JP2012011607A - Three dimensional shaping apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a three dimensional shaping apparatus which can efficiently recover, with simple constitution, an excess powder material other than the material necessary for forming a three dimensional shaped object among the powder material supplied to a stage.SOLUTION: The three dimensional shaping apparatus is provided with a stage on which the powder material can be loaded and which has a shaping region for forming the three dimensional shaped object and a non-shaping region, an ejection section capable of ejecting a shaping liquid to the powder material, a moving mechanism for moving a relative position of the ejection section toward the powder material loaded on the stage and a control section for controlling an action of the ejection section to eject the shaping liquid and an action of the moving mechanism to move so as to be able to eject the shaping liquid to the powder material in the shaping region. Further the three dimensional shaping apparatus is characterized by having openings provided in the shaping region and the non-shaping region on the stage, a powder recovering section for storing the powder material dropped from the openings, a shutter member for closing the openings and a driving section which can close the openings in the shaping region and can drive the shutter member so as to release the openings in the non-shaping region.

Description

  The present invention relates to a three-dimensional modeling apparatus that forms a three-dimensional model by discharging a modeling liquid onto a powder material.

  Conventionally, various three-dimensional modeling apparatuses that form a three-dimensional model by supplying a modeling liquid to a powder material have been proposed. For example, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of Patent Document 1 forms a three-dimensional modeled object by applying a liquid binder to a powder material, and can move according to the size of the three-dimensional modeled object to be formed. It has a modeling stage with a part.

  According to this modeling stage, the supply amount of the powder material can be changed according to the size of the modeled object, and the amount of the powder material to be used can be reduced to effectively utilize the powder material.

JP 2001-334580 A

  However, the amount of the powder material supplied to the modeling stage is adjusted by moving the moving wall portion by the moving mechanism as described above and changing the size of the modeling stage, and is not used for the three-dimensional modeling. No particular consideration was given to the recovery of.

  An object of this invention is to provide the three-dimensional model | molding apparatus which can collect | recover efficiently the excess powder material which is not used for forming a three-dimensional model | molding object among the powder materials supplied to the stage.

  In order to achieve the above object, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of the first invention is capable of placing a powder material, a stage having a molding region and a non-molding region for forming a three-dimensional model, and a modeling liquid in the powder material. A discharge unit capable of discharging the liquid, a movement mechanism for moving a relative position between the discharge unit and the powder material placed on the stage, an operation for the discharge unit to discharge the modeling liquid, and the movement mechanism A three-dimensional modeling apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls an operation to move the molding liquid so as to be discharged into the powder material in the molding region, and an opening provided in the molding region and the non-molding region in the stage; A powder recovery part for accumulating the powder material dropped from the opening, a shutter member for closing the opening, the opening in the molding region, and the opening in the non-molding region. Open And having a capable driver to drive the shutter member so as to.

  In addition to the configuration of the first invention, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of the second invention is based on data acquisition means for acquiring position data relating to the position where the three-dimensional object is formed, and the position data acquired by the data acquisition means. A molding area determining means for determining the molding area, and the controller closes the opening of the molding area determined by the molding area determination means and opens the opening of the non-molding area. As described above, the shutter member is controlled to be driven via the driving unit.

In addition to the second invention, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of the third invention is a supply unit that supplies the powder material to one end of the stage, and a flattening member that flattens the powder material supplied from the supply unit And a flattening drive unit that can be driven to move the flattening member in a horizontal direction with respect to the stage, and the control unit moves the flattening member from the one end to the other end of the stage. Drive control is performed through the flattening drive unit so as to move in the horizontal direction, and the molding region determining means determines the molding region to be in contact with the one end.

  The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the method according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the shutter member includes a closing member that closes the opening and an opening member that opens the opening. The opening is closed or opened by parallel movement.

  The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the shutter member is disposed below the opening.

  According to the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, since the drive unit is capable of driving the shutter member so as to close the opening of the molding region and to open the opening of the non-molding region, it is supplied to the stage. Among the powder materials, powder materials that are not used for molding the three-dimensional structure can be efficiently collected.

  According to the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of the second invention, in addition to the effects of the first invention, the molding area is determined based on the position data for forming the three-dimensional modeled object, and the opening of the molding area is closed and non-molding is performed. Since the shutter member is driven and controlled through the drive unit so as to open the opening of the region, the powder material that is not used for molding can be more reliably collected according to the size of the three-dimensional structure.

  According to the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of the third invention, in addition to the second invention, when the flattening member for flattening the powder material moves in the horizontal direction from one end of the stage to the other end, the molding region is Since it is determined so as to contact the one end, the powder material is reliably supplied to the molding region, and the powder material supplied to the non-molding region that is not used for molding can be efficiently recovered.

  According to the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of the fourth invention, in addition to any of the first invention to the third invention, the shutter member has a closing member that closes the opening and an opening member that opens the opening, Since the opening is closed or opened by parallel movement, the powder material more smoothly passes through the opening of the stage and falls downward, so that the excess powder material can be efficiently recovered.

  According to the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of the fifth invention, in addition to any of the first invention to the fourth invention, since the shutter member is arranged below the opening, when the powder material falls from the opening, The excess powder material can be recovered without the shutter member itself getting in the way.

It is an external view which shows the three-dimensional model | molding apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the principal part from the right side surface of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus of FIG. It is a schematic perspective view which expands and shows the principal part of a head. It is a schematic perspective view which expands and shows the principal part of a stage. It is a top view which expand | deploys and shows a sheet-like part and a mesh part. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of a three-dimensional modeling apparatus. It is a figure which shows the coordinate data of a three-dimensional molded item. It is a figure which shows the boundary coordinate data of an area | region. It is a figure for demonstrating the movement operation | movement of a shutter member. It is a figure for demonstrating the movement operation | movement of a shutter member. It is a flowchart which shows the operation control of a three-dimensional modeling apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the area | region determination process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the structure formation process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the discharge process of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows another example of a stage.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 of this embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 is formed of a metal or resin plate, and includes a frame 21 having a box-shaped space therein.

  The frame 21 has a door portion 22 formed of a plate material such as a transparent resin on the front surface side, and an upper portion of the door portion 22 is rotatably fixed to the frame 21 by a hinge. It is possible to take out the three-dimensional modeled object formed on the stage 310 by holding the knob part 23 formed on the lower side of the door part 22 and lifting it upward.

  In addition, a powder supply unit 330 is disposed on the frame 21. A user supplies a powder material for forming a three-dimensional structure from a powder supply port (not shown). The detailed configuration of the powder supply unit 330 will be described later.

  The left and right sides of the frame 21 are open. At the right end of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10, a tank 111 for storing a molding liquid to be supplied to a head 110 (see FIG. 2) described later is disposed and connected to the head 110 via a tube 112. The molding liquid is supplied to the powder material on the stage 310, and the powder material is dissolved in the molding liquid, whereby the powder materials are fixed to each other to form a three-dimensional modeled object.

    The operation unit 500 is provided on the front left side (X-axis negative direction) of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 and is operated by a user when performing three-dimensional modeling, and includes various setting switches such as a power switch and a modeling start button.

  The external interface 600 is provided on the right side surface (X-axis positive direction) of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10. Through the external interface 600, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 can be connected to an external device such as a PC (not shown).

  Next, the configuration of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 includes a head 110, a stage 310, a flattening member 320, and a powder collection tank 340 inside a box shape surrounded by a frame 21, and supplies powder to the upper side of the frame. The unit 330 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the head 110 is held above the stage 310 via a rail 160 attached to the frame 21. The head 110 is held on a rail 160 via a gantry 130 that can move in the left-right direction (Y-axis direction) in FIG. 2, so that it can slide in the left-right direction (Y-axis direction) in FIG. Supported.

  At this time, the head 110 is moved along the rail 160 via the gantry 130 by a timing belt (not shown) and the motor 132 of FIG. 6 that moves the timing belt.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the head 110 is attached to be slidable in the X-axis direction along a guide shaft 139 supported by the gantry 130. The head 110 is moved in the X-axis direction along the guide shaft 139 by a timing belt (not shown) and the motor 131 in FIG. 6 that moves the timing belt.

  As described above, the head 110 is relatively moved with respect to the stage 310 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction in FIGS. 2 and 3 to discharge the molding liquid to a predetermined position.

  The range in which the head 110 moves is configured to be movable within a range corresponding to the entire area on the stage 310. Furthermore, when creating the three-dimensional object, the head 110 is moved to position data (see FIG. 7) set by a user's PC operation described later so that the molding liquid can be discharged. The movement distance of the head 110 in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction with respect to the predetermined position data is stored in the ROM 43 in advance, and the head 110 is moved according to the position data of the three-dimensional object to be modeled under the control of the CPU 41. The

  The head 110 is connected to the corresponding tank 111 (see FIG. 1) via the hollow tube 112 of FIG. Temporarily, when coloring a three-dimensional molded item, the three-dimensional modeling liquid of a desired color is suitably accommodated in the tank 111 provided with two or more like FIG. The head 110 is the discharge unit of the present invention, and the motors 131 and 132 that move the head 110 are the moving mechanism of the present invention.

  The stage 310 has a rectangular plate-like upper surface that is long in the X-axis direction (see FIG. 4), and a three-dimensional object is formed on the upper surface. In FIG. 2, the stage 310 is arranged at the center lower side of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10. The stage 310 includes a moving unit 312, a wall unit 316, and a shutter unit 350.

  The stage 310 is disposed below a powder supply unit 330 described later, and the powder material is supplied linearly in the X-axis direction at one end 301 by a powder material supply path 332 described later. The stage 310 has a molding area that is an area for forming a three-dimensional object and a non-molding area that is an area that is not used for forming the three-dimensional object. The molding region and the non-molding region can be appropriately changed depending on the size of the three-dimensional structure, and the non-molding region may not be formed on the stage 310 depending on the size of the three-dimensional structure.

  In the present embodiment, the area of the stage 310 is divided into an area A, an area B, and an area C as shown in FIG. The area A, the area B, and the area C are appropriately determined as a molding area and a non-molding area as described later according to the size of the three-dimensional structure. In FIG. 4, the wall portion 316 is omitted for illustration.

  Each region A, region B, and region C of the stage 310 has a plurality of openings 315 as shown in FIG. The opening 315 penetrates the stage 310 and is provided for dropping the powder material supplied to the upper surface of the stage 310 downward. The size of the opening 315 is not particularly limited. For example, the diameter of the opening 315 may be approximately three times or more than the particle shape of the powder material so that the powder material can easily fall.

The moving unit 312 is provided to support the stage 310 and move it in the Z-axis direction of FIG. The moving unit 312 is provided at both ends on the lower side of the stage 310, and is moved by the stage moving mechanism 317 of FIG. 6 driven by a motor. By this movement, the head 110 and the stage 310 are relatively moved in the Z-axis direction.

  The shutter member 350 is for closing the opening 315 of FIG. 4 provided in the stage 310, and is attached to the lower side of the stage 310 by an attachment member (not shown). As illustrated in FIG. 5, the shutter member 350 includes a sheet-like portion 355 and a mesh portion 356, and the sheet-like portion 355 and the mesh portion 356 are formed to have substantially the same size as the upper surface of the stage 310.

  The end portions of the sheet-like portion 355 and the mesh portion 356 are joined and wound between the rotation shafts 352. Accordingly, when one of the rotating shafts 352 is rotated by a motor (see FIGS. 2 and 4), it moves parallel to the stage 310. Note that the sheet-like portion 355 and the mesh portion 356 are provided so as to contact the lower side of the stage 310. In addition, although it contacts in this invention, even if it does not contact, it is a place which this invention intends.

  In FIG. 5, the sheet-like portion 355 is composed of a film-like sheet, and closes the opening 315 so that the powder material on the stage 310 does not fall when placed below the opening 315. Is provided. The sheet-like portion 355 is the closing member of the present invention.

  On the other hand, the mesh part 356 is formed of a mesh having a plurality of apertures, and the powder material of the stage 310 passes through the opening part 315 and the mesh part 356 of the shutter member 350 when arranged below the opening part 315. And has a sufficient opening diameter so that it falls smoothly. Note that the mesh portion 356 is an opening member of the present invention.

  The wall portion 316 is formed of a flat plate member, and is formed so as to surround four sides of the end portion of the stage 310 in FIG. The wall 316 is formed so that the stage 310 can be slid in the Z-axis direction by the moving unit 312 on the inner side. The height of the wall portion 316 with respect to the stage 310 changes relatively with the movement of the stage 310.

  The powder recovery unit 340 is a container for accumulating the powder material that has dropped from the opening 315, and is disposed below the stage 310. In this embodiment, the powder recovery unit 340 is disposed directly below the stage 310. However, in order to prevent the powder material that has fallen from rising upward from the opening 315, a powder recovery path such as an inclined plate is provided. It may be provided at a location deviated from directly below the opening 315. When the three-dimensional modeling is completed, the user pulls the container constituting the powder recovery unit 340 (see FIG. 2) to the outside of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 from an unillustrated outlet formed at the left end of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 in FIG. And the powder material can be recovered.

  The powder supply unit 330 is disposed above the stage 310 and above the frame member 21, and is formed to supply a powder material to the stage 310 when forming a three-dimensionally shaped object. The powder supply unit 330 includes a powder material tank 331 and a powder supply path 332 that can store a powder material. When the user performs three-dimensional modeling, the powder material is supplied from a supply port (not shown) to the powder material tank 331 in advance.

  The powder supply unit 330 includes a powder supply path 332 that penetrates the frame member 21 so that the powder material can be supplied to a region extending linearly in the X-axis direction of the one end portion 301 of the stage 310. The opening extends in the X-axis direction of the stage 310 and has substantially the same length as the length of the stage in the X-axis direction.

  The powder material accommodated in the powder material tank 331 is supplied onto the stage 310 through the powder supply path 332. The powder supply path 332 is formed in a nested shape, and is configured so as to move upward by a motor (not shown) when the powder supply is finished, and to prevent movement of a squeegee 320 described later.

  In addition, when the powder supply is finished, the connecting portion connected to the powder supply path 332 and the powder material tank 331 is closed by a lid member via a solenoid or the like, and the powder is supplied from the powder material tank 331 to the powder material supply path 332. Material is prevented from being supplied.

  When the powder supply starts, the nested powder supply path 332 descends, the lid member of the connecting portion is opened, and the powder material is supplied to the stage 310 through the powder material supply path 332. In addition, a powder supply part is a supply part of this invention.

  The flattening member 320 is provided to flatten the powder material supplied to a region extending linearly in the X-axis direction at one end 301 on the stage 310, and has a length corresponding to the length of the stage 310 in the X-axis direction. A squeegee portion 321 extending in the X-axis direction and a squeegee shaft 325 are provided.

  In the present embodiment, the planarizing member 320 is moved horizontally in the left-right direction (Y-axis direction) in FIG. 2 from the one end 301 of the stage 310 to which the powder material is supplied to the other end 302 with respect to the stage 310. The This movement is constant regardless of the size of the three-dimensional structure. The squeegee unit 321 is slid along the squeegee shaft 325 by a motor (not shown) via the flattening drive unit 326 of FIG.

  Next, the electrical configuration of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The components of the control unit 40 and the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 of FIG.

  The control unit 40 is configured by a computer having a CPU 41, a RAM 42, and a ROM 43. The CPU 41 performs various calculations and processes in cooperation with the RAM 42 and the ROM 43. The RAM 42 temporarily stores various programs processed by the CPU 41 and data processed by the CPU 41 in its address space. The ROM 43 stores various programs such as a program relating to the procedure of the modeling process of the stereoscopic modeling apparatus for controlling the stereoscopic modeling apparatus 10.

  Based on a program relating to the processing procedure stored in the ROM 43, the control unit 40 allows the head 110 to discharge the molding liquid and the head can discharge the modeling liquid to the powder material in the molding region via the motors 131 and 132. Control the movement.

  Further, the control unit 40 controls the driving of the shutter member 350 via the driving unit 355 so as to close the opening 315 in the molding region of the stage 310 and to open the opening 315 in the non-molding region, so that the flattening member Drive control is performed so that 320 is moved in the horizontal direction from one end 301 of the stage to the other end 302 via the flattening drive 326 (see FIG. 2).

  The motor 131 moves the head unit 110 in the Y-axis direction in FIG. 3 according to the head movement signal from the CPU 41. Further, the motor 132 moves the head unit 110 in the X-axis direction in FIG. 3 in accordance with a head movement signal from the CPU 41. These motor 131 and motor 132 are stepping motors or the like with a built-in encoder, and can detect the rotation angle and the origin position. Hereinafter, since the detection method is the same for other motors in the present embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  The discharge control circuit 120 determines the discharge timing of the modeling liquid according to the discharge signal supplied from the control unit 40. The head 110 discharges the modeling liquid from the head 110 according to the discharge signal.

  The drive unit 355 has a function of driving a motor 351 that is electrically connected to the drive unit 355. By moving the shutter member 350 via the motor 351 and moving the sheet-like portion 355 and the mesh portion 356 of the shutter member 350 as will be described later, the opening portion 315 of the molding region is closed or the non-molding region is moved. The opening 315 is opened. The operation of the shutter member 350 will be described later.

  The motor 351 moves the shutter member 350 in the horizontal direction (Y1 direction in FIG. 9) with respect to the stage 310 in accordance with the shutter member movement signal from the CPU 41.

  The flattening drive unit 326 has a function of driving a motor (not shown) that is electrically connected to the flattening drive unit 326, and drives the flattening member 320 via the motor. This motor horizontally moves the flattening member 320 from one end 301 to the other end 302 of the stage 310 via the motor in response to a flattening member movement signal from the CPU 41 (see FIG. 2).

  The stage moving mechanism 317 has a function of driving a motor (not shown) that is electrically connected to the stage moving mechanism 317, and moves the stage moving unit 312 of FIG. 2 via the motor to move the stage 310 in the Z-axis direction. Move. Note that the movement distance of the stage 310 in the Z-axis direction is determined in correspondence with a Z coordinate of position data, which will be described later, of the three-dimensional model, and specifically, the motor movement with respect to a predetermined Z coordinate of the position data. The rotational speed is stored in the ROM 43 in advance.

  The operation panel 500 includes various input buttons for receiving operations such as activation, stop, and start of printing of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 from the user. An operation from the user input to the operation panel 500 is transmitted to the CPU 41 as an operation signal.

  The external interface 600 is a configuration for performing communication between the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 and the outside. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 receives necessary image data via the external interface 600 from the PC 800 that is an external apparatus. The external interface 600 can be configured by a known interface such as USB or IEEE1394.

  Next, the coordinate data and powder supply of the three-dimensional model | molding thing memorize | stored in RAM42 are demonstrated using FIG. The coordinate data is the position data of the present invention.

  RAM42 memorize | stores the coordinate data of a three-dimensional molded item, as shown in FIG. The coordinate data is generated when the user operates the PC 800 that is an external device. The generated data is stored in the RAM 42 via the external interface 600 and the bus 700.

  The coordinate data stored in the RAM 42 is coordinate data (X, Y, Z) in the orthogonal coordinate system assigned to the space on the virtual deposition surface on the PC 800. This coordinate data corresponds to the coordinate position in the orthogonal coordinate system on the stage 310.

  The control unit 40 reads the coordinate data of the coordinates (X, Y) at the specific coordinate position Z from the RAM 42 in order from the smallest stored Z coordinate. The control unit 40 controls the powder supply unit 330 so that the powder material is supplied to the one end 301 of the stage 310.

  Next, a method for determining the boundary coordinates of the regions A, B, and C formed in the stage 310 stored in the ROM 43, the forming region, and the non-forming region will be described with reference to FIG.

  The ROM 43 stores boundary coordinates in association with the areas A, B, and C as shown in FIG. The control unit 40 determines the molding region so as to be within the boundary coordinates of each region from the origin with respect to all the coordinate data in FIG. 7 of the three-dimensional object to be molded stored in the RAM 42.

  Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the area is divided into three areas A, B, and C in the Y direction. Therefore, the area A, the area B, and the area C are not determined for the coordinate data of the three-dimensional structure by the size of the X coordinate or the Z coordinate, and the area A is based on the Y coordinate of the coordinate data of the three-dimensional structure. , Region B and region C are determined which region is to be a molding region.

  For example, in the coordinate data of FIG. 7, all the Y coordinates are within the range of 3 to 5. Referring to the boundary coordinates of each region in FIG. 8, the boundary coordinates (X, 10, Z) of region A have a Y coordinate value of 10 or less, and all the Y coordinates of the three-dimensional structure exist within this range. Therefore, it is determined that the area A is a molding area.

  If the Y coordinate is in the range of 3 to 5, it is included in the range of the region B and the region C in addition to the region A. In this case, the region in the smallest range is selected. Shall be.

  Next, a method for driving the shutter member 350 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

  First, in the initial state, as shown in FIG. 9, a sheet-like portion 355 of the shutter member is disposed below the opening 315 provided in the stage 310. At this time, the opening 315 of the entire stage is in a closed state. This position is set as the initial position of the shutter member 350.

  In this embodiment, the position of the shutter member 350 in the state where the opening 315 of the entire stage is closed is the initial position. However, the position of the shutter member 350 in the state where the opening 315 of the entire stage is open is used. The position or the like may be the initial position.

  Next, as described above, for example, when the forming region is determined to be the region A, the shutter member 350 moves by a distance (LC-LA) in the direction of the arrow Y1 parallel to the Y axis.

  Specifically, the motor 351 (see FIG. 6) connected to one of the rotating shafts 352 arranged at both ends of the shutter member 350 is energized, and the rotating shaft 352 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. . The number of rotations of the motor 351 is assumed to be stored in advance in the ROM 43 in accordance with the areas A, B, and C determined as the molding area.

  At this time, in FIGS. 9 and 10, the lengths in the Y-axis direction corresponding to the regions A, B, and C are LA, LB, and LC, respectively.

  By moving the shutter member 350, the boundary point P between the sheet-like portion 355 and the mesh portion 356 is arranged at a point of distance LA from the end of the stage 310 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the sheet-like portion 355 of the shutter member 350 is disposed below the opening 315 provided in the region A, and the mesh portion 356 is disposed below the other regions.

As a result, the opening 315 in the region A is closed, so that the powder material placed on the region A on the stage 310 does not fall from the stage 310. Meanwhile, stage 310
Since the opening 315 is open in the region other than the region A, the powder material supplied onto the stage 310 in this region passes through the opening 315 and is deposited on the powder recovery unit 340 in FIG. .

  As described above, in this embodiment, the shutter member 350 moves in parallel with respect to the stage 310, so that it can be reliably dropped and recovered to the powder recovery unit 340. Further, since the shutter member 350 is disposed on the lower side of the stage 310, the three-dimensional model is not damaged, and the opening 315 is not obstructed smoothly.

  In addition to the shutter member of the present embodiment, the shutter member may be one that is pivotally supported by a hinge or the like with respect to the opening to open and close the opening.

  Hereinafter, operation control of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 14.

  In the process shown in FIG. 11, first, a power ON command is supplied to the control unit 40, and driving of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 is started. When driving of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 10 is started, an initialization process is performed in step S0 (hereinafter referred to as S0). Specifically, suction is performed by a head suction mechanism (not shown) until the modeling liquid reaches a plurality of discharge ports on the lower surface of the head 110. By this suction, the head 110 can be ejected.

  When the initialization process is performed, in S1, it is determined whether or not coordinate data has been received from the PC 800. When the coordinate data is received, the coordinate data is stored in the RAM 42 (S2). If it is determined that the coordinate data has not been received (S1: No), the user does not supply data related to the three-dimensional structure to the control unit 40 via the PC 800 and the bus 700, and therefore the system stands by in a loop. In addition, the control part 40 which performs the process which receives coordinate data in this S1 is equivalent to the data acquisition means of this invention.

  On the other hand, when the coordinate data is stored in the RAM 42, the process proceeds to the next S3. When the process first moves from S2 to S3, the coordinate data having the smallest Z coordinate among the Z coordinates of the coordinate data stored by the RAM 42 is designated as the current coordinate position Z.

  In S3, an area determination process is performed. By this processing, a molding area is determined from the entire area of the stage 310. In this embodiment, as will be described later, the region A is determined as the forming region.

  When the process moves to S4, the movement of the shutter member 350 is controlled via the drive unit 355 of FIG. Thereby, the shutter member 350 is disposed at a closed position that closes the opening 315 with respect to the region A of the molding region, and opens the opening 315 with respect to the non-molding region other than the region A of the stage 310. It is moved to be placed in the open position.

  Next, a structure formation process is performed in S5. By this structure forming process, at least one layer of powder material at the coordinate position Z on the stage 310 is supplied. Further, the powder material supplied to the stage 310 is flattened. At this time, the excess powder material passes through the opening 315 of the stage 310 by the flattening member 320 and falls to the powder recovery unit 340 and is recovered (see FIG. 2).

In S6, a discharge process is performed. By this discharge process, the modeling liquid is discharged onto the powder material supplied to the stage 310. By discharging the modeling liquid, the powder material is dissolved in the molding liquid and bonded together. By combining the powder material, one layer of the three-dimensional structure to be formed is formed. In addition, when two or more layers are laminated, combined modeling with the lower layer is also performed. In the case of a colored modeling liquid, in S6, the three-dimensional model is colored simultaneously with modeling.

In S7, it is determined whether or not the modeling is finished. If it is determined that the modeling is not finished (S7: No), the process proceeds to S8. When the process proceeds to S8, the current coordinate position Z is changed to the coordinate position Z next to the current coordinate position Z among the coordinate positions Z stored in the RAM 42, and the stage 310 corresponding to the coordinate position is changed. Is moved in the Z-axis direction via the stage moving mechanism 317.
Then, the process proceeds to S5 structure formation processing. The next coordinate position Z is a coordinate position Z that is larger in the positive direction of the Z-axis than the current coordinate position Z among the coordinate positions Z stored in the RAM 42.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S7 that the modeling is finished (S7: Yes), this flow is finished. Specifically, it is determined that the modeling is finished when a command to turn off the power is supplied to the control unit 40 or when the processing for all the coordinate positions Z stored in the RAM 42 shown in FIG. 7 is completed.

  Next, the region determination process in S3 in the operation control shown in FIG. 11 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In the area determination process shown in FIG. 12, the Y coordinate data at all the coordinate positions Z are first read from the RAM 42 in S31.

  In S <b> 32, it is determined whether or not all the Y coordinates of the three-dimensional structure read in S <b> 31 are equal to or less than the Y coordinate values of the boundary coordinates of the area A stored in the ROM 43. When all the Y coordinates are equal to or smaller than the Y coordinate of the area A, the process proceeds to S33.

  In S33, the forming area is determined to be area A, and the process returns to S4 in FIG. In addition, the control part 40 which performs this process of S33 is equivalent to the shaping | molding area | region determination means of this invention. Similarly, the control unit 40 that performs the processes of S35 and S36 described below also corresponds to the molding region determining means of the present invention.

  On the other hand, when any Y coordinate of the three-dimensional structure read in S31 is larger than the value of the Y coordinate of the boundary coordinate of the area A stored in the ROM 43, the process proceeds to S34.

  In S <b> 34, it is determined whether or not all the Y coordinates of the three-dimensional structure read in S <b> 31 are equal to or less than the Y coordinate value of the boundary coordinates of the region B stored in the ROM 43. If all the Y coordinates are equal to or smaller than the Y coordinate value of the region B, the process proceeds to S35.

  In S35, the forming region is determined as the region B, and the process returns to S4 in FIG.

  On the other hand, when any Y coordinate of the three-dimensional modeled object read in S31 is larger than the Y coordinate value of the boundary coordinate of the region B stored in the ROM 43, the process proceeds to S36.

  In S36, the forming region is determined as region C, and the process returns to S4 in FIG.

  Next, the structure forming process of S5 in the operation control shown in FIG. 11 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In the structure forming process shown in FIG. 13, data at the current coordinate position Z is first read from the RAM 42 in S51. The data to be read is the coordinate data of the coordinates (X, Y) at the coordinate position Z.

In S52, a powder supply process is performed. In the present embodiment, the powder supply path 332 formed in a nested shape is lowered downward via a motor (not shown). Then, the lid member of the connecting portion between the powder supply path 332 and the powder supply tank 331 is opened by a solenoid (not shown), and the powder material is supplied linearly in the X-axis direction to the one end 301 of the stage 310 (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 2). (See FIG. 4). Here, the amount of the powder material is adjusted to the amount that the powder material is supplied to all the coordinates (X, Y) of the molding region on the stage 310 at the current coordinate position Z.

  In S53, the powder supply path 332 formed in a nested shape is raised via a motor (not shown).

  In S54, movement control of the flattening member 320 is performed in order to flatten the powder material. Specifically, the flattening member 320 is controlled to move horizontally from the one end 301 side to the other end 302 side of the stage 310 via the flattening drive unit 326 in FIG. 6 (see FIG. 2).

  When the process of S54 is performed, the structure forming process shown in FIG. 13 is completed, and the process proceeds to the discharge process of S6 shown in FIG.

  Next, the ejection process of S6 in the operation control shown in FIG. 11 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In the ejection process shown in FIG. 14, first, in S <b> 61, data at the current coordinate position Z is read from the RAM 42. The data to be read is the coordinate data of the coordinates (X, Y) at the coordinate position Z.

  When the data is read, in S62, the head 110 is moved by a predetermined distance in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction via the motor 131 and the motor 132 in FIG. . In this embodiment, a predetermined initial position is determined by coordinates (X, Y) in the ROM 43 according to each molding area in this embodiment, and the initial position corresponding to each molding area with reference to the ROM 43. It shall be moved relative to

  In S63, the modeling liquid is discharged based on a discharge signal from the discharge control circuit 120 in FIG. At the same time, in FIG. 2, the head 110 is moved relative to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction via the motor 131 and the motor 132. As described above, the relative movement distance is moved by a distance stored in advance in the ROM 43 in accordance with the position coordinate data of the three-dimensional structure.

  By the relative movement of the head 110, the reciprocal relative movement of the head 110 in the X-axis direction is performed line by line. When the reciprocating relative movement of the head 110 in the X-axis direction is completed for one line, the head 110 is relatively moved to the next line in the positive Y-axis direction. In this way, the head 110 is relatively moved line by line in the X-axis direction from the initial position toward the positive Y-axis direction.

  By the process of S63, ejection is performed on all the lines of one layer of the three-dimensional structure corresponding to the current coordinate position Z. When the ejection process at the current coordinate position Z is completed, the process proceeds to S7 shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment described above, the molding region is determined based on the coordinate data of the three-dimensional modeled object, and the powder material other than the molding region on the stage 310 falls to the powder collection unit 340 and is collected. Thereby, the powder material which is not used for shape | molding a three-dimensional molded item among the powder materials supplied to the stage 310 can be efficiently collect | recovered by simple structure.

  At this time, in this embodiment, before discharging the molding liquid from the head 110, the excess powder material is dropped and collected in the powder supply unit 340. Therefore, the powder material can be collected before the molding liquid is discharged from the head 110, and the powder material supply tank 331 does not adhere to the powder material or the powder material is not affected by the humidity of the molding liquid. It is possible to recover the powder material close to the state stored in the.

  In this embodiment, the shutter member 350 is driven and controlled to move horizontally with respect to the stage 310. However, the present invention is not limited to this method, and a knob unit for an operator (not shown) to rotate the rotary shaft 352 is not limited thereto. The operator may move the shutter member 350 or the like.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the powder material is supplied to the one end portion 301 in contact with the molding region A of the stage 310. If the non-molding region is arranged on the side near the movement start point for moving the planarizing member when the planarizing member 320 planarizes the powder material, before the powder material is supplied to the molding region. The powder material falls from the opening 315 in the non-molding area, and the powder material may not be supplied well to the molding area.

  As in the present embodiment, the powder material is supplied to one end 301 in contact with the forming region A of the stage 310, and the planarizing member 320 is horizontally moved from the one end 301 to the other end 302, whereby powder can be efficiently obtained. While supplying material to the molding area, excess powder material can be dropped to the bottom of the stage 310 and collected.

  Further, the stage region is not limited to the example of the present embodiment, and a plurality of regions may be divided. Further, according to the divided area, the forming area may be determined in consideration of not only the Y coordinate but also the X coordinate.

  As shown in FIG. 15, a groove 317 for inserting a wall member 318 may be formed at the end of each region A, region B, and region C of the stage 310A. By providing the wall member 318, the powder material supplied to the region A can surely stay in the region A, and a three-dimensionally shaped object can be easily formed. In addition, this groove part 317 may be extended also on the wall part 316 of FIG.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 3D modeling apparatus 110 Head 301 One end part 302 Other end part 310 Stage 315 Opening part 340 Powder collection part 350 Shutter member 355 Sheet-like part 356 Mesh part

Claims (5)

A stage having a molding region and a non-molding region for forming a three-dimensional structure, on which a powder material can be placed,
A discharge part capable of discharging a modeling liquid into the powder material;
A moving mechanism for moving a relative position between the discharge unit and the powder material placed on the stage;
A three-dimensional modeling apparatus comprising: an operation in which the discharge unit discharges the modeling liquid; and a control unit that controls an operation in which the moving mechanism moves the molding liquid to be discharged into the powder material in the molding region.
An opening provided in the molding region and the non-molding region in the stage;
A powder recovery unit for accumulating the powder material dropped from the opening;
A shutter member for closing the opening;
A three-dimensional modeling apparatus comprising: a drive unit that closes the opening in the molding region and that can drive the shutter member so as to open the opening in the non-molding region. Data acquisition means for acquiring position data relating to the position where the three-dimensional structure is formed;
Based on the position data acquired by the data acquisition means, comprising a molding area determination means for determining the molding area,
The control unit controls the drive of the shutter member via the drive unit so as to close the opening of the molding region determined by the molding region determination unit and to open the opening of the non-molding region. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: A supply unit for supplying the powder material to one end of the stage;
A flattening member for flattening the powder material supplied from the supply unit;
A flattening drive unit that can be driven to move the flattening member horizontally with respect to the stage;
The control unit performs drive control via the flattening drive unit so as to move the flattening member in the horizontal direction from the one end to the other end of the stage, and
The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the molding region determination unit determines the molding region so as to contact the one end.   The shutter member includes a closing member for closing the opening and an opening member for opening the opening, and the opening is closed or opened by parallel movement with respect to the stage. Item 4. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 3.   The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shutter member is disposed below the opening.