JPH04371828A - Optically shaping device for three dimensional object - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form the desired shaped object of three dimensional shape by the device of simple structure. CONSTITUTION:For the stage 7 which is moved up and down in a vessel 2 at the border of the liquid surface of photo-curable fluid 1, and is provided slopingly to said liquid surface, when the linear patten of the spaped object is light-radiated on the photocurable fluid material 1 on the stage 7, the stage 7 is gradually moved in the specified direction in the vessl 2 and light-radiation is repeated, whereby a plurality of cured layers corresponding to the planar patterns of the shaped object are formed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stereolithography apparatus using light and a photocurable fluid material.

0002

[Prior Art] In most conventional stereolithography devices, a stage that moves up and down inside and outside of a photocurable fluid material placed in a container is installed parallel to the liquid level of the photocurable fluid material, and this stage is first exposed to light. A layer of photo-curable fluid material with a certain thickness is formed on this stage by lowering it to a certain depth below the liquid level of the curable fluid material, and a planar pattern having a cross-sectional shape of a desired three-dimensional object is formed on this layer. A hardened layer of a photocurable fluid material corresponding to the above-mentioned cross-sectional shape is formed by drawing by manipulating light, and then the stage is lowered again and a constant thickness of photocurable material is applied onto the above-mentioned cured layer. The layer of the fluid material is re-formed, and then light irradiation and stage lowering are repeated alternately, and the hardened layers of the curable fluid material that are formed corresponding to each cross-sectional shape are successively deposited to form the desired tertiary shape. It is used to create original three-dimensional shapes.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in this conventional device, each hardening layer is formed in a thin layer in order to maximize the resolution of the three-dimensional object being formed and to improve the hardening efficiency. It is desirable that the amount of descent of the stage is, for example, about 1 mm or less. Therefore, it is difficult to supply the photocurable fluid material again onto the existing cured layer simply by lowering the stage. For this purpose, the stage must be lowered by a certain amount or more and submerged into the photocurable fluid material, and then raised again to form a photocurable fluid material layer of a certain thickness, or to overlay the existing hardened layer. It is necessary to supply the photocurable fluid material and control it to a certain amount using a spatula-shaped scraper, or to apply the photocurable fluid material onto the existing cured layer with a brush-like object. As described above, extra operations and additional devices such as a liquid level smoothing device for the photocurable fluid material and a coating device are required, resulting in problems such as the complexity of the device. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a device that solves the problems of the prior art described above and simplifies it.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is an object to solve the above-mentioned problems in a stereolithography device, and the basic configuration includes a stage non-parallel to the liquid level of the photocurable fluid material, and the above-mentioned stage. Depending on the photocurable fluid material and the photocurable fluid material used, various light sources such as visible light and ultraviolet light are used. In addition, examples of the source of this light include a laser, a xenon lamp, a metal halogen lamp, and the like. When manipulating this light and irradiating the photocurable fluid material with light to form a hardened layer, there is a method of manipulating the laser light with a galvanometer mirror or a polygon mirror, and if the light is from various lamps, the desired mask is applied to the liquid crystal panel or film. There is also a method of creating and controlling light using a mask, and a method of using a line light source lamp to change the length of the line using an optical shutter or the mask mentioned above, and using a mirror etc. to direct this light. The method of operation is selected as appropriate.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. By appropriately selecting and combining the light sources and light manipulation methods described above, the photocurable fluid material is irradiated with light to form a desired three-dimensional shape. This modeled object is modeled on a stage that moves up and down inside the container with the liquid level of the photocurable fluid material placed in the container as a boundary. In the case of a conventional stage parallel to the liquid surface, a planar pattern with a single cross-sectional shape is photo-manipulated to form a hardened layer of a photocurable fluid material similar to the cross-sectional shape, and then the stage is lowered again and this is removed. A desired three-dimensional solid shape is formed by repeating the process, and in other words, the stage is moved again after forming the hardened layer in units of surfaces. In contrast, in the present invention, a hardened layer is formed line by line in a linear pattern corresponding to one cross-sectional shape in a liquid area along the interface on a stage that is inclined with respect to the liquid level, or after the hardening layer is formed. At the same time, move the stage again.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. This device includes a container 2 containing a photocurable fluid material 1, a light source device 3, and a spot light 9 of light 8 emitted from the light source device 3 to scan the photocurable fluid material 1.
A light drawing section 4 that irradiates light onto a stage 7, a stage moving device 5 that moves the stage 7 in the vertical direction, lighting control of the light source device 3 or the light drawing section 4, and a light drawing section 4 and the stage. It is configured to include a control device 6 that relatively controls the positional relationship with 7. There is.

[0007] One example of a method for modeling using this device is to first put an appropriate amount of photocurable fluid material into the container 2, set the initial position of the stage 7, irradiate light with the optical drawing section 4, and A linear hardened portion is formed on the stage 7 (FIG. 2-a). Simultaneously with the formation of the hardened layer, the stage is gradually moved in the vertical direction to continuously form a linear hardened layer and form a hardened layer with a desired cross-sectional shape (Figure 2-b).
. After that, the stage is lowered by a certain amount to form the next cross-sectional shape. At this time, the next hardened layer is modeled by moving the stage in the opposite direction to the stage movement when forming the hardened layer with the previous cross-sectional shape (Figure 2-c), and by repeating this process, the desired three-dimensional solid is created. Create shapes continuously.

In addition to the above-described continuous modeling method in which the hardened layer is formed and the stage is moved at the same time, an intermittent modeling method may be considered in which the stage is moved after forming the linear hardened layer as described above. In addition, when modeling a hardened layer with a cross-sectional shape, in addition to the above-mentioned method in which the stage is raised and lowered alternately each time the hardened layer with a cross-sectional shape is created, it is also possible to raise and lower the stage to create a hardened layer with a cross-sectional shape. After the layer is obtained, the stage is immersed in the photocurable fluid material and the next cross-sectional shape is created by raising the stage, and vice versa, the stage is lowered to create a hardened layer with the cross-sectional shape, and then once again. There is also a method in which the stage is pulled up from the photocurable fluid material and the next cross-sectional shape is formed by lowering the stage. Furthermore, by sliding the stage along the angle of the stage instead of moving it in the vertical direction, it is also possible to form a cured layer with a cross-sectional shape without changing the position where the light is irradiated.

[0009]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, by making the stage of the present invention non-parallel to the liquid level of the photocurable fluid material, the liquid level smoothing device is eliminated, and the liquid level smoothing device attached to the liquid level smoothing device is removed. By omitting the control, the device and control can be simplified. In addition, it has become possible to perform continuous modeling.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a stereolithography apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating how a linear cured layer is continuously formed by moving the stage.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Photocurable fluid material 2 Container 3. Light source device 4. Light manipulation device 5 Stage moving device 6 Control device 7 Stage 8. Light 9 Spot light

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stereolithography apparatus that forms a three-dimensional shape by successively laminating cured layers of a photocurable fluid material that hardens by light irradiation, comprising: a container filled with the photocurable fluid material; A stage that moves up and down in the container with the liquid level of the curable fluid material as a boundary and is provided at an angle with respect to the liquid level, and a shaped object is placed in a predetermined area on the stage defined by the photo-curable fluid material. A light source and a light drawing unit that irradiate a linear pattern with light, a stage moving device that moves the stage, lighting control of the light source or the light drawing unit, and a relative positional relationship between the light drawing unit and the stage. The stage is gradually moved in a specific direction simultaneously with the light irradiation from the light source and the light drawing unit to form a plurality of cured layers corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the object. A stereolithography apparatus for modeling a three-dimensional three-dimensional shape, characterized in that the cured layers are sequentially laminated.