JPS63257067A - Manufacture method and apparatus for computer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Computer-aided design (CAD) systems have been proposed in the past. With the help of a computer, the operator can
It is possible to design dimensional or three-dimensional objects and display their construction on a screen or on paper.

The computer assists in the overall design required by the operator according to pre-existing design parameters or computer software. One such computer-aided design device is manufactured by Hector Automation of Haltimore, Maryland, as the Cadmax ■.

It has also been proposed to control machine operations or manufacturing processes with computers, such as in robotics. A robot or remote Gri-2 Bajyo is operated by a computer that is pre-programmed to perform a specific operation or task. For example, milling of metal parts to produce simple articles using computer-aided milling machines has been widely applied. One such computer-aided milling machine is the machine manufactured by the Cincinnati Millicron Company. Another example of computer-aided machine operation is the spray painting of objects by a computer-controlled spray gun arm, where the spray gun arm is predetermined to repeatedly and uniformly paint objects on an assembly line. For example, Therme Do Corporation of Richardson, Texas, manufactures a computerized industrial painting robot named Paint Master.

Three-dimensional reproduction of designs from photographs or grid charts has previously been proposed in U.S. Pat.
No. 88,520 and US Pat. No. 1,382,97B have been proposed in the field of photo-engraving for automatically engraving or carving three-dimensional objects from large materials.

According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for designing an article in two dimensions and then replicating the article in three dimensions, the method comprising: providing a controlled environment; providing a seed in the controlled environment that serves as a starting point in the coordinate system; providing a source of collective particles; supplying the particles. directing the particles from the source to the three-dimensional coordinates of the article in the coordinate system; locating the particles at the coordinates; and joining the particles to each other at the coordinates to form the three-dimensional coordinates of the article in the coordinate system.
A computer-aided manufacturing method comprising the steps of creating a dimensional article.

According to another aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided: means for replicating a tangible three-dimensional article from a data file created on a computer machine for designing the article, the means However, the three-dimensional coordinate system and the design of the article between rooms are
a data file with dimensional coordinate information, a controlled environment, a tangible species that serves as the origin of a three-dimensional coordinate system, a means for placing seeds in the controlled environment at the origin of the coordinate system, a source of collective particles, a source of collective particles from the source. a directional means for directing the directional means to the coordinates of a coordinate system in a controlled environment; a control means for controlling the directional means in response to coordinate information in a data file; A computer-aided manufacturing device comprising means for physically configuring an article.

Such methods and apparatus can automatically reproduce tangible three-dimensional objects designed from computer data files with the aid of a computer.

Three-dimensional articles can be manufactured by multiplying granules from a single seed in response to a computer data file about the design.

The particle-directing beam directs and fixes the position of the particles according to a data file or coordinate information corresponding to a predetermined coordinate system and computer machine-generated design.

In this way, the article can be constructed using these three computer-aided designs.
It is designed with a computer machine that generates a data file of coordinate information indicating dimensional coordinates. The coordinates of the data file are sent and input to a programmed controller that controls the servomechanism. The servomechanism thus controls the movable ejection head, which directs the particles to the coordinates of the three-dimensional object in the three-dimensional coordinate system by means of a propulsive or absorbing force. The tangible species that attracts particles and forms objects from there is placed at the origin of the coordinate system in the controlled environment. The beam may be an ejection of particles or drops containing granules, or it may be an energy beam that attracts granules already in the environment to the seeds or other coordinates. By moving the machine under computer control according to coordinate information indicating the design, a tangible three-dimensional article or object can be automatically constructed and manufactured according to the design created from the seed origin.

The invention is schematically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring in particular to FIG. 1, a cup-shaped article 1 is shown.
0 is illustrated, which is a computer machine 14 that designs an article 10 with instructions from a draftsman or designer.
Designed with computer equipment including. Computer machine 14 may be a machine such as that used in computer-aided design.

In a typical computer-aided design (CAD) system, a designer uses normal speech to speak to a computer machine via a data tablet or keyboard. Designers instruct machines to create, measure, rotate, modify, and/or sort various elements of their designs or drawings. The computer machine responds by interpreting the instructions, accomplishing the task ordered, displaying the results on the terminal CRT, and compiling a data file corresponding to the generated and displayed design.

Once the drafting and design work is completed, a data file containing coordinate information corresponding to the created design is stored on a hard disk or other computer storage medium for permanent storage.

In the method and apparatus of the present invention, a data file, typically in the form of encoded binary information, is transferred to a machine controller 16 that is part of computer system 12. Appropriate computer software is used to convert this encoded binary information into a machine control language for input to machine controller 16. The machine controller 16 includes a pair of servo mechanisms 2
0 and 22, signals are sent in much the same way that current technology uses to control robots and other mechanical devices. Machine control using a computer is generally called computer-aided machine control (CAM).
Many machines are available that may be incorporated as machine controllers 16.

A computer machine 14 for measuring the article'c m, and a machine controller 1 for controlling a servo mechanism in response to a data file of three-dimensional coordinates created by the machine 14.
6 is any suitable commonly available CAI) and C
An AM machine is fine. On the other hand, computer device 12 may include an integrated computer machine incorporating the functionality of both a computer design machine and a computer machine controller, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The servomechanism 20 controls, by suitable mechanical linkages, a machining head 24, which may be any suitable ejection head having an ejection nozzle for ejecting drops of small mass particles or granules.

A second machine head 26, which is a suitable injection head, is controlled by a servomechanism 22. Work head 24
Any conventional servo motor and motion transmission mechanism can be used to move the and 26. For example, electric servo motors may be used in the servomechanism 20.22 controlled by electrical signals from the machine controller 16. The electric servo motor then controls the position of the machining injection heads '24 and 26.

As shown, a spatial apparatus for replicating three-dimensional articles is schematically illustrated in the form of a polar coordinate system having a polar plane 30, in which the ejection head of the machining head 26 is in the coordinate system. moves in a circular path around the origin 0 of
A tangible species 32 is placed in . Seed 32 is the point around which the physical fabrication of article 10 begins, as will be described in detail below. The head 26 moves radially and vertically up and down in the polar plane.

Spaced above and parallel to the polar plane 30 is an X-Y coordinate plane 36 in which the injection head of the machining head 24 moves according to the X and Y coordinates. The head 24 is the article 10
is moved by a servo mechanism 20 according to three-dimensional coordinates of a data file created in response to the computer design of the computer. As will be apparent to those skilled in the computer arts after being taught the method and apparatus of the present invention, article 10 includes:
It should be understood that article 36 is designed in the same coordinate system as that in which it is replicated.

Seed 32 is secured at location 38 within controlled environment 40 by any suitable structural means. The nature of the control environment 40 is:
It depends on the type of particulate material used to make the tangible article 34. For example, the collective particles may be a ceramic material and the controlled environment will include an atmosphere heated to the desired temperature. The collective particles are directed to the coordinates of the three-dimensional article and stored in data file 18. The ceramic particles collide and adhere first to the seed 32 and then to each other at the coordinates of the article 34. Subsequent particles adhere to each other to create an article according to the three-dimensional coordinates contained in the data file 18 and the program in the machine controller 16. The program for replicating the article may be any suitable software developed according to current know-how and obvious to a person skilled in the art.

Referring now to Figures 2A-2C, a three-dimensional article 3 designed in three dimensions with the aid of a computer machine.
4 is illustrated at different stages of manufacture. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the first particles 42 are separated from the species 3
2 and collides with and adheres to the seed 32. 1st
The particles come from the X-Y head 24 so as to impinge directly onto the top of the seed 32. The second and subsequent particles are directed to heads 24 and 2 according to control provided by machine controller 16 to create bottom 36a of cup wall 36b.
It is released in any combination of numbers from 6 to 6. For example, the second particle 44 is injected directly from the machining head to the particle 42 and bonded thereto by any physical adhesive or bonding means. Figure 2B shows article 34 after bottom 36a has been partially formed and sidewalls 36e are being fabricated. FIG. 2C shows the final stage of the article 36 in construction, with the cup walls 36 nearly completed.

It should be understood that other materials can be used to fabricate the tangible article. For example, it is also possible to use eg plastic materials in current ionizing atmospheres as in current electrostatic coating technology. Additional adhesive can also be used to adhere the particles to each other,
Or they fuse due to their chemical properties.

A wet slurry material can be used and the controlled environment can include a closed environment cooled to sub-zero temperatures so that the particles impact each other and the seeds and freeze.

The heads 24,26 emit a beam of energy in the form of particles to the coordinates to collide and adhere to each other, or the beam attracts particles to the coordinates to collide and adhere to each other. For example, two or more machine throats can be used, which emit beams of directed energy that intersect with each other at the point of intersection. The beam is placed on a servo machine + I20 so that the intersection point is located at the coordinate point of the three-dimensional object being manufactured.
．． 22 and the machine controller. The energy beam may be an electromagnetic beam, and the enclosed environment may contain magnetized particles that are attracted to the intersection of the electromagnetic beam. In other devices, the machining head may be a laser gun that emits a laser beam;
The laser beams intersect each other at points of intersection and generate sufficient heat to melt the particles in a closed atmosphere in a controlled environment such that the particles fuse at the coordinates.

Seed 32 may be any suitable material, for example a metal such as steel, or a ceramic material in the case of a ceramic system. For slurry and laser systems:
Metallic materials are probably the most advantageous. In the case of electrostatically attracted ionic systems, metal or plastic materials are suitable, for example, and in magnetic systems,
Metal materials can be used.

In all of the above chemical and mechanical systems, the control of the machining head to direct the particles to the coordinates for impact bonding together will be quite obvious to those skilled in the computer and control arts.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a device having a plurality of directional means for emitting a plurality of directional beams 50, 52 and 54. There is shown a chamber 56 that provides a controlled environment for fixing the seed 32 in its center.

The directional means are provided by three machining heads - 58, 60 and 6 respectively controlled by servomechanisms 64, 66, 68.
It consists of 2. The servo motors of the servomechanism are controlled by a programmed controller 16. The machining heads 58, 60, 62 can remain stationary in their respective planes in order to produce intersecting beams with intersection points at the desired coordinates, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The coordinate system illustrated in FIG. System 3
Create a file of dimensional coordinates. Seed 32 is at the origin of the coordinate system.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of an apparatus for orienting granules according to predetermined three-dimensional coordinates for producing three-dimensional articles. In FIG. 5, an arcuate support 80 is provided spanning an arc of 180°. The arcuate support 80 is of type 32
It is rotatable about axis 82 with a movement of 3606 about. The work head 84 has an arc-shaped support 80
is slidably supported on an arcuate track 86. Work head 84 may be moved by any suitable conventional servo control mechanism 88 that is controlled by machine controller 16 . in this case,
Only one machining head is required to stack and fabricate a three-dimensional article from seed 32. Rotation of the support 80 is controlled by a suitable servo 90 which is controlled by the tension machine controller 16. Machining head 84 emits an energy beam that propels the particles towards coordinates where they collide and adhere to each other, as previously described.

FIG. 6 illustrates three working heads 92, 94, and 96 in a Cartesian coordinate system for ejecting granules in yet another apparatus similar to the apparatus and method of FIGS. 4 and 5. , where the intersecting energy beams
, y, and z coordinates. Servos 98, 100 and 102 direct the work heads '92, 94 and 96, respectively, according to a three-dimensional coordinate file (X, Y, Z) that describes the article being designed.

Although different mechanical devices have been described for directing particles to three-dimensional coordinates corresponding to the three-dimensional configuration 81 of the article being fabricated, it is understood that other methods for controlling particle directionality may also be used. should be understood. For example, in the art of ink jet printing, it is known to control the direction and final destination of a drop by using charged particles that are electrostatically reflected to a desired point or coordinate. It is understood that any particle-oriented principles implemented in these techniques are compatible with the methods and goals described above, and that those skilled in the art will readily apply these principles after being taught the method and apparatus of the present invention. It is planned that this will be possible.

US Pat. No. 4,400,705 and US Pat. No. 4,408,211 disclose ink ejection devices and methods and apparatus for directing ink drops to desired points.

Regardless of the electronic/mechanical and coordinate system used, it is desirable that the distance of the machining head from each target coordinate point be kept uniform so that the particles collide with each other at the coordinate points with uniform force.

This prevents or reduces distortion of the shape of the three-dimensional design. This can be done by programming this functionality into the machine controller program, as will be obvious to those skilled in computer programming.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating computer-aided design of a three-dimensional article and automated replication of the article in a three-dimensional tangible form. Figures 2A-2C illustrate the stages of replicating a three-dimensional object in polar coordinates according to the method and apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the apparatus and method of FIG. 3 for automatic reproduction of three-dimensional articles designed with the aid of a computer machine according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another coordinate system and method and apparatus for automatically replicating three-dimensional objects designed with the aid of a computer machine. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another apparatus and method for automatically replicating three-dimensional objects designed on a computer machine according to the present invention.

Claims (22)

[Claims] (1) A method for designing an article (10) in two dimensions and then replicating the article in three dimensions, the method comprising: creating a three-dimensional coordinate data file (18) representing the three-dimensional design of the article in a coordinate system; providing a controlled environment (40); providing a species (32) in the controlled environment (40) that serves as a starting point in a coordinate system; providing a source of collective particles. , directing the particles (42, 44) from a source to the three-dimensional coordinates of the article in a coordinate system, locating the particles (42, 44) at the coordinates, and coupling the particles (42, 44) to each other at the coordinates. and seeds (
32) A computer-aided manufacturing method comprising the steps of: creating a three-dimensional article (34) around the object. 2. The method of claim 1, comprising: (2) pushing the collective particles toward the coordinates of a coordinate system to orient the particles to the coordinates. 3. The method of claim 1, comprising: (3) attracting the collective particles toward the coordinates and locating the particles at the coordinates. (4) Controlling the impact force of the collective particles so that the particles collide with each other in coordinates with uniform force for the purpose of controlled mutual adhesion and low design distortion. The method described in. 5. The method of claim 1, comprising using electromagnetic forces to direct the collective particles toward the coordinates. 6. The method of claim 1, comprising using magnetic forces to direct the collective particles toward the coordinates. (7) To direct the collective particles toward the coordinates of the coordinate system,
2. The method of claim 1, comprising providing a controlled charge energy beam (50, 52, 54). (8) intersecting a pair of energy beams at points of intersection corresponding to three-dimensional coordinates and utilizing the forces created by the crossed beams at the points of intersection to position and combine particles at the coordinates; Claim 1
The method described in section. (9) Movable work head (24, 26; 58, 60, 62
; 92, 94, 96); providing a controller (16) programmed to control the servo mechanism and the movement and position of the work head; controlling the work head in response to coordinate information; transmitting coordinate information from a data file (18) to a programmed controller (16) in order to emit a directed energy beam (50, 52, 54) from the machining head to generate a collective particle (42, 44) and controlling a servomechanism to position a machining head in response to the coordinate information to direct the collective particles to the three-dimensional coordinates of the design in a coordinate system. The method described in item 1 of the scope. (10) providing at least one additional machining head, each of which emits an energy beam, intersecting the beams at coordinates in a three-dimensional coordinate system and placing particles at the coordinates, and intersecting at the intersecting coordinates; 10. The method of claim 9, comprising positioning and bonding particles at the coordinates of the point of intersection by forces generated by the beam. (11) The collective particles (42, 44) are ceramic materials and the controlled environment (40) is a closed environment heated or cooled to a desired temperature. The method described in section. (12) characterized in that the collective particles are a plastic material and the controlled environment (40) is an ionizing atmosphere;
A method according to claim 1. 13. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the collective particles (42, 44) are slurry materials with high moisture content and the controlled environment (40) is a subzero environment. (14) Particles collide with each other with uniform force in the coordinates 3
2. The method according to claim 1, comprising maintaining a uniform distance between the machining head and the coordinates when the particles are directed to the respective coordinates so as to reduce distortion of the shape of the dimensional design. Method. (15) Means for replicating a tangible three-dimensional article from a data file (18) created on a computer machine for designing the article (10), the means comprising: 3 corresponding to the design of article (10)
A data file (18) having dimensional coordinate information, a control environment (40), a tangible seed (32) serving as the origin of the three-dimensional coordinate system, and placing the seed (32) in the control environment (40) at the origin of the coordinate system. a source of the collective particles; a directivity means for directing the collective particles (42, 44) from the source to the coordinates of a coordinate system within the control environment; a control means for controlling the collective particles (42, 44) at the coordinates to form the species (3);
2) means for physically constructing a three-dimensional article (34) around the computer-aided manufacturing apparatus. (16) The directional means directs the droplet of the collective particles to the controlled environment (40
), characterized in that it has an injection head (58, 60, 62) for ejecting and directing to coordinates of a coordinate system within ),
Apparatus according to claim 15. (17) The directional means has a pair of machining heads each emitting a controlled energy beam, and the machining heads arrange the collective particles at the coordinates by intersecting each other's energy beams at an intersection point corresponding to the coordinates. 16. Device according to claim 15, characterized in that it is arranged with respect to a coordinate system in a similar manner. (18) at least one machining head (24, 26; 58, 60, 62; 92, 9;
4, 96) and servo means (20, 22; 64, 6
6, 68; 98, 100, 102) are provided for moving the work head, and programmed controller means (16) control the servo means in response to the coordinate information of the data file (18). , the collective particles are 3
16. Apparatus according to claim 15, characterized in that it is arranged to move and position the working head to direct it to dimensional coordinates. (19) Machining by controlling the servo means to maintain a uniform distance between the machining head and the target coordinates so that particles collide with each other with uniform force at the coordinates for low design shape distortion. 19. Device according to claim 18, characterized in that it has means for moving the head towards and from the coordinates. (20) a first directional ejection head (26) having a polar coordinate system and in which the directional means for directing the collective particles emits a directional beam in the polar plane (30) of the polar coordinate system;
a second directional ejection head (24) is carried at a distance from the pole face (30) for directing the energy beam towards the pole face (30), and servo means ( 16. Device according to claim 15, characterized in that 22, 20) are provided for controlling the movement of the first and second injection heads. (21) The directional means includes an arc-shaped support (80), a means (90) for rotating the arc-shaped support (80) with a degree of freedom of 360 degrees, and a means (90) movable with a degree of freedom of 180 degrees. 16. Device according to claim 15, characterized in that it has an injection head (84) carried on an arcuate support (80) and emitting an energy beam. (22) having a closed chamber, the directional means being carried in the closed chamber and emitting a plurality of energy beams;
A source of collective particles is housed within the chamber, and seeds (
32) is disposed within the chamber and means are provided for controlling the directional beam so as to intersect to correspond to the coordinates at the desired intersection to attract the particles at the intersection and to combine the particles at the coordinates. 16. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that the device