JP2002264221A - Three-dimensional shaping apparatus and three- dimensional shaping method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide three-dimensional shaping tachnique capable of forming a three-dimensional shaped article enhanced in strength. SOLUTION: In the three-dimensional shaping apparatus 100A, a powder material of a thermally meltable resin is supplied from a powder supply part 40 and spread by moving a blade 51 in a +X direction to form a powder layer 82 on a shaping stage 32. Ink solutions having a plurality of colors are discharged to the selected regions of the powder layer 82 from a nozzle head 22. This operation is repeated with respect to the successively formed powder layers 82 and the laminated powder material of the powder layers 82 is irradiated with electromagnetic waves from an antenna 61 for the irradiation of electromagnetic waves to generate heat from moisture in the ink solutions applied to the powder layers 82. The powder material is melted by the generated heat to form the three-dimensional article 81. As a result, the powder layers are mutually bonded by the melting of the powder material itself to enhance the strength of the three-dimensional article 81.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional printing technique, and more particularly, to a three-dimensional printing technique for producing a three-dimensional printing object by bonding powder materials.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional three-dimensional printing apparatus, a binder that dries and hardens is discharged from an ink-jet head or the like to a layer of a powder material, and a combined body of the powder materials is sequentially formed. There are things that shape things. In this three-dimensional printing apparatus, for example, the following operation is performed, and a three-dimensional printing object is generated.

First, a gypsum or starch powder material is uniformly spread in a thin layer using a blade or the like. Next, an inkjet head is scanned over a region to be formed in the thin layer of the powder material, and a binder that cures by drying is applied. The powder material in the area where the binder is applied is combined with the underlying or adjacent cured area. Until the modeling is completed, the steps of sequentially forming thin layers of the powder material and applying the binder are repeated. When the shaping is completed, the powder material in the region where the binder is not applied is kept individually independent, so that the three-dimensional structure bonded by the binder can be taken out.

[0004]

However, in the above-described three-dimensional modeling apparatus, it takes a long time to dry since a binder that is hardened by drying is applied and the powder material is bonded. Insufficient strength, such as the weakness of the formed object against impact. For this reason, a post-treatment step for reinforcing the strength, such as impregnation with a reinforcing agent, is required.

When the above-mentioned binder is applied using an ink-jet head, the diameter of the hole in the nozzle portion is extremely small (generally 20 μm or less). It is hardened by drying in the part and clogging easily occurs. If such a problem occurs, the powder material in the region to which the binder is to be applied is not bonded by the clogged nozzle, which causes a reduction in the shape accuracy and strength of the three-dimensional structure. Therefore, when an inkjet head is used, only a binder having a weak adhesive force can be used, and the strength of the completed three-dimensional structure is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a three-dimensional printing technique capable of producing a three-dimensional printing object with improved strength.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an invention according to claim 1 is a three-dimensional printing apparatus for generating a three-dimensional printing object by binding a powder material,
(a) layer forming means for sequentially forming a layer of powder material having a heat melting property, and (b) applying means for applying a liquid absorbing electromagnetic wave energy to a selected region in the layer of the powder material,
(c) for the liquid given to the powder material, radiating means for radiating electromagnetic waves, by heating the liquid by the electromagnetic waves and melting the powder material,
A combination of the powder materials is formed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the radiating means radiates the electromagnetic wave for each layer of the powder material formed sequentially.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the liquid contains a colored carrier.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional molding method for producing a three-dimensional structure by bonding powder materials, wherein (a) a layer of the powder material having a heat melting property is sequentially formed. A layer forming step of forming, (b) an applying step of applying a liquid absorbing electromagnetic wave energy to a selected region in the layer of the powder material, and (c) an electromagnetic wave to the liquid applied to the powder material. A radiation step of radiating the powder material. The electromagnetic wave heats the liquid to melt the powder material, whereby a combined body of the powder material is formed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the three-dimensional molding method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the radiating step, the electromagnetic waves are radiated for each layer of the powder material formed sequentially.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the three-dimensional modeling method according to the fourth or fifth aspect, the liquid contains a colored carrier.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment <Main Configuration of Three-Dimensional Modeling Apparatus> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100A according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The three-dimensional printing apparatus 100A includes a control unit 10A
And an ink supply unit 20, a modeling unit 30, a powder supply unit 40, and a powder diffusion unit 5 electrically connected to the control unit 10A, respectively.
0 and an electromagnetic wave irradiation unit 60.

The control unit 10A includes a computer 11 and a drive control unit 12 electrically connected to the computer 11.

The computer 11 is a general desk-top type computer or the like which includes a CPU and a memory inside. The computer 11 converts the three-dimensional object into shape data as shape data, and outputs to the drive control unit 12 cross-sectional data obtained by slicing the data into thin parallel cross-sections.

The drive control section 12 functions as control means for driving the ink applying section 20, the modeling section 30, the powder supply section 40, the powder diffusion section 50, and the electromagnetic wave irradiation section 60, respectively. Further, when the drive control unit 12 obtains the cross-sectional data from the computer 11, the drive control unit 12 gives a drive command to each of the above-described units based on the cross-sectional data, and
In the above, the operation of sequentially forming the powder combination for each layer of the powder material is generally controlled.

The ink applying section 20 includes a tank section 21 and a nozzle head 2 for discharging the ink solution in the tank section 21.
2. XY for moving the nozzle head 22 on the horizontal XY plane
A direction moving unit 23 and a driving unit 24 that drives the XY direction moving unit 23 are provided.

The tank section 21 includes a plurality of tanks (four tanks in this example) 21a to 21d for storing ink solutions of different colors. Specifically, each of the tanks 21a to 21d has a color carrier Y
An ink solution (hereinafter, simply referred to as “ink”) in which three primary colors of (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan) and a water-soluble ink of W (white) are dissolved in water is stored.

The nozzle head 22 includes an XY direction moving unit 23
And is movable together with the XY-direction moving unit 23 in the XY plane. The nozzle head 22 has the same number of discharge nozzles 22a to 22d as the number of tanks in the tank unit 21.
“d” is connected to the tanks 21 a to 21 d by four tubes 25. Each of the ejection nozzles 22a to 22d is a nozzle that ejects (spouts) each ink as minute droplets by, for example, an inkjet method. The ejection of ink by each of the ejection nozzles 22a to 22d is individually controlled by the drive control unit 12, and the ink ejected from each of the ejection nozzles 22a to 22d is formed by a modeling unit provided at a position facing the nozzle head 22. It adheres to 30 powder layers 82.

The XY-direction moving unit 23 includes a moving unit main body 23a.
And a guide rail 23b. Moving unit body 2
3a is capable of reciprocating movement in the X direction along the guide rail 23b, and is capable of reciprocating movement in the Y direction. Therefore, the nozzle head 22 can be moved by the XY direction moving unit 23 in a plane defined by the X axis and the Y axis. That is, the drive control unit 12
The nozzle head 22 can be moved to an arbitrary position within the driving range on the plane based on the driving command from

The shaping section 30 includes a shaping section main body 31 having a concave portion in the center, a shaping stage 32 provided inside the concave portion of the shaping section main body 31, and a Z-direction moving section for moving the shaping stage 32 in the Z direction. 33 and a drive unit 34 for driving the Z-direction moving unit 33.

The modeling unit main body 31 serves to provide a working area for generating a three-dimensional modeled object. In addition, the modeling unit main body 31 has a powder temporary placement unit 31b that temporarily holds the powder supplied from the powder supply unit 40.
have.

The molding stage 32 has a rectangular shape in the XY section, and its side surface is in contact with the vertical inner wall 31 a of the concave portion in the molding portion main body 31. The rectangular parallelepiped three-dimensional space WK formed by the modeling stage 32 and the vertical inner wall 31a of the modeling portion main body 31 functions as a base space for generating a three-dimensional modeled object.

The Z-direction moving section 33 has a support rod 33a connected to the molding stage 32. And support rod 3
3a is moved in the vertical direction by the drive unit 34, so that the Z of the modeling stage 32 connected to the support rod 33a is
The movement in the direction becomes possible.

The powder supply unit 40 includes a tank 41, a cutoff plate 42 provided at the outlet of the tank 41, and a drive unit 43 that slides the cutoff plate 42 according to a command from the drive control unit 12.

The tank part 41 contains a powder material of a hot-melt resin used as a material for producing a three-dimensional structure. Since this powder material is melted by heat generated water as described later, the boiling point of water, that is, 100
It is preferable to use a material that is heat-melted at about not higher than about ° C.

The shut-off plate 42 is slidable in the horizontal direction (X direction). The shut-off plate 42 supplies and stops the powder stored in the tank portion 41 to the powder temporary placing portion 31b of the modeling portion 30. .

The powder diffusing section 50 includes a blade 51, a guide rail 52 for regulating the operation of the blade 51, and a driving section 5 for reciprocating the blade 51 in the horizontal direction (X direction).
3 is provided.

The blade 51 is long in the Y direction and has a blade-like shape with a sharp lower end. The length of the blade 51 in the Y direction is a length that can cover the width in the Y direction in the three-dimensional space WK. Note that a vibration mechanism that applies a minute vibration to the blade may be added so that the powder can be smoothly diffused by the blade 51.

The driving section 53 has a vertical driving section 53a for vertically moving the blade 51 in the vertical direction (Z direction) and a horizontal driving section 53b for reciprocating the blade 51 in the horizontal direction (X direction). Then, the drive control unit 12
By driving the vertical drive unit 53a and the horizontal drive unit 53b based on the command from the controller 51, the blade 51 can move in the X direction and the Z direction.

The electromagnetic wave irradiation section 60 has an electromagnetic wave irradiation antenna 61 and an electromagnetic wave generation section 62.

The electromagnetic wave irradiation antenna 61 is an antenna for radiating an electromagnetic wave to the powder material laminated on the molding stage 32. This electromagnetic wave irradiation antenna 6
From 1, it is preferable to generate an electromagnetic wave of a specific wavelength (for example, an electromagnetic wave in a microwave band) suitable for efficiently generating moisture.

The electromagnetic wave generator 62 has a circuit for generating an electromagnetic wave by the antenna 61 for irradiating the electromagnetic wave.

<Operation of Three-dimensional Modeling Apparatus 100A> FIG.
5 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100A. Hereinafter, the basic operation will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S1, the computer 11
Model data representing a three-dimensional object having a color pattern or the like on its surface is created. Color three-dimensional model data created by general three-dimensional CAD modeling software can be used as shape data that is the basis for modeling. It is also possible to use shape data and texture measured by the three-dimensional shape input device.

In the model data, there are data in which color information is provided only on the surface of the three-dimensional model, or data in which color information is provided up to the inside of the model. In the latter case, it is possible to use only the color information of the model surface at the time of modeling, and it is also possible to use the color information inside the model. For example, when generating a three-dimensional structure such as a human body model, there is a case where it is desired to apply a different color to each internal organ, and in that case, color information inside the model is used.

In step S2, the computer 11 generates section data for each section obtained by slicing the modeling object in the horizontal direction from the model data. A cross section sliced at a pitch (layer thickness t) corresponding to the thickness of one layer of the powder to be laminated is cut out from the model data, and shape data and coloring data are created. In addition, the pitch for slicing can be changed within a predetermined range (a range of a thickness capable of binding the powder).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the cross-sectional data generated in step S2. As shown in FIG. 3, a cross section including the color information is cut out from the model data and subdivided into a grid. It is handled in the same way as a two-dimensional image bitmap, and is converted into bitmap information for each color. This bitmap information is information taking into account the gradation and the like.

In step S 3, information on the powder stacking thickness (slice pitch at the time of generating cross-sectional data) and the number of laminations (the number of cross-sectional data sets) at the time of forming the object to be formed are transmitted from the computer 11 to the drive control unit. 12 is input.

The operation from the next step S4 on is performed by the drive control unit 12 controlling each unit. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating these operations.
Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIG.

In step S 4, the molding stage 32 is input from the computer 11 by the Z-direction moving unit 33 in order to form a combined body of the Nth layer (N = 1, 2,...) Of the powder in the molding stage 32. Based on the above-mentioned layer thickness t, it is lowered and held by a distance corresponding to the thickness. In the initial state, the modeling stage 32 is located at the same height position as the upper end position of the modeling section 30, and descends therefrom by a distance corresponding to the layer thickness t. Then, the molding stage 32 descends step by step by a distance corresponding to the layer thickness t sequentially for each layer of the powder material. Thereby, a space for forming one new powder layer can be formed above the powder layer on which the powder material is deposited on the modeling stage 32.

In step S5, the powder material is supplied from the powder supply unit 40, and the blade 51 is moved in the + X direction to thereby reduce the thickness of one layer of the powder material to be a material in the formation of the three-dimensional structure. A layer is formed.

In the operation of step S5, FIG.
As shown in (a), first, the powder material is dropped from the powder supply unit 40 to the powder temporary placement unit 31b of the modeling unit main body 31. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, the lowermost point of the blade 51 descends so as to be at the same height position as the upper end of the modeling part 30,
The movement in the + X direction is performed in that state. This allows
A uniform thin layer of the powder material is accurately formed by the powder supply unit 40 and the blade 51.

The amount of the powder material supplied from the powder supply section 40 during the formation of one layer (during one movement along the + X direction) is slightly larger than the amount required for the formation of one layer. It is set to avoid powder shortage at any position in the molding space. For this reason, after the formation of one layer, the powder material remains, but the surplus powder material can be collected and reused.

In step S6, as shown in FIG. 4C, the nozzle head 22 moves in the + X direction, and the ejection nozzles 22a to 22d are driven based on a control signal from the drive control unit 12.
The ink of each color is ejected to the powder layer extended from. At this time, the drive control unit 12 applies a control signal to the nozzle head 22 based on the cross-sectional data (see FIG. 3), so that ink of each color is applied to a selected region to be formed.

Here, by supplying a control signal from the drive control unit 12 to the nozzle head 22 based on the YCMW coloring data (see FIG. 3), ink is applied to a coloring area near the surface of the three-dimensional structure. Is applied. Thereby, a desired coloring can be applied to the three-dimensional structure.

Generally, it is sufficient to mix the three primary colors of Y, M, and C in order to perform coloring. However, in order to express the density (gradation) of the colors, white ink is ejected in addition to the three primary colors to mix the colors. It is effective to do. In general printers, etc., characters and images are printed on white paper with ink, toner, and the like. Therefore, if the white color of the base paper is used, white ink is not required, and three colors of Y, M, and C are used. By simply using, the shading of each color component can be expressed in principle. However,
When the color of the powder used as the material for the three-dimensional printing is not white, it is particularly effective to use a white ink.

An example of the form of ink ejection when displaying shades when coloring a three-dimensional object in this way will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of gradation expression for cyan. When predetermined gradation conversion is performed in the drive control unit 12, the multivalued gradation data included in the cross-sectional data is converted into binary data for each basic dot area (the minimum rectangle in FIG. 5). The binary data serves as information for controlling ON / OFF of the nozzle heads 22a to 22d that eject ink. When displaying pale cyan, cyan is ejected to one basic dot area in a 2 × 2 matrix array, and white is ejected to the other basic dot areas. When displaying dark cyan, cyan is ejected to the entire basic set area. As described above, by changing the ejection ratio of the cyan ink and the white ink with respect to the basic set area, it is possible to appropriately express a gradation change from light cyan to dark cyan.

Next, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an expression changing from pale cyan to pale yellow. The left end of FIG. 6 is an ejection pattern of C and W when expressing light cyan, and the right end is an ejection pattern of Y and W when expressing light yellow. When changing from pale cyan to pale yellow through a mixed color of cyan and yellow, as shown in FIG. 6, the proportions of discharging C, Y, and W into the basic set area are gradually changed. This makes it possible to express such a color change.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which a plurality of basic set areas for coloring are set. FIG. 7A shows C and W
FIG. 7B shows an ejection pattern of FIG.
Specifically shows a coloring form expressed by the discharge pattern of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, by controlling the ejection pattern by the drive control unit 12, it becomes possible to perform coloring in the process of forming the three-dimensional structure.

In step S7, it is determined whether the lamination of the powder material has been completed, that is, whether the number of laminations input in step S3 has been reached. Here, if the lamination has not been completed, an operation of forming a new powder layer of the (N + 1) th layer above the Nth layer is performed.

In step S8, as shown in FIG. 4D, the electromagnetic wave is radiated from the electromagnetic wave irradiation antenna 61 to the powder material on which the ink is applied and laminated. Here, the water molecules of the ink adhered to the powder material are vibrated by electromagnetic wave energy to generate heat, whereby the powder material adhered to the ink is thermally fused and bonded. As a result, the powder materials themselves are melted and bonded to each other instead of bonding the powder materials through a foreign substance called a binder, so that the strength is improved.

After the operation of step S8, the powder material irradiated with the electromagnetic wave is cooled naturally. After this cooling, the three-dimensional object 81 can be obtained by separating the three-dimensional object 81 from the unbound powder material to which the ink has not been applied. The unbound powder material may be collected and reused as the powder material.

By repeating the operations shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C by a predetermined number of layers, the molding stage 3
The powder layers colored with the respective color inks are sequentially laminated on 2, and finally, by irradiating electromagnetic waves as shown in FIG. 4D, the three-dimensional object 81 of the modeling object is placed on the modeling stage 32. It will be shaped.

By the operation of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100A as described above, the powder material on which the ink is applied is melted and combined by the irradiation of the electromagnetic wave, so that the strength of the generated three-dimensional object is improved.

Further, since the powder materials are melted and bonded to each other, a three-dimensional object as a functional component requiring elasticity such as a spring can be generated, and the applicable range of the three-dimensional object modeling is expanded.

Further, since the time for irradiating the electromagnetic wave is shorter than the time for drying the binder, the molding speed can be increased.

Further, the liquid discharged from the discharge nozzle is:
Because it is an aqueous solution of ink and the like that does not have adhesiveness, clogging does not occur in the discharge nozzle due to drying,
Reliability in modeling is improved.

The heat-meltable resin used as a powder material is less likely to coagulate due to moisture than a powder material such as starch or gypsum used as an object to be cured with a binder, so that storage is easy.

<Second Embodiment> A three-dimensional printing apparatus 100B according to a second embodiment of the present invention is similar to the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100A of the first embodiment, but differs in a control unit 10B.

That is, the control unit 10B stores a program for executing the operation of the three-dimensional structure 100B described below, which is different from the first embodiment.

The YCM colored ink in the tanks 21a to 21c preferably has a smaller water content than the white ink in the tank 21d. This is because, as described later, the water content of the white ink is used to absorb electromagnetic waves and generate heat, while the other colored inks are used only for coloring.

<Operation of Three-dimensional Modeling Apparatus 100B> FIG.
5 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100B. In this operation, unlike the first embodiment, an electromagnetic wave is applied to each powder layer. Details of the operation will be described below.

The operations in steps S11 to S13 are described in steps S1 to S3 shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The same operation as is performed.

Step S14 and subsequent steps are operations performed by the drive control unit 12 controlling each unit. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating these operations. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIG.

In step S 14, the molding stage 32 is input from the computer 11 by the Z-direction moving unit 33 in order to form a combined body of the Nth layer (N = 1, 2,...) Of the powder on the molding stage 32. Based on the determined layer thickness t, it is lowered and held by a distance corresponding to the thickness.

In step S15, as in the first embodiment, the powder material is supplied from the powder supply unit 40, and the blade 51 is moved in the + X direction to become a material in the formation of the three-dimensional structure. One thin layer of the powder material is formed (see FIGS. 9A and 9B).

In step S16, as shown in FIG. 9 (c), the nozzle head 22 moves in the + X direction, and based on the control signal from the drive control unit 12, the nozzle head 22 To eject white ink. At this time, the drive control unit 12 applies a control signal to the nozzle head 22 based on the cross-sectional data (see FIG. 3), so that white ink is applied to a selected region to be formed.

Here, the reason why only the white ink is ejected is as follows.
This is because after forming the shape of the three-dimensional object in the next step S17, it is used as a base for coloring with another color in step S18.

In step S17, as shown in FIG. 9 (d), the electromagnetic wave is radiated from the electromagnetic wave irradiation antenna 61 to the powder material coated with the white ink in step S16. As a result, a combination of the powder material and the one thin layer formed in step S15 can be generated.

In step S 18, as shown in FIG. 9E, the nozzle head 22 moves in the −X direction, and the ejection nozzles 22 a to 22 c are controlled based on the control signal from the drive control unit 12.
Color, that is, ink of each color of YCM is ejected to the powder layer extended from. At this time, the drive control unit 12
By supplying a control signal to the nozzle head 22 based on the coloring data of the cross-sectional data (see FIG. 3), each colored ink is applied to the combined body of the powder materials and colored. In this case, since the ink is applied to the powder material after the bonding, bleeding in coloring can be suppressed.

In the step S19, it is determined whether or not the formation of the three-dimensional structure is completed. Here, when the modeling is not completed, an operation of forming a new powder combined body of the (N + 1) th layer on the upper side of the (N) th layer is performed. Then, when the formation of the three-dimensional structure is completed, the separated individual powder materials to which ink is not applied and which are not fused are separated, thereby forming a combined body (three-dimensional structure) of the powder materials combined by the ink. Can be taken out.

By the operation of the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100B as described above, the same effects as those of the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100A of the first embodiment are exhibited. Further, the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100B
In this case, since the electromagnetic wave is applied to each layer of the powder material, the heated steam does not move upward to melt the powder material of the upper layer, so that the shape accuracy of the three-dimensional object is improved.

In the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100B, a colorless transparent water may be discharged in addition to the YMCW ink by adding a discharge nozzle. In this case, colorless and transparent water is discharged in the above step S16, and in step S18, coloring is performed with ink of each color of YMCW. This makes the device configuration somewhat complicated, but can reduce the consumption of white ink.

<Modifications> A hot-melt resin is not necessarily used as the powder material. For example, a material having a surface coated with a hot-melt resin may be used. Also in this case, the strength of the three-dimensional object can be improved by fusing the materials by heat.

Further, as the powder material, a material having a heat melting property (for example, chocolate powder or the like) other than the resin may be used.

Regarding the coloring in each of the above embodiments, it is not essential to apply the inks of the three primary colors of Y, M and C, but the three primary colors of R (red), G (green) and B (blue). May be applied.

It is not essential to perform coloring with ink, but coloring may be performed with a solution containing toner or the like.

The liquid applied to the powder material is not necessarily water or an aqueous solution in which a water-soluble ink is dissolved, and a liquid that absorbs electromagnetic wave energy such as oil or alcohol may be used. In this case, a powder material that is thermally melted below the boiling point of the liquid to be used is selected.

In the above-described second embodiment, it is not essential to irradiate each layer with an electromagnetic wave, and the electromagnetic waves may be irradiated once for each of a plurality of powder material layers.

◎ In the first embodiment, for each layer
A mode of irradiating an electron wave (or for each of a plurality of powder material layers) may be used. In this case, although some color bleeding occurs, the number of scans of the nozzle head is reduced, so that the modeling time can be shortened. Further, a three-dimensional structure having good shape accuracy can be obtained.

[0084]

As described above, according to the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, a liquid that absorbs electromagnetic wave energy is applied to a selected region in a layer of a powder material having a heat melting property. Emit electromagnetic waves to liquids. As a result, the liquid is heated by the electromagnetic wave and the powder material is thermally melted, so that a three-dimensional structure with improved strength can be generated.

In particular, according to the second and fifth aspects of the present invention, since the electromagnetic waves are radiated for each successively formed layer of the powder material, the effect of the vapor which evaporates and the upward vapor can be suppressed, and the three-dimensional The accuracy of the shape of the molded object is improved.

In the third and sixth aspects of the present invention, since the liquid contains a colored carrier, the three-dimensional structure can be easily colored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional printing apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the principal part structure of 00A.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100A.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of cross-sectional data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100A.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a tone expression for cyan.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an expression changing from light cyan to light yellow.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a group of a plurality of basic set areas for coloring.

FIG. 8 shows a three-dimensional printing apparatus 1 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
It is a flowchart which shows the basic operation of 00B.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100B.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10A, 10B Control unit 20 Ink applying unit 22 Nozzle head 30 Modeling unit 40 Powder supply unit 50 Powder diffusion unit 60 Electromagnetic wave irradiation unit 61 Electromagnetic wave irradiation antenna 62 Electromagnetic wave generation unit 100A, 100B Three-dimensional modeling device

Continuation of the front page F term (reference) 4F213 AC04 AK03 WA25 WA53 WA86 WB01 WC06 WF06 WL03 WL15 WL26 WL29 WL42 WL95

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional modeling apparatus for generating a three-dimensional model by bonding powder materials, comprising: (a) a layer forming means for sequentially forming layers of a powder material having a heat melting property; (b) applying means for applying a liquid that absorbs electromagnetic wave energy to a selected region in the layer of the powder material; and (c) radiating means for emitting an electromagnetic wave to the liquid applied to the powder material. A three-dimensional molding apparatus, wherein the liquid is heated by the electromagnetic wave and the powder material is melted to form a combined body of the powder material. 2. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the radiating unit emits the electromagnetic wave for each layer of the powder material formed sequentially. 3. The three-dimensional printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid contains a colored carrier. 4. A three-dimensional modeling method for producing a three-dimensional structure by bonding powder materials, comprising: (a) a layer forming step of sequentially forming layers of a powder material having a heat melting property; (b) to a selected region in the layer of the powder material, an application step of applying a liquid that absorbs electromagnetic wave energy, and (c) a radiation step of radiating an electromagnetic wave to the liquid applied to the powder material, A three-dimensional molding method, wherein the liquid is heated by the electromagnetic wave and the powder material is melted to form a combined body of the powder material. 5. The three-dimensional modeling method according to claim 4, wherein, in the radiating step, the electromagnetic wave is radiated for each layer of the powder material formed sequentially. 6. The three-dimensional printing method according to claim 4, wherein the liquid contains a colored carrier.