JPH0511751B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention is applicable to three-dimensional curved surfaces and other arbitrary surfaces designed by a computer etc. in the process of manufacturing accessories, metal pressing, metal casting, industrial parts, or plastic molding, or in the manufacturing process of small-volume products. This invention relates to a three-dimensional molding device that creates curved surfaces and forms three-dimensional objects.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when making a mold for plastic molding, for example, a solid material such as a block of metal or wood, a pipe, a rod, a plate, etc., is cut, cut, or Processing such as drilling to reduce the external shape of the material is performed to obtain the desired shape, and additional processing such as screwing, bolting, welding, and brazing is performed to obtain the final three-dimensional shape. There is.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional three-dimensional formation method as described above,
Due to restrictions such as the shape of the material, holding method, processing tools, and hardness of the material, it is often difficult to form the desired shape, especially hollow or thin objects, and even if it is possible, it is difficult to change the workpiece, There is a problem in that complicated operations such as tool exchange are essential. Therefore, the present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems in conventional three-dimensional formation methods.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above conventional problems, the present invention includes a computer that stores and processes three-dimensional graphic information, and a computer that moves relative to a reference plane in the X, Y, and Z directions based on the three-dimensional graphic information of this computer. A three-dimensional molding device is constructed by a processing machine equipped with a material supply processing shaft that sequentially stacks materials to form the contour of an object, and the processing shaft is further equipped with a material supply processing shaft that supplies a material made of a hot melt material. A structure is adopted in which a supply section and a material feeding nozzle are provided, and the melted material is continuously supplied from the tip of the nozzle by a material fixing mechanism consisting of a heating melting section (heater) installed in this nozzle. did.

[Effect]

The three-dimensional graphic information stored in the computer is continuously given to the processing machine, and while continuously supplying the material, the material supply machining axis is moved relative to the reference plane in the X, Y, and Z directions, and the material is moved onto the reference plane. Materials are layered one after the other and each layer is simultaneously welded to form a three-dimensional object. In this case, the material made of hot melt material wrapped around the material supply section is continuously supplied from the nozzle, and at this time, the material is melted by a material fixing mechanism consisting of a heater installed in the nozzle, and the material is poured from the nozzle. The discharged material immediately solidifies and is sequentially laminated as described above.

【Example】

An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 10. Figure 1 is an external view of the device, Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the processing machine, Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the process of forming a jug,
3A is an end view of section p in FIG. 3, FIG. 3B is an end view of section m in FIG. 3, FIG. 3C is an end view of section a in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4 is a lamination method. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the molding operation procedure, and FIGS. 6 to 10 are explanatory diagrams showing various molding examples. The three-dimensional forming apparatus of the present invention uses a computer 1 to expand two-dimensional figure information into three-dimensional three-dimensional information from a planar rough sketch, obtains three-dimensional figure information, and adds the type, shape, quality of material, and number of reference planes to the three-dimensional figure information. , in an inert or active gas in a certain container, in a liquid, or in an open chamber, depending on processing information including various conditions such as the position, number and direction of supports, branch lines, etc.
Linear, powder, granular, block, or fluid materials are sequentially placed on a mold release material attached to the moving table 4 of the processing machine 2, and are applied to material fixing mechanisms (described later) such as heating, adhesion, and welding. Therefore, the computer 1 controls the process of fixing and solidifying into a continuous fixed shape to construct a tomogram. As shown in FIG. 1, the three-dimensional molding apparatus of the illustrated embodiment includes a computer 1 equipped with a processing data storage device 1a, and a processing machine 2 connected to the computer 1 through a control signal line. The processing machine 2 includes a fixed base 3, a movable base 4 that can be moved arbitrarily within a fixed plane range on the fixed base 3, and X, Y, and Z processing axes that can be moved arbitrarily in a predetermined space near the plane of the movable base 4. 5 and a control device 6. The mechanism of the processing reference surface 7 can be attached to and detached from the movable table 4. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the processing shaft 5 has a material fixing mechanism comprising a material supply section 8 and a heating melting section (heater) 9a made of a material (for example, a wire) of a heat melting material such as a heat melt metal or a heat melt resin. 9 is attached. The material loaded in the material supply section 8 is connected and fed to the nozzle 9b.
The materials are melted by a material fixing mechanism 9 consisting of a heating melting section (heater) 9a disposed at b, and are successively stacked and three-dimensionally formed. The control device 6 includes a control signal communication circuit connected to the computer 1, and a power device for driving the moving table 4 and the processing shaft 5 and a displacement detection device connected thereto. Therefore, when molding a jug with a handle 21 shown in FIG. 3 using this apparatus, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the bottom of the container is set as a reference section a on the object side, Sections m..., section p... are set in parallel at appropriate intervals, and the contours of each section are drawn as shown in Fig. 3 A, B, and C. and,
Divide the contour line into minute sections for each cross-sectional view, and calculate each section with numerical data (Xa1, Ya1), [Xa2, Ya2),
...(Xa999, Ya999)..., (Xb1, Yb1)
...(Xm1, Ym1)... is realized using the computer 1, and the obtained data is stored in a data storage medium, or the processing conditions are added and transferred to the processing machine 2 as processing data. The processing machine 2 that received the processing data first
According to the data of cross section a, materials are sequentially supplied and fixed at the data positions to form the contour shape,
Next, a material is filled inside the cavity. Second, according to the data of cross-section b, an upper contour shape is constructed by overlapping cross-section a. The same process is performed for cross sections c, d, and so on. More generally, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, a spherical material 14 is continuously supplied and fixed onto the mold release material 10 on the reference surface 7, and the first layer 11, second layer 12, A three-dimensional structure is formed by sequentially adding layers such as the third layer 13, . . . . In this way, a cross-sectional shape is constructed using the cross-sectional contour figure information, and a solid is formed as a result of stacking the cross-sectional shapes. In this case, it is also possible to obtain an enlarged or reduced solid from the shape data. The continuous work flow described above is shown in a flowchart in FIG. In addition, by arranging a plurality of reference surfaces 7a, b, and c as shown in FIG. 6a, or by setting up a support 22 on the reference surface 7 as shown in FIG. 6b, the layer structure can be determined from each reference surface 7. After starting, the three-dimensional objects of different layers are combined in an overhanging space to form the whole, and then separated from the reference plane 7 and the pillar 22 to integrally form a suspended three-dimensional object with a space at the bottom. I can do it. Also, as shown in Figure 6a, the point on the contour line and the outer wall 2
3 with the branch line 24, or connect the inside of the solid body with the branch line 24.
By connecting with , it is possible to stabilize the three-dimensional structure during the manufacturing process and increase the strength of the hollow part. As shown in Figures 7a and b, a three-dimensional object has a pattern made of a combination of different materials A and B, a three-dimensional object whose surface or interior is made of different materials, or a three-dimensional object with a very thin layer such as plating on the surface. It is also possible to form a three-dimensional object, etc., and if a separating material E is inserted into the gap between two contour shapes C and D as shown in Fig. 8, a three-dimensional object can be formed with other objects inside. This can be applied to joints that cannot be pulled out, seamless chains, etc. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, when fixing other objects such as jewelry 26 to metal jewelry 25, currently the metal part is dug into a claw shape with a chisel or the like, but with this device, A space is left in the area where the jewelry 26 etc. is placed without fixing the forming material, and after the jewelry 26 is inserted into this space, a metal material is fixed in the shape of a claw to the edge of the space to fix the jewelry 26. Such processing is also possible. Also,
As shown in Figure 10, when expressing the fur of an animal relief with metal, when creating a cross-sectional layer structure,
By fixing one end of the linear material 27, which corresponds to a single hair, in a contoured shape and releasing the other end along the fur, a flocked state is obtained, so that the texture of fur can be obtained.

【Effect of the invention】

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. That is, by obtaining numerical data on the cross-sectional shape of a desired shape, especially a hollow object or a thin-walled object, it is easy to
It can be formed quickly, and in particular, for single-item production, it can be used to produce unidirectionally uneven three-dimensional objects, such as stamping prototypes, and for mass-produced products, it can be used to continuously form multidirectionally uneven three-dimensional objects, such as precious metal hollow jewelry. It is a one-step process that can be done easily and in a short time without complicated operations such as changing the workpiece or changing tools.
It can be formed beautifully and precisely. In addition, the thickness of the material forming the external shape can be set arbitrarily, so
Three-dimensional structures with flexible structures can also be molded. In particular, the present invention is carried out by a continuous mechanical feeding process of the material through a nozzle, and furthermore, the material instantly hardens after being heated and melted, resulting in effective effects such as rapid and accurate three-dimensional molding into layers. play.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 1 is an external view of the device, Fig. 2 is an explanatory drawing of the processing machine, and Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the processing machine.
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the process of forming a water pitcher, Figure 3 A is an end view of cross section p in Figure 3, and Figure 3 B is an end view of cross section m in Figure 3.
FIG. 3C is an end view of section a in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the lamination method, and FIG.
The figure is a flowchart of the molding operation procedure, and FIGS. 6 to 10 are explanatory diagrams showing various molding examples. 1...Computer, 2...Processing machine, 4...Moving table,
5... Processing axis, 7... Reference plane, 8... Material supply section, 9...
Material fixing mechanism, 9a...Heating melting part (heater), 9
b...Material supply nozzle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A computer that stores and processes three-dimensional graphic information, and based on the three-dimensional graphic information of this computer, sequentially stacks materials while moving relative to the reference plane in the X, Y, and Z directions to form the contour of the object. A processing machine equipped with a material supply processing shaft is provided, and this processing shaft is provided with a material supply section for supplying a material made of a hot melt material and a nozzle for feeding the material, and a heating A three-dimensional molding apparatus characterized in that a material fixing mechanism comprising a melting section continuously supplies melted material from the tip of a nozzle and sequentially stacks and fixes the material.