CN114919179A

CN114919179A - Calibration method and installation method of energy radiation device of 3D printing equipment

Info

Publication number: CN114919179A
Application number: CN202210512411.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 荣左超; 赖永辉; 丁泽锋
Original assignee: Shanghai Union Technology Corp
Current assignee: Shanghai Union Technology Corp
Priority date: 2022-05-12
Filing date: 2022-05-12
Publication date: 2022-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 2042-05-12
Also published as: CN114919179B

Abstract

The calibration process and the installation process can be separately carried out in different places by constructing an installation simulation environment which is the same as that of a field 3D printing device and carrying out optical configuration in the installation simulation environment to obtain calibration data, and after the field 3D printing device receives the calibration data and installs the energy radiation device, the calibration data obtained by carrying out optical configuration in the installation simulation environment by using the energy radiation device can be used for ensuring that the energy radiation device can also achieve the same calibration effect in the field 3D printing device.

Description

Calibration method and installation method of energy radiation device of 3D printing equipment

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of 3D printing, in particular to a calibration method and an installation method of an energy radiation device of 3D printing equipment.

Background

3D printing is one of rapid prototyping technologies, which is a technology for constructing a three-dimensional object by using bondable materials such as powdered metal, plastic, resin and the like in a layer-by-layer printing manner on the basis of a digital model file. The 3D printing equipment executing the printing technology has wide application in the fields of molds, customized commodities, medical jigs, prostheses and the like due to high forming precision. The three-dimensional printing device can be divided into a 3D printing device based on bottom projection or bottom exposure and a 3D printing device based on top projection or top exposure according to the arrangement positions of the energy radiation device and the container in the 3D printing device.

Before the energy radiation device of the 3D printing device is used for the first time and/or after a period of time, the energy radiation device needs to be calibrated, so that the energy radiated by the energy radiation device can be radiated with preset energy and position in the printing process, otherwise, the energy radiated by the energy radiation device can be different from the set expected value, or the energy radiated by the energy radiation device can be deviated in position. However, the calibration operation is usually performed simultaneously with the installation, which may cause inconvenience in some scenarios.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-described drawbacks of the related art, it is an object of the present application to provide a calibration method and an installation method of an energy radiation device to allow steps of calibration and installation to be performed at two locations, respectively.

To achieve the above and other related objects, a first aspect of the present application discloses a calibration method of an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus, the calibration method including the steps of: constructing an installation simulation environment, so that the energy radiation device has the same physical installation parameters in the installation simulation environment and the 3D printing equipment on the site; the physical mounting parameters comprise mounting height and/or mounting levelness in at least one direction; placing the energy radiation device to be installed in the installation simulation environment according to the physical installation parameters for optical configuration to obtain calibration data; the calibration data comprises at least one of: breadth optical distortion data, breadth light intensity uniformity data, current and breadth brightness relation data and power and breadth brightness relation data; fixing the position of the optical path member of the energy radiation device; and exporting the calibration data, or sending the calibration data to the 3D printing equipment on site, so that after the energy radiation device to be installed is installed on the 3D printing equipment, the 3D printing equipment reads the calibration data to reproduce the optical configuration result of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the on-site 3D printing apparatus is preset with a mounting reference surface, and the mounting reference surface is used for mounting an energy radiation device, and the energy radiation device radiates energy to the printing reference surface during 3D printing to mold the material to be cured on the printing reference surface; the installation simulation environment includes a simulation installation device.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the analog mounting device comprises: the printing simulation system comprises a simulation printing surface, a simulation printing device and a control device, wherein the simulation printing surface is used for simulating a printing reference surface in 3D printing equipment; the simulation installation surface is used for simulating an installation reference surface in the 3D printing equipment; the position relation of the simulation installation surface relative to the simulation printing surface is the same as the position relation of the installation reference surface relative to the printing reference surface, so that the energy radiation device has the same physical installation parameters in an installation simulation environment and the 3D printing equipment on site.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, when the physical installation parameter comprises an installation height, the same physical installation parameter comprises: the distance between the simulation printing surface and the simulation mounting surface is the same as the distance between the printing reference surface and the mounting reference surface; when the physical mounting parameters include a mounting levelness in at least one direction, the same physical mounting parameters include: the installation levelness of the plane of the analog printing surface and the plane of the analog installation surface in at least one direction is the same as the installation levelness of the plane of the printing reference surface and the plane of the installation reference surface in at least one direction.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the optical configuration comprises generating corresponding calibration data based on a difference in shape and/or brightness between an actual image and an expected image of the energy radiation device, the calibration data being used to process the print data for optical correction.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the 3D printing device is a 3D printing device based on surface projection exposure.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the optical path component comprises a projection lens of the energy radiation device.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the 3D printing device is a dot laser scanning formation based 3D printing device.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the optical path component comprises a galvanometer component.

In certain embodiments of the first aspect of the present application, the step of sending the calibration data to the 3D printing device on site comprises: sending calibration data to the on-site 3D printing equipment based on an authorization authority; the authorization rights include at least one of: operation authority and expense authority.

A second aspect of the present application discloses a method of installing an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus, the method including the steps of: enabling the 3D printing equipment to receive or import calibration data of the energy radiation device to be installed; the calibration data includes at least one of: breadth optical distortion data, breadth light intensity uniformity data, current and breadth brightness relation data and power and breadth brightness relation data; the calibration data is obtained based on a calibration method of an energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to any one of the embodiments of the first aspect of the present application; enabling the energy radiation device to read the calibration data and installing an energy radiation device in the 3D printing equipment according to preset physical installation parameters so as to reproduce an optical configuration result of the energy radiation device in an installation simulation environment; the physical mounting parameters include a mounting height and/or a mounting levelness in at least one direction.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, the 3D printing apparatus includes a mounting reference surface and a printing reference surface, the mounting reference surface being used to mount an energy radiating device that radiates energy to the printing reference surface during 3D printing to shape a material to be solidified on the printing reference surface; the preset physical installation parameters include: the position relation of the simulation installation surface of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment relative to the simulation printing surface is the same as the position relation of the installation reference surface of the energy radiation device in the 3D printing equipment relative to the printing reference surface.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, the step of installing an energy radiation device in the 3D printing apparatus according to predetermined physical installation parameters comprises: and measuring and adjusting the position relation of the printing reference surface relative to the mounting reference surface, so that the position relation between the mounting reference surface and the printing reference surface is the same as the position relation between the simulation mounting surface and the simulation printing surface of the energy radiation device in the mounting simulation environment.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, the 3D printing apparatus includes a component platform located on a printing reference surface, the component platform having a plurality of target points thereon, and the step of installing an energy radiation device in the 3D printing apparatus according to predetermined physical installation parameters includes: causing the energy radiation device to project a calibration image to the component platform, the calibration image having at least three calibration points corresponding to target points on the printing reference surface; and adjusting the position relation of the energy radiation device relative to the component platform until the at least three calibration points coincide with corresponding target points on the component platform.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, the calibration image further includes auxiliary alignment patterns for guiding the at least three calibration points to coincide with corresponding target points on the component platform.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, the auxiliary alignment pattern includes at least three circular rings, the circular rings corresponding to the calibration points one to one and being arranged around the calibration points.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, detecting whether the calibration point coincides with the corresponding target point by a photosensitive device comprises: adjusting the position relation of the energy radiation device relative to the component platform according to the imaging position of the auxiliary alignment graph on the component platform, so that the calibration point is projected to a photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device; and determining whether the calibration point is coincided with a corresponding target point on the component platform or not according to the output signal of the photosensitive device.

In certain embodiments of the second aspect of the present application, the step of detecting, by the photosensitive device, whether the calibration point coincides with the corresponding target point further comprises: positioning the photosensitive device above or below the corresponding target point, wherein the central point of the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device is superposed with the central point of the target point; and shielding the area outside the central point of the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device.

In summary, the calibration method provided by the application can realize the calibration of the energy radiation device at a place different from the site where the 3D printing device is located, so that the process of calibrating the energy radiation device at the site where the 3D printing device is located is omitted, and the complexity and inconvenience of the site calibration are avoided. In addition, the installation method provided by the application can realize the on-site calibration-free, and meanwhile, the energy radiation device can have the same effect as that after the on-site calibration when in work.

Other aspects and advantages of the present application will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. Only exemplary embodiments of the present application have been shown and described in the following detailed description. As those skilled in the art will recognize, the disclosure of the present application enables those skilled in the art to make changes to the specific embodiments disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as it is directed to the present application. Accordingly, the descriptions in the drawings and the specification of the present application are illustrative only and not limiting.

Drawings

The specific features of the invention to which this application relates are set forth in the appended claims. The features and advantages of the invention to which this application relates will be better understood by reference to the exemplary embodiments described in detail below and the accompanying drawings. The brief description of the drawings is as follows:

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a calibration method of an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a 3D printing apparatus in the field in one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a simulation installation apparatus for installing a simulation environment according to the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a 3D printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a method of installing an energy radiating apparatus according to the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a second calibration plate of the present application in one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a calibration image according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a photosensitive device according to the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The following embodiments are provided to illustrate the present disclosure, and other advantages and effects will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure.

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that describe several embodiments of the application. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that mechanical, structural, electrical, and operational changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments of the present application is defined only by the claims of the issued patent. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. Spatially relative terms, such as "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "lower," "below," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used herein to facilitate describing one element or feature's relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures.

Also, as used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes" and/or "including," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, components, items, species, and/or groups, but do not preclude the presence, or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, species, and/or groups thereof. The terms "or" and/or "as used herein are to be construed as inclusive or meaning any one or any combination. Thus, "A, B or C" or "A, B and/or C" means "any of the following: a; b; c; a and B; a and C; b and C; A. b and C ". An exception to this definition will occur only when a combination of elements, functions, steps or operations are inherently mutually exclusive in some way.

The energy radiation device in the 3D printing apparatus needs to be calibrated before the first use and/or after a certain period of use, so that the energy radiated by the energy radiation device can be radiated in a preset ideal state during printing. Taking a printing apparatus for surface projection exposure as an example, the ideal case where a projection surface is desired includes, for example: the shape should be undistorted (typically rectangular) and without excessive scaling, and/or the position of the entire web should be on the surface of the component platform, and/or the areas of the web should be uniform in brightness, etc., but in practice, before calibrating the energy radiation device, its projection plane may exist: the problems of barrel-shaped distortion of the breadth, pillow-shaped distortion of the breadth, excessive scaling of the breadth size, partial breadth exceeding the surface of a component platform, uneven brightness of the breadth and the like are solved; in addition, since the energy radiation devices are required to adjust the exposure intensity according to different printing requirements during printing, but because self-errors exist among different energy radiation devices, the actually output exposure intensity generally has differences under the same electric power input, so that if the actually output exposure intensity deviates from an expected value, the printing effect is affected, for example, if the exposure intensity is too large, over-curing is caused, and if the exposure intensity is insufficient, the printing material cannot be cured and molded. Therefore, the energy radiation device needs to be calibrated before first use or after aging for a while.

At present, the calibration of the energy radiation device usually needs to be performed at the same place with the 3D printing device, which may cause inconvenience in some scenarios. For example, when an energy radiation device in 3D printing equipment is damaged and needs to be replaced, since calibration operation needs to have certain specialties, and a general user is difficult to complete calibration work by himself, in some embodiments, the user is required to send the 3D printing equipment to the whole machine, and the energy radiation device is repaired or reinstalled and calibrated, and then sent to the user, which is time-consuming and labor-consuming, and may affect the production schedule of the printing equipment; in other embodiments, if the 3D printing device is not sent back, the relevant calibration personnel is required to be in the user site, the 3D printing device is disassembled on site to replace the optical machine and is calibrated, and because other auxiliary devices are required during calibration, the erection and use of some auxiliary devices have strict requirements on the site, the site of the user may not meet the calibration conditions, and the consumption of time and the site also brings influence to the normal production and operation of the user.

In view of this, the present application provides a calibration method and an installation method for an energy radiation device for 3D printing, so that the steps of calibrating and installing the energy radiation device can be performed in two places respectively.

It should be understood that the 3D printing is one of the rapid prototyping techniques, which is a technique for constructing a three-dimensional object by layer-by-layer printing using a bondable material such as powdered metal or plastic based on a digital model file. When printing, the digital model file is firstly processed to realize the import of the 3D printing component model to be printed into the 3D printing device. Here, the 3D printing component model includes, but is not limited to, a 3D printing component model based on a CAD component, which is, for example, an STL file, and the control device performs layout and layer cutting processing on the imported STL file. The 3D printing component model may be imported into the control device through a data interface or a network interface. The solid part in the imported 3D printing member model may be in any shape, for example, the solid part includes a tooth shape, a sphere shape, a house shape, a tooth shape, or any shape with a preset structure. Wherein the preset structure includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: cavity structures, structures containing abrupt shape changes, and structures with preset requirements for profile accuracy in solid parts, etc.

In a 3D printing apparatus based on photocuring molding, a 3D printing member is printed by exposing and curing a photocuring material layer by layer and accumulating the cured layers. Generally, a 3D printing apparatus includes a container for containing a material to be cured, a member platform, an energy radiation device, a Z-axis drive mechanism, and a control device, and obtains a three-dimensional object by performing energy radiation on the material to be cured to cure (in the following description, the three-dimensional object is collectively referred to as a 3D printing member). After determining the structural parameters of the component model to be printed, generating a printing process which can realize layer-by-layer solidification and at least comprises layer height and slice images or scanning path slice data by the component model through pretreatment, then printing based on each slice data, exposing the photocuring material layer by layer through an energy radiation device, and accumulating the solidified layer by layer to obtain the 3D printing component with a complete structure. The specific work principle of the photocuring rapid prototyping technology is as follows: the light curing material is used as a raw material, under the control of a control system, the energy radiation device irradiates and performs layer-by-layer exposure or scanning according to slice images of all slice layers, and the slice images and the resin thin layer in the radiation area are cured after photopolymerization reaction, so that a thin layer section of the workpiece is formed. After one layer is cured, the stage is moved one layer thick and a new layer of light-curing material is applied to the newly cured resin surface for cyclic exposure or scanning. And (3) firmly bonding the newly cured layer on the previous layer, repeating the steps, and stacking the layers one by one to finally form the whole product prototype, namely the 3D component. In the photo-curing 3D printing apparatus, the material to be cured is typically a photo-curing material, which refers to a material that forms a curing layer after being irradiated by light (such as ultraviolet light, laser light, etc.), and includes but is not limited to: photosensitive resin, or a mixture of photosensitive resin and other materials. Such as ceramic powders, pigments, etc.

Among them, the placement positions of the energy radiation device and the container can be distinguished into a 3D printing apparatus based on bottom projection (also referred to as bottom exposure, bottom projection, bottom exposure, or the like in some embodiments) and a 3D printing apparatus based on top projection (also referred to as top exposure, top projection, or top exposure in some embodiments).

In the printing apparatus based on the top exposure, the Z-axis driving mechanism is used for controllably moving and adjusting the position of the component platform along the Z-axis direction so as to form a printing reference surface between the upper surface of the component platform and the liquid level of the printing material in the container. In order to accurately control the irradiation energy of each solidified layer, the component platform and the attached manufactured partial 3D printing object need to be moved to a minimum distance from the printing reference surface, which is equal to the layer thickness of the solidified layer to be solidified. In the printing device based on bottom exposure, the Z-axis driving mechanism is used for controllably moving and adjusting the position of the component platform along the Z-axis direction so as to form a printing reference surface between the lower surface of the component platform and the inner lower surface of the container. The Z-axis driving mechanism includes a driving unit and a Z-axis moving unit, the driving unit is configured to drive the Z-axis to move, so that the Z-axis moving unit drives the component platform to move along the Z-axis axially, for example, the driving unit may be a driving motor. The drive unit is controlled by a control instruction. Wherein the control instructions include: the directional commands for indicating the ascending, descending or stopping of the component platform may even include parameters such as rotation speed/rotation speed acceleration, or torque/torsion. This is advantageous for precisely controlling the rising distance of the Z-axis moving unit to achieve precise adjustment of the Z-axis. Here, the Z-axis moving unit includes a fixed rod fixed at one end to the component platform, and an engagement moving component fixed to the other end of the fixed rod, wherein the engagement moving component is driven by the driving unit to drive the fixed rod to move axially along the Z-axis, and the engagement moving component is, for example, a limit moving component engaged by a toothed structure, such as a rack. As another example, the Z-axis moving unit includes: the positioning and moving structure comprises a screw rod and a positioning and moving structure screwed with the screw rod, wherein two ends of the screw rod are screwed with a driving unit, an extending end of the positioning and moving structure is fixedly connected to a component platform, and the positioning and moving structure can be a ball screw. The component platform is used for attaching the light-cured material on the irradiated printing reference surface to cure and form a pattern cured layer, and the component platform is a part used for attaching and carrying the formed cured layer. The component platform is used for attaching and bearing the formed cross-section layers, and the cross-section layers on the component platform are accumulated layer by layer to form the 3D component. In some embodiments, the component platform is also referred to as a component plate.

During the printing process of the 3D printing device, the energy radiation device is used for radiating energy towards the direction of the component platform, and during the printing operation, the energy radiated by the energy radiation device can enable the light-cured material on the printing reference surface to be molded.

In the present application, the 3D printing device includes, but is not limited to, a light-cured printing device for surface projection exposure forming (also referred to as surface exposure in some embodiments) such as DLP, LCD, and the like, and may also be a 3D printing device for SLA or the like based on dot laser scanning forming.

In an exemplary embodiment, the 3D printing apparatus is a DLP (Digital Light processing) printing apparatus, and the energy radiation device includes, for example, a projection lens, a DMD chip, a controller, and a storage module. Wherein the storage module stores therein slice images for layering the 3D model. And after receiving the control signal of the controller, the DMD chip irradiates the light source corresponding to each pixel on the slice image onto the printing reference surface through the projection lens. Wherein the projection lens can change the size of the projected image by adjusting the focal length; the DMD chip is viewed from the outside as a small mirror, and is packaged in a metal-glass sealed space, and in fact, the mirror is composed of hundreds of thousands or even millions of micromirrors, each micromirror representing a pixel, from which the projected image is composed. The DMD chip may be simply described as a semiconductor optical switch and a micromirror plate corresponding to the pixel points, and the controller allows/prohibits each of the micromirrors by controlling each of the optical switches in the DMD chip to allow/prohibit the light reflected from each of the micromirrors, thereby irradiating the corresponding slice image onto the photocurable material so that the photocurable material corresponding to the shape of the image is cured to obtain the patterned cured layer. In another exemplary embodiment, the 3D printing apparatus is an LCD printing apparatus, the energy radiation device may also include an LCD light source system, the LCD light source system includes an LED light source and an LCD liquid crystal panel, a control chip in the energy radiation device projects a layered image of the slice to be printed onto the printing surface through the LCD liquid crystal panel, and the material to be solidified in the container is solidified into a corresponding patterned solidified layer by using a patterned radiation surface provided by the LCD liquid crystal panel. In some further embodiments, the 3D printing Apparatus is an SLA (Stereo stereolithography) printing Apparatus, and the energy radiation device includes a laser emitter, a lens group located on an outgoing optical path of the laser emitter, and a galvanometer assembly located on an outgoing side of the lens group, and a motor controlling each galvanometer in the galvanometer assembly, wherein the laser emitter is controlled to adjust energy of an output laser beam, for example, the laser emitter is controlled to emit a laser beam with a preset power and stop emitting the laser beam, and further, the laser emitter is controlled to increase power of the laser beam and decrease power of the laser beam. The lens group is used for adjusting the focusing position of the laser beam, the galvanometer assembly is used for controllably scanning the laser beam in a two-dimensional space on the bottom surface or the top surface of the container, the light curing material scanned by the light beam is cured into a corresponding pattern curing layer, and the swing amplitude of the galvanometer in the galvanometer assembly determines the scanning size of the SLA equipment.

Please refer to fig. 4, which is a schematic structural diagram of a 3D printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Taking a bottom-exposure printing apparatus as an example, the 3D printing apparatus includes an energy radiation device 11, a container 12, a member stage 13, a Z-axis drive mechanism 14, and a control device 15.

The container 12 is intended to contain a light-curable material, the volume of which depends on the type of 3D printing device or on the overall breadth of the energy radiation means in the 3D printing device. In some cases, the container may also be referred to as a resin tank. The container may be entirely transparent or only the bottom of the container may be transparent, for example, the container is a glass container, and the wall of the container is attached with light absorbing paper (such as black film, black paper, etc.) so as to reduce interference of light scattering with curing of the photocurable material during energy radiation. In some embodiments, for the bottom exposure forming printing apparatus, a transparent flexible film (not shown) for peeling the printed cured layer from the bottom surface of the container is further laid on the inner bottom surface of the container, and the transparent flexible film is, for example, FEP release film made of ultra-high purity FEP resin (fluorinated ethylene propylene copolymer) which has excellent non-adhesiveness, high temperature resistance, electrical insulation, mechanical properties, wear resistance, and the like.

The member platform 13 is used to attach the irradiation-cured pattern cured layer so as to form a 3D member by accumulation of the pattern cured layer. Specifically, the component platform is exemplified by a component plate. The component platform typically takes a preset printing reference surface located in the container as a starting position, and accumulates each solidified layer solidified on the printing reference surface layer by layer to obtain a corresponding 3D printing component. It should be understood that the 3D member to be printed may be an object of any shape or configuration.

The Z-axis driving mechanism 14 is connected to the component platform 13 for controllably moving the adjustment component platform 13 in the vertical axial direction to adjust the spacing from the printing reference plane for filling the photo-setting material to be set. Wherein, the printing reference surface refers to the initial surface of the light-cured material irradiated. In order to accurately control the irradiation energy of each cured layer, the Z-axis driving mechanism needs to drive the component platform to move to a position where the minimum distance between the component platform and the printing reference surface is the layer thickness of the cured layer to be cured.

The energy radiation device 11 is used to irradiate the light-curable material in the container to obtain a pattern-cured layer. Specifically, the energy radiation device irradiates the light-curing material in the container to obtain the 3D component according to each layered image in the printing data generated based on the sliced three-dimensional model of the 3D component to be printed. In some implementation scenarios, the energy radiation device is also often referred to as an optical system.

The control device 15 is connected to the energy radiation device 11 and the Z-axis driving mechanism 14, and is used for controlling the energy radiation device 11 and the Z-axis driving mechanism 14 under the printing operation, so as to attach and stack the pattern cured layer on the component platform 13 to obtain the corresponding three-dimensional object. The control device 15 is an electronic device including a processor, for example, the control device is a computer device, an embedded device, or an integrated circuit integrated with a CPU.

For example, the control device includes: the device comprises a processing unit, a storage unit and a plurality of interface units. And each interface unit is respectively connected with a device which is independently packaged in 3D printing equipment such as an energy radiation device and a Z-axis driving mechanism and transmits data through an interface. The control device further comprises at least one of the following: a prompting device, a human-computer interaction device and the like. The interface unit determines its interface type according to the connected device, which includes but is not limited to: universal serial interface, video interface, industrial control interface, etc.

For example, the interface unit includes: USB interface, HDMI interface and RS232 interface, wherein, USB interface and RS232 interface all have a plurality ofly, and the USB interface can connect man-machine interaction device etc. and RS232 interface connection Z axle actuating mechanism, HDMI interface connection energy radiation device. The storage unit is used for storing files required by 3D printing equipment for printing. The file comprises: the CPU runs required program files, configuration files and the like.

The memory unit includes a non-volatile memory and a system bus. The nonvolatile memory is, for example, a solid state disk or a usb flash disk. The system bus is used to connect the non-volatile memory with the CPU, wherein the CPU may be integrated in the memory unit or packaged separately from the memory unit and connected with the non-volatile memory through the system bus.

The processing unit includes: a CPU or a chip integrated with a CPU, a programmable logic device (FPGA), and a multi-core processor. The processing unit also includes memory, registers, etc. for temporarily storing data.

The processing unit controls each device to execute in time sequence, for example, the processing unit transmits printing data to the energy radiation device after controlling the Z-axis driving mechanism to move the component platform to a spacing position away from a preset printing reference surface. The processing unit can control the energy radiation device to radiate energy to the forming surface according to the layered image so as to cure the light curing material on the printing reference surface. After a pattern curing layer is formed, the Z-axis driving mechanism is controlled to drive the component platform to adjust and move to a new distance position away from the preset printing reference surface, and the exposure process is repeated.

A first aspect of the present application provides a calibration method of an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus, which may be performed by an operator in an installation simulation environment.

In an exemplary embodiment, the installation simulation environment is at a first location and the 3D printing device on-site is at a second location, the first location being non-co-located with the second location. For example, the first location may be a provider location of the energy radiation device, and the second location may be a user location of the 3D printing apparatus to which the energy radiation device is to be installed.

Here, in order to enable the energy radiation device calibrated at the first location to have the same effect as calibrated and installed at the second location after the second location is installed on the 3D printing apparatus, the installation simulation environment has the same installation conditions as the 3D printing apparatus, that is, the installation simulation environment can provide the energy radiation device with the same installation height and/or installation levelness in at least one direction and the like as in the 3D printing apparatus.

After the energy radiation device is ensured to have the same physical installation parameters in the installation simulation environment and the field 3D printing equipment, the energy radiation device can be subjected to optical configuration in the installation simulation environment, wherein the optical configuration comprises but is not limited to performing breadth distortion correction on the breadth of the energy radiation device, performing light intensity uniformity correction on the breadth of the energy radiation device, constructing a curve relation between the input current/power of the energy radiation device and the radiation energy corresponding to the energy radiation device, and the like, so that at least one of the following calibration data is obtained: breadth optical distortion data, breadth light intensity uniformity data, current and breadth brightness relation data and power and breadth brightness relation data. The calibration data are used for processing printing data according to the work of the energy radiation device, so that after the optical configuration, the energy radiation device can radiate energy in an ideal state, for example, surface exposure, and after the optical configuration, the breadth projected by the energy radiation device in an installation simulation environment can meet the printing requirements of no distortion of the breadth shape, no excessive scaling of the breadth, uniform brightness of all areas of the breadth and the like.

After the above steps are performed, it can be understood that the energy radiation device at this time already satisfies the printing requirements in the installation simulation environment, but in order to avoid mechanical positional deviation and the like due to shaking and the like in the process of transporting the energy radiation device to the site where the 3D printing apparatus is located, the position of the optical path component of the energy radiation device needs to be fixed, for example, in the printing apparatus based on surface projection exposure, the projection lens of the energy radiation device is fixed so as not to generate variation of the focal length due to shaking.

Moreover, the calibration data obtained after the optical configuration can be exported so as to be imported into the 3D printing equipment on the spot, or the calibration data can also be sent to the 3D printing equipment on the spot through a communication interface. After the on-site 3D printing device receives the calibration data, since the physical installation parameters in the installation simulation environment where the energy radiation device is located are the same as the physical installation parameters in the on-site 3D printing device in the optical configuration process, after the energy radiation device is installed, the received calibration data are used to reproduce an optical configuration result, that is, the calibration data obtained by performing optical configuration on the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment, so that the energy radiation device can achieve the same calibration effect in the on-site 3D printing device.

In an exemplary embodiment, please refer to fig. 1, which is a schematic diagram of a calibration method of an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown, in step S110, an installation simulation environment is constructed so that the energy radiation device has the same physical installation parameters in the installation simulation environment as in the 3D printing apparatus on the spot; the physical mounting parameters include a mounting height and/or a mounting levelness in at least one direction.

In a possible embodiment, the installation height and/or the installation levelness in at least one direction and the like may be an installation height of an installation reference surface of the energy radiation device in the 3D printing apparatus relative to a printing reference surface and/or an installation levelness in at least one direction. In other possible embodiments, the installation height and/or the installation levelness in at least one direction, etc. may also be a height of a plane where the installation surface of the energy radiation device in the 3D printing apparatus is located relative to some other reference object, and/or an installation levelness in at least one direction, where the some other reference object includes, but is not limited to, a setting plane, a horizontal plane, a container bottom, etc. of the 3D printing apparatus. It should be understood that the installation reference plane includes a plane where the energy radiation device is located after the energy radiation device is installed in the 3D printing apparatus.

It should be understood that in some embodiments, when the height positions of two planes are different, the distance between the two planes may be described as the height of one plane relative to the other plane. For example, when the mounting height is a mounting height of a mounting reference surface of an energy radiation device in a 3D printing apparatus with respect to a printing reference surface, the mounting height may be described as a mounting height of the mounting reference surface with respect to the printing reference surface.

In addition, taking a printing apparatus for planar projection exposure as an example, since the relative angle between the projection plane of the energy radiation device and the imaging plane directly affects the imaging shape, for example, when the projection plane is rectangular in a normal state, but the imaging plane is not parallel to the projection plane, the image displayed on the imaging plane is distorted, i.e. non-rectangular; in a printing apparatus using spot laser scanning formation, there is a similar problem in the spot radiated by the energy radiation device, and when the relative positions of the galvanometer, the mirror, and the like in the energy radiation device are not ideal, there is a large distortion in the shape of the radiated spot. Since the relative angle between the two planes can be realized by adjusting the rotation angle of the planes in the X direction and the rotation angle in the Y direction, the relative angle between the two planes can be described by the installation levelness in at least one direction. Based on such an understanding, the at least one direction may include an X-direction and a Y-direction, i.e., a lateral direction and a longitudinal direction. The installation levelness includes installation angles in the X-direction and the Y-direction. In some embodiments, the levelness may also be referred to as parallelism. It is understood that two planes are considered to be parallel to each other when they are at the same level in both the X and Y directions; when the levelness of the two planes in the X direction is the same and the levelness of the two planes in the Y direction is different, the two planes can be parallel to each other through the rotation angle of the planes in the Y direction; when the levelness of the two planes in the X direction is different and the levelness of the two planes in the Y direction is the same, the two planes can be parallel to each other through the rotation angle of the planes in the X direction.

In a particular application, the physical installation parameters may be determined based on actual printing requirements. For example, in some scenarios where accuracy is a high requirement, the physical installation parameters may include installation height and installation levelness in two directions (X-direction, Y-direction); for another example, in some scenarios with low requirements on accuracy, only the installation height may be included, or only the installation levelness in one direction may be included, or only the installation levelness in two directions may be included, and the like.

Here, for the sake of clearer explanation and distinction, a plane in which the energy radiation device is provided in the installation simulation environment to simulate the installation reference surface in the 3D printing apparatus is referred to as a simulation installation surface, and a plane in which the energy radiation device is provided in the installation simulation environment to simulate the printing reference surface in the 3D printing apparatus is referred to as a simulation print surface.

In some embodiments, the setting positions of the analog mounting surface and the analog printing surface may be obtained by measuring a positional relationship of a mounting reference surface and a printing reference surface in a 3D printing apparatus at a site. For example, the positional relationship between the mounting reference surface and the printing reference surface is obtained by measuring the relative distance between the mounting reference surface and the printing reference surface and/or the levelness of the plane in which the mounting reference surface and the printing reference surface are located in at least one direction. In other embodiments, the positions of the simulated mounting surface and the simulated printing surface can be obtained based on a design drawing of the 3D printing device, and the like, so that a corresponding simulated mounting device can be designed, wherein the simulated mounting device comprises a simulated printing surface for simulating a printing reference surface in the 3D printing device and a simulated mounting surface for simulating a mounting reference surface in the 3D printing device.

In some embodiments, a simulation device with the same model as the 3D printing device on site can also be set in the installation simulation environment, and the energy radiation device is installed in the simulation device in the installation simulation environment, so that the simulation device has the same model as the 3D printing device on site, and can also be used for reproducing the physical installation parameters of the energy radiation device in the 3D printing device on site. In some embodiments, other extraneous devices in the simulation apparatus may also be removed to facilitate calibration operations, leaving only the portion that is needed for use in calibration.

By the way in the above embodiment, the positional relationship between the simulation installation surface and the simulation printing surface and the positional relationship between the installation reference surface and the printing reference surface can be made the same, so that the physical installation parameters of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment can be the same as those of the on-site 3D printing apparatus.

In an exemplary embodiment, when the physical installation parameter comprises an installation height, the same physical installation parameter comprises: the distance between the analog print surface and the analog mounting surface is the same as the distance between the print reference surface and the mounting reference surface, or it can be described that the mounting height of the analog print surface with respect to the analog mounting surface is the same as the mounting height of the print reference surface with respect to the mounting reference surface.

Referring to fig. 2 to 3, as shown in fig. 2, it is a schematic diagram of a 3D printing apparatus located on site in the present application in an embodiment, where the 3D printing apparatus is a bottom exposure printing apparatus, i.e. 11 bits of energy radiation deviceBelow the container 12, a plane where an installation reference plane of the on-site energy radiation device 11 in the 3D printing apparatus is located is assumed to be P ₁ And the plane of the printing reference surface of the 3D printing equipment is P ₂ (in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the printing reference surface is located on the bottom surface in the container 12), P ₁ To P ₂ Distance (i.e. P) ₂ Relative to P ₁ The mounting height) of d; referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic view of the simulation installation device in the installation simulation environment of the present application in an embodiment, assuming that the plane of the simulation installation surface of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment is P ₁ ', the plane of the analog printing surface is P ₂ '，P ₁ ' to P ₂ 'the distance between' is d ', then when the physical installation parameters include the installation height, d should be equal to or about equal to d'.

In an exemplary embodiment, when the physical mounting parameters include a mounting levelness in at least one direction, the same physical mounting parameters include: the levelness of the plane of the analog printing surface and the plane of the analog mounting surface in at least one direction is the same as the levelness of the plane of the printing reference surface and the plane of the mounting reference surface in at least one direction.

Continuing with the example of FIGS. 2 and 3, assume P ₁ And P ₂ Has a levelness l in the X direction _x ，P ₁ ' and P ₂ Between is l in the X direction _x ' when the physical mounting parameter includes a mounting levelness in the X direction, then l _x Should be equal to or approximately equal to l _x '; suppose P ₁ And P ₂ Has a levelness of l in the Y direction _y ，P ₁ ' and P ₂ Between l in the Y direction _y ' when the physical mounting parameter includes a mounting levelness in the Y direction, then l _y Should be equal to or approximately equal to l _y '。

It should be noted that, although the bottom exposure 3D printing apparatus is taken as an example in the foregoing embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this in practical application, and the present invention is also applicable to the top exposure 3D printing apparatus, for example, the planes of the printing reference plane and the mounting reference plane in the bottom exposure printing apparatus may be replaced by the printing reference plane and the mounting reference plane in the top exposure 3D printing apparatus, and details are not repeated here.

In an exemplary embodiment, when the 3D printing apparatus is a 3D printing apparatus based on dot laser scanning formation, the physical mounting parameter may further include a relative positional relationship between the respective optical path members in the energy radiation device. For example, the energy radiation device comprises a laser, a galvanometer component and a reflector, and the physical installation parameters comprise the relative positions of the laser, the galvanometer component and the reflector.

In an exemplary embodiment, continuing to refer to fig. 1, in step S120, the energy radiation device to be installed is placed in the installation simulation environment according to the physical installation parameters to be optically configured to obtain calibration data; the calibration data includes at least one of: breadth optical distortion data, breadth light intensity uniformity data, current and breadth brightness relation data and power and breadth brightness relation data.

In an exemplary embodiment, the optical configuration comprises generating corresponding calibration data based on a difference in shape and/or brightness of an actual image and an intended image of the energy radiation device, the calibration data being used to process the print data for optical correction.

The actual imaging of the energy radiation device comprises the step of enabling the energy radiation device positioned on the simulation installation surface to radiate energy to the simulation printing surface according to radiation data, and the step of actually imaging the light energy radiated by the energy radiation device on the simulation printing surface. The expected imaging comprises imaging of light energy radiated by the energy radiation device on the simulation printing surface theoretically when the energy radiation device on the simulation mounting surface radiates energy to the simulation printing surface according to radiation data. It should be understood that when the energy radiation device has radiation error, there may be difference between the actual imaging and the expected imaging, so the radiation data can be corrected according to the difference between the actual imaging situation and the expected imaging situation, so that the actual imaging situation can be consistent with or as close as possible to the expected imaging situation, and the corrected data can be recorded as calibration data. When the 3D printing device executes a printing task, the printing data can be corrected through the calibration data, so that optical correction is performed. In the photo-curing printing apparatus, the main error of the energy radiation device is the shape of the radiation, the brightness of the radiation, and thus in practical applications, the optical configuration may be made according to one or more of them. For example, in a printing apparatus based on surface projection exposure with high precision requirement, some embodiments may generate corresponding calibration data based on the difference in shape and brightness between the actual image and the expected image of the energy radiation device; for example, in a printing apparatus based on spot laser scanning forming with a lower accuracy requirement, some embodiments may generate corresponding calibration data only based on a difference between an actual image and an expected image of the energy radiation device in shape, and the like, which is not described herein again.

In some cases, the projection of the energy radiation device itself has distortion in shape, for example, due to the problems of installation distance, angle, etc. of the light path components of the energy radiation device itself. Thus, in an exemplary embodiment, the optical arrangement includes a step of distortion correcting the web irradiated by the energy irradiation device to obtain web optical distortion data. The web optical distortion data is used for carrying out data processing on the web projected by the energy radiation device, so that the web radiated by the energy radiation device has no distortion or has minimal distortion on the shape, and the distortion comprises pillow distortion, barrel distortion, trapezoidal distortion, excessive scaling and the like.

In a possible embodiment, the analog mounting surface of the energy radiation device and the analog printing surface can be parallel to each other, and a first calibration plate having a plurality of calibration points thereon is disposed on the analog printing surface. Then, the energy radiation device projects a calibration image to the simulated printing surface, projection points which are in one-to-one correspondence with a plurality of calibration points are arranged in the calibration image, the projection points are supposed to be in one-to-one correspondence with the corresponding calibration points in an ideal state, but when distortion exists, the situation that part or all of the calibration points are not coincident with the projection points exists, and then the projection points can be corrected based on the position relationship between the calibration points and the projection points, so that the projection points are correspondingly coincident with the calibration points. The coordinate position difference (or called pixel position difference) before and after correction corresponding to each projection point can be used as the format optical distortion data. The detailed operation can refer to the content disclosed in the prior application CN113059796A of the applicant, and is not described herein.

In other cases, the same energy control command is input to different energy radiation devices based on the difference between the different energy radiation devices themselves, and the radiation energy actually output by each energy radiation device is different. To this end, in an exemplary embodiment, to ensure that the radiant energy of the energy radiation device can be within a desired range during 3D printing, the optical configuration includes corresponding relationship of the radiant energy variation output by the energy radiation device under different energy control commands to obtain corresponding calibration data, wherein when the input energy control command includes a current value, the calibration data includes current-to-format brightness relationship data; when the input energy control command comprises a power value, the calibration data comprises power-to-panel brightness relation data.

In a possible embodiment, the energy control command may be issued by a control system. The corresponding relationship between the energy control command and the radiation energy can be constructed through the change of the radiation energy output by the energy radiation device under different commands, wherein each different command simultaneously comprises a control signal for the radiation time and the radiation intensity, and the radiation energy output by the energy radiation device can be calculated through the radiation intensity detected by the power detection device and the radiation time of the energy radiation device. After the instruction is adjusted for multiple times and the corresponding radiation energy is calculated, the detected radiation energy is subjected to calculation such as interpolation and fitting through an algorithm, so that the curve relation between the output instruction of the control system and the radiation energy, namely the corresponding relation between the energy control instruction and the radiation energy can be obtained, and the relation data between the current and the breadth brightness and/or the relation data between the power and the breadth brightness are obtained. The interpolation, fitting and other calculations include, but are not limited to, for example, a quadratic interpolation algorithm, a B-spline curve fitting and other calculations.

It should be understood that the web is a radiating surface. For a 3D printing device for surface projection exposure, the breadth of the device comprises a projection surface; for 3D printing equipment for point laser scanning forming, the breadth of the 3D printing equipment comprises laser spots, the size of the laser spots can be adjusted according to actual requirements in the printing process, for example, when an area with high printing precision requirement is printed, a smaller spot can be adopted, and when an area with low printing precision requirement is printed, a larger spot can be adopted. Therefore, the area of the light spot can be understood as the breadth area of the 3D printing device for the spot laser scanning formation, and for the 3D printing device for the spot laser scanning formation, the relation data of the current and the breadth brightness and/or the relation data of the power and the breadth brightness, that is, the relation data between the input energy control command and the light spot brightness actually output by the energy radiation device, can also be obtained in the calibration program by the method in the above embodiment.

In some cases, also for a printing device for area projection exposure, brightness non-uniformity in the web, for example, bright center but dark periphery of the web, may occur, and such light intensity uniformity errors may result in insufficient curing of a portion of the printing material and/or over-curing of a portion of the printing material during 3D printing. Therefore, in an exemplary embodiment, the optical configuration includes a step of performing intensity uniformity correction on the web irradiated by the energy irradiation device to obtain the web intensity uniformity data. The data of the uniformity of the light intensity of the web are used for carrying out data processing on the web projected by the energy radiation device, so that the overall web radiated by the energy radiation device is consistent in brightness or is consistent as much as possible.

In a possible embodiment, the energy radiation device may project a brightness calibration image, which may be a solid color pattern in this embodiment. The camera shoots a projection picture of the energy radiation device to obtain a shot image, and the brightness of each area in the shot image is analyzed to obtain the brightness information of each area of the projection surface of the energy radiation device. Because the brightness of each area in the projected pure-color brightness calibration image should be consistent in an ideal state, when the projection plane has a difference area with inconsistent brightness in the shot image, the brightness of the original projected brightness calibration image corresponding to the difference area can be adjusted, so that after the energy radiation device projects based on the adjusted brightness calibration image, the brightness of the difference area is consistent with that of other areas. The data adjusted by the brightness of each part in the brightness calibration image projected by the energy radiation device can be used as the breadth light intensity uniformity data. The detailed operation can refer to the content disclosed in the prior application CN113696481A or CN114261088A of the applicant, which is not described herein.

In an exemplary embodiment, continuing to refer to fig. 1, in step S130, the position of the optical path component of the energy radiation device is fixed.

In some embodiments, when the 3D printing apparatus is a surface projection exposure based 3D printing apparatus, the optical path component comprises a projection lens of the energy radiation device. In a possible embodiment, the adjusting part of the projection lens may be locked to be fixed in step S130. For example, when the projection lens is a screw rotation adjusting structure, the projection lens can change the focal length by rotating, and the projection lens further has a tightening member for adjusting the tightening degree of the screw rotation adjusting structure during rotation. After the focal length is determined, the projection lens may be locked against unintended rotation by the take-up member. Wherein the tightening member includes, but is not limited to, a tightening screw. In some embodiments, after the projection lens of the energy radiation device is once adjusted to the focus position, the focus does not need to be changed again in subsequent use, and the gap between the elastic member and the projection lens can be filled with an adhesive material to better fix the projection lens, wherein the adhesive material includes but is not limited to glue and the like.

In an embodiment, the step of fixing the position of the optical path component of the energy radiation device may be performed after adjusting the focal length of the energy radiation device; alternatively, in other embodiments, the step of S130 may be executed after the steps of S110, S120, and S140 are executed; still alternatively, in another embodiment, the step of S130 may also be executed after the execution of the steps of S110 and S120 is completed; the method can be determined according to the requirements in practical application, and is not limited herein.

In still other embodiments, when the 3D printing apparatus is a dot laser scanning formation-based 3D printing apparatus, the optical path member includes a galvanometer component in the energy radiation device.

In an exemplary embodiment, with continuing reference to fig. 1, in step S140, the calibration data is derived or sent to the 3D printing device on site, so that after the energy radiation device to be installed is installed in the 3D printing device, the 3D printing device imports/receives and reads the calibration data to reproduce the optical configuration result of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment.

In one embodiment, the calibration data obtained in step S120 can be exported, for example, into a storage medium, which can be transported together with the energy radiation device to the site of the 3D printing device, in order to import the calibration data in the storage medium into the 3D printing device again. In other embodiments, calibration data may also be sent directly to the 3D printing device located on site through the computer interface module in the installation simulation environment.

Because the calibration data are obtained by optical configuration of the same energy radiation device, after the 3D printing equipment imports/receives and reads the calibration data, the printing data can be corrected through the calibration data, and the effects after the optical configuration, such as no distortion of the format, uniform format light intensity and the like, can be restored on the site of the 3D printing equipment. Wherein the optical configuration result of the recurrent energy radiation apparatus in the installation simulation environment represents: calibration data obtained by optical configuration of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment can also be applied to the site where the 3D printing equipment is located, and the calibration data have the same optical configuration effect.

In an embodiment, to ensure secure transmission of calibration data, the calibration data may be sent to the 3D printing device on site based on authorization rights, which include operation rights and/or fee rights. Wherein the operation authority includes an authority to process calibration data, and in a possible implementation, the operation authority can be confirmed based on the identity verification of a calibration data receiver; the charging authority includes the authority to obtain calibration data, and in possible implementation, the charging authority can be confirmed based on the payment condition of the calibration data receiver.

According to the calibration method, the calibration and installation steps of the energy radiation device can be respectively executed in different places, and support is provided for realizing that the energy radiation device is not calibrated on the site of the 3D printing equipment, so that various inconveniences caused by on-site calibration are avoided, the energy radiation device can be installed and used in the subsequent installation steps in a simpler and more convenient mode, and the requirement on-site operation is greatly reduced. In some application scenarios, a user on site can also install the energy radiation device by himself or herself through remote guidance or according to the instructions of the specification, and convenience is provided for replacement of the energy radiation device.

A second aspect of the present application provides a method of installing an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus, the method being executable by an operator on site of the 3D printing apparatus.

In an exemplary embodiment, the energy radiation device to be mounted to the 3D printing apparatus is calibrated in the installation simulation environment by the aforementioned calibration method of the energy radiation device. Therefore, the same effect as that of calibrating and installing the 3D printing equipment on site can be achieved by ensuring that the physical installation parameters of the energy radiation device during calibration in the installation simulation environment are the same as those of the 3D printing equipment on site and then utilizing the calibration data obtained by calibration in the installation simulation environment.

In an exemplary embodiment, please refer to fig. 5, which is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an installation method of an energy radiation device of the present application. As shown in the figure, in step S210, the 3D printing apparatus is caused to receive or import calibration data of the energy radiation device to be installed.

Here, the corresponding import or reception operation is performed based on the export or transmission operation of the calibration data at step S140.

Specifically, when the derived calibration data is the operation performed in step S140, the derived calibration data is imported into the 3D printing apparatus here. For example, if the calibration data is exported to a storage medium in step S140, and the storage medium is transported to the site where the 3D printing apparatus is located together with the energy radiation device, the calibration data in the storage medium is imported to the 3D printing apparatus in step S210. When the calibration data is transmitted in step S140, for example, the calibration data is directly transmitted to the 3D printing apparatus located on site through the computer interface module in the installation simulation environment, the 3D printing apparatus is made to receive the calibration data in step S210. The 3D printing device may receive the calibration data directly or indirectly, for example, an interface module of the 3D printing device may receive the calibration data directly, or an interface module of the 3D printing device may be connected to a computer device, and the calibration data is acquired by the interface module of the computer device and then transmitted to the 3D printing device.

Continuing to refer to fig. 5, in step S220, the energy radiation device reads the calibration data and installs an energy radiation device in the 3D printing apparatus according to preset physical installation parameters to reproduce the optical configuration result of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment; the physical mounting parameters include a mounting height and/or a mounting levelness in at least one direction.

The energy radiation device is made to read the acquired calibration data, so that the printed data can be processed to reproduce the optical configuration result of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment.

It is understood that, although the same physical installation parameters as those in the 3D printing apparatus have been established for the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment, it is theoretically possible to use the energy radiation device after directly installing it in the 3D printing apparatus and reading the calibration data. However, considering the factor of error, although the energy radiation device has been set in the installation simulation environment in accordance with the same physical installation parameters in the 3D printing apparatus, there may be some error in the actual situation. Since the calibration process is performed in the installation simulation environment, in some embodiments, in order to ensure the printing accuracy of the 3D printing apparatus, the physical installation parameters of the energy radiation device when being installed in the 3D printing apparatus need to be adjusted according to the actual physical installation parameters when being calibrated in the installation simulation environment, so as to restore the actual physical installation parameters when being calibrated in the installation simulation environment as much as possible.

It should be understood that the physical mounting parameters of the energy radiating means include the mounting height and/or the mounting levelness in at least one direction. The physical installation parameters of the energy radiation device can be understood as the position relationship of the installation surface of the energy radiation device relative to a certain reference object according to different reference objects. For example, when the reference object is a printing reference surface in the 3D printing apparatus, the physical installation parameters of the energy radiation device include a positional relationship between the installation reference surface of the energy radiation device relative to the printing reference surface.

Based on such understanding, when the printing reference surface is taken as a reference object of the installation reference surface in the 3D printing apparatus, correspondingly, the simulated printing surface is taken as a reference object of the simulated installation surface in the installation simulation environment, then the preset physical installation parameters include: the position relation of the simulation installation surface of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment relative to the simulation printing surface is the same as the position relation of the installation reference surface of the energy radiation device in the 3D printing equipment relative to the printing reference surface, and the position relation comprises installation height and/or installation levelness in at least one direction.

In one exemplary embodiment, the positional relationship of the simulated mounting face with respect to the simulated printing face may be measured by a measuring tool in a mounting simulation environment, and then the positional relationship of the printing reference face with respect to the mounting reference face is kept consistent with the positional relationship of the simulated mounting face with respect to the simulated printing face in the 3D printing apparatus.

In a possible embodiment, the distance D1 between the simulated mounting surface and the simulated printing surface and the distance D2 between the mounting reference surface and the printing reference surface can be measured by a distance measuring tool, and when D1 is inconsistent with D2, the distance between the mounting reference surface and the printing reference surface can be adjusted to make the mounting height of the energy radiation device consistent with the mounting height in the 3D printing apparatus in the mounting simulated environment. In addition, the parallelism L1 of the energy radiation device relative to the horizontal plane in the installation simulation environment can be measured by the leveling device, the parallelism L2 of the energy radiation device relative to the horizontal plane in the 3D printing device can be measured by the leveling device, when the L1 is inconsistent with the L2, the installation levelness of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment can be consistent with the installation levelness in at least one direction in the 3D printing device by adjusting the rotation angle of the energy radiation device in the X direction and/or the Y direction, for example, the simulated installation surface of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment can be parallel to the horizontal plane, and the installation reference surface of the energy radiation device in the 3D printing device can also be parallel to the horizontal plane.

In an exemplary embodiment, the position relationship between the energy radiation device and the printing reference surface can be adjusted through the relationship between the actual projected breadth and the expected imaging of the energy radiation device in the 3D printing device, so that the energy radiation device has the same physical installation parameters in the installation simulation environment and the 3D printing device.

In a possible embodiment, a second calibration plate having a plurality of target points may be provided on the printing reference surface, and the energy radiation device is then caused to project a calibration image having a plurality of calibration points expected to coincide with respective ones of the target points, i.e. each calibration point having a unique corresponding target point. When the calibration points do not coincide with their corresponding target points, it is necessary to adjust the installation position of the energy radiation device, for example, the installation height and/or the installation levelness of the energy radiation device in at least one direction, until each calibration point coincides with a corresponding target point.

It should be understood that the calibration points and the target points are not necessarily points, and may be any identification shape as long as the corresponding relationship between each calibration point and the target point can be resolved, for example, the calibration points and the target points may be circles, triangles, squares, and the like.

Since three points can define a plane, in some embodiments, the number of the target points and the calibration points is at least three, and certainly may be 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more, which is not described herein again.

In an embodiment, a component platform in the 3D printing apparatus may be used as the second calibration plate, and the component platform is moved to the position of the printing reference surface, and since the component platform itself has a plurality of through holes, the energy radiation device may be caused to project an image having a pattern of through holes on the component platform, where the image may be obtained, for example, but not limited to, from a drawing of the component platform. Here, the positional relationship of the energy radiation device with respect to the component platform may be adjusted until each through-hole pattern in the projected image coincides with each through-hole on the component platform. In another embodiment, it is also possible to move the component platform to the vicinity of the position of the printing reference surface and then set a second calibration plate on the component platform so that the second calibration plate is located at the position of the printing reference surface.

In some embodiments, it may be observed manually whether the target points are coincident with the calibration points.

In other embodiments, the determination may also be made by means of a photosensitive device. For example, only the calibration dots in the calibration image projected by the energy radiation device are bright dots, and the non-calibration dots are black dots, and when the target dot on the second calibration plate is a through hole, the photosensitive device can be disposed on the side of the component platform opposite to the energy radiation device to determine whether there is a bright dot passing through the through hole.

Please refer to fig. 6, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a second calibration plate according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, the second calibration plate 20 is provided with 5 sets of photosensitive devices, each set of photosensitive device includes a brightness sensor 211 and an indicating device 212, the brightness sensor 211 is disposed in a target point on the second calibration plate 20, the target point may be a blind hole, when the brightness sensor senses light, the indicating device gives a prompt, and the indicating device may be an indicator lamp or a buzzer or the like to give a light prompt or a sound prompt correspondingly. In the present embodiment, in order to clearly show the arrangement of the photosensitive device, the photosensitive device is enlarged, and the volume of the photosensitive device is generally smaller in practical applications to meet the requirement of precision. In addition, although the embodiment shown in fig. 6 takes 5 target points on the second calibration board as an example, in practical applications, the invention is not limited to this, and those skilled in the art can configure the target points according to practical situations.

In an exemplary embodiment, to facilitate alignment of the target points with the calibration points, auxiliary alignment patterns are also included in the calibration image to guide each calibration point to coincide with a corresponding target point on the component platform. The auxiliary alignment pattern can be a striking pattern arranged around the calibration point, so that an operator can find the position of the calibration point in the calibration image projected by the energy radiation device through the auxiliary alignment pattern, and the calibration point can be aligned and coincided with the target point conveniently.

The shape of the auxiliary alignment pattern may be configured according to actual requirements, and may be, for example, a circle, an arrow, or the like. The number of the auxiliary alignment patterns may be set to correspond to the number of the calibration points.

In an embodiment, please refer to fig. 7, which is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the calibration image in the present application, as shown in the figure, the auxiliary alignment pattern is a circular ring, each calibration point 31 has a circular ring 32 corresponding thereto, and the center of the circular ring is the calibration point 31. Only the calibration point and the circular ring in the calibration image projected by the energy radiation device have brightness, and because the area of the circular ring is large and striking, an operator can guide the calibration point to the vicinity of the target point by using the circular ring with the brightness, and then judge whether the calibration point is coincided with the target point.

In an exemplary embodiment, the auxiliary alignment pattern and the photosensitive device can also be used to help guide and determine whether the calibration point coincides with the target point. In this case, the position of the energy radiation device relative to the component platform is adjusted in accordance with the imaging position of the auxiliary alignment pattern on the component platform, so that the calibration points project onto the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device, and the output signals of the photosensitive device then determine whether the calibration points coincide with corresponding target points on the component platform.

Specifically, the energy radiation device projects a calibration image, the calibration image has a plurality of calibration points corresponding to target points one by one, each calibration point has an auxiliary alignment pattern, the auxiliary alignment pattern is a circular ring, and the calibration point is the center of the auxiliary alignment pattern. The positional relationship of the energy radiation device with respect to the member stage may be adjusted with reference to the positional relationship between the imaging position of the auxiliary alignment pattern and the target point so that the target point is approximately at the center of the auxiliary alignment pattern, and then it is judged whether the calibration point is aligned with the target point by the instruction of the light-sensing device.

When the photosensitive device is used to judge whether the calibration point is coincident with the target point, in some embodiments, the corresponding target point on the second calibration plate may be set as a blind hole, and the photosensitive device may be set in the blind hole; in other embodiments, the target point may also be a through hole, and the position of the photosensitive device may be determined according to the projection direction of the energy radiation device, for example, for a top projection 3D printing apparatus, the energy radiation device is disposed above the component platform, and radiates energy to the component platform located below during 3D printing, so that the photosensitive device may be disposed below the component platform and the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device faces upward; for a bottom-projection 3D printing apparatus, the energy radiation device is disposed below the member table, and radiates energy to the member table located above during 3D printing, so that the photosensitive device may be disposed above the member table with the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device facing downward.

It should be understood that the photosurface comprises a photosensing element in the photosensing device for receiving the optical signal so as to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal output.

In some embodiments, since the photosensitive surface of a general photosensitive device is larger, the photosensitive area of the photosensitive surface can be reduced in order to further improve the projection accuracy of the energy radiation device.

In a possible implementation, please refer to fig. 8, which is a schematic diagram illustrating an embodiment of a photosensitive device according to an embodiment of the present application. Here, taking a top-projection printing apparatus as an example, the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device is disposed upward. As shown in the figure, the photosensitive device 42 is disposed at the corresponding target point by a positioning component 41, such that the center point of the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device coincides with the center point of the target point, and the positioning component includes a component which is not limited to a mounting seat and the like and limits the photosensitive device at the position. The area outside the non-central point of the photosensitive surface is then shielded by a shield 40 that blocks the energy transmitted through that portion so that the light energy can only transmit through the portion that is not blocked by the shield. Here, the diameter of the center point may be determined according to the size of a pixel point projected by the energy radiation device, and when the pixel point is large, the diameter value of the center point may also be large, otherwise, the diameter value may be small, for example, when the pixel point is 0.1mm, the diameter value of the center point may be 0.15-0.25 mm.

According to the installation method, the calibration and installation steps of the energy radiation device can be respectively executed in different places, and support is provided for realizing that the energy radiation device is not calibrated on the site of the 3D printing equipment, so that various inconveniences caused by on-site calibration are avoided, the energy radiation device can be installed and used in the installation step in a simpler and more convenient mode, and the operation requirements on the site are greatly reduced. In some application scenarios, a user on site can also install the energy radiation device by himself or herself through remote guidance or according to the instructions of the specification, and convenience is provided for replacement of the energy radiation device.

The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and utilities of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application. Any person skilled in the art can modify or change the above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Accordingly, it is intended that all equivalent modifications or changes which can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concepts disclosed in the present application shall be covered by the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A calibration method of an energy radiation device of a 3D printing device is characterized by comprising the following steps:

constructing an installation simulation environment so that the energy radiation device has the same physical installation parameters in the installation simulation environment as in the 3D printing device on site; the physical mounting parameters comprise mounting height and/or mounting levelness in at least one direction;

placing the energy radiation device to be installed in the installation simulation environment according to the physical installation parameters to perform optical configuration so as to obtain calibration data; the calibration data comprises at least one of: breadth optical distortion data, breadth light intensity uniformity data, current and breadth brightness relation data and power and breadth brightness relation data;

fixing the position of the optical path member of the energy radiation device;

and exporting the calibration data, or sending the calibration data to the 3D printing equipment on site, so that after the energy radiation device to be installed is installed on the 3D printing equipment, the 3D printing equipment reads the calibration data to reproduce the optical configuration result of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment.

2. The calibration method of the energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an installation reference surface is preset on the 3D printing apparatus on site, the installation reference surface is used for installing the energy radiation device, and the energy radiation device radiates energy to the printing reference surface during 3D printing to shape the material to be solidified on the printing reference surface; the installation simulation environment includes a simulation installation device.

3. The method for calibrating the energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the simulation installation device comprises:

the printing simulation system comprises a simulation printing surface, a simulation printing device and a control device, wherein the simulation printing surface is used for simulating a printing reference surface in 3D printing equipment;

the simulation installation surface is used for simulating an installation reference surface in the 3D printing equipment; the position relation of the simulation installation surface relative to the simulation printing surface is the same as the position relation of the installation reference surface relative to the printing reference surface, so that the energy radiation device has the same physical installation parameters in an installation simulation environment and the 3D printing equipment on site.

4. The method for calibrating the energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the physical installation parameter comprises an installation height, the same physical installation parameter comprises: the distance between the simulation printing surface and the simulation mounting surface is the same as the distance between the printing reference surface and the mounting reference surface; when the physical mounting parameters include a mounting levelness in at least one direction, the same physical mounting parameters include: the installation levelness of the plane of the analog printing surface and the plane of the analog installation surface in at least one direction is the same as the installation levelness of the plane of the printing reference surface and the plane of the installation reference surface in at least one direction.

5. The method of calibrating an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical configuration comprises generating corresponding calibration data based on a difference in shape and/or brightness between an actual image and an expected image of the energy radiation device, the calibration data being used to process the print data for optical correction.

6. The method for calibrating the energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the 3D printing apparatus is a 3D printing apparatus based on surface projection exposure.

7. The calibration method for the energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the optical path component comprises a projection lens of the energy radiation device.

8. The method for calibrating the energy radiation device of the 3D printing equipment according to claim 1, wherein the 3D printing equipment is a 3D printing equipment based on point laser scanning forming.

9. The method for calibrating the energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the optical path component comprises a galvanometer mirror assembly.

10. The method for calibrating the energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the step of sending the calibration data to the 3D printing apparatus on site comprises: sending calibration data to the on-site 3D printing equipment based on an authorization authority; the authorization rights include at least one of: operation authority and expense authority.

11. A mounting method of an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus, the mounting method comprising the steps of:

enabling the 3D printing equipment to receive or import calibration data of the energy radiation device to be installed; the calibration data includes at least one of: breadth optical distortion data, breadth light intensity uniformity data, current and breadth brightness relation data and power and breadth brightness relation data; the calibration data are obtained based on a calibration method of an energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1-10;

enabling the energy radiation device to read the calibration data and installing an energy radiation device in the 3D printing equipment according to preset physical installation parameters so as to reproduce an optical configuration result of the energy radiation device in an installation simulation environment; the physical mounting parameters include a mounting height and/or a mounting levelness in at least one direction.

12. The mounting method of the energy radiation device of the 3D printing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the 3D printing apparatus includes a mounting reference surface for mounting the energy radiation device and a printing reference surface to which the energy radiation device radiates energy during 3D printing to shape the material to be solidified on the printing reference surface; the preset physical installation parameters include: the position relation of the simulation installation surface of the energy radiation device in the installation simulation environment relative to the simulation printing surface is the same as the position relation of the installation reference surface of the energy radiation device in the 3D printing equipment relative to the printing reference surface.

13. The method for installing an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the step of installing an energy radiation device in the 3D printing apparatus according to preset physical installation parameters comprises:

and measuring and adjusting the position relation of the printing reference surface relative to the mounting reference surface so that the position relation between the mounting reference surface and the printing reference surface is the same as the position relation of the simulated mounting surface relative to the simulated printing surface of the energy radiation device in the mounting simulated environment.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the 3D printing apparatus includes a component platform located on a printing reference surface, the component platform has a plurality of target points thereon, and the step of installing an energy radiation device in the 3D printing apparatus according to the predetermined physical installation parameters includes:

causing the energy radiation device to project a calibration image onto the component platform, the calibration image having at least three calibration points therein corresponding to target points on the print datum;

and adjusting the position relation of the energy radiation device relative to the component platform until the at least three calibration points coincide with corresponding target points on the component platform.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising an auxiliary alignment pattern in the calibration image to guide the at least three calibration points to coincide with corresponding target points on the component platform.

16. The method of mounting an energy radiation device of a 3D printing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the auxiliary alignment pattern includes at least three circular rings, the circular rings corresponding to the calibration points one to one and centered around the calibration points.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein detecting whether the calibration point coincides with the corresponding target point via a photosensitive device comprises:

adjusting the position relation of the energy radiation device relative to the component platform according to the imaging position of the auxiliary alignment pattern on the component platform, so that the calibration point is projected to a photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device;

and determining whether the calibration point is coincided with a corresponding target point on the component platform or not according to the output signal of the photosensitive device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of detecting whether the calibration point coincides with the corresponding target point via a photosensitive device further comprises:

positioning the photosensitive device above or below the corresponding target point, wherein the center point of the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device is superposed with the center point of the target point;

and shielding the area outside the central point of the photosensitive surface of the photosensitive device.