JPH08230048A - Three-dimensional shaping apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To eliminate the wastefulness of a material and to dispense with a UV laser device and a washing process by irradiating the uncured resin in the vicinity of a nozzle with light from an irradiation part so as to cure the uncured resin to form a shaped article when the uncured resin is emitted from the nozzle. CONSTITUTION: The uncured resin 11 supplied from a resin supply device passes through a nozzle 12 to be emitted. The light of an irradiation part entering an emitting and irradiating unit from a light source at the same time passes through a diffusion plate 15 and irradiation port 13 successively to irradiate the uncured resin emitted from the nozzle 12 in the vicinity of the nozzle 12 to cure the resin bonded to a base plate to form a resin layer. As a result, since the arrangement and irradiation of the resin only at a place desired to be shaped can be performed at the same time, only a necessary amt. of the resin can be used and it is unnecessary to perform a wasteful resin washing process. Further, only a part desired to be cured is cured to enhance shaping accuracy and an inexpensive UV device can be used.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional modeling apparatus, and more specifically, it can be applied not only to a resin discharging apparatus, but also to an ink jet recording apparatus, a UV bonding apparatus, etc. The present invention relates to a three-dimensional modeling apparatus that can reduce material costs, apparatus costs, and the number of steps and can improve modeling accuracy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a structure of a conventional three-dimensional modeling apparatus. In FIG. 9, 1001 is a container,
002 is a photo-curable uncured resin filled in the container 1001, and 1003 is a laser beam for writing a three-dimensional cross-sectional pattern for each layer of the uncured resin 1002. 1
Reference numeral 004 denotes a three-dimensional shaped object in which the uncured resin 1002 has been written and cured by the laser beam 1003.
Reference numeral 5 is a support that supports the portion A of the modeled article 1004.

In a conventional three-dimensional modeling apparatus, as shown in FIG. 9, a container 1001 is filled with a photocurable uncured resin 1002, and a three-dimensional cross-sectional pattern (horizontal direction) is provided for each layer of the uncured resin 1002. By writing with the laser beam 1003 to cure the uncured resin 1002 and sequentially stacking and adhering it in the vertical direction, the three-dimensional shaped object 10 is obtained.
The method of forming 04 is used.

A conventional method for forming a three-dimensional object has been reported in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-93228. In this conventional method for forming a three-dimensional object, a cured photocurable resin is immersed in a liquid having a specific gravity higher than that of the uncured photocurable resin, and the surface thereof is configured to be horizontal to the liquid surface of the liquid. By doing so, there is an advantage that a three-dimensional object that requires lamination of a photocurable resin having a surface area larger than the surface of the photocurable resin can be easily formed.

Next, as a conventional jet type three-dimensional modeling apparatus, there is one which is reported in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-5923. In this conventional injection-type three-dimensional modeling apparatus, by constructing the liquid resin to be injected at the laser light converging point, no extra resin other than the resin that creates the model is required, and the apparatus is downsized and the model is molded. This has the advantage that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Next, a conventional method for producing a three-dimensional object is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-119825. In this conventional method for producing a three-dimensional object, a photopolymerizable liquid medium thin layer having a lower specific gravity than the supporting liquid and being hard to mix with the supporting liquid is continuously guided from the molding means onto the supporting liquid surface. Then, by structuring it so that it is polymerized by line radiation, there is an advantage that a three-dimensional object can be formed in a relatively short time even with a complicated pattern.

[0007]

However, in the conventional three-dimensional modeling apparatus shown in FIG. 9 described above, the container 1001
Since a three-dimensional cross-sectional pattern is written with the laser beam 1003 for each layer of the uncured resin 1002 that has been filled in, the molded product 1004 or more of the photocurable resin 100 to be formed is desired.
2 is required, and there is a problem that the material is wasted and the material cost increases.

Further, since an expensive UV laser device is used, the cost of the device increases, and in addition, after the modeling object 1004 has been modeled, a cleaning process for cleaning and removing the container 1001 must be performed, which is the reason for that. There is a problem that the number of steps increases. Further, in the above-described conventional three-dimensional modeling apparatus, the uncured resin 1002 filled in the container 1001
A three-dimensional cross-sectional pattern is written for each layer by the laser beam 1003, and only one layer of the uncured resin 1002 can be processed. Therefore, for example, a C-shaped object 10 is formed.
If the support 1005 is not provided when performing the modeling process of 04, the A portion of the modeled article 1004 will drop.

For this reason, since the support 1005 must be provided to support the portion A of the modeled object 1004, the support 1005 must be processed, and the number of steps increases accordingly. . Further, as shown in FIG. 10, since the uncured resin 1002 is irradiated with the laser beam 1003, interference with other portions other than the effective area occurs, so that only the cured area 1002a of the portion to be cured is formed. However, there is a problem that the molding accuracy is lowered because a hardening region 1002b having a shape different from the ideal hardening region 1002a is actually generated.

Next, in the cases reported in the above-mentioned JP-A-4-93228 and JP-A-4-5923,
The above-mentioned drawbacks have not been supplemented yet, such as using a laser light device. Further, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-119825, workability and cost are improved, but the description of irradiation is unclear, and it is not considered that the processing speed can be increased.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the material cost by eliminating the waste of the material by using only the uncured resin necessary for the molded article, and to avoid using the expensive UV laser device. It is possible to reduce the cost of the device, and to reduce the number of steps by not performing the washing step of the uncured resin after the shaping of the shaping object.
For example, when processing a C-shaped object, the number of steps can be reduced by omitting the support processing step, and the modeling accuracy can be improved by curing only the portion to be cured. The object is to provide a three-dimensional modeling apparatus.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A nozzle for ejecting a photo-curable uncured resin and a nozzle for curing the uncured resin when the uncured resin is being ejected from the nozzle to form a predetermined three-dimensional shaped object. An irradiating section having an irradiating port for irradiating light to the uncured resin in the vicinity thereof is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned first aspect of the invention, the nozzle and the irradiation unit are unitized. A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first and second aspects of the invention, the nozzle and the irradiation section are arranged concentrically with respect to a central axis of an arrangement section desired to be formed. Is.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first to third aspects of the invention, a condenser lens is provided in the irradiation section. A fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, a light amount control means for controlling the light amount of the irradiation unit is provided. The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the irradiation aperture of the irradiation part is set in a range of 0.05 mm or more and 10 mm or less.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the above-described first to sixth aspects, a moving means for moving the irradiation port in parallel with the nozzle is provided. The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that, in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, it is provided with a moving means for moving the nozzle in parallel with the irradiation port.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the above-described first to eighth aspects, a discharge speed control means for controlling a discharge speed of the uncured resin discharged from the nozzle is provided. To do. According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the above-described first to ninth aspects, the nozzle has an inner diameter that can be changed.

The invention according to claim 11 is the invention according to claim 2 characterized in that a moving speed control means for controlling the moving speed of the unit consisting of the nozzle and the irradiation section is provided. is there. According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the above-described second and eleventh aspects of the present invention, an orientation / movement direction control means for controlling the orientation and movement direction of the unit including the nozzle and the irradiation unit is provided. To do.

The invention according to claim 13 is the above-mentioned claim 2,
In the inventions of 11 and 12, an irradiation device different from the irradiation unit is provided.

[0019]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a nozzle for ejecting a photo-curable uncured resin and a three-dimensional shaped article having a predetermined three-dimensional shape by curing the uncured resin while ejecting the uncured resin from the nozzle So that the uncured resin in the vicinity of the nozzle is provided with an irradiation section having an irradiation port for irradiating light.

Therefore, when the uncured resin is being discharged from the nozzle, the uncured resin in the vicinity of the nozzle is irradiated with light from the irradiation port of the irradiation section, so that the resin can be arranged only at the portion to be molded. Since the irradiation can be performed simultaneously with the irradiation, it is possible to use only the resin necessary for the molded object to be formed. Therefore, the material cost can be reduced by eliminating the waste of the material, and the wasteful resin cleaning step can be omitted after the modeling, so that the number of steps can be reduced. In addition, since the resin can be placed and irradiated only at the portion to be molded at the same time, only the portion to be cured can be cured and the molding accuracy can be improved.

Further, since the resin can be placed and irradiated only at the desired parts at the same time, it is possible to omit the support processing step when processing a C-shaped object, for example. Can be reduced.
Further, since the treatment can be performed by a general and inexpensive UV device without using an expensive UV laser device, the device cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the nozzle and the irradiation section are unitized. For this reason,
By configuring the nozzle and the irradiation unit as a unit, it is possible to move the nozzle and the irradiation unit at the same time, and thus it is possible to omit the irradiation position control.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the nozzle and the irradiation section are arranged concentrically with respect to the central axis of the arranging section to be modeled. Therefore, by arranging the nozzle and the irradiation unit on the concentric circles, it is possible to uniformly irradiate the discharged resin with light to cure the resin uniformly. In the invention according to claim 4, the irradiation part is provided with a condenser lens.

Therefore, by installing a condenser lens in the irradiation unit, the light can be efficiently condensed, and the molding speed can be increased. According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a light amount control means for controlling the light amount of the irradiation unit is provided. Therefore, the curing rate of the resin can be controlled by adjusting the light amount of the irradiation part.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the irradiation aperture of the irradiation unit is set in a range of 0.05 mm or more and 10 mm or less. Therefore, the irradiation aperture is 0.05m
By setting it in the range of m or more and 10 mm or less, it is possible to reduce the scattering of light and efficiently irradiate the resin. The irradiation aperture is preferably 0.05 mm or more because if the irradiation aperture is smaller than 0.05 mm, the irradiation aperture will be too small and the resin dose will be extremely reduced, making it difficult to efficiently irradiate the resin. Is. The irradiation aperture is 10
The reason why the thickness is preferably equal to or less than mm is that when the irradiation aperture is larger than 10 mm, the irradiation aperture is too large and the amount of irradiation to the resin is extremely increased, resulting in large light scattering.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a moving means for moving the irradiation port in parallel with the nozzle is provided. Therefore, the curing position and the light amount of the uncured resin can be controlled by moving the irradiation port in parallel with the nozzle. According to the invention of claim 8,
A moving means for moving the nozzle in parallel with the irradiation port is provided.

Therefore, by moving the nozzle in parallel with the irradiation port, the curing position and the amount of light of the uncured resin can be controlled. In a ninth aspect of the present invention, a discharge speed control means for controlling the discharge speed of the uncured resin discharged from the nozzle is provided. Therefore, the thickness of the resin and the cured state of the resin can be controlled by controlling the discharge speed of the uncured resin discharged from the nozzle.

According to the tenth aspect of the invention, the nozzle is constructed such that the inner diameter can be changed. Therefore, the discharge amount and the resin thickness of the uncured resin can be controlled by exchanging the inner diameter of the nozzle. According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, the moving speed control means for controlling the moving speed of the unit including the nozzle and the irradiation unit is provided.

Therefore, the resin thickness can be controlled by changing the moving speed of the discharge irradiation unit. In the invention according to claim 12, the direction / direction for controlling the direction and the moving direction of the unit including the nozzle and the irradiation unit
The moving direction control means is provided. Therefore, the resin can be efficiently arranged three-dimensionally by controlling the direction and the moving direction of the discharge irradiation unit.

In the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the irradiation means different from the irradiation means is provided. Therefore, by providing the irradiation means separately from the irradiation means of the discharge irradiation unit, the molding speed and the curing rate can be increased as compared with the case where only the irradiation means of the discharge irradiation unit is used.

[0031]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to the present embodiment mainly ejects a photo-curable uncured resin such as a UV curable resin, and at the same time, a discharge irradiation unit 1 that mainly irradiates light such as UV light and a light discharge irradiation unit. A light source 2 supplied into
A resin supply device 3 that supplies uncured resin into the discharge irradiation unit 1, and a robot arm 4 that controls the direction, moving direction, position, rotation, moving speed, etc. of the discharge irradiation unit 1.
And a substrate 5 on which the resin is arranged.

The light source 2 (light amount etc.), the resin supply device 3 and the robot arm 4 are connected to the discharge irradiation unit 1 and are computer-controlled. In FIG. 1, 6 denotes irradiation light emitted from the ejection irradiation unit 1, and 7 denotes irradiation light 6 emitted from the ejection irradiation unit 1 to uncured resin discharged from the ejection irradiation unit 1 to be cured. Is a cured resin, and 8 is a molded article formed by laminating the cured resin 7.

Next, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the discharge irradiation unit shown in FIG. The ejection / irradiation unit 1 of the present embodiment includes a nozzle 12 for ejecting the uncured resin 11 supplied from the resin supply device 3 and an uncured resin near the nozzle 12 when the uncured resin 11 is being ejected from the nozzle 12. The resin 11 has an irradiation part 14 having an irradiation port 13 for irradiating light.

The uncured resin 11 supplied from the resin supply device 3 passes through the nozzle 12 and is discharged. At the same time, the light entering the discharge irradiation unit 1 from the light source 2 is
The light is emitted from the nozzle 12 by passing through the diffusion plate 15. At this time, the amount of light becomes uniform regardless of the place.
Since the inner wall surface of the irradiation unit 14 is a mirror surface, the decrease in the amount of light is small.

The light from the irradiation section 14 is irradiated onto the uncured resin in the vicinity of the nozzle 12 discharged from the nozzle 12 by passing through the irradiation port 13, and the substrate or the cured resin is adhered and cured to be formed. It Here, the irradiation unit 1
The diameter of the irradiation port 13 of No. 4 is set in the range of 0.05 mm or more and 10 mm or less. As described above, in this embodiment (claim 1), the nozzle 12 that discharges the photo-curable uncured resin 11 is used.
When discharging the uncured resin 11 from the nozzle 12,
An irradiation unit 14 having an irradiation port 13 for irradiating light to the uncured resin 11 in the vicinity of the nozzle 12 is provided so as to cure the uncured resin 11 to form a three-dimensional shaped object. are doing.

Therefore, the uncured resin 11 is discharged from the nozzle 12.
By irradiating the uncured resin 11 in the vicinity of the nozzle 12 with the light from the irradiation port 13 of the irradiation unit 14 during discharging, it is possible to arrange and irradiate the resin only at a portion to be molded at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to use only the resin required for the molded article 8 to be formed. Therefore,
The material cost can be reduced by eliminating the waste of material, and the number of steps can be reduced because it is possible to eliminate the wasteful resin washing step after modeling. In addition, since the resin can be placed and irradiated only at the portion to be molded at the same time, only the portion to be cured can be cured and the molding accuracy can be improved.

Further, since the resin can be placed and irradiated only at the desired parts at the same time, for example, when the C-shaped object is processed, the support processing step can be omitted. The number can be reduced. Moreover, since it can be performed by a general and inexpensive UV device without using an expensive UV laser device, the device cost can be reduced.

In this embodiment (claim 2), the nozzle 12 and the irradiation unit 14 are unitized. Therefore, the nozzle 12 and the irradiation unit 1 are configured by integrally forming the nozzle 12 and the irradiation unit 14.
Since 4 can be moved at the same time, the irradiation position control can be omitted. In this embodiment, the irradiation port 13 is arranged concentrically with the nozzle 12. Therefore, it is possible to uniformly irradiate the resin discharged from the nozzle 12 with the irradiation light emitted from the irradiation port 13 of the irradiation unit 14. Therefore, as shown in FIG. By rotating the unit 1, it is possible to perform horizontal or diagonal modeling.

In this embodiment (claim 3), the nozzle 12 and the irradiation section 14 are arranged concentrically with respect to the central axis of the arranging section to be formed. For this reason,
By arranging the nozzle 12 and the irradiation unit 14 on the concentric circles, it is possible to uniformly irradiate the discharged resin with light to cure the resin uniformly. In this embodiment (claim 6),
The irradiation port 13 diameter of the irradiation unit 14 is 0.05 mm or more and 110 m
The range is set to m or less. Therefore, by setting the irradiation aperture in the range of 0.05 mm or more and 10 mm or less, light scattering can be reduced and the resin can be efficiently irradiated.

In this embodiment (claim 11), the moving speed of the discharge irradiation unit 1 is controlled by the robot arm 4. Therefore, the resin thickness can be controlled by changing the moving speed of the discharge irradiation unit 1. In the present embodiment (claim 12), the robot arm 4 controls the direction and the moving direction of the discharge irradiation unit 1. Therefore, by controlling the direction and the moving direction of the discharge irradiation unit 1, the resin can be efficiently arranged three-dimensionally.

Next, in this embodiment (claim 4), as shown in FIG. 4, the irradiation section 14 is provided with a condenser lens 21. Therefore, the condenser lens 21 is attached to the irradiation port 13.
By arranging, it is possible to efficiently collect light, so that the modeling speed can be increased. Next, in this embodiment (claim 8), as shown in FIG.
Is configured to move in parallel with the irradiation port 13 of the irradiation unit 14. Therefore, by moving the nozzle 12 in parallel with the irradiation port 13, the curing position and the light amount of the uncured resin 11 can be controlled.

At this time, in this embodiment (claim 5), the light quantity of the irradiation section 14 is controlled by the light quantity control section. Therefore, the resin curing speed can be controlled by adjusting the light amount of the irradiation unit 14. In the present invention (Claim 7), the irradiation port 13 of the irradiation unit 14 may be moved in parallel with respect to the nozzle 12. In this case, by moving the irradiation port 13 in parallel with the nozzle 12, the curing position and the light amount of the uncured resin can be controlled.

Next, in this embodiment (claim 10), as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the inner diameter of the nozzle 12 is selectively exchanged. Therefore, by exchanging the inner diameter of the nozzle 12, the discharge amount of the uncured resin and the resin thickness can be controlled. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the inner diameter of the nozzle 12 is increased to increase the resin thickness, and FIG. 7 shows a state in which the inner diameter of the nozzle 12 is decreased to reduce the resin thickness.

Next, in the present embodiment (claim 9), the ejection speed of the uncured resin ejected from the nozzle 12 is controlled by the ejection speed control section. Therefore, by controlling the discharge speed of the uncured resin discharged from the nozzle 12, the thickness of the resin and the cured state of the resin can be controlled. Here, for example, the ejection rate may be controlled with respect to the feed rate of the ejection irradiation unit 1, or conversely, the delivery rate of the ejection irradiation unit 1 may be controlled with respect to the ejection rate. For example, if the discharge amount is increased with respect to the feed speed of the discharge irradiation unit 1, the resin thickness increases.

Next, in this embodiment (claim 13), as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, an irradiation device 31 that totally irradiates the discharge irradiation unit 1 is installed in addition to the irradiation unit 14. For this reason, even the resin that has not yet been cured by the irradiation of the discharge irradiation unit 1 can be completely cured by the newly provided irradiation device 31 that performs total irradiation. Further, since irradiation can be performed by the irradiation device 31 even during modeling, it is possible to prevent loss of modeling time, and conversely, it is possible to perform modeling at a curing speed that does not cause deformation in the discharge irradiation unit 1. Therefore, the molding speed and the curing rate can be increased.

[0046]

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the material cost by reducing the amount of uncured resin required for the modeled object, thereby reducing the material cost, and without using an expensive UV laser device. It is possible to reduce the cost of the device and further reduce the number of steps by not performing the washing step of the uncured resin after modeling the molded article,
For example, when processing a C-shaped object, the number of steps can be reduced by omitting the support processing step, and the modeling accuracy can be improved by curing only the portion to be cured. There is an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the discharge irradiation unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which horizontal and oblique modeling is performed by the discharge irradiation unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which a condenser lens is provided in an irradiation unit of the discharge irradiation unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which a nozzle is moved in parallel to an irradiation unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how the resin thickness is controlled.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing how the resin thickness is controlled.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which an irradiation device is installed other than the irradiation unit of the discharge irradiation unit.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional three-dimensional modeling apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a problem of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Discharge irradiation unit 2 Light source 3 Resin supply device 4 Robot arm 5 Substrate 6 Irradiation light 7 Cured resin 8 Molded object 11 Uncured resin 12 Nozzle 13 Irradiation port 14 Irradiation part 15 Diffusion plate 21 Condenser lens 31 Irradiation device

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A nozzle for ejecting a photo-curable uncured resin, and when the uncured resin is being ejected from the nozzle, the uncured resin is cured to form a predetermined three-dimensional shaped object. Thus, an irradiating section having an irradiating port for irradiating the uncured resin near the nozzle with light is provided.
3D modeling device. 2. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle and the irradiation unit are unitized. 3. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle and the irradiation section are arranged on a concentric circle with respect to a central axis of a placement section to be shaped. 4. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the irradiation unit is provided with a condenser lens. 5. The light emitting device according to claim 1, further comprising a light amount control means for controlling the light amount of the irradiation section.
3D modeling device. 6. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the irradiation aperture of the irradiation unit is set in a range of 0.05 mm or more and 10 mm or less. 7. A moving means for moving the irradiation port in parallel with the nozzle is provided.
The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. 8. A moving means for moving the nozzle in parallel to the irradiation port is provided.
The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7. 9. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a discharge speed control means for controlling a discharge speed of the uncured resin discharged from the nozzle. 10. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter of the nozzle is convertible. 11. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising moving speed control means for controlling a moving speed of a unit including the nozzle and the irradiation unit. 12. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising direction / moving direction control means for controlling a direction and a moving direction of a unit including the nozzle and the irradiation unit. 13. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an irradiation device different from the irradiation unit is provided.