JP2001225391A - Method and apparatus for optically molding - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a molding time by enhancing a molding accuracy in a laminating direction and preventing a curing deformation of a resin model to be obtained while enhancing interlayer adhesive properties. SOLUTION: A method for optically molding obtains a stereoscopic resin model W by the steps of scanning a light beam LB on a surface of a photosetting resin liquid 1 and sequentially laminating cured scanned cured layers 6. In this case, in order to scan the beam and to cure the resin, a curing depth D of a region to be cured by depositing on a region 51 cured by previous time scanning is set larger than that of a region cured by deposited on a region 52 not cured by the previous time curing. A scanning phase of the region cured by the previous time scanning and a scanning phase of the region cured by this time scanning are relatively deviated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical molding method and an optical molding apparatus for molding a desired resin model by irradiating a light curable resin such as an ultraviolet curable resin with a light beam by scanning.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a desired resin model is obtained by scanning a surface of a tank containing an ultraviolet-curable resin liquid while turning on / off an ultraviolet laser and successively stacking the hardened scanning hardened layers. It has been attempted to shape Since such a resin model is used, for example, as a master model of a product, it is necessary to increase the molding accuracy, interlayer adhesion, and molding efficiency when molding.

In a conventional optical shaping method, ultraviolet rays are generated from an ultraviolet laser and the ultraviolet laser is turned on / off by an optical system having a galvanometer mirror, a shutter, and the like.
Irradiation is performed on the surface of the tank containing the ultraviolet-curable resin liquid while controlling the scanning direction of F and the light beam. An elevator that cuts off the ultraviolet laser and can move up and down is provided in the tank, and the resin liquid interposed between the resin liquid surface and the elevator is hardened by the ultraviolet laser.

In the first stage of the molding process, the elevator is raised, and the resin liquid interposed between the surface of the resin liquid and the elevator is hardened by an ultraviolet laser to form a first scanning hardened layer. After that, the elevator is lowered by one layer, and the second scan hardened layer is formed on the first scan hardened layer in the same procedure as the first layer. In the same manner as above, the scan hardened layers are sequentially laminated (hereinafter, also referred to as deposition), and when the formation of the final scan hardened layer is completed, the elevator is raised, the model is taken out from the resin liquid, and then the final Fig. 18
As shown in (1), the entire model W is irradiated with ultraviolet rays for a long time using an ultraviolet lamp 50 or the like.

Hereinafter, in the present specification, a plane within the same moving pitch of the above-mentioned elevator is referred to as a “constant section”.
FIG. 19 is a plan view showing this one contour cross section. According to the target model W, “51” is a region where the resin liquid is cured, and “52” is a region where the resin liquid is not cured. The area is shown. That is, FIG. 19 shows a state in which the cross section in FIG. 18 is observed.

As shown in FIGS. 19 and 20,
The ultraviolet beam 53 generated from the ultraviolet laser oscillator is
The optical system is scanned along the illustrated scanning direction DL,
At this time, the ultraviolet laser is turned on (actually, the shutter AOM is opened) in the region 51 where the resin liquid is cured, and turned off (actually, the shutter AOM is closed) in the region 52 where the resin liquid is not cured. When the scanning of one scanning line L is completed, the optical system is controlled to be phased by the scanning pitch P, and the same scanning is performed again along the scanning direction DL.

When the ultraviolet beam 53 is irradiated into the resin liquid, the light energy gradually decreases due to the resin liquid. Therefore, microscopically, as shown in FIG. That is, the scanning hardened layer) 54 is formed.

In this manner, the scan-hardened layer 5 having a uniform cross section
4 are formed, but when sequentially laminating the scan hardened layers, when forming the upper scan hardened layer, the light intensity is such that the ultraviolet beam 53 is also applied to the lower layer, that is,
The hardening depth D at the uniform cross section is controlled to be larger than the lamination thickness T (see FIG. 18) so as to enhance the adhesion between the layers.

[0009]

However, the above-mentioned conventional optical shaping method has the following two basic problems.

First, as described above, in the conventional optical shaping method, when forming a scan hardened layer having a certain uniform cross section,
The light intensity at which the ultraviolet beam is also applied to the lower layer, that is, the curing depth D at the same height section is controlled to be larger than the lamination thickness T, and at the same time as the formation of the scan hardening layer at the same height section, In the case where the lower layer is a non-cured region, the scan hardened layer is formed with a hardened depth greater than the intended lamination depth. Therefore, there is a problem that the modeling accuracy in the stacking direction is significantly reduced.

For example, when a model W as shown in FIG. 21A is formed, a plurality of scan hardened layers LY _{1 to} LY ₁₁ are sequentially laminated on a plurality of contour sections as shown in FIG. and Yuku but, in the case of forming the eighth layer of the scanning cured layer LY _8, as shown in FIG. 22, in a region 51 where there are scanned hardened layer in the lower layer, for example, the eighth layer LY ₈ and at the same time formed, as for the eighth layer LY ₈ from the fourth layer LY ₄ it is necessary to increase the interlayer adhesion between the lower layer reaching the seventh layer LY _7, hardening depth D reaches the fourth layer LY ₄ Control the ultraviolet laser oscillator.

[0012] However, when setting such cure depth D, even in a region 52 underlying the scanning hardened layer is not present, it is the depth of cure depth D reaches the fourth layer LY _4, compared to the lamination thickness T As a result, the scanning hardened layer 54 is formed several times or more. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 22, when the target model has the through hole 55 (shown by a dotted line), there is a problem that the surface accuracy of the through hole upper surface 55a is significantly impaired.

[0013] Such a problem becomes more remarkable as the interlayer adhesion is increased. Conversely, if the curing depth is suppressed to increase the molding accuracy, a problem occurs in the interlayer adhesion. I decided to do it.

A second problem in the conventional optical molding method is that a difference occurs in the cured state of the resin liquid during molding, and the resulting resin model is deformed.

That is, in the conventional optical shaping method, the resin liquid is cured at a predetermined curing depth by scanning the ultraviolet beam along the scanning direction at each of the contour sections. ), The scanning lines L, L
, The shorter the scanning pitch P is set, the more
The hardened state of the scan hardened layer 54 formed with the equal height cross section becomes good.

However, as the scanning pitch P becomes smaller, the time required for molding increases, and in order to put the resin model to practical use, as shown in FIG. I had to set it to some extent. Therefore, a non-cured area 56 remains between the scan hardened layer 54 by one scan line L and the scan hardened layer 54 by the adjacent scan line L, and as shown in FIG. When the resin is cured, the resin shrinks due to the curing, so that the scan-cured layer 54 at the same contour has a tendency to deform as shown in FIG.

Certainly, as described above, when the scan hardened layer 54 is formed on a given contour, by irradiating the lower layer with an ultraviolet beam (see FIG. 24), the hardened deformation of the lower layer is reduced to some extent. Can be suppressed,
Even if such scanning is continuously performed in the stacking direction, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the uncured area 56 could not be eliminated.

Therefore, when the entire resin model W is finally cured by the method shown in FIG. 18 after the molding is completed, the resin in the non-cured region 56 shown in FIG. 25 is cured for the first time. The uncured region 56 shrinks due to curing (see FIG. 26A), and cured deformation remains in the obtained resin model W (FIG. 26).
(B)).

The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and in forming a scan-hardened layer at each contour section, the non-hardened area is removed to achieve interlayer adhesion. It is an object of the present invention to prevent the hardening deformation of the obtained resin model while shortening the molding time while improving the property.

[0020]

In order to achieve the above object, an optical molding method according to the present invention is characterized in that a light beam is scanned on a liquid surface of a photo-curable resin, and a cured scan-cured layer is sequentially stacked to form a three-dimensional resin. In the optical shaping method for obtaining a model, the light beam is scanned, and the photocurable resin is deposited and cured on the region cured in the previous scan. And the scanning phase in the region to be cured in the current scan is relatively shifted.

A photocurable resin liquid tank containing the photocurable resin liquid; and a light scanning means for generating a light beam having a wavelength suitable for curing the photocurable resin liquid and scanning the light beam. And elevating means for elevating and lowering a cured resin generated by irradiating a light beam on the surface of the photocurable resin liquid, and control means for controlling the light scanning means and the elevating means,
In the optical shaping apparatus provided with, the control means, a plane curing information comparison unit that compares the curing information of the plane in the continuous scanning cured layer, and an optical scanning condition setting unit that sets the conditions for scanning the light beam As a result of the comparison in the plane curing information comparison unit, in the region where it is detected that the region is to be laminated and cured, the light beam is scanned at a scanning phase different from the scanning phase of the previous scanning cured layer. To
The above object can also be achieved by an optical shaping apparatus characterized by setting the optical scanning condition setting unit.

[0022]

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, in the case where a light beam is scanned on the photocurable resin liquid surface and a cured resin layer is sequentially stacked to obtain a three-dimensional resin model, the light beam is scanned and In depositing and curing the photo-curable resin on the region cured by the scan, the scanning phase in the region cured in the previous scan and the scan phase in the region cured in the current scan are relatively shifted. .

That is, a light beam having a wavelength suitable for curing the photocurable resin liquid is generated by the optical scanning means, and the light beam is applied to the photocurable resin liquid contained in the photocurable resin liquid tank. Is scanned. When the scanning at one contour section is completed, the cured resin generated by the irradiation of the light beam is raised and lowered by the lifting means, and by repeating such a procedure, the scanning hardened layers are sequentially laminated.

At this time, the plane hardening information comparing section
The curing information in the plane of the continuous scan-hardened layer, that is, in one iso-section, is compared, and as a result of the comparison, in the area where it is detected that the area is to be overlap-cured, the scan phase of the previous scan-hardened layer is compared. The light beam is scanned by setting the light scanning condition setting unit so that the light beam is scanned at a different scanning phase from that of the light beam.

Thus, in the region where it is detected that the region is to be cured in an overlapping manner, the non-cured region can be reduced because the scanning phase is shifted. As a result, not only the interlayer adhesion is improved, but also the difference in the cured state of the obtained resin model is reduced, so that the cured deformation of the resin model can be prevented. In addition, since the non-cured region can be reduced when performing modeling, the curing time of the resin model that is finally performed can be shortened.

[0026]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the configuration of an optical modeling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an optical modeling apparatus according to the present invention.

The optical shaping apparatus of the present embodiment has a photo-curable resin liquid tank 2, and the photo-curable resin liquid 1 accommodated in the tank is irradiated with light to cause addition polymerization. It is a material that cures. For example, vinyl monomers such as styrene, methyl methacrylate, and vinyl acetate can be polymerized by light irradiation without the presence of a photopolymerization initiator or in the presence of a sensitizer or dye that absorbs ultraviolet light. cause.

However, the type of the photocurable resin liquid 1 used in the present invention is not particularly limited, and may be any resin that is liquid when uncured and solidifies when cured. Also, the light LB to be irradiated is not particularly limited, and light other than the ultraviolet light may be selected according to the photocurable resin 1 to be used.

An elevator 4a having a pedestal for blocking the light beam and mounting the cured resin is provided in the photo-curable resin liquid tank 2, and the elevator 4a is
The inside of the photo-curable resin liquid tank 2 can be moved up and down by the elevator 4b. The elevator 4b has a function of mechanically raising and lowering the elevator 4a, and a control function for controlling the lifting operation. The command signal to the elevator 4b is given from the general control section 5c of the control means 5,
The general control unit 5c outputs a command signal to the elevator 4b based on information from the optical scanning unit 3 or the information.

For example, when the optical scanning means 3 detects that the scanning on one contour section is completed, the general control unit 5c instructs the elevator 4b to shift to the scanning on the next contour section. And outputs a signal to the elevator 4b.
Lowers the elevator 4a by a predetermined pitch (that is, this pitch becomes the lamination thickness T in the contour section).

On the other hand, the optical scanning means 3 according to the present embodiment comprises a laser oscillator 3a for generating a light beam such as an ultraviolet laser.
And an optical system 3b for scanning the surface of the photocurable resin liquid with a light beam generated by the laser oscillator 3a according to a predetermined trajectory, and an optical system controller 3c for controlling the optical system 3b. ing. Optical system 3b
Are provided with, for example, a shutter device (AOM) for passing / blocking a light beam, a voltage applying device for changing the direction of the light beam, and a galvanomirror.
N / OFF, change of light intensity, change of optical path, control of scanning speed of light, etc. are provided. The optical system controller 3c outputs to the optical system 3b a command signal relating to optical scanning conditions according to the trajectory taught in advance.

The operation of the light scanning means 3 in this embodiment is basically based on basic trajectory data previously input to the general control section 5c.
Depending on the comparison result of a, a command signal is output from the optical scanning condition setting unit 5b to the optical system controller 3c, and the detailed optical scanning conditions are changed.

The control means 5 according to this embodiment is a general control section for controlling the elevating means 4 and the light scanning means 3 while associating them with each other based on data input in advance in accordance with a target resin model. 5c. Further, for the contour section to be scanned this time, a plane curing information comparison unit 5a that obtains curing information of a plane (which may be a single contour section or a plurality of contour planes) under the lower layer by an operation described later; An optical scanning condition setting unit 5b that outputs information on optical scanning conditions to the optical system controller 3c based on information from the general control unit 5c or the planar curing information comparison unit 5a is provided.

In this embodiment, the information processing apparatus such as the elevator 4b, the optical system controller 3c, and the control means 5 is shown in FIG. 1 as a specific example configured separately from each other. Each function is described for easy understanding, and it goes without saying that the information processing apparatus may be configured by combining these functions in any combination as long as the functions described above are provided.

Next, the processing procedure in the plane curing information comparing section 5a according to the present embodiment will be described. In order to facilitate understanding of the basic concept of this processing procedure, first, two scanning hardened layers are formed. After the example described above, the scan hardened layer is generalized to a plurality of layers and described.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the state of generation of a scan hardened layer in the case of molding in this embodiment, and shows a case where the resin model shown in FIG. 21 is used. In the conventional optical shaping method, when forming a resin model W as shown in FIG. 21, as shown in FIG. 22, the light energy of the ultraviolet beam is kept constant regardless of the cured / uncured state of the lower layer. However, in the present embodiment, the hardened / unhardened state of the uniform section constituting the lower layer is calculated and obtained, and based on this information, if the lower layer is the unhardened region 52, the light energy is reduced. When the lower layer is the hardened region 51, the layer is irradiated with light energy reaching a plurality of layers to form the hardened scan layer 7b, thereby increasing the interlayer adhesion. That is, when obtaining the scanning hardened layer 7a, the hardening depth is set to _Da, and
It is a D _b hardening depth in the case of obtaining a b.

FIG. 3 shows a plane hardening information comparing section 5 of this embodiment.
3A is a plan view illustrating the processing concept in FIG. 3A, and two upper and lower scanning hardened layers UL (upper layer) and LL (lower layer) are separately illustrated as an example, and a horizontal line illustrated in FIG. The scanning line L is shown. These upper and lower layers UL,
FIG. 4 shows the LL superimposed, and the flat curing information comparison unit 5a intends to obtain the lower layer shown in the upper right of FIG. Is an identification with the region 7b which is a hardened region.

In discriminating the two areas 7a and 7b shown in FIG. 4, the present embodiment introduces the concept of "span". The “span” in the present embodiment refers to the intersection of a polygon and a scanning line of a light ray within a contour plane, and this span area is irradiated with a light ray. Therefore, the problem relating to the two-dimensional region extraction as shown in FIG. 4 results in a one-dimensional problem of comparing the spans on the corresponding scanning lines in the upper and lower layers.

[0039] The span data, Y _i a horizontal scanning (X
Direction), the y value of the same scanning line at the time of vertical scanning (Y direction), the x value of the same scanning line at the time of the vertical scanning (Y direction), and X _{i: j} are the x value of the intersection of the scanning line and the polygon at the time of horizontal scanning and Y _i X _{i: 0} X _{i: 1} X _{i: 2} ... X _{i: n} D Y _{i + 1} X _{i +} 1 _{: 0} ... D It can be represented by the following information format. In order to compare the spans on the corresponding scanning lines in the upper and lower layers, the scanning line data is defined as shown in FIG. FIG.
_J is the "weight", the area is not the _span,: W _i in
It means the weight of the lower region, the upper region, the overlap region, and the like.

Based on such an information format,
First, the lower and upper span data files 8a, 8b
, The span endpoint on the corresponding scan line is read out, and by insertion sort (ie, comparison of magnitude), the span endpoint a,
b, c, and d are arranged in ascending order (see FIG. 7). At this time, the following values are set as initial values of the respective weights _{Wi: j} . That is, in FIG. 6, the upper span start point a → 1 the upper span end point b → −1 the lower span start point c → 2 the lower span end point d → −2

Subsequently, span data arranged in ascending order by the insertion sort process shown in FIG. 7 is processed such that the weight becomes an index indicating the region. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the state of this processing. The data in the upper row is the data before the processing (the data after the insertion sort processing in FIG. 7 is performed), and the data in the lower row is the data after the processing. Specifically, first, the first data a is unprocessed, the weight (2) of c and the weight (1) of a are added to the next data c (2 + 1), and c Weight (3). In the same manner, the own weight and the weight of the immediately preceding data are added to obtain the processed weight.

FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the data obtained by processing the scan hardened layer shown in FIG. 6 in the flat hardening information comparing section 5a of this embodiment and the upper and lower layers. From this figure, it is understood that the value of the weight is a marker for identifying the region. That is, weight 0 → area not spanned Weight 1 → area of upper layer only Weight 2 → area of lower layer only Weight 3 → overlap area of upper and lower layers Then, the span data relating to the region identified by the weight is stored in the span data file 9a relating only to the upper layer and the span data file 9b relating to the region where the upper and lower layers overlap.

The above is a specific example in which the processing in the plane hardening information comparing section 5a according to the present embodiment is described as having two upper and lower contour sections. Such a processing procedure is generalized by the following concept. can do.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the concept of processing in the flat curing information comparison section of this embodiment, and is shown in FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which a plurality of scan hardened layers are used in order to generalize one example of the upper and lower scan hardened layers shown in FIG. For this generalization, the span data file must be prepared as follows: D is the hardening depth of the layer to be laminated and _Tik is the lamination thickness of the lower layer. D> T _i + T _i-1 + T _{i -2} +... + T _im is a span data file for all layers that satisfy _im . In the example shown in FIG. 10, the span data files of LY _{2 to} LY ₄ are required.

Next, in order to compose the scanning line data from the prepared span data file, it is sufficient to search each span data file, read out the corresponding scanning line, and sequentially add the scanning line data. At this time, the following value is set as the initial value of the weight. Note that 0 ≦ k ≦ m. In the first i-k layer span start → 2 ^k first i-k layer span endpoint → -2 ^k Thus, when finished the setting of the initial value of the scan line data, processed by the processing procedure similar to the procedure shown in FIG. 8 Do
Justify the correspondence between weights and regions. As a result, the i-th
In the region including the layer and having a continuous lower part, the initial value of the weight is determined as described above. Therefore, when the weight is 2 ^{k + 1} −1, the region continuously extends from the i-th layer to the i-k layer below. Will have an overlap.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a case where one more layer is formed on the two layers shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 12 is a view showing the correspondence between weights and regions (scanning hardened layers). is there.
The processing of the plane hardening information comparison unit 5a for a plurality of scan hardened layers is achieved by the above-described method (FIGS. 11 and 12), and the processing of 2 ^k given as a weight can be sufficiently handled by a general computer. can do. However, if it is difficult to prepare a span data file for each layer at a time in terms of the capability of the information processing apparatus, the processing can be performed as follows.

That is, attention is paid to the span data file for each area extracted in the previous modeling and the span data file of a new layer to be formed this time. The left diagram in FIG. 11 shows the scan hardened layer formed last time, and the span data file for each area used at this time is known. Therefore, using the lower layer span data file, the scan hardened layer to be formed this time and the span data having the same lower layer weight are first identified as shown in FIG. 13 right as shown in FIG. Next, as shown on the left side of FIG. 14, similar processing is performed using one of the identified areas and span data having the same other weights in the lower layer, and identification is performed as shown on the right side of FIG. Even in this case, the same result as in FIG. 12 can be obtained.

FIG. 15 shows the result of processing according to the above-described procedure.
It is sectional drawing which shows a mode that the hardening depth is controlled based on the data of the weight. Specifically, the plane hardening information comparison unit 5
From a, the optical system controller 3c is controlled via the light scanning condition setting unit 5b, and the curing depth is adjusted by changing the light energy.

As described above, according to the optical shaping method and the optical shaping apparatus of the present embodiment, when forming the scan hardened layer on the area hardened by the previous scan, the hardening depth is relatively set. The thickness can be increased, and the interlayer adhesion can be increased. On the other hand, when a scan hardened layer is formed on an area that has not been hardened in the previous scan, the hardening depth can be relatively reduced, and the modeling accuracy in the stacking direction can be increased.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the conventional optical shaping method, in forming the scan hardened layer 54 at a certain contour, it is possible to suppress the hardening deformation of the lower layer to some extent by irradiating the lower layer with an ultraviolet beam as shown in FIG. Although it was possible, even if such scanning was continuously performed in the laminating direction, as shown in FIG. 25, the uncured region 56 could not be eliminated.

Therefore, when the entire resin model W is finally cured by the method shown in FIG. 18 after the molding is completed, the resin in the non-cured area 56 shown in FIG. 25 is cured for the first time. The uncured region 56 shrinks due to curing (see FIG. 26A), and cured deformation remains in the obtained resin model W (FIG. 26).
(B)).

Therefore, in this embodiment, the light beam is scanned and
In depositing and curing the photocurable resin on the region cured in the previous scan, the scan phase in the region cured in the previous scan and the scan phase in the region cured in the current scan are relatively determined. It is configured to be staggered.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing an optical shaping method according to the second embodiment. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view showing two upper and lower scanning hardened layers. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the example laminated. The configuration of the optical modeling apparatus according to the present embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted by describing only differences.

A specific method of relatively shifting the scan phase in the region cured in the previous scan and the scan phase in the region cured in the current scan is a scan for calculating the span of each scan-hardened layer. The line is converted by the control means so as to be shifted by half the Y-axis pitch of the scanning line.

That is, first, the maximum Y coordinate that a scanning line can take is set according to the resolution of the optical shaping apparatus of the present embodiment, and the Y coordinate which is n times the scanning line interval (pitch in the Y-axis direction) is set.
Initialize to 0 to make the coordinates a scan line. Then, it is determined whether or not the scan hardened layer to be formed is an even-numbered layer. If the layer is an even-numbered layer, the Y coordinate of the scan line is set to n times the scan line interval + the scan line interval. Reduce to half.
When the scanning hardened layer to be formed is an odd number, the Y coordinate of the scanning line is set to n times the scanning line interval.

After the Y coordinate of the scanning line is set in this way, the intersection between the determined scanning line and each of the contour sections is calculated in the same procedure as in the first embodiment. The calculation may be performed by the general control unit 5c of the control unit 5 and output to the optical system controller 3c via the plane curing information comparison unit 5a and the light scanning condition setting unit 5b. All operations may be performed by the unit 5a, and the optical system controller 3c may be controlled via the optical scanning condition setting unit 5b.

According to the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, a hardened area to be hardened at an equal cross section is formed deeper than the non-hardened area 56 of the scan hardened layer constituting the lower layer. Therefore, if these scans are continued, FIG.
As shown in (1), the remaining of the non-cured region 56 can be suppressed in the overall contoured section. As a result, by setting the curing depth to be large, not only the interlayer adhesion is improved, but also the difference in the cured state of the obtained resin model W is reduced, so that the cured deformation of the resin model can be prevented. In addition, since the non-cured region can be reduced when performing modeling, the curing time of the resin model that is finally performed can be shortened.

The embodiments described above have been described for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the present invention, but are not intended to limit the present invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in each of the above embodiments is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

[0059]

According to the present invention, when the light beam is scanned to deposit and cure the photocurable resin on the region cured by the previous scan, the scanning phase in the region cured by the previous scan is determined by: Since it is configured so that the scan phase in the region to be cured in the current scan is relatively shifted, in the region where it is detected that the region is to be cured in duplicate,
The non-cured area can be reduced due to the shift of the scanning phase.

As a result, not only is the interlayer adhesion improved, but the difference in the cured state of the obtained resin model is reduced, so that the resin model can be prevented from being cured and deformed.
In addition, since the non-cured region can be reduced when performing modeling, the curing time of the resin model that is finally performed can be shortened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an optical shaping apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a scanning hardened layer is formed when forming by the apparatus and method of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a processing concept in a plane curing information comparison unit of the first embodiment, and is a plan view showing two upper and lower scanning cured layers separately as an example;

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the concept of processing in the flat curing information comparison unit of the first embodiment, as in FIG. 3, and is a plan view showing two scanning hardened layers superimposed on each other;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an information format for one scanning line in the flat curing information comparison unit of the first embodiment, similarly to FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a processing concept in the flat curing information comparison unit of the first embodiment, similarly to FIGS. 3 and 4;
It is a top view which shows two scanning hardened layers on top and bottom on top of each other.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a processing procedure when the scan hardened layer shown in FIG. 6 is processed by the flat hardened information comparison unit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an information format processed in the flat curing information comparison unit of the first embodiment, similarly to FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the information format after processing the scan hardened layer shown in FIG. 6 in the plane hardening information comparison unit of the present invention and the scan hardened layer at a contour cross section.

FIG. 10 is a view for explaining the concept of processing in a plane curing information comparison unit, and in order to generalize one example of two upper and lower scanning curing layers shown in FIGS. 2 to 9, a plurality of scanning curing layers are used. It is sectional drawing which shows an example.

11 is a diagram for explaining the concept of processing in the flat curing information comparison unit, similar to FIG. 10, and is a plan view showing an example in which a plurality of scanning hardened layers are used.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a relationship between information (weighting) and a scanning hardened layer when information is processed in a flat hardening information comparing unit, as in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a processing procedure when the scan hardened layer shown in FIG. 11 is processed by the flat hardened information comparison unit.

14 is a plan view showing a processing procedure in the case where the scan hardened layer shown in FIG. 11 is processed by the flat hardened information comparison unit, similarly to FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing how the curing depth is controlled based on the weight data processed in the procedures shown in FIGS.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing an optical shaping method according to the second embodiment, and is a cross-sectional view showing two upper and lower scanning hardened layers.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example in which a plurality of scan hardened layers illustrated in FIG. 16 are stacked.

FIG. 18 is a side view showing a step of performing a final curing after laminating a scanning curing layer in a conventional optical shaping method.

FIG. 19 is a plan view showing a cured region and an uncured region and a scanning direction of a light beam in one contour section in a conventional optical shaping method.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing a scanning direction and a curing depth of a light beam at one contour section in a conventional optical shaping method.

FIG. 21 (A) is a perspective view showing an example of a resin model to be molded by a conventional optical molding method, and FIG. 21 (B) is (A).
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a scan hardened layer in each of the contour sections when the resin model shown in FIG.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a scan hardened layer is generated when the resin model shown in FIG. 21A is formed by a conventional optical forming method.

23A and 23B are cross-sectional views showing a cured state of a resin liquid when molding is performed by a conventional optical molding method. FIG. 23A shows a state before curing, and FIG. 23B shows a state after curing.

FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view between two layers showing a conventional method for preventing hardening deformation when molding by a conventional optical molding method.

FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of a plurality of layers showing a conventional method of preventing hardening deformation when molding by a conventional optical molding method.

26A and 26B are cross-sectional views showing a cured state of a resin model in a step of performing final curing after molding by a conventional optical molding method, where FIG. 26A shows a state before curing, and FIG. Is shown.

27A and 27B are cross-sectional views showing a scanning pitch when forming by a conventional optical shaping method, wherein FIG. 27A shows a case where the scanning pitch is small, and FIG. 27B shows a case where the scanning pitch is large.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Photocurable resin liquid 2 ... Photocurable resin liquid tank 3 ... Optical scanning means 3a ... Laser oscillator 3b ... Optical system 3c ... Optical system controller 4 ... Elevating means 4a ... Elevator 4b ... Elevator 5 ... Control means 5a ... Flat curing information comparison unit 5b Optical scanning condition setting unit 5c General control unit 7a, 7b Scanning hardened layer LB Light beam T Stacking thickness D Curing depth P Scanning pitch L Scanning line

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An optical shaping method for scanning a light beam on a liquid surface of a photo-curable resin and sequentially stacking hardened scan-cured layers to obtain a three-dimensional resin model, wherein the light beam is scanned and cured in a previous scan. In depositing and curing the photocurable resin on the region that has been cured, the scan phase in the region cured in the previous scan and the scan phase in the region cured in the current scan are relatively shifted. Optical modeling method. 2. A photo-curable resin liquid tank containing a photo-curable resin liquid, and a light scanning means for generating a light ray having a wavelength suitable for curing the photo-curable resin liquid and scanning the light ray. An optical device comprising: an elevating unit that elevates and lowers a cured resin generated by irradiating a light beam on the surface of the photocurable resin liquid; and a control unit that controls the optical scanning unit and the elevating unit. In the modeling apparatus, the control unit includes a plane curing information comparison unit that compares curing information of planes in a continuous scanning cured layer, and an optical scanning condition setting unit that sets conditions relating to scanning of the light beam. As a result of the comparison in the curing information comparison unit, in the region where it is detected that the region is to be laminated and cured, the light scanning is performed such that the light beam is scanned at a scanning phase different from the scanning phase of the previous scanning cured layer. Condition setting Optical modeling apparatus and performs settings.