JPH06198746A - Three-dimensional model forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the title device realized in the simplification and miniaturization of constitution and capable of forming a three-dimensional model in the resin amt. corresponding to a manufactured product. CONSTITUTION:Each of slice layers is formed on the basis of a slice plan view signal showing a cross-sectional shape and the slice layers are laminated in a height direction to form a three-dimensional model. Rotation is applied to a turntable 16 having the surface receiving the shaping liquid droplet injected from a shaping liquid droplet jet head 17 and the liquid droplet jet head 17 is moved in the sub-scanning direction crossing the rotation in the main scanning direction of the turntable 16. Further, the turntable 16 and the liquid droplet jet head 17 are relatively moved in opposed directions and the slice plan view signal receiving from the outside is converted to the signal row formed along the circular arc scanning locus based on the rotation in the main scanning direction of the turntable 16 by a circular arc scanning signal converting circuit 28 and the shaping liquid droplet is injected from the liquid droplet jet head 17 on the basis of the converted signal row.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional model creating apparatus for creating a three-dimensional object based on slice sectional information of an article designed by a CAD system and slice sectional views such as contour maps of maps. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a most basic idea of a method for producing a three-dimensional object, there is known a method for producing a three-dimensional object by cutting a pattern for each slice layer from a plate material and laminating the patterns. However, further, as a method of creating a three-dimensional object that automates this, a predetermined scan is performed while irradiating the ultraviolet curable resin liquid surface with an on-off controlled ultraviolet laser beam, and the resin is cured in a pattern,
It is known to make a three-dimensional object by laminating the cured layers one after another.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a three-dimensional model producing apparatus based on such an idea. The three-dimensional object is produced by irradiating the ultraviolet ray curable resin liquid 2 contained in the container 1 with an ultraviolet laser beam. To do. In this case, the light emitted from the ultraviolet laser device 3 is guided to the projector 6 via the modulator 5 which responds to the signal of the CAD 4, and the ultraviolet light curable resin liquid 2
Focused on. The projector 6 is held by an XY scanner 7, and a support base 8 is provided below the liquid surface of the ultraviolet light curable resin liquid 2, and the support base 8 is moved up and down by a Z-axis elevator 9.

Here, the XY scanner 7 and the Z-axis elevator 9 are driven by a Z-axis controller 11 and an XY controller 12, which are controlled by a command from the hardware controller 10.

However, when a signal of a cross-sectional view for each layer is given as a signal from the CAD 4, while modulating the ultraviolet laser light from the ultraviolet laser device 3 in response to this,
By performing XY scanning of the XY scanner 7 by the XY controller 12, the ultraviolet curable resin liquid 2 is irradiated with ultraviolet laser light to form a cured layer, and thereafter, the Z axis controller 11 drives the Z axis elevator 9. Support base 8
Is lowered by one layer, the next layer is processed, and the three-dimensional object is formed by successively laminating each layer in this manner.

[0006]

However, in the method for producing a three-dimensional object while irradiating the ultraviolet curable resin liquid 2 with the ultraviolet laser light in this way, a large amount of resin is compared with the size of the three-dimensional object to be produced. Since the liquid must be prepared and the parallelism between the support base 8 and the liquid surface of the ultraviolet curable resin liquid 2 must be made extremely accurate, the apparatus is complicated,
There was a problem that it became large and expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can realize a simple structure, a small size, and a low price. In addition, a three-dimensional model is created by preparing a resin amount suitable for a product. It is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional model creation device that is enabled.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a three-dimensional model for forming a three-dimensional model by forming slice layers based on a slice plan view signal indicating a cross-sectional shape and stacking the slice layers in the height direction. In the producing apparatus, a droplet jetting head for jetting modeling droplets, a turntable having a receiving surface for the modeling droplets jetted from the droplet jetting head, and means for giving rotation to the turntable in the main scanning direction. A means for moving the droplet jetting head in a sub-scanning direction that intersects with the rotation of the turntable in the main scanning direction; a means for relatively moving the turntable and the droplet jetting head in opposite directions; Means for receiving a signal, and the slice plan view signal is converted into a signal sequence along an arcuate scanning locus based on rotation of the turntable in the main scanning direction. An arc scan signal converting means for, is constituted by a means for injecting a molding droplets from the droplet ejecting head according to the converted signal string by the arc scanning signal converting means.

[0009]

As a result, according to the present invention, the molding liquid is ejected from the droplet ejecting head in accordance with the signal sequence along the arc-shaped scanning locus converted from the slice plan view signal, and each slice layer is formed. Will be done. This makes it possible to create a three-dimensional model with the amount of resin commensurate with the product,
The means for patterning the resin liquid can be simplified, and further,
Since the main scanning is obtained by rotating the turntable, the reciprocating motion is not necessary and the scanning mechanism can be simplified.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the first embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 15 indicates a three-dimensional model creating apparatus.

Reference numeral 16 is a turntable which serves as a molding liquid drop receiving surface. The droplet jet head 17 is arranged above the turntable 16. The droplet jetting head 17 is supported by a moving scanning table 18 so as to move in a direction crossing the rotation of the turntable 16.

Reference numerals 19 and 20 denote support frames. One support frame 19 is supported by a column 21, and the other frame 20 is directly attached to a base (not shown).

A guide rail 22 and a lead screw 23 are provided between the support frames 19 and 20, and the guide rail 22 and the lead screw 23 support the movable scanning table 18 so as to be movable along the guide rail 22. ing.

The lead screw 23 is a support frame 20.
A gear 24 is attached on the side, and the gear 24 meshes with the gear 25 of the sub-scanning motor 26.

The turntable 16 includes a main scanning motor (not shown) for rotating the turntable 16 itself and a table lifting motor (not shown) for a part of a table lifting mechanism for lifting the turntable 16 itself. It is connected.

A sub-scanning motor driver 30, a main scanning motor driver 31, and a table lifting motor driver 32 are provided as drivers for controlling the above-mentioned motors.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a plan view signal receiving circuit, which receives a slice plan view signal output from a CAD or the like (not shown). Then, the received plan view signal is given to the arc scanning signal conversion circuit 28.

The circular scan signal conversion circuit 28 converts the plan view signal into coordinates as will be described later, and also into a signal according to the structure and operation mode of the droplet ejecting head 17. Then, this signal is sent to the head driver 29.
The liquid droplet ejecting head 17 is driven by converting the voltage into a pulse-shaped signal suitable for the head drive.

By the way, as the liquid droplets for creating the three-dimensional model, an ultraviolet curable resin liquid, a hot-melt wax liquid, or the like is applied. In the former case, ultraviolet irradiation is performed at least every formation of each slice layer. It is necessary to polymerize and cure the resin, and in the latter case, it is possible to solidify by spontaneous cooling.

A known inkjet printhead is used as the droplet jetting head 17. When jetting the ultraviolet curable resin liquid, a multi-nozzle on-demand type printhead is used. In this case, the head or the liquid drop receiving surface is moved to perform main scanning, and the main scanning forms a plurality of scanning lines to form a band-shaped scanning region. A head called a charge control type is also applicable. In the case of this head, the flight direction of the liquid droplets continuously ejected from one nozzle is controlled, and the head and the liquid droplet receiving surface are relatively moved to perform main scanning. At this time, by deflecting the ejection direction of the liquid droplets in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction, a strip-shaped scanning region is formed as in the case of the multi-nozzle on demand head. Although the charge control type head has a high signal response speed, the high speed response can be effectively utilized without extremely increasing the main scanning speed by performing the band scanning as described above.

On the other hand, when spraying the hot melt wax,
On-demand type multi-nozzle type is applied. In this case, the solid wax is always melted by heating to be in a liquid state and then jetted.

As the liquid droplet jetting head 17, any type can be applied, but it is preferable to use one which forms a band-shaped scanning region.

Therefore, every time the turntable 16 is rotated once by the main scanning motor (not shown), the lead screw 23 is rotated by the rotation of the sub-scanning motor 26, so that the droplet jetting head 17 is scanned in a strip shape. The scanning area is expanded by moving the width of the turntable 16 in the direction crossing the rotation of the turntable 16.

In this scanning, since the main scanning draws an arcuate locus, it is necessary to perform scanning signal conversion according to this locus.

FIG. 2 is for explaining scanning signal conversion. In FIG. 2A, an arc indicated by an arrow A indicates a main scanning line, and a rectangle indicated by P indicates a solid to be created. It shall be a slice section.

In this case, since the droplet ejection is performed along the arc-shaped main scanning line A, the signal corresponding to each line becomes a signal train as shown in FIG. Here, the lengths of the signal trains are different at positions close to and away from the center of the arc even if the objects have the same length.

The arc scanning signal conversion circuit 28 performs signal conversion from the slice sectional view for such an arc-shaped scanning. In this case, since the distance between the droplet jetting head 17 and the center of the turntable 16 which is the radius of the arc changes with each rotation of the turntable 16, the conversion parameter is changed correspondingly. .

When the ejection of the molding droplets for one slice plane is completed in this way, the table lifting motor driver (not shown) is driven by the table lifting motor driver 32 to set the turntable 16 to a layer thickness. It will be lowered by the amount and the next layer formation will be started.

Therefore, in this way, the droplet jetting head 17 jets the molding liquid in accordance with the signal sequence along the arc-shaped scanning locus converted from the slice plan view signal, and each slice layer is formed. Therefore, it is possible to create a three-dimensional model with the amount of resin suitable for the product, simplify the means for forming the pattern of the resin liquid, and perform main scanning by rotating the turntable, so that reciprocating motion etc. It is not necessary, and the scanning mechanism can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.

Incidentally, in FIG. 1, the droplet jetting head 17
If the movement range in the sub-scanning direction is narrow, the operation mode shown in FIG. 2B does not cause much trouble, but as the movement range increases, the rotational linear velocity near the rotation center and The linear velocity at a position away from the center, that is, the main scanning velocity, has greatly different values, which causes a problem. For example, if the ejection cycle of the droplet ejection head 17 is not made to follow, the amount of ejected liquid per unit area will not be uniform, and a model with an inclined thickness will be created. If the operation cycle of the head is controlled in order to prevent this, the operation is most efficient at the outermost peripheral position, but the operation cycle is reduced and the operation efficiency is deteriorated at the inner position.

In order to improve this point, the turntable 1
The rotation speed of the turntable 16 is controlled so as to correspond to the position of the droplet jetting head 17 which is moved in the direction crossing the rotation of 6, so that the moving speed of the turntable 16 with respect to the droplet jetting head 17 becomes constant. ing. A specific example will be described in the second embodiment.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows a schematic structure of the same embodiment, and the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. In this case, a control circuit 33 which gives a control command to the circular scan signal conversion circuit 28, the sub-scanning motor driver 30, the main scanning motor driver 31, and the table lifting motor driver 32 is provided.

The control circuit 33 controls the rotational speed of the main scanning motor (not shown) by the main scanning motor driver 31 based on the head position information in the sub-scanning direction so that the main scanning speed is droplet ejection. It is kept constant regardless of the sub-scanning position of the head 17, and accordingly, the operation of the arc scanning signal conversion circuit 28 needs to be changed in parameters.

FIG. 2C shows an arc scanning signal conversion circuit 28.
In the plan view indicated by P in FIG. 7A, the signal sequence corresponding to the line segment having the same length in the main scanning direction is converted into a signal having the same length. Will be done.

As a result, even if the period of droplet ejection of the droplet ejecting head 17 is maintained at a constant value, the amount of the ejected liquid within the unit size is kept constant, and the thickness of the formed layer does not match. It becomes possible to avoid the occurrence.

By the way, if a UV-curable resin liquid is used as the molding liquid droplet, a strong three-dimensional model can be prepared. However, since the UV curable liquid does not solidify when left to stand naturally, it must be irradiated with UV light and cured every time at least one slice plane is formed.

In this case, the three-dimensional model is supported on the turntable 16 shown in FIG. 1, and the ultraviolet irradiation means is arranged in the rotation area of the turntable 16 to inject the ultraviolet curable liquid and irradiate the ultraviolet light. Can be performed very efficiently. A specific example will be described in the third embodiment.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 shows a schematic structure of the same embodiment, and the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. In this case, the ultraviolet light source 34 is provided so as to face the turntable 16.

The ultraviolet light source 34 outputs ultraviolet light for curing the ultraviolet curing type resin liquid forming the three-dimensional model on the turntable 16.

Then, when the turntable 16 which has been subjected to the droplet ejection in a pattern by the droplet ejection head 17 rotates and passes under the ultraviolet light source 34, the ultraviolet curing type resin liquid is irradiated with ultraviolet rays. As a result, a polymerization-curing reaction occurs, and the ultraviolet-curing type resin liquid that forms a three-dimensional model by irradiation with ultraviolet light can be efficiently cured. When a flexible fiber bundle or the like that can irradiate an arbitrary position is applied as the ultraviolet light source 34, it can be made compact by attaching an irradiation end to the droplet jet head 17 or the moving scanning table.

When the ultraviolet curable liquid contains a solvent for adjusting the viscosity, it is preferable to vaporize and remove the solvent before curing. In this case, when the solvent is not vaporized by the rotation of the turntable 16 while the ejected droplets move to the ultraviolet irradiation area, the ultraviolet irradiation may be controlled after the scanning of one cross section is completed. . Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a moving scanning table 18 that supports the liquid droplet ejecting head 17 is provided.
It is also possible to attach the light shielding plate 35 to and to dispose the ultraviolet source 34 above the light shielding plate 35. In this way, when the droplet jetting head 17 moves in the direction of the arrow and sub-scanning is performed, it takes time until the region where the droplets are jetted passes through the light shielding plate 35 and is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet source 34. Therefore, it is possible to vaporize the solvent during this period and make it possible to irradiate ultraviolet light.

By the way, as a problem that occurs when a band-shaped scanning region is formed by using the liquid droplet jetting head 17 and the band-shaped scanning regions are connected by sub-scanning to form one scanning surface, a problem occurs at the connecting portion. There is uneven pitch.

In order to suppress the pitch unevenness at the joining portion, it is of course necessary to improve the precision of the sub-scan feed, but in addition to that, it is necessary to enhance the precision of the head that determines the band width itself. However, in reality, it is extremely difficult to improve the precision of both of them so that the unevenness of the joints does not become an obstacle.

Therefore, it is preferable that the influence of the unevenness of the joint can be eliminated without increasing the sub-scan feed accuracy and the accuracy of the head.

Therefore, there is provided a device for producing a three-dimensional object based on a slice plan view signal showing the sectional shape of each layer subdivided in the height direction, and means for receiving the slice plan view signal and droplet ejection. A scanning signal conversion circuit that converts into a signal array that matches the dot position determined by the structure of the head, a head drive circuit that operates by receiving the conversion signal, and a molding liquid droplet that is ejected in response to the drive signal to perform swath scanning. A droplet jetting head for forming a region, a scanning / moving means for relatively moving the droplet jetting head and the droplet receiving surface in the X, Y, and Z directions, and sub-scanning when forming different slice layers. A control means for shifting the arrangement phase of the band-shaped scanning region in the direction is provided. A specific example will be described in the fourth embodiment.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 6 shows a schematic structure of the same embodiment.

In this case, 41 is a droplet jetting head, and this droplet jetting head 41 is supported by the moving scanning table 46. The movable scanning table 46 is movably supported on the guide rails 42 and 43 via slide bearings 44 and 45.

Reference numeral 47 is a main scanning motor, and a wire pulley 48 is pivotally supported on the rotating shaft of the motor 47. A wire 49 is wound around the wire pulley 48, and the pulled-out wire is wound around another pulley (not shown), and a grip 50 of the moving scanning table is fixed to the wire 51.

Thus, by rotating the main scanning motor 47 in the forward and reverse directions, the droplet jetting head 41 is reciprocated along the guide rails 42 and 43 to perform the main scanning.

Reference numeral 52 designates a droplet receiving base.
Is slidably supported on the lift table 53, and the lift table 5
The sub-scanning motor 54 attached to the No. 3 stepwise moves in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction.

An arm 55 extends vertically on the elevating table 53 and is slidably fitted on a column 56. Then, it is engaged with the feed screw 58 via the female screw 57. The feed screw 58 is connected to the rotating shaft of the lifting motor 59, and moves the lifting platform 53 up and down by the rotation of the lifting motor 59.

Reference numeral 61 is a plan view signal receiving circuit. The plan view signal receiving circuit 61 receives a slice plan view signal from a host device such as a CAD (not shown). Then, the received plan view signal is given to the scanning signal conversion circuit 62.

In the scanning signal conversion circuit 62, signals are rearranged at the coordinates and timing corresponding to the droplet ejecting head 41, and this signal is sent to the head driver 63 to form droplets on the droplet ejecting head 41 in a pattern. I am trying to make it jet.

The main scanning motor driver 64, the sub-scanning motor driver 65, and the lifting motor driver 66 operate in synchronism with the operation of the liquid droplet ejecting head 41, and are controlled according to commands from the control circuit 67.

As the droplet jetting head 41, one having the same structure and operating principle as various print heads used in an ink jet printer is applied.

Here, in the multi-nozzle on-demand type head, the head is moved in the main scanning direction while a plurality of nozzles arranged in the sub-scanning direction are operated in parallel to form a band-shaped scanning area. . Further, as the droplet ejection head 41, which is called a charge control type and which controls the flight direction of continuously ejected droplets by an electric field, the voltage of the deflection electrode is periodically changed. Then, by moving and scanning the head in the main scanning direction while distributing the droplets in the sub-scanning direction, a band-shaped scanning region is formed.

Therefore, FIG. 7A shows the joining of the strip-shaped scanning areas A-1, A-2, A-3, ... When scanning one cross section. In this case, the circle shown at the left end of the area A-1 indicates the droplet jetting dots arranged in the sub-scanning direction, and the area of this dot is A-1 by the main scanning.
The strip shape is as shown by the diagonal line.

The next scan following the first scan is performed adjacent to A-1 as in A-2, and then A-3.

In such scan connection,
At the boundary, droplet dots are too close to each other and overlap or are too far apart to form a gap, and it is almost impossible to arrange the dots at the same pitch as the dots in the band. Also, in the on-demand type head, the dot size of each value in the sub-scanning direction becomes non-uniform due to the non-uniformity of the nozzle hole diameter, and in the charge control type head, the dot position due to the electric field control voltage wave type distortion, etc. Will be out of order.

Therefore, in order to stack the layers of the slice sections, as shown in FIG. 7A, if the positions of the respective band-shaped scans are repeatedly scanned with the same phase shift, the above-mentioned unevenness is integrated, The created three-dimensional model has a large unevenness in the height direction.

In view of this, in the same embodiment, as shown in FIGS.
In the scanning in which the cross-sections are stacked as shown in (3), the phases of the bands in the sub-scanning direction are shifted. In this case,
In (b), scanning B-1 and B in which the phase is shifted by a width l obtained by dividing the width L of the band into n (n ≧ 2) with respect to FIG.
-2 ..., and in FIG. 7C, scanning C-1, C-2 ...
Is shown.

By laminating the layers in which the phases of the respective scans are shifted in this manner, the unevenness of the size and pitch of the droplet dots is dispersed, and the created three-dimensional model has a finish without unevenness in the height direction. You will get it.

In this case, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the control circuit 67 issues a command for jetting droplets having a shifted phase, and in response to this, the scanning signal conversion circuit 62 outputs the phase-shifted signal. To generate. Then, in accordance with this signal, the sub-scanning motor driver 64 shifts the phase of the step feed so as to obtain the sub-scanning phase shift of the widths 1 and 2l. In addition, each time one-layer pattern formation is completed, the lifting motor 59 lowers the lifting platform 53 by the thickness of one layer to form a solid.

The phase shift and the vertical movement of the lift table 53 may be performed for every n layers, and the minimum value of the phase shift amount can be set to one sub-scanning dot pitch.

Accordingly, in this way, in forming the pattern on each slice plane, even if the thickness of the formed pattern is uneven due to the seams of the band-shaped scanning regions or the uneven size of the droplets on each scanning line. Since the positions of the concavities and convexities are shifted and distributed between the slice planes, the unevenness in the height direction of the three-dimensional model in which the sliced planes are stacked is averaged, and the unevenness of the joints can be prevented.

Next, in the apparatus for ejecting the molding liquid droplets from the ejection head in response to the pattern signal for the three-dimensional modeling, the production time of the three-dimensional model is dominated by the performance of the head and the speed is increased. It is necessary to speed up the head. However, there is a limit to this, and in particular, when it is attempted to improve the manufacturing accuracy, the diameter of the ejected liquid droplet becomes small, and accordingly, the scanning density becomes high, so that the scanning time becomes long. This means that in order to shorten the scanning time, the accuracy must be coarse and the large-diameter droplet must be ejected.

Therefore, it is preferable that the manufacturing time can be shortened without lowering the processing accuracy.

Therefore, there is provided a device for producing a three-dimensional object based on a slice plan view signal showing a sectional shape of each layer subdivided in the height direction, and means for receiving the slice plan view,
A scanning signal conversion circuit that converts into a signal sequence that is aligned with the dot position determined by the structure of the droplet ejection head, a head drive circuit that operates by receiving the conversion signal, and ejects molding droplets in response to the drive signal, A droplet ejecting head for forming a band-shaped scanning region, and a scanning / moving means for relatively moving the droplet ejecting head and the molding droplet receiving surface in the main scanning X direction, the sub scanning Y direction, and the height Z direction. There is a control circuit for controlling the scanning movement means in response to the slice plan view signal, and the control means has a normal scanning mode for performing the movement scanning at a normal scanning speed, and a higher speed and / or simplified omission scanning mode. And is configured to enable switching between the normal scanning mode and the omission scanning mode during one slice plane scanning.

The above-mentioned configuration focuses on the fact that the model to be machined often exists locally in the scanning area of the scanning device. That is, when the area where the droplets are to be ejected is concentrated in one portion of the entire scanning area, the scanning of the portion where the droplets are not ejected is omitted or the speed is increased to shorten the scanning time. Along with
The scanning of the droplet jetting portion is performed by regular scanning, and as a result, the total scanning time is shortened without lowering the processing accuracy. A specific example will be described in the fifth embodiment.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 8 shows a schematic structure of the same embodiment, and the same parts as those in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this case, a scanning determination circuit 68 is provided which receives the conversion signal of the scanning signal conversion circuit 62 and generates a signal for switching the scanning mode.
The discrimination signal in 8 is sent to the control circuit 67. Control circuit 6
7, the control signal is changed in response to the signal from the scanning judgment circuit 68 to switch the scanning mode.

Switching of the scanning modes in such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In the same figure, the scanning plane by the liquid droplet ejecting head 41 is shown, where X is the main scanning direction, Y is the sub-scanning direction, and A-1 to A-12 are strip-shaped scanning regions obtained by one main scanning each. Is shown. And
The pattern X with a grain shows the region where the droplets are ejected.

In the scanning of such a slice plane, A
-1, A-2, A-3, A-10, A-11, A-12
In each of the strip regions, no droplet is ejected. Therefore, since it is not necessary to perform regular scanning in these bands, the omission scanning mode is applied.

Various modes can be considered for the skip scanning mode. For example, the main scanning speed is increased to several times the normal speed, the main scanning is stopped and only the sub-scan feed is performed, or the scanning is performed. The head is moved only in the required band areas A-4 to A-9.

In order to determine such a scan mode change, a scan control determination circuit 68 for determining the output of the scan signal conversion circuit 62 is used. In this scan control determination circuit 68, the band area A-1 is used. When it is determined that no signal for ejecting a droplet is included in the band, the determination result is sent to the control circuit 67.

In the control circuit 67, the scanning control determination circuit 68
The scanning mode is switched to the omission mode according to the determination result from (1) to control the operation of each scanning motor, and the scanning signal conversion circuit 62 is instructed to output the scanning conversion signal of the next band area A-2. As a result, the skip scanning mode continues until the droplet ejection signal in the band area is included,
The scanning time during this period is greatly shortened.

Since the strip regions A-4 to A-9 include the portion for ejecting droplets, the main-scan feed is performed at a regular speed. Before and after the portion requiring scanning, there is a portion where droplets are not ejected, and that portion often has a large ratio.

Therefore, before and after the portion where the normal scanning is required, the scanning time can be further shortened by increasing the portion to which the skip scanning mode is applied, such as speeding up the scanning feed. For example, in FIG. 9, the shaded portion is the scanning area at the regular feed speed, and the other portion is the fast-forward portion.

In the case of the mode switching described above, it is necessary to switch from the high speed feed to the regular scanning speed and add the traveling distance required until the steady stable speed is reached to specify the applicable range of the regular scanning mode. In FIG. 9, the application area including this portion is shown by the diagonal lines in the normal scanning mode.

Therefore, in this way, the creation time can be greatly shortened without lowering the creation accuracy of the three-dimensional model.

By the way, in the conventional three-dimensional model forming method, the ultraviolet curable resin liquid is irradiated with the ultraviolet laser light modulated in response to the pattern signal. Therefore, the material of the three-dimensional model is the ultraviolet light curable resin liquid. Was limited to.

Also in the present invention, if the ultraviolet ray curable resin liquid is applied to the droplet jetting head, the material of the three-dimensional model to be produced becomes the ultraviolet ray curable resin, and it is necessary to irradiate the ultraviolet ray after the droplet jetting. .

For this reason, for the purpose of making a mold for lost wax, a mold is prepared by using a three-dimensional model of ultraviolet light curing resin as a prototype, and then a wax mold is further prepared. The process was sometimes complicated.

With respect to this point, it is convenient that the three-dimensional model producing apparatus of the present invention can directly produce a three-dimensional model of wax, and if the ultraviolet light source is not required, the installation can be made small and simplified. Of course, it is also possible to create a three-dimensional model of other materials by using the wax type as a smatter.

In order to create a three-dimensional model of a wax, a wax which is solid at room temperature and melts by heating is used, and the wax in a heated and molten state is jetted in the droplet jetting head and cooled at the droplet receiving surface. Let it solidify. Such a droplet ejecting head is known as an ink jet print head and has been put to practical use.

Therefore, in the present invention, if a head for ejecting hot melt ink is applied to the droplet ejecting head 17 in FIG. 1 and the droplet ejecting head 41 in FIG. 6,
It is possible to realize an apparatus that creates the above-described wax three-dimensional model.

Besides, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be carried out by appropriately modifying it within a range not changing the gist.

[0089]

According to the present invention, the molding liquid is jetted from the droplet jetting head in accordance with the signal sequence along the arc-shaped scanning locus converted from the slice plan view signal, and each slice layer is formed. As a result, it is possible to create a three-dimensional model with the amount of resin suitable for the product, simplify the means for forming the pattern of the resin liquid, and, because the main scan is obtained by rotating the turntable, reciprocating motion is possible. No operation is required and the scanning mechanism can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining scanning signal conversion according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a modification of the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional stereo model creating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

15 ... Three-dimensional model creation device, 16 ... Turntable, 1
7 ... Droplet ejecting head, 18 ... Moving scanning table, 19, 20 ...
Support frame, 21 ... Prop, 22 ... Guide rail, 23
... Lead screw, 24, 25 ... Gear, 26 ... Sub-scanning motor, 27 ... Plan view signal receiving circuit, 28 ... Circular scan signal converting circuit, 29 ... Head driver, 30 ... Sub-scanning motor driver, 31 ... Main scanning motor driver Driver 32, table elevating / lowering motor driver 33, control circuit 34, ultraviolet light source 41, droplet ejecting head 42, 43 ... guide rails 44, 45 ... slide bearing 46, moving scanning table 47, main scanning Motor, 48 ... Wire pulley, 49
... Wire, 50 ... Grip, 51 ... Wire, 52 ... Drop receiving base, 53 ... Lifting base, 54 ... Sub-scanning motor, 55 ... Arm, 56 ... Post, 57 ... Female screw, 58 ... Feed screw, 5
9 ... Lifting motor, 61 ... Plan view signal receiving circuit, 62 ... Scan signal converting circuit, 63 ... Head driver, 64 ... Main scanning motor driver, 65 ... Sub scanning motor driver, 6
6 ... Elevating motor driver, 67 ... Control circuit, 68 ... Scan control determination circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional model creating apparatus for creating a three-dimensional model by forming slice layers based on a slice plan view signal indicating a cross-sectional shape and stacking the slice layers in the height direction, A droplet jetting head for jetting, a turntable having a receiving surface for molding droplets jetted from the droplet jetting head, means for imparting rotation to the turntable in the main scanning direction, and a main scanning direction of the turntable Means for moving the droplet jetting head in a sub-scanning direction that intersects with the rotation of, a means for relatively moving the turntable and the droplet jetting head in opposite directions, a means for receiving a slice plan view signal, Circular scan signal conversion for converting a slice plan view signal into a signal sequence along an arcuate scanning locus based on rotation of the turntable in the main scanning direction. Means a stereoscopic model creating apparatus characterized by comprising a means for ejecting molding droplets from the droplet ejecting head according to the converted signal string by the arc scanning signal converting means.