Illumination method and light source for large-scale light-curing 3D printer

Abstract

The present invention discloses an illumination method and light source for a large-scale photocuring 3D printer. The method utilizes a sequentially stacked light source, collimating lens, focusing lens, homogenizer, spatial filter, free-form surface lens, Fresnel collimating lens, and illumination surface. The light source includes an array of lamp beads, enabling the device to increase the total power of the light source, enabling illumination of large-scale LCD screens while also improving the quality of the light beam. A secondary light beam processing scheme is employed, namely, focusing, homogenizing, and spatially filtering the collimated light beam. After secondary processing, the light beam forms a new extended light source at the spatial filtering point. This light source has a good light intensity distribution, facilitating light field homogenization and spot shape control by the free-form surface lens. Finally, the light beam is collimated by the Fresnel lens, enabling the beam's collimation to be controlled within 5 degrees.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of lighting equipment for large-scale light-curing 3D printers, and in particular to a lighting method and light source for large-scale light-curing 3D printers. Background Art

[0002] 3D printers use ultraviolet light to cure photosensitive resins. During the molding process, photosensitive resins are sensitive to UV light intensity, so obtaining a uniform, highly collimated UV beam is crucial. Large-scale stereolithography 3D printing requires a wide range of irradiation areas to achieve large-scale 3D printing operations, such as printing large-scale equipment such as architectural and construction machinery parts. Achieving uniformity, collimation, and the required energy for curing large objects is one of the challenges facing large-scale stereolithography 3D printing. Currently, most 3D printers for large-scale printing use direct illumination from arrays of UV LEDs. However, this method requires a high beam power and quantity to meet the requirements of a wide printing range. This leads to problems such as wide beam divergence, weak light intensity, and low energy efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present invention provides an illumination method and light source for a large-scale photocuring 3D printer, aiming to solve the problem that existing 3D printing technology cannot simultaneously achieve good uniformity, collimation and energy required for curing when facing large-scale photocuring 3D printing work.

[0004] According to an embodiment of the present application, a large-scale light-curing 3D printer light source is provided, comprising a light source, a collimating lens, a focusing lens, a homogenizer, a spatial filter, a free-form surface lens, a Fresnel collimating lens, and an illumination surface arranged in sequence, wherein light emitted by the light source passes through the collimating lens, the focusing lens, the homogenizer, the spatial filter, the free-form surface lens, and the Fresnel collimating lens in sequence and then irradiates the illumination surface; the light source comprises a plurality of lamp beads, the number of the collimating lenses is multiple, and the number of the lamp beads and the collimating lenses is the same, one collimating lens is covered on one lamp bead, and a plurality of the lamp beads are arranged in an array.

[0005] Preferably, the collimating lens is an aspherical structure.

[0006] Preferably, the focusing lens is a spherical lens or an aspherical lens.

[0007] Preferably, a frosted layer is provided on a side of the homogenizing plate facing away from the focusing lens, and the homogenizing plate is a glass plate.

[0008] Preferably, the spatial filter is a circular or rectangular structure.

[0009] Preferably, it further comprises a shell, and the light source, collimating lens, focusing lens, homogenizer, spatial filter, free-form surface lens, Fresnel collimating lens and illumination surface are sequentially snap-fitted and positioned on the shell.

[0010] Preferably, a plurality of positioning parts are correspondingly provided on the shell, and the light source, collimating lens, focusing lens, homogenizer, spatial filter, free-form surface lens, Fresnel collimating lens and illumination surface are respectively supported on the positioning parts; each positioning part is an outwardly protruding sliding block structure, and each sliding block is provided with an inwardly recessed groove structure.

[0011] The present invention also provides an illumination method for a large-scale light-curing 3D printer, comprising the following steps: step S1: emitting an original light beam based on a light source, collimating the original light beam to obtain a collimated light beam; step S2: focusing the collimated light beam; step S3: homogenizing the focused light spot; step S4: spatially filtering the homogenized light beam to control the size of the focused light spot; step S5: passing the spatially filtered light beam through a lens for secondary processing; and step S6: collimating the light beam passing through the lens and irradiating it onto the illumination surface.

[0012] The lighting method and light source for a large-scale light-curing 3D printer provided by the present invention have the following beneficial effects:

[0013] The device utilizes a stacked structure consisting of a light source, a collimating lens, a focusing lens, a homogenizer, a spatial filter, a free-form surface lens, a Fresnel collimator, and an illumination surface. Light emitted by the light source, through an array of lamp beads, sequentially passes through the collimating lens, focusing lens, homogenizer, spatial filter, free-form surface lens, and Fresnel collimator lens before illuminating the illumination surface. This device increases the total power of the light source, enabling illumination of large-scale LCD screens. Furthermore, to improve beam quality, a secondary beam processing scheme is employed: focusing, homogenizing, and spatially filtering the collimated beam. After secondary processing, the beam forms a new, expanded light source at the spatial filtering point. This light source exhibits a superior light intensity distribution, facilitating light field homogenization and spot shape control by the free-form surface lens. Finally, the Fresnel lens collimates the beam, enabling the beam's collimation to be controlled within 5 degrees. Furthermore, spatial filtering effectively controls stray light introduced by the array lens or light source, improving the illumination quality of the illumination beam, as required for large-scale stereolithography 3D printing. Furthermore, the combination of an array light source and a free-form lens achieves rectangular spot illumination, increasing the energy of the illumination spot and effectively solving the problem of insufficient energy for large-scale stereolithography 3D printing. Furthermore, the combination of an array light source, a free-form lens, and a Fresnel lens achieves highly collimated rectangular spot illumination, solving the problem of insufficient beam collimation caused by overly large 3D printing surfaces. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0015] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the structure of the light source of a large-scale light-curing 3D printer provided by the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 This is a light spot data diagram of the irradiation effect of the light source of the large-scale light-curing 3D printer provided by the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 3 This is another light spot data diagram of the irradiation effect of the light source of the large-scale light-curing 3D printer provided by the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 4 4 is a flow chart of an illumination method for a large-scale light-curing 3D printer provided by the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Description of labels:

[0020] 1. Large-size light-curing 3D printer light source;

[0021] 11. Light source; 12. Collimating lens; 13. Focusing lens; 14. Homogenizer; 15. Spatial filter; 16. Free-form surface lens; 17. Fresnel collimating lens; 18. Illumination surface. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0023] It should also be understood that the terminology used in this specification is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the present invention. As used in the specification and appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0024] It should be further understood that the term "and / or" used in the present description and appended claims refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0025] See also Figure 1 The first embodiment of the present invention discloses a light source 1 for a large-scale light-curing 3D printer, comprising a light source 11, a collimating lens 12, a focusing lens 13, a homogenizing plate 14, a spatial filter 15, a free-form surface lens 16, a Fresnel collimating lens 17, and an illumination surface 18, which are arranged in sequence. Light emitted by the light source 11 passes through the collimating lens 12, the focusing lens 13, the homogenizing plate 14, the spatial filter 15, the free-form surface lens 16, and the Fresnel collimating lens 17 in sequence and then irradiates the illumination surface 18, thereby obtaining a uniform, highly collimated ultraviolet beam.

[0026] The light source 11 includes a plurality of lamp beads. The number of the collimating lenses 12 is multiple, and the number of the lamp beads and the collimating lenses 12 is the same. One collimating lens 12 covers one lamp bead, and a plurality of lamp beads are arranged in an array.

[0027] It can be understood that the lamp bead is a light-emitting component that can emit light, for example, it can be set as an LED lamp bead.

[0028] It can be understood that multiple arrays of lamp beads are arranged to form a large-scale light-curing 3D printing irradiation range, and in the large-scale irradiation surface formed, the divergent light beam needs to be collimated and uniformed to obtain a large-scale light-curing beam that meets the requirements.

[0029] The collimating lens 12 is an aspherical structure. After the light beam of a single lamp bead passes through a single collimating lens 12, the light beam is in a collimated or approximately collimated state. That is, the light beams emitted by the light source are collimated one by one based on the collimating lens 12.

[0030] The focusing lens 13 is a spherical lens or an aspherical lens. The main purpose of the focusing lens 13 is to focus the collimated light spot.

[0031] The homogenizing plate 14 is provided with a frosted layer on the side away from the focusing lens 13. The homogenizing plate 14 is a glass plate. The homogenizing plate 14 homogenizes the light beam focused by the focusing lens 13. The frosted layer can homogenize the incident light beam.

[0032] It can be understood that the spatial filter 15 is a circular or rectangular structure, and the specific shape is determined by the array arrangement of the light sources 11.

[0033] Spatial filtering is an image enhancement method that uses filtering processing. Its theoretical basis is spatial convolution and spatial correlation. The purpose is to improve image quality, including removing high-frequency noise and interference, and image edge enhancement, linear enhancement, and deblurring. It is divided into low-pass filtering (smoothing), high-pass filtering (sharpening) and band-pass filtering. There are two processing methods: computer processing (digital filtering) and optical information processing. In this embodiment, the spatial filter 15 is a beam filter based on optical information processing, and its purpose is to filter out the problem of stray light caused by the edge of the array collimating lens 12, and control the size of the focused light spot, that is, to make the edge of the irradiation range formed by the focused light spot smoother and the light formed more uniform.

[0034] The free-form surface lens 16 is a free-form surface, and realizes the illumination of a rectangular light spot according to the size of the required illumination surface 18, that is, by controlling the distance between the free-form surface lens 16 and the Fresnel collimating lens 17 to control the size of the light beam illumination area, and the free-form surface lens 16 can perform secondary processing on the filtered light beam to emit it as a new light source, and the new light source has more uniform characteristics after processing.

[0035] The Fresnel collimating lens 17 is a Fresnel surface type, which is mainly used to collimate the light beam. The material is glass or plastic, that is, the light beam is collimated twice to form a new light source after passing through the free-form surface lens 16 for collimation.

[0036] The lighting surface 18 is a printed screen LCD, and the size of the lighting surface 18 is determined according to the size of the LCD screen.

[0037] It can be understood that in this embodiment, the light source 11, collimating lens 12, focusing lens 13, homogenizer 14, spatial filter 15, free-form surface lens 16, Fresnel collimating lens 17 and illumination surface 18 can be integrated into the light output device of the 3D printer and used as the light output head of the 3D printer.

[0038] It can be understood that in this embodiment, the light source of the large-scale light-curing 3D printer also includes a shell (not shown), and the light source 11, the collimating lens 12, the focusing lens 13, the homogenizing plate 14, the spatial filter 15, the free-form surface lens 16, the Fresnel collimating lens 17 and the illumination surface 18 are sequentially snap-fitted and positioned on the shell, and a plurality of positioning parts are correspondingly provided on the shell, and the light source 11, the collimating lens 12, the focusing lens 13, the homogenizing plate 14, the spatial filter 15, the free-form surface lens 16, the Fresnel collimating lens 17 and the illumination surface 18 are respectively supported on the positioning parts, and the positioning parts can be an inwardly concave annular groove structure.

[0039] Optionally, as an embodiment, each positioning portion is an outwardly protruding sliding block structure, and each sliding block is provided with an inwardly recessed groove structure, so that each positioning portion positions a lens. The user can adjust the distance between the light source 11, the collimating lens 12, the focusing lens 13, the homogenizer 14, the spatial filter 15, the free-form surface lens 16, the Fresnel collimating lens 17 and the illumination surface 18 based on the positioning portion to achieve the effect of adjusting the size of the output light beam, adjusting the focal length, and the size of the light spot.

[0040] It can be understood that in other embodiments, the light source 11, collimating lens 12, focusing lens 13, homogenizer 14, spatial filter 15, free-form surface lens 16, Fresnel collimating lens 17 and illumination surface 18 provided by the present invention can also be provided with positioning parts of other structures to locate the relative positions and sizes between multiple lenses and light sources. For example, a positioning part of a cylindrical structure can be provided, and an opening is provided on the side to facilitate the user to pull out the lens from the side for replacement, etc. As long as the above-mentioned multiple lenses can be positioned, no limitation is made here.

[0041] See also Figure 2 and Figure 3 , through the lighting device provided by the first embodiment of the present invention, the following can be obtained: Figure 2 and Figure 3 Based on the light panel data diagram shown in the figure, it can be seen that the beam distribution is more uniform and has better light intensity distribution.

[0042] As can be understood, this solution achieves beam uniformity exceeding 90%, light source utilization exceeding 50%, and a beam angle less than 5 degrees, resolving the lighting challenges of large-scale stereolithography 3D printing. By effectively controlling the output beam shape, energy level, and collimation, the precision of resin curing is improved, curing time is reduced, and 3D printing productivity is increased.

[0043] See also Figure 4 The second embodiment of the present invention provides a lighting method for a large-scale light-curing 3D printer, which uses the light source of the large-scale light-curing 3D printer provided by the first embodiment, and specifically includes the following steps:

[0044] Step S1: Based on an original light beam emitted by a light source, the original light beam is collimated to obtain a collimated light beam.

[0045] Step S2: focusing the collimated light beam.

[0046] Step S3: homogenizing the focused light spot.

[0047] Step S4: spatially filter the homogenized light beam to control the size of the focused spot.

[0048] Step S5: Pass the spatially filtered light beam through a lens for secondary processing.

[0049] Step S6: collimate the light beam passing through the lens and then illuminate the illumination surface.

[0050] It can be understood that in step S1 , the original light beam emitted by the light source 11 first passes through the collimating lens 12 to undergo a first collimation process.

[0051] It can be understood that in step S2, the collimated light beam is focused to reduce the area of ​​the light beam, which facilitates subsequent processing of the light beam.

[0052] It can be understood that in step S4, spatial filtering is performed on the homogenized light beam based on the spatial filter 15, which can effectively control the stray light introduced by the array lens or the light source and improve the illumination quality of the illumination light beam.

[0053] It can be understood that in step S5, the filtered light beam is passed through the free-form surface lens 16 again to serve as a new light source, that is, the original light beam is processed by the collimation-focusing-homogenization-filtering of steps S1 to S4, and is then used as a new light source again. A secondary collimation process is performed in step S6, and finally the light beam is irradiated onto the lighting surface 18 to obtain a lighting effect that meets the requirements.

[0054] The lighting method and light source for a large-scale light-curing 3D printer provided by the present invention have the following beneficial effects:

[0055] By sequentially stacking a light source, a collimating lens, a focusing lens, a homogenizer, a spatial filter, a free-form surface lens, a Fresnel collimator lens, and an illumination surface, the light emitted by the light source, through an array of lamp beads, sequentially passes through the collimating lens, focusing lens, homogenizer, spatial filter, free-form surface lens, and Fresnel collimator lens before illuminating the illumination surface. This device increases the total power of the light source, enabling illumination of large-scale LCD screens while also improving beam quality. A secondary beam processing scheme is employed: the collimated beam is focused, homogenized, and spatially filtered. After secondary processing, the beam forms a new, expanded light source at the spatial filter. This light source has a good light intensity distribution, facilitating light field homogenization and spot shape control by the free-form surface lens. Finally, the Fresnel lens collimates the beam, achieving a collimation degree of within 5 degrees. Furthermore, spatial filtering effectively controls stray light introduced by the array lens or light source, improving the illumination quality of the illumination beam, as required for large-scale stereolithography 3D printing. Furthermore, the combination of an array light source and a free-form lens achieves rectangular spot illumination, increasing the energy of the illumination spot and effectively solving the problem of insufficient energy for large-scale stereolithography 3D printing. Furthermore, the combination of an array light source, a free-form lens, and a Fresnel lens achieves highly collimated rectangular spot illumination, solving the problem of insufficient beam collimation caused by overly large 3D printing surfaces.

[0056] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of various equivalent modifications or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention, and such modifications or substitutions are intended to be within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A large-scale light-curing 3D printer light source, characterized by: The optical system comprises a light source, a collimating lens, a focusing lens, a homogenizing plate, a spatial filter, a free-form surface lens, a Fresnel collimating lens and an illumination surface, which are arranged in sequence. The light emitted by the light source passes through the collimating lens, the focusing lens, the homogenizing plate, the spatial filter, the free-form surface lens and the Fresnel collimating lens in sequence and then irradiates the illumination surface. The light source includes a plurality of lamp beads, the number of the collimating lenses is multiple, and the number of the lamp beads and the collimating lenses is the same, one collimating lens is covered on one lamp bead, and a plurality of the lamp beads are arranged in an array; The collimating lens is an aspherical structure; The focusing lens is a spherical lens or an aspherical lens; A frosted layer is provided on the side of the homogenizing plate facing away from the focusing lens, and the homogenizing plate is a glass plate; The spatial filter is a circular or rectangular structure; It also includes a housing, on which the light source, collimating lens, focusing lens, homogenizer, spatial filter, free-form surface lens, Fresnel collimating lens and illumination surface are sequentially snap-fitted and positioned; The housing is provided with a plurality of corresponding positioning parts, and the light source, collimating lens, focusing lens, homogenizing plate, spatial filter, free-form surface lens, Fresnel collimating lens and illumination surface are respectively supported on the positioning parts; Each positioning portion is an outwardly protruding sliding block structure, and each sliding block is provided with an inwardly recessed groove structure.

2. A lighting method for a large-scale light-curing 3D printer, characterized by: The following steps are involved: Step S1: Based on the original light beam emitted by the light source, the original light beam is collimated to obtain a collimated light beam; Step S2: focusing the collimated light beam; Step S3: homogenizing the focused light spot; Step S4: spatially filter the homogenized light beam to control the size of the focused spot; Step S5: passing the spatially filtered light beam through a lens for secondary processing; and Step S6: collimate the light beam passing through the lens and then illuminate the illumination surface.

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