JPS62255124A - Method and device for manufacturing three-dimensional formation by robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the designing and changing of the configuration of the titled formation and permit the production of many kinds and small amount by a method wherein a liquid resin injection nozzle, held by the operating end of a robot, is moved so as to make predetermined three-dimensional movements intermittently by the command of a computer to form the three-dimensional formation. CONSTITUTION:A micro-computer 1 memorizes the configuration of a formation and a robot 2 moves an operating end 5 and an injection nozzle 9, held by the operating end 5, in accordance with the configuration of the formation through the operations of X, Y and Z axles, which are effected by the control of a movement controller 4. Position control is effected by a method wherein the pulse of a rotary encoder is read into a counter and the feedback thereof to a motor drive pulse is effected so as to nullify a deviation counter at all times. A dispenser 3 supplies high-pressure air from a compressor 7 to the injection nozzle 9 intermittently through a delivery controller 6 operated by the control of the movement controller 4 while liquid resin, supplied from a tank 8, is discharged intermittently through a nozzle 9-5 by controlling a needle valves 9-2 whereby the formation 10 may be formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a complex formed product,
For example, manufacturing prototypes for shape examination, artificial organs, blood vessels, etc.
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing three-dimensional objects, such as biological components such as joints, which have almost constant shapes but have subtle individual differences, and objects with complex shapes that cannot be integrally molded using conventional methods.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, the following three methods have been used for manufacturing three-dimensional objects.

1) Molding by injection molding or other methods using a mold such as a metal mold.

2) In the case of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP), etc., the three-dimensional structure is divided into layers, the FRP plates are cut into the shape of each layer, and then laminated and adhesively molded.

3) It is molded by hand using something like clay that contains moisture or uncured plastic that still has plasticity.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) The conventional technology described above has the following problems.

1) When using a mold, it is preferable for mass production, but it becomes very expensive when manufacturing a small number of products.

2) When laminating and bonding, a lot of material is cut and discarded, resulting in a lot of material waste.

3) When molding by hand, a high degree of skill is required and the manufacturing cost becomes extremely high.

4) In the case of complex multi-layer structures, integral molding may not be possible.

(Means for Solving the Problems) An object of the present invention is to provide a method and a manufacturing apparatus for solving the two problems and manufacturing a desired product at low cost and accurately.

That is, the movement control device of the robot intermittently moves the liquid resin injection nozzle held at the operating end of the robot in a predetermined three-dimensional direction based on instructions from the computer, and the discharge control device moves the liquid resin injection nozzle held at the operating end of the robot in a predetermined three-dimensional manner based on instructions from the movement control device. This is a manufacturing method in which a three-dimensional object is formed by discharging liquid resin from an injection nozzle.

The robot is also equipped with a movement control device that is instructed by a computer and an operating end whose three-dimensional movement is controlled by this movement control device, and the dispenser is equipped with a discharge control device that is controlled by the movement control device and a liquid This manufacturing device includes a resin supply section and an injection nozzle held at the operating end.

(Example) The present invention will be explained below using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for manufacturing a three-dimensional object using Roboso H according to the present invention. The device is roughly divided into a microcomputer 1, a robot 2, and a dispenser 3.

As shown in Figure 1.2, the robot 2 has an operating end held by a movement control device 4 and an X-axis arm 11, a Y-axis arm I2, and a Z-axis arm 13 that are movable in three axes of x, y, and z, respectively. 5 is a provision.

The dispenser 3 has a discharge control device 6, a compressor 7, ? &, a resin tank 8 and an injection nozzle 9 are provided, among which a compressor 7 and a tank 8 are provided.
and constitute a liquid resin supply section.

The injection nozzle 9 is fixed to the operating end 5 of the robot 2, and has a structure as shown in FIG. 3 (cross-sectional view). Inside the body 9-1 is a needle valve 9 that operates with air from a compressor 7 controlled by a discharge control device 6.
-2, with an air supply hole 9-3 at the upper end, a liquid resin supply hole 9-4 at the side, and a nozzle 9-5 at the lower end.

The microcomputer 1 memorizes the shape of the formed object and instructs the movement control device 4 of the robot 2 to operate based on instructions from software in which the movement locus of the operating object 5 is programmed.

Robot 2 moves in 'X' under BB4O control.

The operating end 5 and the injection nozzle 9 held thereby are moved according to the shape of the object to be formed by the motions along the Y and Z axes.

As shown in FIG. 10, the position control method is to take in the pulses of the rotary encoder in batches and feed them back to the motor drive pulse width so that the deviation counter is always zero.

The dispenser 3 intermittently supplies high-pressure air from the compressor 7 to the injection nozzle 9 by a discharge control device 6 operated under the control of the movement control device 4,
The liquid resin supplied from the tank 8 is transferred to the needle valve 9-
2 and intermittently discharges the formed material 10 from the nozzle 9-5.
to form.

Next, the shape of the formed product will be explained.

Figure 4 shows an example of a branched pipe, which is considered to be part of an artificial straight pipe with a complex branching structure.

Furthermore, a multi-branched structure in which smaller-scale structures are stacked is also possible.

Figure 5 shows a spiral-shaped tube, and it is not easy to make a thin wall with a smooth curved shape using conventional molds.
It is easy to make using the method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a multi-layered structure (cross-section), such as a structure that includes valves, ventricles, and nine atria, like an artificial heart.

Next, the materials used will be explained. In the wood method, the material is laminated and formed, so it needs to have enough thixotrovisometry to withstand it. The properties of the room temperature curable silicone resin used as the liquid resin material in this example are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Next, the method of setting the discharge amount will be explained. Due to the necessity of laminating and molding, it is important to select the materials to be used and to set the discharge rate. The ejection method of the present invention is an intermittent ejection, for example, ejecting once every 2 seconds.

In this case, if the discharge amount is small, lamination will not be performed, and if the discharge amount is large, the shape will collapse. Therefore, the discharge amount Vd that allows lamination is determined by the pressure P applied to the material, the nozzle diameter, the nozzle moving speed V, ? If W degree is T and discharge time is Vd=f(P, D, v, T, t), then from the relationship shown below, the pressure is 3, L5, 4 kg.
f/c+J, nozzle diameter 1.25.1.64.2.27
mm, nozzle movement speed set to X mode, temperature set to 20
Figure 7.8.9 shows the experimental data at ℃.

In addition to silicone resins, room temperature curable or photocurable resins such as polyurethane, unsaturated polyester resins, acrylic resins, and epoxy resins can be used.

(Operation) When you turn on the power to the microcomputer 1, insert the floppy disk containing the program, and hit Logon on the keyboard, the initial screen will be displayed on the TV. ) and press the return key to change the movement range of the X, Y, and Z axes,
The movement trajectory of the operating end, the injection speed of liquid resin, e.g. 1 drop/
The operation end of the robot holding the injection nozzle starts moving by the motor according to a program that specifies a time period of 2 seconds or the like.

The operating end 5 of this robot 2 moves intermittently on the Z-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis under the control of the movement control paving W4, and when the injection nozzle 9 comes to the position instructed by the program, the operating end 5 stops moving. Then, the movement control device 4 instructs the discharge control device 6 to start discharge.

High-pressure air is intermittently supplied from the compressor 7 to the liquid resin tank 8 according to instructions from the discharge control device 6, and liquid resin is injected from the injection nozzle 9 at a rate of 1 drop/2 seconds.
Dispense a drop and stop supplying the resin.

The operation end 5 is moved to the next liquid resin discharge position according to instructions from the program, and after stopping, the liquid resin is discharged according to instructions from the discharge control fII device 6.

Thereafter, this operation is repeated to produce an article of the desired shape.

The liquid resin is cured at room temperature if it is a room-temperature curable resin, but the gaps in the photocurable resin are cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays or electron beams.

After the product is manufactured, after removing the product 10 from the stand, if you want to repeat the product manufacturing again, type "Revii Eat" on the keyboard and press the return key to return to production (of course, the number of products to be produced must be specified in advance in the program). ). To terminate production, press END on the keyboard, press the return key, and then press LOGOFF on the keyboard to turn off the power.

As mentioned above, the molding method of the present invention does not require molds such as the above-mentioned molds, there is no waste of materials such as laminated adhesives, there is no need for sophisticated hot wires, and there is no need for one-piece molding. Even multilayer structures can be easily molded.

Furthermore, it is possible to easily change the shape and specify the quantity of the formed object simply by changing the computer program.

(Effect of the invention) According to the present invention as described above, ■) It is easy to set and change the shape.

By developing software, it is much more convenient to set and change the shape than using a mold, and it is also possible to manufacture complex shapes.

2) It is easy to manufacture an integrally molded product.

Efficiency is improved by reducing the number of bonding steps.

3) It is possible to produce a wide variety of products in small quantities.

By modularizing the software and combining them, it is possible to manufacture a wide variety of shapes, from simple to large and complex shapes. Also, although the molding time is longer, mass production is also possible by arranging and producing the same system in parallel.

4) No wastage of materials.

Since only the required amount of material is used, there is no waste such as cutting and throwing away material.

5) Non-contact molding is possible.

A non-contact photocuring molding method is also possible by applying this system.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the control system of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of the robot, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the injection nozzle, Fig. 4 is an external view of the multi-branched product, and Fig. 5 Figure 6 shows the outline of a product with a multi-layered structure, Figure 7.8.9 shows the relationship data between discharge amount and time using discharge pressure as a parameter for each nozzle diameter. 10 is a diagram of the robot position control system. 1: Microcomputer, 2: Robot, 3: Dispenser, 4: Movement control device, 5: Operation end, 6:
Discharge control device, 7: Compressor, 8: Tank,
9: Injection nozzle, 10: Formed product. Ki 2 memo 30 i needle arithmetic 9th

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A robot movement control device intermittently moves a liquid resin injection nozzle held at the operation end of the robot in a predetermined three-dimensional manner according to instructions from a computer, and controls discharge according to instructions from the movement control device. A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional object using a robot, characterized in that the apparatus discharges liquid resin from the injection nozzle to mold the three-dimensional object. 2) The robot is equipped with a movement control device that is instructed by a computer, and an operating end whose three-dimensional movement is controlled by this movement control device, and the dispenser is equipped with a discharge control device that is controlled by the movement control device, and a liquid A three-dimensional product manufacturing device using a robot, which includes a resin supply section and an injection nozzle held by the operating end.