the expansion device 50 according to the present embodiment is a device for irradiating electromagnetic waves to the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 in order to manufacture a shaped object, and when the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B provided on the thermal expansion sheet 10, the electromagnetic waves are irradiated by the irradiation unit 60 moving along the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. By reading the bar code B in this manner, the expansion device 50 according to the present embodiment can recognize whether or not the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 is a sheet suitable for manufacturing a shaped object, and can irradiate electromagnetic waves.

In this case, in the inflation device 50 according to the present embodiment, the barcode reader 65 is provided on the side opposite to the direction of movement of the irradiation unit 60 from the standby position P1 to the reverse position P2. This allows the standby position P1 of the irradiation section 60 to be set closer to the reverse position P2. As a result, in the expansion device 50 including the barcode reader 65 for identifying the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53, the length of the expansion device 50 in the longitudinal direction can be shortened, and the expansion device 50 can be made compact and space-saving.

(modification example)

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the above embodiments are examples, and the scope of application of the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the embodiments of the present invention can be applied variously, and all of the embodiments are included in the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the expansion device 50 expands the thermally-expansible sheet 10 by irradiating the irradiation unit 60 with electromagnetic waves while moving the irradiation unit 60 along the thermally-expansible sheet 10 placed on the tray 53. However, in the present invention, the expansion device 50 may be provided with a conveying mechanism for conveying the thermally expandable sheet 10, and the thermally expandable sheet 10 conveyed by the conveying mechanism may be expanded by irradiating the electromagnetic wave from the irradiation unit 60, which is fixed in position, to the thermally expandable sheet 10. In this case, the conveying mechanism for conveying the heat-expandable sheet 10 functions as a relative movement unit. Here, the conveying mechanism is, for example, a conveying roller or the like that nips and conveys the thermally expandable sheet 10 carried in from the carry-in section. Alternatively, the transport mechanism may move the tray 53 on which the thermally expandable sheet 10 is placed in the Y direction or the X direction.

Specifically, fig. 15 shows an example of a structure in which the thermally expandable sheet 10 is transported to the irradiation unit 60 that is fixed in position. In the example of fig. 15, the thermally expandable sheet 10 is transported in the-Y direction (the direction of the outlined arrow in fig. 15) with the edge on the 1 st side where the barcode B is provided as the leading end. When the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B provided at the leading end of the thermal expansion sheet 10, the control unit 70 causes the irradiation unit 60 to irradiate electromagnetic waves while causing the transport mechanism to transport the thermal expansion sheet 10. The irradiation unit 60 thus irradiates the transported thermal expansion sheet 10 with electromagnetic waves while moving relative to the thermal expansion sheet 10 from the 1 st edge to the 2 nd edge.

At this time, as shown in fig. 15, the barcode reader 65 is provided on the 1 st side of the irradiation unit 60, that is, on the opposite side of the traveling direction (the direction opposite to the outlined arrow in fig. 15) of the irradiation unit 60 with respect to the thermal expansion sheet 10. Thus, the position of the irradiation unit 60 when the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B can be brought closer to the thermal expansion sheet 10 side than when the barcode reader 65 is provided on the same side as the direction of travel of the irradiation unit 60 with respect to each other. Therefore, the transport path of the thermally expandable sheet 10 can be shortened accordingly, and the expansion device 50 can be made more compact and space-saving. As described above, in the expansion device 50 according to the present invention, the relative movement unit may move either the thermal expansion sheet 10 or the irradiation unit 60 as long as the thermal expansion sheet 10 and the irradiation unit 60 can be moved relative to each other.

In the above embodiment, the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B to acquire information as to whether or not the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 is a sheet suitable as a target for manufacturing a molded article. The barcode reader 65 acquires information on whether the thermal expansion sheet 10 placed on the tray 53 has its front surface facing upward or its back surface facing upward, based on the position at which the barcode B is read. However, in the present invention, the barcode reader 65 is not limited to these information, and can read the barcode B to obtain other information as the sheet information on the thermally expandable sheet 10 placed on the tray 53.

For example, the barcode B may include information such as the size, thickness, and type of the thermally expandable sheet 10 on which the barcode B is provided. In this case, the barcode reader 65 reads the barcode B to obtain information such as the size, thickness, and type of the thermal expansion sheet 10 as sheet information. The control unit 70 may adjust the moving distance of the relative moving unit, the moving speed of the relative moving unit, or the intensity of the electromagnetic wave irradiated by the irradiation unit 60 according to the sheet information acquired by the barcode reader 65.

Specifically, when the barcode reader 65 acquires the size information of the thermally expandable sheet 10 from the barcode B, the control unit 70 may change the moving distance of the irradiation unit 60 so that the electromagnetic wave can be irradiated from the end of the thermally expandable sheet 10 to the end in accordance with the acquired size information. For example, when the size of the thermally-expansible sheet 10 is A3 size, the controller 70 can set a distance 2 times as long as the moving distance of the irradiation unit 60, compared with the case of a4 size which is half the size.

Alternatively, when the barcode reader 65 acquires information on the thickness or type of the thermally expandable sheet 10 from the barcode B, the control unit 70 may change the moving speed of the irradiation unit 60 or the intensity of the electromagnetic wave irradiated by the irradiation unit 60 according to the acquired information on the thickness or type. By changing the moving speed of the irradiation unit 60 or the intensity of the electromagnetic wave irradiated by the irradiation unit 60, the amount of the electromagnetic wave per unit area irradiated to the thermally expandable sheet 10 can be adjusted. Therefore, even when the thermal expansion sheet 10 of various thicknesses or types is placed on the tray 53, the thermal expansion layer 12 can be heated at an appropriate temperature, and the thermal expansion sheet 10 can be expanded with high precision.

In the above embodiment, the barcode B is provided as the identifier on the thermally expandable sheet 10. However, in the present invention, the identifier is not limited to the barcode B, and may be a character, a symbol, a figure, or the like as long as the information can be read by the reading unit. The reading unit is not limited to reading the barcode B with a laser as in the barcode reader 65, and may read the identifier in any manner.

In the above embodiment, the thermally expandable sheet 10 includes the substrate 11, the thermally expandable layer 12, and the ink receiving layer 13. However, in the present invention, the structure of the thermally expandable sheet 10 is not limited to this. For example, the heat-expandable sheet 10 may not have the ink-receiving layer 13, or may have a peelable release layer on the front surface or the back surface. Alternatively, the thermally expandable sheet 10 may have a layer made of any other material.

In the above embodiment, the terminal device 30, the printing device 40, and the expansion device 50 are independent devices. However, in the present invention, at least any 2 of the terminal device 30, the printing device 40, and the expansion device 50 may be integrated.

The printing method of the printing device 40 is not limited to the inkjet method. For example, the printing device 40 may be a laser printer that prints images with toner and developer. The conversion layers 14 and 16 may be formed of a material other than black ink containing carbon black, as long as it is a material that easily converts light into heat. In this case, the conversion layers 14 and 16 may be formed by means other than the printing apparatus 40.

In the above-described embodiment, the expansion device 50 for producing a shaped object by expanding the thermally expandable sheet 10 as the electromagnetic wave irradiation means is described as an example. However, the object to be irradiated with electromagnetic waves by the electromagnetic wave irradiation means according to the present invention is not limited to the thermally expandable sheet 10, and may be a general sheet. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to the present invention is not limited to the mechanism for manufacturing a shaped article as long as the sheet is processed by irradiating the sheet with electromagnetic waves. In other words, the electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to the present invention reads an identifier provided on a sheet placed on the placement unit, and when the identifier is read, the electromagnetic wave is irradiated while moving the irradiation unit along the sheet, thereby processing the sheet. In this case, the reading means for reading the identifier provided on the sheet is provided on the side opposite to the moving direction of the irradiation unit, so that space can be saved.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and the present invention includes the inventions described in the scope of the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Claims (16)

1. An electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism, comprising:

an irradiation unit that irradiates an electromagnetic wave for heating a thermally expandable sheet that expands due to heating, with the thermally expandable sheet;

a relative movement unit that relatively moves the thermally expandable sheet and the irradiation unit;

a reading unit that reads an identifier provided at an edge portion on the 1 st side of the thermally expandable sheet; and

a control unit that causes the irradiation unit to irradiate the thermally-expansible sheet with an electromagnetic wave while causing the irradiation unit to relatively move with respect to the thermally-expansible sheet from the 1 st-side edge portion of the thermally-expansible sheet to the 2 nd-side edge portion of the thermally-expansible sheet that is opposite to the 1 st side by the relative movement unit when the reading unit reads the identifier,

the reading portion is provided on the side opposite to the direction from the 1 st side to the 2 nd side in the irradiation portion.

2. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to claim 1,

the electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism further includes: a placement unit for placing the thermally expandable sheet thereon,

the relative movement unit moves the irradiation unit along the thermally expandable sheet placed on the placement unit.

3. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to claim 2,

the control unit causes the irradiation unit to reciprocate by the relative movement unit between a standby position located on the 1 st side with respect to the thermally expandable sheet placed on the placement unit and an inverted position located on the 2 nd side with respect to the thermally expandable sheet placed on the placement unit, when the reading unit reads the identifier.

4. An electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the line-of-sight direction of the reading unit is inclined from the 1 st side to the 2 nd side in comparison with a direction perpendicular to the surface of the thermally-expansible sheet.

5. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the reading unit is provided on a side of the irradiation unit, and optically reads the identifier while moving relative to the thermally expandable sheet.

6. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to claim 5,

the reading unit reads the identifier at a 1 st reading position when the thermally expandable sheet is placed so that the identifier faces the side opposite to the side on which the electromagnetic wave is irradiated by the irradiation unit, and reads the identifier at a 2 nd reading position when the thermally expandable sheet is placed so that the identifier faces the side on which the electromagnetic wave is irradiated by the irradiation unit.

7. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to claim 5 or 6,

the electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism includes: a mirror that reflects an image of the identifier when the thermally expandable sheet is placed so that the identifier faces the opposite side to the side on which the electromagnetic wave is irradiated by the irradiation unit,

when the thermally expandable sheet is placed so that the identifier faces the opposite side to the side on which the electromagnetic wave is irradiated by the irradiation unit, the reading unit reads the image of the identifier reflected on the mirror.

8. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

the reading unit reads the identifier to acquire thermal expansion sheet information on the thermal expansion sheet,

the control unit adjusts a moving distance of the relative movement unit, a moving speed of the relative movement unit, or an intensity of the electromagnetic wave irradiated by the irradiation unit, in accordance with the thermal expansion sheet information acquired by the reading unit.

9. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to claim 8,

the reading unit acquires information on the size, thickness, or type of the thermally-expansible sheet as the thermally-expansible sheet information.

10. The electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 9,

the relative movement unit relatively moves the heat-expandable sheet on which a conversion layer for converting electromagnetic waves into heat is printed and the irradiation unit,

the control unit causes the irradiation unit to irradiate the thermal expansion sheet with electromagnetic waves to expand the thermal expansion sheet while relatively moving the thermal expansion sheet and the irradiation unit by the relative movement unit when the reading unit reads the identifier.

11. An electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism, comprising:

an irradiation unit that irradiates the thermally expandable sheet with an electromagnetic wave for heating the thermally expandable sheet;

a relative movement unit that relatively moves the thermally expandable sheet and the irradiation unit;

a reading unit that reads an identifier provided at an edge of the thermally expandable sheet and is provided on the 1 st side of the irradiation unit; and

and a control unit that, when the reading unit reads the identifier, causes the irradiation unit to irradiate the thermally-expansible sheet with an electromagnetic wave while causing the irradiation unit to move relative to the thermally-expansible sheet from the 1 st side to the 2 nd side, which is opposite to the 1 st side, with respect to the irradiation unit, via the relative movement unit.

12. An electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism, comprising:

an irradiation unit that irradiates the thermally expandable sheet with an electromagnetic wave for heating the thermally expandable sheet;

a relative movement unit that relatively moves the thermally expandable sheet and the irradiation unit;

a reading unit that reads an identifier provided at an edge of the thermally expandable sheet; and

a control unit that causes the irradiation unit to irradiate the thermally-expansible sheet with an electromagnetic wave while causing the irradiation unit to reciprocate relative to the thermally-expansible sheet by the relative movement unit when the reading unit reads the identifier,

the reading unit is provided on the side of the irradiation unit opposite to the traveling direction on the outward route of the reciprocating movement by the relative movement unit and on the same side as the traveling direction on the return route of the reciprocating movement.

13. A shaped object manufacturing system is characterized in that,

an electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. A method for producing a shaped article, characterized in that,

the method includes the step of providing the electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 12 with a thermally expandable sheet having an identifier provided at an edge portion on the 1 st side.

15. The molding manufacturing method according to claim 14,

further comprising: forming a conversion layer for converting electromagnetic waves into heat on at least one of a front surface and a back surface of the thermally expandable sheet; and

the thermal expansion sheet is supplied to the electromagnetic wave irradiation mechanism so that the one surface or the other surface of the thermal expansion sheet on which the conversion layer is formed faces the reading unit.

16. The molding manufacturing method according to claim 14 or 15,

the identifier is provided at an edge portion on the 1 st side of the rear surface of the thermally expandable sheet.

Images