[0068] [first embodiment]
[0069] (Structure of 3D modeling equipment)
[0070] figure 1 is a perspective view showing a three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. figure 2 is the front view of the three-dimensional modeling equipment viewed along the Y-axis direction.
[0071] The three-dimensional modeling device 100 includes a base body 1 , two side walls 2 , a modeling platform 15 and a drum 10 . The side wall 2 is arranged vertically on the rear side on the base body 1 . A modeling stage 15 is arranged between the side walls 2 . The drum 10 functions as a restraining body, which is arranged opposite to the modeling stage 15 .
[0072] image 3 is a schematic side view showing the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100, and a block diagram showing the configuration of a control system therefor.
[0073] As described below, the drum 10 functioning as a restraining body restrains the height of the top surface of the material supplied from the supply nozzle on the molding stage 15 . The drum 10 is formed substantially in a cylindrical shape, and is formed of glass, for example. The drum 10 has a through hole formed along the X-axis direction. In other words, the drum 10 is formed in a tubular shape. As described below, the beam member 4 for supporting the irradiation unit 30 is provided to pass through the through hole (inside of the cylindrical body) of the drum 10 .
[0074] Instead of glass, the drum 10 may be formed from acrylic or other transparent resins. The material of the drum 10 is not necessarily limited to these materials. Any material may be used for the drum 10 as long as it is a material transparent to the energy rays irradiated from the irradiation unit 30 .
[0075] The inner diameter of the drum 10 is approximately in the range of 30mm to 70mm and its wall thickness is approximately 2mm. However, this range can be changed appropriately.
[0076] The modeling stage 15 is supported by the lifting mechanism 14 so that it can be raised and lowered. The modeling stage 15 and the lifting mechanism 14 are arranged on the mobile base 11 . The mobile base 11 is configured to be movable by the Y-axis moving mechanism 70 (see image 3 ). The Y-axis moving mechanism 70 includes a Y-axis moving motor 72 and a guide rail 71 . The guide rail 71 is provided on the base 1 and guides the movement of the moving base 11 .
[0077] like figure 1 and figure 2 As shown, on the inner side of the side wall 2, a plurality of guide rollers are provided, which support the drum 10 so as to be rotatable about an axis along the X-axis direction. For example, for one of the side walls 2, three guide rollers 5, 6 and 7 are provided. The guide rollers 7 clamp the inner peripheral surface of the drum 10 downward. Two guide rollers 5 and 6 support the outer peripheral surface (surface) 10a of the drum 10 from below. In other words, the three guide rollers 5 , 6 and 7 sandwich the wall of the drum 10 therebetween, thereby supporting the drum 10 . As mentioned above, the drum 10 is supported by the guide rollers 5, 6 and 7, thereby eliminating the need for bearings.
[0078] The guide rollers 5, 6, and 7 support the drum 10 at a predetermined height position in the Z-axis direction, thereby forming a slit region S ( See Image 6 ). In other words, the slit area S is formed in the case where the top surface of the modeling stage 15 is opposed to the linear area A1 along the X-axis direction (first direction) of the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10. The lowermost part (the part of the drum 10 closest to the stage). The linear area A1 forms a part of the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10, and is an area that can be regarded as a substantially flat surface.
[0079] The width of the linear region A1 in the Y-axis direction (second direction) is in the range of 0.1 mm to 1 mm. In addition, the spot diameter of laser light irradiated by the irradiation unit 30 to be described below is in the range of 1 μm to 100 μm. However, depending on the size of the drum, the size of the object, the modeling accuracy, etc., the width of the linear region A1 and the spot diameter can be appropriately changed. Therefore, the width of the linear region A1 and the diameter of the light spot may deviate from the above-mentioned range.
[0080] like image 3 As shown, among the three guide rollers 5 , 6 and 7 , for example, one guide roller 5 is provided to be driven by a roller motor 8 . Thus, the drum 10 is rotated by the guide rollers. It should be noted that an embodiment may be employed in which two or more of the guide rollers 5, 6, and 7 are provided to be driven by a motor.
[0081] It should be noted that the arrangement of the three guide rollers 5, 6 and 7 is not limited to figure 1 Appropriate changes may be made in the manner of the illustrated embodiment.
[0082] Between the side walls 2 , a supply nozzle 26 is provided which has a long shape along the X-axis and which supplies the photocurable material R to the drum 10 . The supply nozzle 26 is arranged, for example, below the drum 10 at a position spaced from the linear region A1 that is the lowermost portion of the drum 10 . As the supply nozzle 26, a nozzle of a type having a plurality of holes (not shown) for discharging the photocurable material R along its longitudinal direction is employed. Alternatively, as the supply nozzle 26, a slit coating type nozzle provided with a slit in its longitudinal direction may be provided. A plurality of holes or slits open on the side where the drum 10 is arranged.
[0083] It should be noted that, for example, pumps, pipes, switching valves, etc. (not shown) for introducing the photo-curable material R into the supply nozzle 26 may be connected to the supply nozzle 26 .
[0084] like figure 1As shown, the three-dimensional modeling equipment 100 includes a lifting mechanism (a part of the moving mechanism) 14 that supports the modeling stage 15 and lifts the modeling stage 15 relative to the moving base 11 . The elevating mechanism 14 uses the elevating motor 19 to raise and lower the modeling stage 15 , thereby controlling the distance between the modeling stage 15 and the linear region A1 of the drum 10 . The uppermost position of the modeling stage 15 raised by the elevating mechanism 14 is set substantially at the position where the linear region A1 of the drum 10 is arranged. Although the modeling stage 15 has a circular shape in a horizontal plane (in an X-Y plane), the shape is not limited to a circular shape. The shape can be rectangular or otherwise. As the photocurable material R, an ultraviolet curable resin is generally used.
[0085] like figure 1 As shown, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 includes an irradiation unit 30 that irradiates the photocurable material R supplied from the supply nozzle 26 with laser light as energy rays. On the rear side of the three-dimensional modeling device 100 , two support columns 3 are vertically arranged on the base body 1 . Between these two support columns 3 a beam member 4 is arranged. As described above, the beam member 4 is provided to pass through the inside of the drum 10 . The irradiation unit 30 is arranged inside the drum 10 and is movable along the X-axis by the X-axis moving mechanism 60 provided on the beam member 4 . The X-axis moving mechanism 60 includes an X-axis moving motor 63 (see image 3 ), a track plate 62 having a guide rail 62a fastened to the beam member 4, and a movable plate 61 mounted to the track plate 62 in a movable manner. The X-axis moving mechanism 60 functions as a scanning mechanism for scanning with laser light in the X-axis direction.
[0086] The irradiation unit 30 is fixed on a movable plate 61, and includes a laser light source 31, an objective lens holder 32 arranged directly below the laser light source 31, an objective lens 34 held by the objective lens holder 32 (see figure 2 and image 3 etc.), and the fixed plate 33. The fixed plate 33 supports the laser light source 31 and the objective lens holder 32 and fixes them with respect to the movable plate 61 .
[0087] The irradiation unit 30 limits the spot diameter of the laser beam emitted from the laser source 31 by the objective lens 34, and focuses on the photocurable material R located in the slit area S through the wall of the drum 10 or is located in the slit area S and the slit on the photocurable material R near the region S. In other words, generally the objective lens 34 is arranged at a position on the optical axis such that the focal point of the laser light corresponds to at least the photocurable material R in the slit area S.
[0088] For example, it can be realized by a ball screw drive mechanism, a rack and pinion drive mechanism, a belt drive mechanism, or a hydraulic cylinder drive mechanism image 3 The lifting mechanism 14 , the Y-axis moving mechanism 70 and the X-axis moving mechanism 60 are shown in FIG.
[0089] Furthermore, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 includes a lift motor controller 51 , a roller motor controller 54 , an X-axis movement motor controller 55 , and a Y-axis movement motor controller 53 . The lift motor controller 51 controls the drive of the lift motor. The roller motor controller 54 controls the driving of the roller motor 8 . The Y-axis movement motor controller 53 controls the driving of the Y-axis movement motor 72 . The X-axis movement motor controller 55 controls the driving of the X-axis movement motor 63 . Furthermore, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 includes a laser power controller 52 that controls the power of laser light to be emitted from the laser light source 31 . The respective operations of these controllers are generally controlled by the host computer 50 . Although not shown in the drawings, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 also includes a controller for driving a pump connected to the supply nozzle 26 and a switching valve.
[0090] The host computer and each controller include a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. Instead of the CPU, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) (for example, FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array)), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or the like can be used. Although usually the controllers are connected to each other in a wired manner, at least one of these controllers may also be connected to the control system of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 in a wireless manner. The controller may be constructed entirely in hardware.
[0091] (work of 3D modeling equipment)
[0092] The operation of the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 constructed as above will be described below. Figure 4A to Figure 4C is a view that shows the work step by step.
[0093] Figure 4A A state in which the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 is stopped and the moving base 11 is at an initial position is shown. Before actually performing modeling, the thickness of one cured layer as the photo-curable material R is set by the host computer. Then, for example, by driving the elevating mechanism 14 under the control of the elevating motor controller 51, the height of the molding stage 15 when the molding stage 15 comes into contact with the linear area A1 (which is the lowermost part of the drum 10) is adjusted. The height position is set as the origin in the Z-axis direction.
[0094] It should be noted that the position of the modeling stage 15 in the Y-axis direction when the origin is set can be appropriately set.
[0095] When the origin is set, the modeling stage 15 is lowered by a predetermined thickness of the photocurable material R by one layer.
[0096] After lowering the modeling stage 15, the modeling stage 15 is moved to Figure 4B Shown as the modeling start position for the intended position. The molding start position refers to a position along the Y-axis direction of the molding stage 15 at which a gap region S can be formed between the molding stage 15 and the linear region A1 of the drum 10 . As long as this is the position of the modeling stage 15 where the slit region S can be formed, the setting of the modeling start position can be appropriately changed depending on the size of the object to be formed in the Y-axis direction.
[0097] The supply nozzle 26 supplies the photocurable material R to the lower surface of the drum 10 when the build stage 15 is arranged at the build start position. As described above, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin can be used as the photocurable material R. Hereinafter, the photocurable material R is referred to as resin liquid R for convenience.
[0098] When the resin liquid R is transferred on the drum 10 as described above, the roller motor drives the guide roller 5 under the control of the roller motor controller 54 . Thus, the drum 10 is rotated until a portion of the drum 10 to which the resin liquid R is attached is disposed in the lowermost portion of the drum 10 . Then, the rotation of the drum 10 is stopped. exist Image 6 The slit area S and its surroundings at this time are shown in an enlarged state in . In this state, irradiation of the resin liquid R with laser light, that is, exposure is started.
[0099] In the case of a specific type of resin liquid R, the resin liquid R flows down from the drum 10 due to its own weight, whereby the resin liquid R fills the area between the lower surface of the drum 10 and the top surface of the modeling stage 15. The space within the gap area between. If the resin liquid R flows down from the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10 due to its own weight, no rotation of the drum 10 is required.
[0100] Then, the irradiation unit 30 irradiates laser light. Laser light generated from the laser light source 31 passes through the objective lens 34 and is input into the resin liquid R in the slit region S through the drum 10 . The irradiation unit 30 is controlled by the X-axis movement motor controller 55 to move in the direction along the X-axis. Meanwhile, the irradiation unit 30 selectively exposes the resin liquid R to light based on the data of one line in the X-axis direction of one layer of the object to be modeled under the control of the laser power controller 52 .
[0101] Specifically, the laser power controller 52 generates a laser power modulation signal based on the data of one row, and sends the modulation signal to the laser source 31 . Thereby, the resin liquid R for one row in the X-axis direction for one layer is selectively exposed to light, and cured. At least the resin liquid R in the slit area S is exposed to light. During exposure by irradiating laser light, the drum 10 is stopped.
[0102] A laser light having an ultraviolet wavelength range is used as the above-mentioned laser light. Although the thickness of a one-layer object is in the range of 1 μm to 100 μm, the thickness is not limited to the above range, but can be appropriately set.
[0103] When the exposure of one line in the X-axis direction to the resin liquid R is completed, the irradiation operation of the laser light is stopped. Then, the Y-axis moving mechanism 70 moves the modeling stage 15 toward the rear side in the Y-axis direction ( Figure 4B on the right side) to move a predetermined distance. Subsequently, selective exposure of the subsequent row of the first layer (the row adjacent to the first row) is carried out in the manner described above.
[0104] When the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 repeats the scanning irradiation of the laser along the X-axis direction and the step-by-step feeding of the modeling stage 15 along the Y-axis direction as described above, as Figure 4C As shown, a selectively cured layer object of a resin liquid R is formed, that is, a one-layer object is formed. As described above, exposure processing of one layer is performed similarly to so-called luster scan. Although the pitch of the above-mentioned intermittent movement of the modeling stage in the Y-axis direction depends on the spot diameter of the laser beam (ie, the resolution when forming an object), the pitch of the intermittent movement can also be set appropriately.
[0105] Figure 7 is shown enlarged in the Figure 4C A view of the resin liquid R and the cured layer on the modeling stage 15 shown in . exist Figure 7 In , one-layer cured layer object R1 is shown in black. like Figure 7 As shown, on the right side which is downstream with respect to the slit area S, the uncured resin liquid R adheres to the drum 10 . In addition, the uncured resin liquid R also adheres to the formed one-layer cured layer member R1. However, no problem occurs for the reasons explained below.
[0106] When the exposure of one line along the X-axis direction is completed, and the modeling stage 15 (and the moving base 11) is moved along the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis moving mechanism 70, due to the gap between the drum 10 and the modeling stage 15 Due to friction, the drum 10 is dragged and image 3 and Figure 7 Rotate in a counterclockwise direction. Or alternatively, at this point the guide roller 5 can be driven by the roller motor 8, thereby causing the drum 10 to rotate.
[0107] When the exposure of one line of the resin liquid R is completed and the modeling stage 15 is moved by a predetermined pitch, at the downstream relative to the slit area S (for example, Image 6 The right side with respect to the slit area S), the modeling stage 15 is moved so that the drum 10 is separated from the modeling stage 15 along the Z-axis direction. Thereby, the just-formed solidified layer article R1 (cured layer member attached to the outer peripheral surface 10 a of the drum 10 ) can be neatly separated from the drum 10 .
[0108] Furthermore, in the conventional constrained surface method, the flatness of the object has been deteriorated because of the confinement of the film or glass surface, which has become a problem. In contrast, in the present embodiment, the shape of the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10 is a curved shape (cylindrical surface shape), and the liquid surface is constrained by the linear region A1. Therefore, even if a shrinkage force is applied to the drum 10 when the resin liquid R is solidified, deformation and stress of the drum 10 are not easily caused. In addition, deformation of the drum 10 can be prevented due to the viscosity of the resin liquid R before exposure. Thereby, the flatness of the cured layer member R1 can be improved, and the thickness thereof can be controlled with high precision.
[0109] The inventors have confirmed through experiments that a surface as a curved surface (for example, the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10) and a surface as a plane (for example, the top surface of the molding stage 15) are compared with each other, and the cured resin layer Adhesion to a surface that is curved is less than to a surface that is flat, and the cured resin layer tends to remain on a flat surface more than a curved surface. In this experiment, the above results were obtained in the case where the curved surface and the flat surface were made of the same material.
[0110]Furthermore, once a cured layer is formed on the modeling stage 15, the resin material of the subsequent cured layer exhibits greater attachment to the previous layer made of the same material than to the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10. Focus on. According to experiments, it has been confirmed that even when the radius of curvature of the confinement body made of glass is 1 m, the solidified layer can be separated neatly and cleanly enough.
[0111] Therefore, in this embodiment, the solidified layer can be reliably separated from the drum.
[0112] When the exposure of one layer of resin liquid R is completed, the modeling stage 15 is lowered by the thickness of one layer of cured layer object R1. Then, move the substrate 11 and the modeling stage 15 from Figure 4C The position shown moves back to the Figure 4B The shape starting position shown. In this case, while the molding stage 15 is lowered, the movable base 11 and the molding stage 15 move back to the modeling initial position.
[0113] In addition, when the exposure of one layer of resin liquid R is completed and the modeling stage 15 is lowered, the guide roller 5 is driven so that the drum 10 moves along the image 3 and Figure 7 Rotate by a predetermined angle in the counterclockwise direction. Accordingly, a portion of the used outer peripheral surface 10 a of the drum 10 to which the resin liquid R is not adhered becomes opposed to the modeling stage 15 . The excess resin liquid R adhering to the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10 is periodically removed by cleaning equipment (not shown).
[0114] Then, in the modeling process (exposure process) for the second layer, the uncured resin liquid R remaining on the cured layer R1 as the first layer is exposed to light by the same process as for the first layer, whereby A cured layer R1 is formed as a second layer. With the object layers laminated in the Z-axis direction in this way, the resin liquid R is periodically supplied to the drum 10 .
[0115] However, needless to say, the resin liquid R may be supplied for each one-layer styling process, or the resin liquid R may be supplied at a shorter cycle or continuously.
[0116] In the above description, after the exposure process for one layer is completed, the drum 10 is rotated by a predetermined angle. However, in the case where the user does not highly demand shape accuracy, even if additional resin liquid R adheres to the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10 after the exposure of one layer of the resin liquid R is completed, Multiple layers are molded while rotating the drum 10 through a predetermined angle.
[0117] In a state in which an object has been formed by the layers laminated to an appropriate thickness as described above, an operation such as Figure 5A to Figure 5C An additional cured layer R1 is shown.
[0118] The three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 may form the anchor pattern as follows. Figure 8 is a pattern showing exposure processing for one layer viewed along the Z-axis direction. In this example, laser light is irradiated at the start point and end point in the X-axis direction of scanning by the irradiation unit 30 , thereby forming the anchor pattern Rb which is a part of the object. In other words, the object (cured layer R1 ) includes a body Ra and anchor patterns Rb formed around the body Ra.
[0119] As described above, the anchor pattern Rb is formed, whereby it is possible to suppress adverse effects on modeling accuracy due to variations in scanning speed at the start and end of scanning by the irradiation unit 30 . Thereby, the exposure process to the edge portion Re in the X-axis direction of the main body Ra formed inside the anchor pattern Rb can be made uniform in the Y-axis direction. Thereby, the edge portion Re of the main body Ra can be formed with high precision.
[0120] form Figure 8 Each anchor pattern Rb in the illustrated example has a linear shape, for example, in the Y-axis direction. However, the shape of the anchor pattern Rb along the Y-axis direction does not necessarily have to be a linear shape. The shape of the anchor pattern Rb may be a bracket shape (eg, <>). Alternatively, the shape of the anchoring pattern Rb may be a zigzag shape, or a shape corresponding to the shape of an object. The length of the anchor pattern Rb in the X-axis direction may be appropriately set.
[0121] As described above, in this embodiment, the thickness of each layer of the object can be correctly kept constant. Thereby, the uniformity of the flat surface of one cured layer R1 can be improved.
[0122] In this embodiment, as described above, the molding stage 15 is moved such that the drum 10 is separated from the molding stage 15 in the Z-axis direction, whereby the cured layer R1 made of resin can be neatly removed from the drum. Object 10 was isolated.
[0123] In the present embodiment, the linear region A1 constrains the liquid surface of the resin liquid R, whereby an object having a correct layer thickness can be formed even if a resin material having a relatively high viscosity is used. Therefore, the range of selection of materials to be used can be expanded.
[0124] In the conventional confined surface method, the method of separating the object from the membrane or glass surface has long been employed. However, in the present embodiment, the object is separated from the drum 10 while the modeling stage 15 is gradually fed in the Y-axis direction during the exposure process. In other words, the exposure process for one layer and the separation process overlap in time, whereby the time required to form an object can be shortened.
[0125] In the present embodiment, on the linear region A1 of the drum 10, the separation of the drum 10 as a constraining body from the modeling stage 15 is gradually performed in an intermittent manner (for each stepwise feeding along the Y-axis direction). conduct. Therefore, the separation force is small, whereby damage to the cured layer R1 can be prevented. In other words, the cured layer R1 can be easily separated from the constraining body. In addition, the separation force is small as described above, whereby the separation of the solidified layer R1 from the modeling stage 15 can also be prevented.
[0126] In this embodiment, the lowermost portion of the outer peripheral surface 10a of the drum 10 is a linear area A1, and between the linear area A1 and the modeling stage 15, a slit area S to be an exposure area is formed. This means that when the drum 10 as a constraining body is formed in a cylindrical shape, the function as a constraining body can be provided in a simple shape.
[0127] In the present embodiment, the irradiation unit 30 is arranged in the drum 10 . This increases the advantage in forming the drum 10 into a cylindrical shape. Furthermore, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 100 can be downsized compared to the case where the irradiation unit 30 is arranged outside the drum 10 .
