Large format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method, printing device and printing control system

Abstract

The present application provides a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method, including: determining the periodic unit size of the metamaterial used for the model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has a plurality of periodically arranged pattern units, and the diameter and / or side length of each pattern unit is the periodic unit size; adjusting the optical imaging size according to the periodic unit size of the metamaterial; slicing the model to be printed to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculating a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices; and traversing the plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices and performing exposure and curing. The large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method, printing device, and printing control system of the present application can realize high-precision and high-efficiency three-dimensional printing of metamaterials.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application mainly relates to the field of three-dimensional printing, and in particular to a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method, a printing device and a printing control system. Background Art

[0002] Metamaterials are generally understood as having repetitive periodic structural features that can change the properties of the material itself, such as sound-absorbing materials, super-hydrophobic materials, materials that absorb electromagnetic waves, etc. Since these materials have periodic tiny repetitive patterns, high feature accuracy is required during 3D printing. Existing high-precision 3D printing methods can reduce the projection format to improve accuracy to achieve the printing process for metamaterials, and then expose the entire format by splicing, but this method generally has the defect of low production efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0003] The technical problem to be solved by the present application is to provide a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method, printing equipment and printing control system, which can realize high-precision and high-efficiency three-dimensional printing of metamaterials.

[0004] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method, comprising: determining a periodic unit size of a metamaterial used for a model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has a plurality of periodically arranged pattern units, and a diameter and / or side length of each of the pattern units is the periodic unit size; adjusting an optical imaging size according to the periodic unit size of the metamaterial; slicing the model to be printed to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculating a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices; and traversing the plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices and performing exposure and curing.

[0005] Optionally, the process further includes exposing and curing each layer of slices on an exposure platform.

[0006] Optionally, the step of adjusting the optical imaging size includes: adjusting the focal length and / or object distance of the lens relative to the exposure platform.

[0007] Optionally, the number of exposure times of each slice layer of the to-be-printed model is determined according to the number of the multiple scanning position coordinates of each slice layer.

[0008] Optionally, at least some of the slices in the two or more slices include a pattern-covered area and a pattern-uncovered area, wherein the plurality of scanning position coordinates are only from the pattern-covered area.

[0009] Optionally, each of the pattern units further has a minimum feature size, where the minimum feature size is the size of a minimum gap in the pattern coverage area of ​​each of the pattern units, and the minimum feature size does not exceed 100 μm.

[0010] Optionally, the printing method further comprises determining a moving path M traversing the plurality of scanning position coordinates on each slice layer by the following formula:

[0011] ,

[0012] Wherein, n is the total number of the plurality of scanning position coordinates, the plurality of scanning position coordinates correspond one-to-one to the plurality of states, k represents the kth state, The selected state for the kth state Arrangement method, For The adjacent k+1th state selected Arrangement method, It represents the increase in the moving distance of the k scanning position coordinates when changing from the kth state to the k+1th state.

[0013] Another aspect of the present application also proposes a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing device, comprising: a light source; a vibration disk, arranged in the light path of the light source; a microlens array, located on the vibration disk; a lens, located on a side of the vibration disk away from the light source; an exposure platform, located on a side of the lens away from the vibration disk, the exposure platform being suitable for receiving exposure light from the light source and carrying a model to be printed that has been exposed and cured; and a host computer, configured to: determine the periodic unit size of the metamaterial used for the model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has a plurality of periodically arranged pattern units, and the diameter and / or side length of each of the pattern units is the periodic unit size; slice the model to be printed to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculate a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices; and issue a displacement instruction to the vibration disk so that the vibration disk drives the microlens array to traverse and move according to the plurality of scanning position coordinates, and at the same time issue an exposure instruction to the light source so that the light source performs exposure when the vibration disk drives the microlens array to move to the plurality of scanning position coordinates, so that each layer of slices is cured on the exposure platform.

[0014] Optionally, a connecting optical path system is further included, located between the light source and the microlens array, and the connecting optical path system is configured to perform light homogenization adjustment on the light emitted by the light source.

[0015] Optionally, it also includes a displacement control circuit connected to the vibration plate, and the displacement control circuit is suitable for receiving the displacement instruction from the host computer to control the vibration plate to perform the traversal movement, thereby driving the microlens array to perform the traversal movement according to the multiple scanning position coordinates.

[0016] Optionally, the displacement control circuit further includes two piezoelectric ceramics corresponding to the mutually perpendicular x-direction and y-direction respectively, and the displacement control circuit is configured to control the vibration plate to perform the traversal movement through the two piezoelectric ceramics after receiving the displacement instruction from the host computer.

[0017] Optionally, the host computer is further configured to send an optical imaging size adjustment instruction to the lens according to the periodic unit size of the metamaterial, so that the lens adjusts the focal length and / or object distance relative to the exposure platform according to the optical imaging size adjustment instruction.

[0018] Optionally, at least some of the slices in the two or more slices include a pattern-covered area and a pattern-uncovered area, wherein the plurality of scanning position coordinates are only from the pattern-covered area.

[0019] Optionally, each of the pattern units further has a minimum feature size, where the minimum feature size is a minimum gap size of the pattern coverage area in each of the pattern units, and the minimum feature size does not exceed 100 μm.

[0020] Optionally, the host computer is further configured to determine a moving path M traversing the multiple scanning position coordinates on each slice layer by the following formula:

[0021] ,

[0022] Wherein, n is the total number of the plurality of scanning position coordinates, the plurality of scanning position coordinates correspond one-to-one to the plurality of states, k represents the kth state, The selected state for the kth state Arrangement method, For The adjacent k+1th state selected Arrangement method, It represents the increase in the moving distance of the k scanning position coordinates when changing from the kth state to the k+1th state.

[0023] Another aspect of the present application also proposes a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing control system, which is applicable to a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning device, wherein the large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing device comprises a light source; a vibration disk, arranged in the light path of the light source; a micro-lens array, located on the vibration disk; a lens, located on a side of the vibration disk away from the light source; an exposure platform, located on a side of the lens away from the vibration disk, the exposure platform being suitable for receiving exposure light from the light source and carrying a model to be printed that has been exposed and cured, and the large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning control system comprises: a memory, for storing instructions executable by a processor; and a processor, for executing the instructions to implement the following method: determining Determine the periodic unit size of the metamaterial used for the model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has periodically arranged pattern units, and the diameter and / or side length of each of the pattern units is the periodic unit size; slice the model to be printed to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculate a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices; and issue a displacement instruction to the vibration disk so that the vibration disk drives the microlens array to traverse and move according to the plurality of scanning position coordinates, and at the same time issue an exposure instruction to the light source so that the light source exposes when the vibration disk drives the microlens array to move to the plurality of scanning position coordinates, so that each layer of slices is solidified on the exposure platform.

[0024] Optionally, the processor is further configured to execute the instruction to implement the following method, determining a moving path M traversing the multiple scanning position coordinates on each slice layer by the following formula:

[0025] ,

[0026] Wherein, n is the total number of the plurality of scanning position coordinates, the plurality of scanning position coordinates correspond one-to-one to the plurality of states, k represents the kth state, The selected state for the kth state Arrangement method, For The adjacent k+1th state selected Arrangement method, It represents the increase in the moving distance of the k scanning position coordinates when changing from the kth state to the k+1th state.

[0027] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following advantages: By designing a traversal coordinate printing method for tiny periodic patterns of metamaterials, the present application can increase the printing area and significantly improve the exposure efficiency for printing metamaterial models. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present application. They are included and constitute a part of the present application. The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the present application and together with the present specification serve to explain the principles of the present application. In the accompanying drawings:

[0029] Figure 1 It is a flow chart of a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 3 and Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a single-layer metamaterial structure applicable to a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method according to an embodiment of the present application and a partial schematic diagram thereof;

[0032] Figure 5 and Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a single-layer metamaterial structure applicable to a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method according to another embodiment of the present application and a partial schematic diagram thereof;

[0033] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of numbering scanning position coordinates of pattern units in a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method according to an embodiment of the present application; and

[0034] Figure 8 This is a system block diagram of a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing control system according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some examples or embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, the present application can also be applied to other similar scenarios based on these drawings without creative work. Unless it is obvious from the language environment or otherwise explained, the same reference numerals in the figures represent the same structure or operation.

[0036] As shown in this application and claims, unless the context clearly indicates an exception, the words "a", "an", "an" and / or "the" do not refer to the singular and may also include the plural. Generally speaking, the terms "include" and "comprise" only indicate the inclusion of the steps and elements that have been clearly identified, and these steps and elements do not constitute an exclusive list. The method or device may also include other steps or elements.

[0037] Unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions and numerical values ​​of the parts and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application. At the same time, it should be understood that, for ease of description, the sizes of the various parts shown in the accompanying drawings are not drawn according to the actual proportional relationship. The technology, method and equipment known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant field may not be discussed in detail, but in appropriate cases, the technology, method and equipment should be considered as a part of the authorization specification. In all examples shown and discussed here, any specific value should be interpreted as being merely exemplary, rather than as a limitation. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values. It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, so that once a certain item is defined in an accompanying drawing, it does not need to be further discussed in subsequent drawings.

[0038] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the directions or positional relationships indicated by directional words such as "front, back, up, down, left, right", "lateral, vertical, perpendicular, horizontal" and "top, bottom" are usually based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description. Unless otherwise specified, these directional words do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction or be constructed and operated in a specific direction, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the scope of protection of the present application; the directional words "inside and outside" refer to the inside and outside relative to the contours of each component itself.

[0039] For ease of description, spatially relative terms such as "above", "above", "on the upper surface of", "above", etc. may be used here to describe the spatial positional relationship between a device or feature and other devices or features as shown in the figure. It should be understood that spatially relative terms are intended to include different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation described in the figure. For example, if the device in the accompanying drawings is inverted, the device described as "above other devices or structures" or "above other devices or structures" will be positioned as "below other devices or structures" or "below other devices or structures". Thus, the exemplary term "above" can include both "above" and "below". The device can also be positioned in other different ways (rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations), and the spatially relative descriptions used here are interpreted accordingly.

[0040] In addition, it should be noted that the use of words such as "first" and "second" to define components is only for the convenience of distinguishing the corresponding components. If not otherwise stated, the above words have no special meaning and cannot be understood as limiting the scope of protection of this application. In addition, although the terms used in this application are selected from well-known and commonly used terms, some terms mentioned in the specification of this application may be selected by the applicant at his or her discretion, and their detailed meanings are explained in the relevant parts of the description of this article. In addition, it is required to understand this application not only by the actual terms used, but also by the meaning implied by each term.

[0041] It should be understood that when a component is referred to as being "on another component," "connected to another component," "coupled to another component," or "contacting another component," it may be directly on, connected to, coupled to, or contacting the other component, or there may be intervening components. In contrast, when a component is referred to as being "directly on another component," "directly connected to," "directly coupled to," or "directly contacting" another component, there are no intervening components. Similarly, when a first component is referred to as being "electrically in contact with" or "electrically coupled to" a second component, there is an electrical path between the first component and the second component that allows current to flow. The electrical path may include capacitors, coupled inductors, and / or other components that allow current to flow, even without direct contact between conductive components.

[0042] This application refers to Figure 1 A large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method 10 (hereinafter referred to as "printing method 10") is proposed, which can achieve high-precision and high-efficiency three-dimensional printing of metamaterials. Figure 1 Flowcharts are used to illustrate the operations performed by the system according to the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the preceding or following operations are not necessarily performed precisely in order. Instead, various steps may be processed in reverse order or simultaneously. At the same time, other operations may be added to these processes, or one or more operations may be removed from these processes.

[0043] according to Figure 1 , the printing method 10 includes the following steps. Step 11 is to determine the periodic unit size of the metamaterial used in the model to be printed. Among them, the metamaterial has a plurality of pattern units arranged periodically, and the diameter and / or side length of each pattern unit is the periodic unit size. Step 12 is to adjust the optical imaging size according to the periodic unit size of the metamaterial. Step 13 is to slice the model to be printed to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculate a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices. Step 14 is to traverse a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices and perform exposure and curing.

[0044] exist Figure 1Based on the printing method 10 shown, each slice layer can be further exposed and cured on the exposure platform. When such a method is adopted, preferably, the step of adjusting the optical imaging size in step 12 specifically includes adjusting the focal length and / or object distance of the lens relative to the exposure platform.

[0045] Specifically, during the implementation of the printing method 10, the number of exposures of each slice of the model to be printed is determined according to the number of multiple scanning position coordinates of each slice. Preferably, for the model to be printed, at least some of the slices of the two or more slices include pattern-covered areas and pattern-uncovered areas, wherein the multiple scanning position coordinates in the above step 13 are only from the pattern-covered areas. Exemplarily, Figure 3 and Figure 4 as well as Figure 5 and Figure 6 Two single-layer structures of metamaterials printed and their local enlarged structures applicable to the printing method 10 are shown respectively. Specifically, Figure 4 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of each pattern unit of the metamaterial shown, Figure 6 for Figure 5 Schematic diagram of a single pattern unit of the metamaterial shown. Figure 3 and Figure 5 The corresponding metamaterial period unit size 31 and period unit size 51 are shown respectively. It should be noted that Figure 3~Figure 7 The blank area in the figure indicates the area covered by the pattern, and the black line area indicates the area not covered by the pattern.

[0046] Furthermore, in the present application, each pattern unit of the metamaterial also has a minimum characteristic size, which is the size of the smallest gap in the pattern coverage area of ​​each pattern unit, and the minimum characteristic size does not exceed 100 μm. Specifically, Figure 4 and Figure 6 The minimum feature size 41 and the minimum feature size 61 of each pattern unit of the corresponding metamaterial are respectively shown, and the minimum feature size 41 and the minimum feature size 61 do not exceed 100 μm.

[0047] It can be seen from the above-mentioned embodiments that in the preferred embodiment of the printing method 10, the pattern coverage area and the pattern uncovered area are first defined, and on this basis, the scanning position coordinates are set in the pattern coverage area. Exemplarily, the finer position and number of specific scanning position coordinates can be determined based on other components of the printing device that affect the printing fineness during actual printing. Regardless of whether more or fewer scanning position coordinates are selected in the pattern coverage area, compared with the traditional method for metamaterial three-dimensional printing, all position points (i.e., all position points including the pattern coverage area and the pattern uncovered area) are no longer mechanically traversed and displaced, but the exposure printing is concentrated on the scanning position coordinates of the pattern coverage area, thereby improving the printing efficiency.

[0048] by Figure 4 For example, if the pattern unit includes a total of 64 sub-pixel points, when the related traditional technology uses a mask method such as liquid crystal to traverse and expose, it will traverse the 64 sub-pixel points in sequence, and at the same time control the exposure in the pattern-covered area (blank area) and the pattern-uncovered area (black line area) not to be exposed. In contrast, the present application first designs the scanning position coordinates and removes the mask structure such as liquid crystal, so that when scanning and printing, it only needs to traverse a total of 40 sub-pixel points in the pattern-covered area (blank area) in sequence, which significantly improves the printing efficiency. On this basis, since the metamaterial structure has a periodic pattern, the scanning position coordinates for printing exposure in each pattern unit are the same during each printing exposure. Therefore, the above method can improve efficiency while ensuring printing accuracy and reliability.

[0049] For more details, see Figure 7 , which shows that Figure 4 The schematic diagram of the numbering of the pattern units after the scanning position coordinates are determined is shown in FIG. Figure 7 , which shows a total of 40 sub-pixel points 1 to 40, that is, 40 scanning position coordinates. Combined with the previous description, after adopting the solution of the present application, the method of scanning all 64 sub-pixel points of the pattern unit is reduced to only traversing the 40 sub-pixel points with numbers in the blank area. In the traditional method, for the numbers of randomly given sub-pixel points (i.e., scanning position coordinates), generally, each scanning position coordinate is traversed in sequence in the order of numbers 1 to 40. Although this method has improved the printing efficiency compared to traversing all 64 points, it can be further optimized.

[0050] On this basis, a preferred embodiment of the present application further proposes that the moving path M traversing multiple scanning position coordinates on each slice layer can be determined by the following formula:

[0051] ,

[0052] Where n is the total number of multiple scanning position coordinates. Figure 7 In the embodiment shown, n=40. Specifically, multiple scanning position coordinates 1-40 (the numbers 1-40 here can be understood as the numbers of the scanning position coordinates, but not the coordinates themselves) correspond to multiple states one by one, that is, in this embodiment, there are 40 states, where k represents the kth state, The selected state for the kth state Arrangement method, For The adjacent k+1th state selected Arrangement method, It represents the increase in the moving distance of the k scanning position coordinates when changing from the kth state to the k+1th state.

[0053] The kth state includes the positions of k sub-pixels. For example, there are three scanning positions P1, P2, and P3. When k=1, Including 1 sub-pixel, A1 includes 3 arrangements, namely ={P1}, ={P2}, ={P3}; when k=2, Including 2 sub-pixels, A2 includes 6 arrangements, namely: ={P1,P2}, ={P1,P3}, ={P2,P1}, ={P2,P3}, ={P3,P1}, ={P3,P2}; when k=3, Including 3 sub-pixels, A3 includes 6 arrangements, namely: ={P1,P2,P3}, ={P1,P3,P2}, ={P2,P1,P3}, ={P2,P3,P1}, ={P3,P1,P2}, ={P3,P2,P1}. According to these examples, when calculating the distance increase L k hour, = the distance between P1 and P2, = the distance between P1 and P2, = the distance between P1 and P3, = infinity. The corresponding arrangements of more scanning positions can be deduced in the same way.

[0054] More specifically, since the above method uses a method of traversing multiple scanning position coordinates 1 to 40, it is considered that each time a sub-pixel point is traversed, the state number is +1. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is considered that there are 40 states, and each state corresponds to each scanning position coordinate one by one.

[0055] On this basis, for any given current state, the possibility of changing from the current state to the next state during the printing process can be enumerated by, for example, exhaustive method to list multiple permutations corresponding to different movement strategies. For example, the current state is state 1, and state 1 can be freely selected from 40 sub-pixels, that is, corresponding to 40 possibilities; and when changing from state 1 to state 2, for each possible sub-pixel corresponding to state 1, there are 39 possible permutations corresponding to different movement strategies. For example, if the sub-pixel corresponding to state 1 is selected as 37 in the lower left corner, then when changing from the current state 1 to state 2, there can be 37-38, 37-31, 37-32... and a total of 39 permutations. For each sub-pixel that may correspond to state 1, such as 1 in the upper left corner, 40 in the lower right corner, or numbers 22 and 23 in the middle, etc., 39 permutations can be listed, so there are a total of 40x39=1560 permutations. Combined with the final calculation results (i.e., the sum of the shortest distances) generated by the different arrangements of the subsequent states, one arrangement will be determined to be the optimal moving method among the above 1560 arrangements. That is, the calculation method of the above preferred moving path M is to calculate the optimal moving line distance among the multiple arrangements of different moving strategies between each two adjacent states, and it is considered that the moving line distance after traversing all 40 sub-pixel points is the shortest as the optimal moving path M. Therefore, for each state k, the Ak-th arrangement method among the multiple arrangements corresponding to its most preferred moving strategy can be determined, and the arrangements corresponding to each state are connected in series to obtain the optimal moving path M after algorithm optimization. The above optimization algorithm may produce different path results in combination with the different actual morphologies of the pattern units of each layer, so that the printing method of each layer of slices can be optimized. Compared with simply printing in sequence according to the numbers 1 to 40 of the scanning position coordinates, the above method can further improve the printing efficiency by 25% to 30%, with better technical effects.

[0056] To better understand the printing method 10, refer to Figure 2 The present application introduces a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing device 20 (hereinafter referred to as "printing device 20"), and the printing method 10 can be applied to the printing device 20. Figure 2The printing device includes a light source 21, a vibration plate 22, a microlens array 23, a lens 24, an exposure platform 25, and a host computer (not shown). Specifically, the vibration plate 22 is arranged in the light path of the light source 21, and the microlens array 23 is located on the vibration plate. In this embodiment, a connecting optical path system 26 of the printing device 20 is also shown, which is located between the light source 21 and the microlens array 23. The connecting optical path system 26 is configured to perform uniform light adjustment on the light emitted by the light source 21. Further, Figure 2 It is shown that the lens 24 is located on the side of the vibration plate 22 away from the light source 21 and is aligned with the exposure platform 25, that is, the exposure platform 25 is located on the side of the lens 24 away from the vibration plate 22, and the exposure platform 25 is suitable for receiving exposure light from the light source 21 and carrying the exposed and cured model to be printed.

[0057] In order to better control the printing of the metamaterial by the printing device 20, in particular, Figure 1 The printing method 10 shown in the figure is used for printing, and the printing device 20 also includes a host computer (not shown) that can realize the function of calculating and issuing control instructions. The host computer is configured to determine the periodic unit size of the metamaterial used in the model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has a plurality of pattern units arranged periodically, and the diameter and / or side length of each pattern unit is the periodic unit size (for details, please refer to the above reference Figure 3 and Figure 5 ); slicing the model to be printed to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculating multiple scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices; and issuing a displacement instruction to the vibration plate 22 so that the vibration plate 22 drives the microlens array 23 to traverse and move according to the multiple scanning position coordinates, and at the same time issuing an exposure instruction to the light source 21 so that the light source 21 exposes when the vibration plate 22 drives the microlens array 23 to move to the multiple scanning position coordinates, so that each layer of slices is solidified on the exposure platform 25.

[0058] In this embodiment, the printing device 20 preferably further comprises a displacement control circuit connected to the vibration plate 22, and the displacement control circuit is adapted to receive a displacement instruction from the host computer to control the vibration plate to perform traversal movement, thereby driving the microlens array 23 to perform traversal movement according to a plurality of scanning position coordinates. Further specifically, the displacement control circuit may be specifically implemented as including the following corresponding components: Figure 2 As shown, there are two piezoelectric ceramics in the x-direction and the y-direction perpendicular to each other. Such a displacement control circuit is configured as follows: after receiving a displacement instruction from a host computer, the vibration plate 22 is controlled to move traversally through the two piezoelectric ceramics.

[0059] Preferably, for a preferred embodiment, before starting printing, the host computer is also configured to, according to the periodic unit size of the metamaterial (e.g. Figure 3 The period unit size 31 shown and Figure 5The periodic unit size 51) shown in the figure sends an optical imaging size adjustment instruction to the lens 24, so that the lens 24 adjusts the focal length and / or object distance relative to the exposure platform 25 according to the optical imaging size adjustment instruction.

[0060] As previously mentioned Figure 3~Figure 6 As described, for the printing device 20, at least part of the slices of two or more layers of the slices in the to-be-printed model printed by the printing device 20 include pattern-covered areas and pattern-uncovered areas, wherein when the printing device 20 performs exposure printing of each layer, the plurality of scanning position coordinates are only from the pattern-covered areas. Figure 4 and Figure 6 , each pattern unit of the metamaterial also has a minimum feature size, the minimum feature size is the minimum gap size of the pattern coverage area in each pattern unit, and the minimum feature size does not exceed 100μm.

[0061] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, compared with some other three-dimensional printing devices in the conventional technology, only the microlens array 23 is arranged on the vibration plate 22, and no other structures such as the liquid crystal screen are added. Specifically, this embodiment adopts a method of precalculating the scanning position coordinates and allowing each microlens unit to scan more pattern units at the same time for printing. In this way, not only the printing exposure efficiency can be improved, but also the cost can be further saved.

[0062] According to the traditional method compared with the present application, the metamaterial structural features are printed, usually in the form of liquid crystal (mask) + microlens array. The present application improves the device structure to only arrange the microlens array on the vibration disk 22, thereby reducing the equipment cost, and is more efficiently applicable to the tiny periodic change structure of the metamaterial, and the imaging effect is better. In particular, the existing sub-pixel micro-scanning technology causes a certain scattering of light due to the presence of the mask (liquid crystal), which limits the minimum reduction ratio of a single light spot (pixel point), thereby limiting the format without reducing the accuracy. In the solution of the present application, since the mask is removed, the spot size can be further reduced, and the format can be increased without changing the accuracy. Specifically, referring to Figure 2 , which shows the format size 200 that can be achieved by the printing device 20, which is the format size when the exposure is cured once. Figure 2 The x- and y-dimensions are shown.

[0063] As a further understanding of this effect, Figure 3Taking the metamaterial structure shown as an example, it exemplarily shows the format size 301 using the traditional mask method and the format size 302 when the improved implementation scheme of the present application is used for one exposure and curing. It can be seen that the size of a single spot of the liquid crystal mask is further reduced due to the removal of the liquid crystal mask, so that the format size can be significantly improved, thereby further improving the printing exposure efficiency. As a further understanding, if the traditional method is adopted, for example, the printing imaging principle is understood as a single microlens corresponding to the processing of a pattern unit, then in the improved implementation method of the present application, due to the reduction of the single spot size, a single microlens can process more pattern units, thereby improving the printing efficiency. As described above, due to the periodic pattern structure characteristics of the metamaterial, the scanning position coordinates of the pattern coverage area in each pattern unit are the same. Under such a premise, by removing the mask and increasing the format area of ​​single exposure and curing, the printing exposure efficiency can be further effectively improved.

[0064] The present application also proposes a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing control system, which is suitable for a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing device. The large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing device includes a light source; a vibration disk, which is arranged in the light path of the light source; a micro-lens array, which is located on the vibration disk; a lens, which is located on the side of the vibration disk away from the light source; an exposure platform, which is located on the side of the lens away from the vibration disk, and the exposure platform is suitable for receiving exposure light from the light source and carrying a model to be printed after exposure and curing. The above-mentioned features of the scanning printing device can be referred to in the previous article according to Figure 2 Description of the printing device 20. On this basis, the large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning control system includes: a memory for storing instructions that can be executed by a processor; and a processor for executing instructions to implement the following method: determining the periodic unit size of the metamaterial used for the model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has periodically arranged pattern units, and the diameter and / or side length of each pattern unit is the periodic unit size; slicing the model to be printed to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculating multiple scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices; and issuing a displacement instruction to the vibration disk so that the vibration disk drives the microlens array to traverse and move according to multiple scanning position coordinates, and at the same time issuing an exposure instruction to the light source so that the light source exposes when the vibration disk drives the microlens array to move to multiple scanning position coordinates, so that each layer of slices is solidified on the exposure platform. On this basis, the above method can also be adjusted according to the description of the printing method 10 and its preferred variant embodiments described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0065] As a specific implementation of the large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing control system described above, an embodiment of the present application further proposes a method such as Figure 8 The control system 70 shown. Figure 8The control system 70 may include an internal communication bus 71 , a processor 72 , a read-only memory (ROM) 73 , a random access memory (RAM) 74 , and a communication port 75 . When applied to a personal computer, the control system 70 may further include a hard disk 76 .

[0066] The internal communication bus 71 can realize data communication between components of the control system 70. The processor 72 can make judgments and issue prompts. In some embodiments, the processor 72 can be composed of one or more processors. The communication port 75 can realize data communication between the control system 70 and the outside. In some embodiments, the control system 70 can send and receive information and data from the network through the communication port 75.

[0067] The control system 70 may also include different forms of program storage units and data storage units, such as a hard disk 76, a read-only memory (ROM) 73 and a random access memory (RAM) 74, which can store various data files used for computer processing and / or communication, as well as possible program instructions executed by the processor 72. The processor executes these instructions to implement the main part of the method. The results processed by the processor are transmitted to the user device through the communication port and displayed on the user interface.

[0068] The basic concepts have been described above. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, the above application disclosure is only an example and does not constitute a limitation of the present application. Although not explicitly stated herein, those skilled in the art may make various modifications, improvements and amendments to the present application. Such modifications, improvements and amendments are suggested in the present application, so such modifications, improvements and amendments still belong to the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present application.

[0069] At the same time, the present application uses specific words to describe the embodiments of the present application. For example, "one embodiment", "an embodiment", and / or "some embodiments" refer to a certain feature, structure or characteristic related to at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, it should be emphasized and noted that "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" mentioned twice or more in different positions in this specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, some features, structures or characteristics in one or more embodiments of the present application can be appropriately combined.

[0070] Some aspects of the present application may be performed entirely by hardware, entirely by software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.), or by a combination of hardware and software. The above hardware or software may be referred to as "data blocks", "modules", "engines", "units", "components" or "systems". The processor may be one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DAPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or combinations thereof. In addition, various aspects of the present application may be represented as computer products located in one or more computer-readable media, which include computer-readable program codes. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, tapes ...), optical disks (e.g., compact disks CDs, digital versatile disks DVDs ...), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks, key drives ...).

[0071] A computer-readable medium may include a propagated data signal containing computer program code, such as in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The propagated signal may have a variety of manifestations, including electromagnetic, optical, etc., or a suitable combination. A computer-readable medium may be any computer-readable medium other than a computer-readable storage medium, which may be connected to an instruction execution system, device or apparatus to communicate, propagate or transmit a program for use. The program code on the computer-readable medium may be propagated via any suitable medium, including radio, cable, fiber optic cable, radio frequency signal, or similar medium, or any combination of the above mediums.

[0072] Similarly, it should be noted that in order to simplify the description of the disclosure of this application and thus help understand one or more application embodiments, in the above description of the embodiments of this application, multiple features are sometimes merged into one embodiment, figure or description thereof. However, this disclosure method does not mean that the features required by the object of this application are more than the features mentioned in the claims. In fact, the features of the embodiments are less than all the features of the single embodiment disclosed above.

[0073] In some embodiments, numbers describing the number of components and attributes are used. It should be understood that such numbers used for the description of the embodiments are modified by the modifiers "about", "approximately" or "substantially" in some examples. Unless otherwise specified, "about", "approximately" or "substantially" indicate that the numbers are allowed to vary by ±20%. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters used in the specification and claims are approximate values, which can be changed according to the required features of individual embodiments. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should take into account the specified significant digits and adopt the method of general digit retention. Although the numerical domains and parameters used to confirm the breadth of the range in some embodiments of the present application are approximate values, in specific embodiments, the setting of such numerical values ​​is as accurate as possible within the feasible range.

[0074] Although the present application has been described with reference to the current specific embodiments, ordinary technicians in this technical field should recognize that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present application, and various equivalent changes or substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit of the present application. Therefore, as long as the changes and modifications to the above embodiments are within the essential spirit of the present application, they will fall within the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing method, characterized in that: include: Determining a periodic unit size of a metamaterial used in a model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has a plurality of periodically arranged pattern units, and a diameter and / or side length of each of the pattern units is the periodic unit size; Adjusting the optical imaging size according to the periodic unit size of the metamaterial; Slicing the to-be-printed model to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculating a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices; and Traversing the plurality of scanning position coordinates on each slice layer and performing exposure and curing; wherein at least some of the slices in the two or more slices include a pattern-covered area and a pattern-uncovered area, and wherein the plurality of scanning position coordinates are only from the pattern-covered area; The method further includes determining a moving path M traversing the plurality of scanning position coordinates on each slice layer by the following formula: , Wherein, n is the total number of the plurality of scanning position coordinates, the plurality of scanning position coordinates correspond one-to-one to the plurality of states, k represents the kth state, The selected state for the kth state Arrangement method, For The adjacent k+1th state selected Arrangement method, It represents the increase in the moving distance of the k scanning position coordinates when changing from the kth state to the k+1th state.

2. The printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method also includes exposing and curing each layer of the slices on an exposure platform.

3. The printing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step of adjusting the optical imaging size includes: adjusting the focal length and / or object distance of the lens relative to the exposure platform.

4. The printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of exposures of each slice layer of the to-be-printed model is determined according to the number of the plurality of scanning position coordinates of each slice layer.

5. The printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the pattern units also has a minimum feature size, which is the size of the smallest gap in the pattern coverage area of ​​each of the pattern units, and the minimum feature size does not exceed 100 μm.

6. A large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing device, characterized in that: include: light source; A vibration plate, arranged in the light path of the light source; A microlens array is located on the vibration disk; A lens is located on a side of the vibration plate away from the light source; An exposure platform, located on a side of the lens away from the vibration plate, the exposure platform is suitable for receiving exposure light from the light source and carrying the exposed and cured model to be printed; as well as The host computer is configured as follows: Determining a periodic unit size of a metamaterial used in a model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has a plurality of periodically arranged pattern units, and a diameter and / or side length of each of the pattern units is the periodic unit size; Slicing the to-be-printed model to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculating a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices; and Sending a displacement instruction to the vibration plate so that the vibration plate drives the microlens array to traverse and move according to the plurality of scanning position coordinates, and sending an exposure instruction to the light source so that the light source performs exposure when the vibration plate drives the microlens array to move to the plurality of scanning position coordinates, so that each layer of slices is solidified on the exposure platform; wherein at least some of the slices in the two or more slices include a pattern-covered area and a pattern-uncovered area, and wherein the plurality of scanning position coordinates are only from the pattern-covered area; The host computer is also configured to determine a moving path M that traverses the multiple scanning position coordinates on each slice layer by the following formula: , Wherein, n is the total number of the plurality of scanning position coordinates, the plurality of scanning position coordinates correspond one-to-one to the plurality of states, k represents the kth state, The selected state for the kth state Arrangement method, For The adjacent k+1th state selected Arrangement method, It represents the increase in the moving distance of the k scanning position coordinates when changing from the kth state to the k+1th state.

7. The printing device according to claim 6, characterized in that It also includes a connecting optical path system located between the light source and the microlens array, and the connecting optical path system is configured to perform light homogenization adjustment on the light emitted by the light source.

8. The printing device according to claim 6, characterized in that It also includes a displacement control circuit connected to the vibration plate, and the displacement control circuit is suitable for receiving the displacement instruction from the host computer to control the vibration plate to perform the traversal movement, thereby driving the microlens array to perform the traversal movement according to the multiple scanning position coordinates.

9. The printing device according to claim 8, characterized in that The displacement control circuit also includes two piezoelectric ceramics corresponding to the x direction and y direction perpendicular to each other. The displacement control circuit is configured to control the vibration plate to perform the traversal movement through the two piezoelectric ceramics after receiving the displacement instruction from the host computer.

10. The printing device according to claim 6, characterized in that The host computer is further configured to send an optical imaging size adjustment instruction to the lens according to the periodic unit size of the metamaterial, so that the lens adjusts the focal length and / or object distance relative to the exposure platform according to the optical imaging size adjustment instruction.

11. The printing device according to claim 6, characterized in that Each of the pattern units also has a minimum feature size, which is the minimum gap size of the pattern coverage area in each of the pattern units, and the minimum feature size does not exceed 100 μm.

12. A large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing control system, applicable to a large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning device, the large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning printing device comprising a light source; a vibration disk, arranged in the light path of the light source; a micro-lens array, located on the vibration disk; The lens is located on the side of the vibration plate away from the light source; the exposure platform is located on the side of the lens away from the vibration plate, and the exposure platform is suitable for receiving exposure light from the light source and carrying the exposed and cured model to be printed, characterized in that: The large-format sub-pixel micro-scanning control system comprises: A memory for storing instructions executable by a processor; and a processor for executing the instructions to implement the following method: Determining a periodic unit size of a metamaterial used in a model to be printed, wherein the metamaterial has periodically arranged pattern units, and a diameter and / or side length of each of the pattern units is the periodic unit size; Slicing the to-be-printed model to obtain two or more layers of slices, and calculating a plurality of scanning position coordinates on each layer of slices, wherein at least some of the layer slices in the two or more layers of slices include pattern-covered areas and pattern-uncovered areas, and wherein the plurality of scanning position coordinates are only from the pattern-covered areas; and Sending a displacement instruction to the vibration plate so that the vibration plate drives the microlens array to traverse and move according to the plurality of scanning position coordinates, and sending an exposure instruction to the light source so that the light source performs exposure when the vibration plate drives the microlens array to move to the plurality of scanning position coordinates, so that each layer of slices is solidified on the exposure platform; The processor is further configured to execute the instruction to implement the following method, and determine the moving path M traversing the multiple scanning position coordinates on each slice layer by the following formula: , Wherein, n is the total number of the plurality of scanning position coordinates, the plurality of scanning position coordinates correspond one-to-one to the plurality of states, k represents the kth state, The selected state for the kth state Arrangement method, For The adjacent k+1th state selected Arrangement method, It represents the increase in the moving distance of the k scanning position coordinates when changing from the kth state to the k+1th state.

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