Analytical device for monitoring the state of a protective glass of a manufacturing facility, and manufacturing facility for an additive manufacturing process

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatable manufacturing facility 1 based on optical interactions, in particular a manufacturing facility for a selective laser melting process (“selective laser melting”, SLM), and an integrated analyzable device integrated into the manufacturing facility 1 for determining the state of deterioration, aging, and / or contamination of one or more protective glasses 10 assigned to the manufacturing facility by optical detection and analysis of the target plane assigned to the manufacturing facility. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a manufacturing system for the automatic manufacture of workpieces 26 based on the irradiation of optical raw materials 18, which can evaluate the state and / or remaining lifetime of the corresponding protective glass 10 by signal exchange between the manufacturing system and an integrated analyzer D.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an automated manufacturing facility based on optical interaction, in particular a manufacturing facility for a selective laser melting process ("selective laser melting", SLM), and an integrated analysis device configured to determine the deterioration, aging, and / or contamination state of one or more protective glasses integrated into the manufacturing facility by optical detection and analysis of a target plane assigned to the manufacturing facility. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a manufacturing system for the automated production of workpieces based on the irradiation of optical raw materials, and to a manufacturing system capable of evaluating the state and / or remaining life of a corresponding protective glass by signal exchange between the manufacturing system and an integrated analysis device.

Background Art

[0002] Background of the Invention As current working processes are becoming increasingly complex, and as a result, there is a demand for producing manufacturing facilities that are as precise, automated, and extensive as possible, the manufacturing and processing of workpieces based on optical interaction processes have been established.

[0003] Here, for example, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities based on optical interaction such as selective laser melting, such as laser-induced manufacturing facilities and / or facilities based on additive manufacturing processes, usually comprise one or more high-intensity light sources in combination with a large number of finely adjustable and automatically controllable optical elements (lenses, mirrors, filters, etc.), so that the manufacturing facility can generate a concentrated and focused light beam aimed at a given manufacturing location, thereby enabling the plastic deformation of a given workpiece or corresponding raw material. As an example, a manufacturing facility using a selective laser melting procedure can comprise at least a laser light source configured by an optically assisted software system to concentrate a bundle of laser light beams onto a powder layer of the raw material to be processed, thus enabling a very effective three-dimensional manufacturing process capable of creating local layer-by-layer fusions within the above-mentioned material.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, despite the continuous further development of such manufacturing systems, in most of such systems, the components necessary for sending the above-described optical processing beam can be contaminated and damaged due to contamination or processing residues generated during the manufacturing process, and as a result, there remains a problem that the illumination accuracy decreases, and thus the quality of the generated workpieces decreases. In this regard, in order to protect such components, the manufacturing system usually includes at least an additional (e.g., translucent) protective glass, which is generally disposed between the light guiding optical system or each light source and the operating position used to manufacture each workpiece, and thus is inevitably in contact with the above-described process emissions. Here, contamination or damage to the protective glass brings in further various problems. On the one hand, fogging of the protective glass occurs, which has an adverse effect on the above-described manufacturing optical path, and for example, the intensity of the processed light beam may decrease. Further, individual light scattering events occurring in the contaminated area or damaged area may cause a shift in the beam profile, and as a result, not only does quality variation in the manufacturing line become apparent, but the energy of the light source deflected or absorbed in this way may also cause further damage (e.g., melting, cracking, or chipping) to the protective glass. Therefore, for manufacturing equipment based on optical interaction, it is important to develop an accurate analysis mechanism for identifying abnormal states such as contamination and damage states, which provides an evaluation of the level of contamination or deterioration of the protective glass installed in the manufacturing equipment, and an analysis mechanism capable of integrating such an evaluation function into the manufacturing equipment as non-invasively and efficiently as possible.

[0005] Here, as an example, the content of German Patent Application Publication No. 102014203798 relates to a method for monitoring the contamination and / or damage state of a protective glass of a laser processing head attached to a robot, and the robot is configured to move the laser processing head into the field of view of a camera device arranged immovably.

[0006] However, each of the general methods and devices has the problem that it cannot directly predict the degree of contamination of the protective glass due to merely passive measurement techniques (usually, each method measures the effects resulting from contamination but not the contamination itself), and can only predict the corresponding optical properties of the glass that are also affected by other causes of the glass material (such as bending, aging treatment). Furthermore, known devices cannot locally identify the accumulation of contamination in a given protective glass (since the scattered light measured can potentially result from any area of the exposed area), and the measurement of scattered light generally requires a specially designed system arrangement to enable a consistent and accurate output, and usually cannot be made integratable with existing manufacturing equipment.

[0007] One object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing facility for an additive manufacturing process, which is an optimized manufacturing facility capable of achieving an improvement in manufacturing quality. Further, an object of the present invention is to provide an integrated analyzer capable of efficiently monitoring the state of the manufacturing facility and to provide a manufacturing process for the optimized production of workpieces by additive manufacturing. Further, a further object of the present invention is to eliminate the aforementioned problems of the prior art, in particular to detect the state of one or more protective glasses of a manufacturing facility based on optical interaction, in particular the state of contamination, degradation, and / or aging, and to provide an analyzer capable of detecting even local changes in the glass state such as individual contamination and / or damage structures, and thus being able to more accurately and effectively evaluate the level of contamination, degradation, or aging. Further, an object of the present invention is to be easily integrated into the process flow of an existing manufacturing facility and to use the additional information obtained by the localization of the above-mentioned state for the determination of predetermined evaluation parameters and for the monitoring and prediction of the timing of cleaning and / or replacement that can be carried out for each protective glass.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] Detailed Description of the Invention To solve the above problems, the features of the independent claims are proposed. The dependent claims relate to preferred embodiments of the present invention.

[0009] The analysis device of the present invention, in this specification, preferably comprises at least one optical sensor device for detecting a target plane related to one or more protective glasses of a manufacturing facility (i.e., which may be directly located on the protective glass), and preferably an illumination device for illuminating each target plane detected by the sensor device. The optical sensor device and the illumination device are preferably configured to detect the state of the existing protective glass by illuminating, by means of the illumination device, structures occurring on the protective glass such as, in particular, contamination, deterioration, or aging structures (for example, contamination is not only process by-products such as smoke particles and melt, but also residues of improper cleaning such as streaks, fibers, and / or (dust) particles, and deterioration is signs of aging such as scratches, chips, burns, or damage to the coating, as well as discoloration within the protective glass), and then identifying the position of said structures with the help of the optical sensor device. Thus, the present analysis device can preferably directly and spatially identify abnormal conditions such as impurities and deterioration present on one or more protective glasses with the help of a first device (the optical sensor device), while a second device (the illumination device) can form at least a two-component device system capable of ensuring accurate and uniform illumination of the above-described structures in accordance with the requirements of the optical sensor device. Therefore, the present invention can determine the state of one or more protective glasses not by mere optical (and thus susceptible) secondary effects, but in particular by direct identification of the individual objects and / or anomalies seen on the protective glass, thus enabling the provision of an analysis device that realizes a more accurate and error-immune detection mechanism.

[0010] Furthermore, alternative embodiments contemplated for the present invention can include, among other things, further simplification of the above-described analyzer. For example, in addition to or instead of the above-described lighting device, it may be equally possible to use an external light source, such as a light source integrated within the assembly space of a corresponding manufacturing facility, for detecting an abnormality of the protective glass, thereby providing an even more compact and more easily integratable analyzer. Conversely, in another still preferred embodiment, the analyzer can be designed in such a way that it comprises at least, for example, only the above-described sensor device (i.e., does not include a lighting device), but can still analyze the state of each protective glass based on external lighting or by the sensor device itself alone.

[0011] The optical sensor device preferably may further comprise at least one optical sensor element, such as a photodiode, a CCD sensor, a CMOS sensor, or a sensor system connected to an optical sensor, and these can be combined with a correspondingly controllable optical system, such as a condenser or scattering lens, a mirror, or an optical filter, for detecting the above-described object plane, and thus, depending on the optical characteristics of the above-described elements, can be focused on at least any three-dimensional point within each manufacturing system. Thus, in a preferred case, the detection of the object plane already described can be understood as a signal detection process in which signals emerging from the focal plane of the optical sensor device can be supplied to the respective sensor elements (image plane) and thus prepared and evaluated for subsequent process steps.

[0012] Therefore, based on these characteristics, the optical sensor device can be configured to generate at least a one-dimensional mapping of the detected object plane based on the signals described above. In a particularly preferred case, the optical sensor element of the optical sensor device can also be designed as an imaging sensor, in particular by implementing, for example, a sensor of single or multiple pixels and / or a combined scannable lens system. As a result, each point of the object plane detected by the optical sensor device can be identified as an element of an image that is spatially resolved, at least one-dimensional, and in a particularly preferred case mainly two-dimensional. As a result, depending on the selected orientation of the implemented optical system, the optical sensor device focuses on a preferably arbitrary plane (object plane) connected to one or more protective glasses, and thus it may be equally possible to reproduce the object plane as a one-dimensional or two-dimensional signal-dependent and spatially resolved image in the present invention.

[0013] Furthermore, in order to ensure the accurate identification of existing structures such as the above-mentioned contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structures seen on the corresponding protective glass, the above-mentioned object plane detected by the sensor device is preferably arranged parallel to the contaminated optical surface (in particular, located on the outer surface of the protective glass facing the manufacturing area), and in an even more preferred case, at the same (height) level, which can result in optimized image sharpness for the above-mentioned particle identification. However, as an alternative, it may also be possible to define several object planes, for example, at different heights or different cross-sectional axes of the protective glass, and approach these, preferably by automatically maneuvering (preferably one after another) the optical elements arranged in the sensor device, and use them for additional measurement data generation.

[0014] Therefore, in addition to the above-described two-dimensional images of contamination, degradation, and / or aging structures located on the protective glass, in the present invention, it is also possible to preferably generate a three-dimensional diagram of the above-described elements based on a large number of detected target planes, and there is an effect that additional information such as the shape or height of the structures accumulated on the protective glass can also be used for further analysis. Similarly, preferably, in order to enable the maximum resolution in individual detected images, for example, in a sensor device based on a pixel sensor, the optical sensor device can be configured to capture only individual local regions within a given plane so that the ratio of corresponding pixels to the image can be optionally increased further. For this purpose, the sensor device can also preferably be equipped with additional image enhancement mechanisms such as autofocus, dichroic filters, bandpass filters, or image processing means based on predetermined software, which can automatically adjust the sharpness (and thus the information content of the recorded image) both during and / or after the detection process, and thus enable optimal detection of the contamination state of the protective glass.

[0015] The signal detected by the optical sensor device may further be generated, as already described above, preferably by illuminating at least one target plane by an illumination device preferably implemented equally in the analysis device or an external light source. In particular, in a preferred embodiment, the illumination device can preferably send out a monochromatic or polychromatic light beam at a predetermined angle of incidence to the protective glass or the target plane related to the protective glass, and as a result, a corresponding signal mapping depending on the above-described structure can be generated by the interaction between the irradiated light and the contamination, degradation, and / or aging structures adhering to the protective glass.

[0016] Accordingly, in a first preferred embodiment, the lighting device may more preferably be arranged, in particular, as an incident light source directed towards the aforementioned sensor device. Accordingly, in this case, the lighting device may be configured to output and collide the generated light so as to illuminate at least one protective glass from the side facing the optical sensor device, so that, as a result, if the surface of the protective glass is completely clean or there are no defects, each illumination beam emitted from the lighting device can pass completely through the protective glass (i.e., without an essentially reflective interaction) and thus not change direction towards the optical sensor device. Accordingly, based on this configuration, the light emitted (naturally) from the lighting device can be effectively kept away from the optical sensor device, so that contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structures present within a given protective glass can be efficiently located and identified by using the scattered light generated by each structure as a sensor signal. As a result, the preferred detection process of the analyzer of this first embodiment can preferably include a process step of at least initially creating uniform illumination of the object plane (or, correspondingly, at least one protective glass) captured by the optical sensor device, but thereafter, contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structures adhering to the protective glass can be detected by using the light scattering pattern appearing as such within the system as a spatially resolved signal for locating the structure.

[0017] To further improve the aforementioned process, in addition to the illumination source such as LEDs, light diode systems, or lasers required for protective glass illumination, the lighting device can also include additional elements such as additional polarization, intensity, or color filters, condenser or scattering lenses, or capacitors suitable for beam homogenization (e.g., honeycomb capacitors), which can be preferentially combined with the illumination source and controlled automatically or manually. Further, in a preferred embodiment, the optical elements of the optical sensor device and the lighting device of the present invention may be configured to act in cooperation and be directed in such a way that elements of the other device (e.g., the optical sensor device) can be correspondingly adjusted according to the selected settings applied to one of each device (e.g., the lighting device). As an example, the lighting device can be configured to adjust the spectral bandwidth by changing the light intensity generated by the illumination source, for example, according to external parameters, or by introducing additional filters present in the lighting device, while the optical sensor device can similarly automatically add or remove filters or other optical elements in the optical sensor device in response to this to further improve the analysis conditions.

[0018] Furthermore, to further improve the lighting quality in the above-described detection process, the lighting device may be configured to illuminate each target plane either continuously or in a pulsed manner. Similarly, the lighting device may preferably be configured to efficiently adjust the respective incident angles of the light used for illumination, at least by mechanically changing the orientation of the corresponding lighting device. Similarly, several illumination sources or optical elements coupled to the latter may be provided, or, equivalently to the optical sensor device, only a predetermined partial region of the target plane to be detected may be illuminated by the lighting device, thereby enabling particularly high illumination intensities.

[0019] Furthermore, further embodiments of the lighting device can preferably also include the use of other types of lighting. For example, in a second preferred embodiment, the lighting device is configured to provide a transmitted light illumination process to detect contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structures on the protective glass, in contrast to the incident light process of the first embodiment described above. For this purpose, the lighting device may, in a particularly preferred case, be mounted on the side facing away from (preferably at a predetermined distance from) at least one optical sensor device of the protective glass. Thus, when the protective glass is in a state without defects or contamination, the generated illumination beam of the lighting device preferably reaches each of the respective protective glasses, transmits through without reflection, and can reach each of the individual pixels of the sensor device located behind this protective glass.

[0020] Thus, in this embodiment, it is similarly possible to detect individual contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structures on one or more protective glasses. In this case, the localization of the individual structures is not based on the scattered light emitted from each of the aforementioned elements, but rather, conversely, it is possible to perform it by detecting the loss of light intensity caused by this scattering event. Thus, the aforementioned embodiments of the lighting device not only differ in the arrangement of the lighting device itself, but in particular, in the first embodiment, the contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structures captured in the image by the optical sensor device appear as a pattern containing high intensity values compared to the intensity of the background of the captured image, while in the second embodiment, the detected image background usually shows large intensity values (due to the additionally detected transmitted light), and the intensity signal is significantly reduced at the locations where the aforementioned structures are suspected. Thus, both of the aforementioned embodiments can achieve an efficient and accurate method for identifying the state of the protective glass, while at the same time taking into account the preferred mounting positions of the elements used as well as the different types of lighting.

[0021] Furthermore, further embodiments of the exposure apparatus described above preferably introduce a light source disposed, for example, in a predetermined space in front of and behind a corresponding protective glass with respect to the position of the optical sensor device, attach the illumination device directly to the optical sensor device, or omit the illumination device and illuminate the protective glass only by an external illumination source such as installation light existing in the related manufacturing equipment, and may include a combination of the above-described types of illumination. Furthermore, in yet another embodiment specified as the third embodiment, the illumination device can preferably be attached laterally with respect to the glass surface of the corresponding protective glass (specifically, as LEDs disposed laterally toward the narrow side of each protective glass or disposed laterally in a ring shape), and as a result, radial illumination, i.e., illumination from the outside to the center of the protective glass, can also be realized compared to the aforementioned case. As a result, the latter type of illumination can bring the advantage of equally generating lateral illumination images of the respective required contamination, degradation, and / or aging structures, which can bring a more favorable effect regarding subsequent structural analysis.

[0022] Therefore, it is clear that the detection mechanism generated by the present analyzer can achieve an effective and at the same time accurate analysis of the state existing in at least one protective glass. Furthermore, it should be noted that the above-described simple design of the present analyzer consisting of only one or two device elements (the optical sensor device and optionally the illumination device) enables much more flexible adaptation to the respective conditions occurring in various production lines.

[0023] For example, due to the direct analysis of at least one protective glass by the sensor device (and thus independent of any element introduced into the manufacturing equipment), the analyzer of the present invention can also be designed as an analysis unit that can be integrated into an existing manufacturing device in a preferred case, which further enhances the technical value added to the present invention.

[0024] Thus, in the present invention, preferably, the above-described device elements of the analyzer can be incorporated into the configuration of each manufacturing facility based on optical interaction, particularly without interference.

[0025] For this purpose, the analyzer may preferably be configured to be integrated or arranged along the optical path formed by at least the manufacturing light source of the manufacturing facility. As a result, not only can a detection distance as short as possible be established between the above-described optical sensor device and at least one protective glass, but the corresponding free space existing within the manufacturing system can be made available for the integration of each device element. For example, due to the optical characteristics of the optical manufacturing elements defining the optical path and the resulting operating distance, recesses that are normally held for the purpose of beam manipulation (condensing, scattering, expanding, etc.) of the manufacturing light beam and thus may possibly be available for integrating additional devices may exist within the manufacturing system. Thus, in a particularly preferred case, the analyzer of the present invention can be configured to utilize the free space within the manufacturing facility, incorporate its existing device elements, and in particular at least the optical sensor device into the aforementioned free section to enable efficient and interference-free integration into the corresponding manufacturing process. As a result, the above-described arrangement of the claimed analyzer can provide the advantage that each optical sensor device can be arranged in a very space-saving manner and, with respect to the remaining manufacturing procedures, can preferably be arranged in an independent manner. Furthermore, the integration of the analyzer can provide additional protection from possible contamination and / or damage, so that the manufacturing process itself can be improved as well. As a result, in a particularly preferred embodiment, the optical sensor device of the present analyzer may be configured to be arranged between at least the light source and the protective glass of the manufacturing facility so as to effectively utilize the free space existing along the optical path of the manufacturing facility for efficiently integrating the analyzer into the manufacturing facility.

[0026] Furthermore, in a further preferred embodiment, the optical sensor device may be configured for this purpose to be integrated, preferably, between at least a light source and an optical manufacturing element of a manufacturing facility configured to modify the production light beam, and thus, in particular, the free space existing between the optical manufacturing elements can be effectively used. Similarly, in this case, it may be possible to integrate the optical sensor device into the optical path of the optical manufacturing element, preferably, for example, by implementing an additional mirror axis, so that, as a result, the existing parts of the manufacturing facility can also be effectively utilized for detecting the protective glass and / or the associated target plane by the sensor device.

[0027] Alternatively, in a further preferred embodiment, the optical sensor device may be further configured to be disposed, in particular, between the above-described optical manufacturing element of the manufacturing facility and at least one protective glass. Thus, for this purpose, the optical sensor device may be configured to be disposed within the free space of the manufacturing facility used to finally focus the production light beam onto the production material, which results in the effect that the sensor device can analyze the protective glass directly, i.e., without the help of additional optical systems existing within the manufacturing facility. In this regard, the sensor device in this embodiment can have the particular advantage of realizing an accurate and independent detection of the conditions that may exist in the protective glass by directly measuring one or more protective glasses.

[0028] Furthermore, as already described above, the lighting device of the present analysis device may preferably be configured to be disposed at one of the aforementioned positions or free spaces of the manufacturing facility. Preferably, the lighting device may be provided in the free space where the sensor device also exists, in particular, such that each analysis device as a whole, i.e., as a single physically distinguishable object, can be preferentially integrated into the manufacturing facility.

[0029] The exact arrangement of the corresponding device elements of this analysis device can, on the one hand, be adjusted according to the configuration of each manufacturing facility to be equipped in order to ensure the functions in various manufacturing facilities. However, this arrangement can preferably be realized at least by additional mechanical structures (such as adjustable springs, rails, or angular mechanisms) attached to the device elements, bringing the possibility of arbitrarily moving the device elements further and / or changing their orientation as required. Furthermore, in order to ensure the highest possible safety and inspection quality, the aforementioned device elements are preferably permanently, perhaps displaceably, attached to additional structures installed in the manufacturing facility such as a framework structure so as to be able to minimize any influence that affects the analysis device and degrades its process quality.

[0030] Furthermore, in a particularly preferred embodiment, the analysis device can for this purpose be provided with at least one independent protective housing capable of accommodating an optical sensor device and / or an illumination device, and this protective housing can also be configured to protect the latter from process emissions such as dust, fumes, or material residues generated within the manufacturing facility. Therefore, the aforementioned protective housing can preferably be configured to form an inert space and preferably surround at least the side of the aforementioned device elements, and in a particularly preferred embodiment, even more completely (i.e., from all sides).

[0031] On the one hand, the determination of the state of each of the one or more protective glasses inspected by the analysis device can preferably be facilitated by evaluating information generated by the optical sensor device, signal values or intensity values of the aforementioned images of the respective object planes related to the detected protective glasses, and the like.

[0032] In this regard, the analysis device may preferably be configured to transfer the above-described information to a storage device provided in and connected to the sensor device as a digital information file at least initially, so that the information can be stored permanently or for a predetermined period and made available for further evaluation processes. Here, the communication between the sensor device and the storage device may be established, for example, via a physical connection such as a cable or a direct integration of the storage device (e.g., by implementing the storage device as an integrated memory chip or a hard disk), or by wireless communication such as Bluetooth, W-LAN, or infrared signaling, so that extremely efficient data transfer can be enabled at any time depending on the selected embodiment.

[0033] To further evaluate the information file stored in this way, in a first embodiment, the analysis device may be configured to enable at least a manual evaluation of the current state of the protective glass by an existing skilled staff by transmitting a predetermined component of the current information or information acquired or processed in the past to a preferably optical output unit such as a display screen existing in the manufacturing facility. Thus, as an example, in the case of a sensor device that generates an image, an image of the detected object plane generated by the optical sensor device (and thus the state (of contamination, damage, and / or aging) visible therein) may be generated as at least a two-dimensional visual image in the output unit, which can later be used to estimate the current state of the protective glass by evaluation by a skilled staff or an automated evaluation by a corresponding computer program. Similarly, the output unit may preferably be configured to receive various recording steps and / or information data from time and present the corresponding temporal evolution or change of the recorded and / or selected signals to a skilled staff.

[0034] Furthermore, in a further embodiment, the analysis device may, instead of or in addition to the above-described output device configured to output the recorded information for manual analysis, preferably comprise at least one evaluation unit used for the automatic evaluation of the above-described information. Here, the evaluation unit itself may preferably be designed as an independent computing unit, such as a processor connected to other device elements present in the analysis device, for example, and in particular, may be configured to evaluate the state of the protective glass using the information generated by the sensor device and by calculation instructions implemented and / or programmed in each evaluation unit.

[0035] For this purpose, in a preferred case, the evaluation unit may be connected at least similarly to the aforementioned storage device of the analysis device, thereby enabling the analysis device to access the information data stored in the storage device and providing the possibility of incorporating both the information captured at the current time and the information generated by previous analysis processes into subsequent evaluation processes. Furthermore, in a particularly preferred case, the evaluation unit may be configured to include other parameters within the process, such as information resulting from the generation of information files, such as predetermined thresholds, physical constants, or metadata, and in particular, may enable an evaluation mechanism based on complex and multiple conditions.

[0036] The evaluation process itself executed by the evaluation unit can at least include, preferentially and initially, a step of determining and outputting the degree of the state (hereinafter also referred to as "degree of deterioration", "degree of contamination", or "degree of aging deterioration") that defines the state of at least one protective glass, particularly the contamination, deterioration, and / or aging deterioration state seen in this glass, and this can be configured to represent the current state of one or more protective glasses and related indicators in a very simple manner. Therefore, in a preferred form, the degree of the state can be represented as a simple number, such as in a scale format from 1 to 100. In this case, a small (degree of state) number indicates that the current state of the protective glass is inferior, and a large number indicates that the current state of the protective glass is good, that is, preferably, without defects and / or in a high-quality state. Thereby, a given skilled staff can be effectively assisted in both the evaluation of the current protective glass state and the respective countermeasures (such as the execution of cleaning or replacement of at least one protective glass) to be taken regarding it by identifying the degree of the respective state of the output protective glass. Further, in addition to or instead of the above scale format, the degree of the state calculated by the analysis unit can also include more discrete information such as a declaration regarding a specific type of state of the protective glass (such as "physical deterioration of the protective glass", "a contamination layer is recognized", "streaks", etc.) and an evaluation given by the analysis device regarding the subsequent course of action (such as "continue the process", "cleaning is required", or "replacement of the protective glass is required"), whereby even an unskilled staff can identify the cause of the existing problem and efficiently initiate a further maintenance process.

[0037] Therefore, the determination and output of the degree of the above state by the analysis device can be used, in particular, to generate an automated and simultaneously easy-to-understand evaluation regarding the current state of at least one protective glass detected by the optical sensor device. As a result, on the one hand, the point in time when the protective glass needs to be restored / cleaned can be accurately estimated, and on the other hand, the quality of the above restoration process can be efficiently monitored to achieve a smooth and problem-free restart of each manufacturing facility. For example, the analysis device can check again the degree of the state of the processed protective glass, especially after the corresponding cleaning and / or replacement process of the protective glass, and issue discrete declarations (such as messages like "cleaning successful / complete", "there are still defects in the protective glass", "streak / damage detected", etc.) based on this check, so as to notify the current operator of the manufacturing facility of possible insufficient cleaning processes or obstacles (such as messages like "cleaning successful / complete", "there are still defects in the protective glass", "streak / damage detected", etc.) that occurred during each replacement of the protective glass, and it is also possible to further improve any process sequence executed within the manufacturing facility, resulting in the effect that it can be further improved.

[0038] The signal detected by the optical sensor device may further be generated, preferably as already described above, by illuminating at least the target plane by an illumination device mounted on the analysis device or an external light source. For this purpose, in a particularly preferred embodiment, the illumination device can emit monochromatic or polychromatic light at a predetermined incident angle on the protective glass or the target plane related to the protective glass, causing such an interaction between the light emitted by the illumination device and the contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structure adhering to the protective glass to form a signal field depending on the structure.

[0039] To determine the current state of the protective glass described above, or the degree of the state used for this purpose, the evaluation unit may further preferably extract and evaluate predetermined information from the signal values generated by the optical sensor device, and compare this information with a plurality of reference information stored in a storage device such as signal values from previous analysis processes or additional parameters already described above. As a result, the degree of each state can preferably be determined as a comparison value between the currently detected state of at least one protective glass and a previous time point, such as when the protective glass was in a state without deterioration and / or contamination. Here, for this purpose, in a particularly preferred embodiment, a predetermined information file can be stored in a storage device, for example, which can indicate the state of the protective glass immediately after installation in the manufacturing machine or after the cleaning process. Therefore, by adding this information, the evaluation unit can calculate the degree of the state as a comparison between the current state and the optimal state.

[0040] In addition, as information obtained from the optical sensor device and preferably used to determine the degree of the state, the evaluation unit may be configured to calculate the degree of the state based on at least the intensity values present in the image captured by the sensor device.

[0041] For example, in the first embodiment, the evaluation unit analyzes at least the intensity values in a given image of the sensor device and then forms a relative difference value between at least the above-described intensity values of the current image (e.g., by calculating an average value related to the image) and the intensity values of the previous protective glass state such as the above-described optimal state, so as to calculate the degree of the state to be determined. This can, in particular, generate a simple and efficient indicator of the contamination, degradation, or aging of a given protective glass due to a given correlation between the light intensity captured by the sensor device and the amount of contamination (i.e., the greater the influence of contamination / deterioration / aging, the greater the intensity difference caused by the scattering effect), and thus can be used for the calculation of the degree of the above-described state. Therefore, the determination of the degree of the state in this first embodiment can be provided by, at least, first calculating the above-described relative difference intensity value and then using additional process steps such as comparing the difference intensity value with a predetermined threshold value and / or implementing further parameters to convert the value into the degree of the state to be determined.

[0042] Furthermore, in a particularly preferred embodiment, the evaluation unit may be configured to include any two-dimensional information of the generated image provided by the imaging sensor device in the above-described calculation. For example, the evaluation unit can also use, in addition to or instead of the above-described intensity values, the number and / or size of the contamination, degradation, and / or aging structures shown in the image to determine the degree of the state, thereby generating an analysis process that is, in particular, independent of any optical values and thus appears more accurate compared to the state of the art.

[0043] For this purpose, the calculation of the degree of state according to the example of this second embodiment can, accordingly, initially include at least the detection of any structural contour or geometric shape located within each image, which may preferably also be performed as a function of the intensity values found within the image. Exemplarily, for this purpose, the detection process can extract the intensity values of the individual pixels of the image initially analyzed by the evaluation unit and then identify, as one of the above-described structural shapes, a coherent body such as an adjacent pixel group that includes a predetermined intensity value or exceeds a specific threshold value, including a segmentation step. Thus, with the additional information generated in this way (e.g., the pixel positions thus generated of the identified specific pixel group / structure or the pixels belonging to a specific intensity value), it is possible to generate an accurate representation of the size, geometric shape, or any agglomeration area of the contamination, deterioration, and / or aging degradation structures detected on each image, which can be incorporated into the calculation of the degree of state and thus enables a very accurate state assessment based on the direct, i.e., actually existing, characteristics of the protective glass.

[0044] Accordingly, based on these conditions, the evaluation unit may preferably be configured to integrate at least one of the above-described characteristics of the detected damage, deterioration, and / or aging degradation structures, in addition to or instead of, the above-described intensity values of the image, into the subsequent determination of the degree of state. For example, the degree of state may be defined, at least in part, as a function of the area occupied by the detected structure (preferably, with respect to the total area of the generated image), and as a result, the degree of state will qualitatively decrease as the extent of at least one of the protective glasses increases. Alternatively, for this purpose, the number of detected structures, their size, shape, or the structural density or position of the individual structures identified within the image may also be included in the calculation and combined with each other via various calculation methods such as predetermined weighting, and as a result, the final degree of state can also be understood as an evaluation of the various states occurring in at least one protective glass.

[0045] In this regard, the above-described two-dimensional identification process and the calculation of the degree of the state not only use, in particular, the effects that can be caused by contamination, deterioration, and / or aging of the protective glass itself, but also incorporate the explicit characteristics of structures (process emissions, damaged areas, local discoloration, etc.) located on one or more protective glasses, bringing the advantage that an automatable evaluation of the state of the protective glass that can identify a given protective glass state can be provided.

[0046] Furthermore, additional potential advantages can also arise from additional processes and / or analysis steps. For example, preferably, after the evaluation device identifies the position of the structure located on the protective glass, the structure can be labeled with a predetermined structure type (such as "dust residue", "stain deposit", "scratch", "crack", "discoloration", etc. by comparing the shape of the aforementioned structure), and then it may also be possible to adjust the output of the evaluation unit according to each analyzed structure type. For example, when a structure mainly as dust is recognized, the evaluation unit can generate an output for cleaning the protective glass, while when a large number of cracks are recognized, it can propose the replacement of each protective glass. Therefore, it is clear that more detailed analysis (and corresponding processing steps) can be realized by the additional two-dimensional information of at least one protective glass obtained with the help of the imaging sensor device.

[0047] Furthermore, in a particularly preferred embodiment, the evaluation device may be further configured to subdivide the detected image of the target plane generated by the optical sensor device into a plurality of different evaluation regions, which in particular makes it possible to separately consider local effects acting on the protective glass and thus to more accurately evaluate the degree of each state. For example, especially in a heatable manufacturing system, structural agglomerations that may be generated by temporary temperature differences may form on the protective glass, which may result in a local increase in the structural density within the generated image, but the impact on the overall manufacturing quality of the manufacturing facility may be minor (e.g., due to a spatially limited structural distribution). In this sense, the additional process step of the evaluation unit preferably, preferentially, subdivides the image to be analyzed into a plurality of evaluation regions and then, in order to also incorporate the above-mentioned conditions into the calculation of the degree of the state, at least separately evaluates the individual evaluation regions from each other, and can at least include the step of identifying the above-mentioned local differences in the distribution of the structure.

[0048] Furthermore, in a further preferred embodiment, the evaluation unit may be configured to compare the image to be analyzed, preferably prior to the localization of the individual protective glass structures, with the previous protective glass state, in the same way as the intensity value analysis described above. For this purpose, the last-mentioned image can be compared, for example, first with a predetermined image that can reveal the optimal protective glass state under the same optical conditions, so that signal values that are not related to the structure to be determined, such as intensity gradients or background signals caused by the settings of the analysis device, can be effectively excluded from further analysis steps. Thus, preferably, the analysis unit may be able to convert the image to be analyzed into a difference image based on subtracting the pixel intensity values of the optimal image from the image to be analyzed, prior to the step of localizing each structure, and thus further improve the evaluation accuracy of the calculation of the degree of the above-mentioned state.

[0049] Furthermore, the degree of the state itself can, as already described above, preferably be calculated after each target plane has been measured by the optical sensor device, and the information thus obtained can be stored in the storage device after analysis by the evaluation unit, whether it is the calculated degree of the state or some protective glass property obtained from an image, for example. Subsequently, it may also be possible to create a state history of one or more protective glasses present in the storage device using the above-described process sequence, which, in addition to the advantage that the stored information can be repeatedly used for the above-described differential image calculation, can also be used to predict future protective glass properties.

[0050] Accordingly, in a further preferred embodiment, the analysis device may be configured to determine the state of contamination, deterioration, and / or aging of at least one protective glass, particularly continuously or at predetermined time intervals, thereby generating a precisely defined series of measured values of the determined data regarding the state of contamination, deterioration, and / or aging, and making it possible to store them in the storage device for further analysis of protective glass parameters. The series of measured values preferably includes a time series such as the state of the protective glass or the change in the degree of the state recorded per unit time, as well as any characteristics of the system present around the protective glass, such as, for example, the manufacturing steps carried out over time, the recorded temperature, or the mechanical / optical influence on the protective glass. Thus, depending on the conditions present in each manufacturing facility, a specific data library adjusted to the manufacturing facility can be realized.

[0051] In this regard, the analyzer is preferably configured to use the above-described measurement series of past analysis processes in the data library to generate an estimated value regarding a preferred procedure for the current protective glass state. For example, in a preferred case, the analyzer compares an existing series of measurement values, particularly a series of measurement values obtained under the same or similar manufacturing conditions, with the degree of the protective glass condition or state calculated at the current time, and calculates, for example, at least one remaining life of the protective glass to be obtained based on these past series of measurement values by extrapolating the trend of the degree of the state to be detected in the series of measurement values. Alternatively, preferably in addition to the life, other parameters such as a preferred period until cleaning, repair, or replacement of the protective glass becomes necessary can also be determined.

[0052] Subsequently, with the aid of the analyzer described above and claimed in the patent, a wide range of preferred advantages can be produced that go beyond conventional prior art protective glass analyzers, and it can be understood that they may be preferably effectively introducible into any kind of manufacturing equipment based on optical interaction because the device elements of the analyzer are simple and can be efficiently integrated into existing manufacturing equipment.

[0053] Below, a manufacturing system based on illumination of a workpiece material and / or workpiece element is also claimed, which also has the above-described advantages and thus also excels over conventional manufacturing systems.

[0054] In this regard, the claimed manufacturing system can also comprise at least one or more manufacturing facilities based on optical interaction and one or more embodiments of the analyzer implemented in the manufacturing facility according to the above definition. Thus, the manufacturing facilities of the claimed manufacturing system can first also be considered as at least one device comprising at least one light source for processing an integrated workpiece material and / or workpiece element, one or more optical paths generated by the light source and used to illuminate the workpiece, and one or more protective glasses arranged to protect the light source from degradation and / or contamination, and the aforementioned manufacturing facilities can preferably be identified as any conventional manufacturing facilities known in the prior art based on optical interaction.

[0055] However, in a preferred embodiment, the corresponding manufacturing facilities of the manufacturing system can be configured to be usable, in particular, for at least the additive manufacturing of workpieces, for example with the aid of a selective laser melting (SLM) process.

[0056] In particular, for this purpose, a manufacturing facility based on optical interaction can preferably comprise at least one processing chamber that can introduce the workpiece material and / or workpiece elements required for the manufacture of the workpiece and be processed by illumination using a light source. Here, the processing chamber itself can preferably be completely closable and preferably designed to have several chemical and / or mechanical adjustment elements so as to be able to meet the atmosphere conditions required for the SLM process in particular. Thereby, the processing chamber of the manufacturing system can dynamically adjust the pressure or chemical composition of the atmosphere present in the processing chamber during any manufacturing process, thus realizing a very stable and error-free manufacturing process. Specifically, for this purpose, the processing chamber can also include various inlet and outlet valves for introducing the required process chemicals such as argon, for example, and can be configured to hermetically seal at least the manufacturing space defined within the processing chamber so that the above conditions are met at any given point in time during the manufacture of the workpiece.

[0057] Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment, one or more protective glasses of the manufacturing facility may be part of the processing chamber. For example, at least one protective glass can preferably be integrated into the housing of the processing chamber or be formed in contact with at least the housing so that each at least one light source can first pass the manufacturing optical path emitted therefrom through one or more protective glasses and then be guided into the processing chamber. Thus, the configuration of the manufacturing facility is such that the light beam emitted by the light source can be guided through at least one protective glass directly or via any preferably controllable optical element, and thus can be configured in such a way that it can then impinge on the workpiece material and / or elements that can be processed.

[0058] At least one light source itself may here, as already described, preferably be designed as a radiation source configured for the plastic deformation of workpiece elements such as at least a laser. Preferably, the optical path generated by the light source can be moved and / or focused, preferably in any three-dimensional direction, via controllable optical elements (lenses, filters, mirrors, condensers, etc.) integrated into the radiation source or arranged externally. Further alignment of the beam system thus generated can also be achieved mechanically, for example, by moving one or more illumination housings including the optical elements and / or the light source of the manufacturing facility, so that focusing on the material can be achieved both mechanically and optically.

[0059] On the other hand, at least one analyzer of the manufacturing system may, as described, be configured to be integrated into the manufacturing facility of the manufacturing system, preferably into one of the free spaces present in the manufacturing facility. For example, at least one analyzer may preferably be arranged within the manufacturing system between at least the light source or the illumination housing surrounding the light source and / or the optical elements of the light source and the above-described processing chamber, and thus the analyzer may in particular be designed as a unit insertable between the two above-described elements. In a particularly preferred embodiment, at least one analyzer may also be integratable between a plurality of light sources or illumination housings and the above-described processing chamber.

[0060] Furthermore, various device elements of one or more analyzers, in particular at least the optical sensor device, can also be arranged, as in the above-described embodiments, between the processing chamber and at least one light source of the manufacturing system, and can be surrounded, for example, by the protective housing of the analyzer.

[0061] Furthermore, the specific positions of the lighting devices of each analyzer may preferably vary depending on the type of lighting preferred. Thus, for example, in a preferred case of using incident light illumination, the lighting device may preferably be mounted along the side facing the corresponding optical sensor device of the protective glass, so that both the optical sensor device and the lighting device can be arranged within a shared space such as the protective housing of each analyzer. On the other hand, in the case of transmitted light illumination, the lighting device may preferably be arranged on the opposite side of the protective glass, for example, in a separate space within the processing chamber, etc., thereby making it possible to directly illuminate the side that is particularly affected by the deterioration or contamination of at least one protective glass. In addition, as a third preferred embodiment, specifically, in order to achieve even more uniform illumination emitted from the side of each protective glass, the lighting device may further be configured to be incorporated into the main body of the processing chamber, such as the housing or its outer wall, etc., thereby not only being extremely space-saving but also realizing stable integration of the lighting device.

[0062] Furthermore, additional advantages of the manufacturing system can also arise from possible interactions between at least one analyzer integrated with the manufacturing equipment. Specifically, the analyzer may be configured, for example, preferably, to optically interact with the manufacturing equipment and exchange machining and / or processing signals so that the corresponding analysis processes of one or more analyzers can be efficiently coordinated with existing manufacturing steps performed by the manufacturing equipment. Thus, at least one analyzer may be configured to receive and / or return, for example, information regarding at least the existing working processes of the manufacturing equipment to and from the manufacturing equipment, and as a result, determine the state of contamination, deterioration, and / or aging of at least one protective glass executed by the analyzer, for example, before the start of workpiece production, after completion, or during a predetermined waiting time, in accordance with a predetermined manufacturing process, particularly automatically. However, conversely, the manufacturing equipment can also be configured to adapt the manufacturing process to the design of the analyzer based on the information acquired by the analyzer, thereby enabling a very efficient and particularly dynamic operational interaction between each analyzer and the existing manufacturing process of the manufacturing equipment.

[0063] Thus, by way of example, the manufacturing facility may be configured to periodically receive information regarding the current state of the protective glass mounted on the manufacturing facility by means of at least one analyzer, for example, at predetermined time intervals, and to dynamically adjust the current manufacturing process and / or a manufacturing process to be executed in the future according to the information described above. In this way, for example, the manufacturing facility may be configured to avoid an optical path that may interact with the detected source of the problem (e.g., by changing the shape of the optical path used) after receiving a negative protective glass evaluation (e.g., after detecting local burning or cracking), or to automatically redistribute the ongoing machining process to another light source or optical path that is not affected by the above-mentioned source of the problem, so that a constant machining quality can be ensured permanently even during the ongoing manufacturing process. Further, similar to the device elements described above, individual manufacturing steps and / or process parameters, such as the intensity or diameter of the manufacturing light beam, can also be adjusted preferably based on the individual information generated by at least one analyzer, thereby achieving the maximum adaptation of the manufacturing facility to the occurring protective glass state.

[0064] Furthermore, additional interaction steps between each analyzer and the manufacturing facility can be designed preferably in such a way that, in particular, the accuracy and comparability of the information generated by the analyzer can be optimized in the best possible way to enable a preferential error-free comparison, for example, between an image of the current protective glass state and an image of the optimal protective glass state corresponding thereto. For this purpose, the manufacturing system may be configured to execute the analysis performed by the analyzer with the conditions existing in the manufacturing system, such as at least the existing background illumination, workpiece position, or manufacturing process time, always being the same, thereby minimizing the possibility of interference signals captured in the recorded image and thus also improving the quality of the final image product, such as the differential image generated above.

[0065] In addition, in order to avoid, in particular, the backlighting of the protective glass generated by the light source or the backlighting of the protective glass in the processing chamber of the manufacturing facility, the manufacturing system may preferably be configured to perform the detection of each protective glass target plane by the optical sensor device only when the light source is turned off or covered. In this regard, the process step of the manufacturing system prior to the analysis by at least one analyzer may also include at least the step of switching off and / or covering the light source or any other light-emitting object in the corresponding system so as to keep the optical conditions acting on the optical sensor device constant.

[0066] Furthermore, in a particularly preferred embodiment, the manufacturing system can also include additional device elements for the above purposes, such as shutters or slide elements attached to the manufacturing equipment, to shield one or more analytical devices, or at least their optical sensor devices, from the illumination emitted from the manufacturing equipment. Specifically, this shutter or slide element can be designed as a movable and / or pivotable object, preferably made of a non-reflective or highly absorbent material such as a black anodized plate or an optical filter element, and can be moved in front of each analytical device, at least one protective glass, or the optical device to shield the optical sensor device from interfering optical paths that are normally detected by the optical sensor device. Thus, the shutter or slide element can preferably be configured to be movable between at least a first position for shielding the at least one analytical device and a second position for re-exposing the analytical device from at least the side of the processing chamber and / or the light source, thereby enabling both the above-mentioned certain requirements during detection by the analytical device and the re-exposure of a given optical path required for the general manufacturing process of the corresponding manufacturing equipment. Additionally, the preferred position of the shutter or slide element can further preferably be selected according to the form of illumination of the illumination device as described above, but can include arranging the shutter or slide element at least within the processing chamber or within or on the corresponding analytical device.

[0067] Furthermore, each process step executed to determine the contamination and / or damage state of at least one protective glass within the manufacturing equipment of each manufacturing system can preferably be similar to the process steps of the aforementioned functions of the analytical device. Thus, the process steps equally claimed herein and generated by at least one analytical device of the present invention include at least one of the following steps, namely, · Detecting the target plane of the protective glass of the manufacturing equipment by the optical sensor device, ·Illuminating the target plane with an illumination device, ·Evaluating, by an evaluation unit, information obtained by detecting the target plane of the protective glass, wherein evaluating the information includes at least analyzing the intensity value of the detected light, ·Detecting, by an analyzer, the state of at least one protective glass, in particular the state of contamination, deterioration, and / or aging deterioration, during a predetermined manufacturing process of a manufacturing facility, ·Determining the state of contamination, deterioration, and / or aging deterioration of the protective glass by comparing information obtained by detecting the target plane with an optical sensor device with predetermined reference information such as a threshold value, ·Determining the life of at least one protective glass in use based on a plurality of information regarding the contamination and / or deterioration state of the protective glass obtained by at least one analyzer can be included.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0068]

Figure 1

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[0069] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on exemplary figures. The features of the embodiments can be combined in whole or in part, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to the described embodiments.

[0070] FIG. 1 shows a schematic embodiment of a manufacturing facility 1 based on optical interactions, in particular, in such a way that a three-dimensional workpiece 26 can be produced through successive deposition, illumination, and melting processes of successive material layers 24 (additive manufacturing), where a processable raw material 18 is deposited as a layer on a movable base plate 16 and locally remelted by focused laser irradiation, showing a manufacturing facility for selective laser melting.

[0071] For this purpose, the manufacturing facility 1 comprises at least one (laser) light source 4 which generates a light beam adjusted for interaction with the material layer 24 via a control system 6 combined with the manufacturing facility 1. The light beam is focused via the optical path 14 onto the material layer to be processed at the present time by means of various optical elements integrated in a scanning head 2, such as condenser or scattering lenses, mirrors, optical filters, etc. In this case, the scanning head 2 itself can control the optical elements manually and / or automatically and can thus generate an optical path 14 which can be positioned three-dimensionally depending on their current orientation and the optical properties assigned to them (for example, focal length or filter frequency), and is an independent rigid housing.

[0072] In addition, in order to ensure proper protection of the above-mentioned optical elements from possible process emissions, the scanning head 2 in the present embodiment is here designed as a closed or lockable system which can guide the optical path 14 only through an outlet opening provided by a scanning head glass 3 of the scanning head 2. However, in further embodiments, it may also be possible to design the optical elements as a self-supporting or open device system or to integrate them at least partially into other entities of the manufacturing facility 1, such as the light source 4. Also, in this case, the display of the light source 4 can serve only for visualization purposes and the light source 4 may thus be designed to be integrated into the scanning head 2 or other elements of the manufacturing facility 1.

[0073] Furthermore, the optical path 14 used in the manufacture of the workpiece 26 is adjusted by the above-described working distance of the optical elements mounted on the scanning head 2, passes through the scanning head glass 3, and enters the processing chamber 12 away from the scanning head 2 via the free space 5. In the processing chamber 12, different layers of the processable raw material 24 are arranged on the movable base plate 16, and the manufacturing light beam for workpiece manufacturing is focused. Furthermore, as described above, the exact manufacturing procedure can be best described as a repeated coating and exposure process. To manufacture any three-dimensional workpiece 26, the material to be processed is first deposited in the form of a thin layer of powder 24 on the base plate 16 and is arranged at the processing height corresponding to each optical path 14 by at least the vertical movement of the base plate 16 using a controllable lifting device 20 (e.g., a pneumatic, electric, or mechanical cylinder, or also a scissor lift device). Furthermore, to ensure a uniform and dense material layer 24, the corresponding powder material 18 is pre-compressed by at least a roll 22 (or by a further device such as an integrated silicone lip) that can move parallel to the material layer 24. The powder material 18 is made to a predetermined layer height and removed from the excess material 18 so that a constant material condition can be ensured in each repeated process.

[0074] Thereafter, the machined powder material layer 24 can be locally remelted by the above-described light beam focused through the optical path 14, resulting in the effect that the powder material layer 24 can form a solid material layer after solidification. Subsequently, the base plate 16 is lowered by the height of the predetermined thickness of the material layer 24, and a new material layer 24 is deposited on the base plate 16. Thus, by repeatedly machining and adding new material layers 24, a fused three-dimensional item (workpiece) 26 can be generated.

[0075] Furthermore, in order to enable the ambient conditions suitable for the above-described SLM manufacturing process, the processing chamber 12 of the manufacturing facility 1 is designed as a completely closable processing housing having additional adjustment elements such as, for example, a pressure regulator or valve device for importing or exporting the necessary processing chemicals (e.g., argon, neon, etc.), and completely surrounds the aforementioned base plate 16 by integrating it with the processing chamber body 11 (i.e., at least the outer wall of the processing chamber), thus providing a manufacturing area that can be sealed from external influences. Further, in order to enable the optical path 14 to contact the various material layers 24 equally, a protective glass 10 is incorporated into the body 11 of the processing chamber, and due to its optical properties, it enables the light beam emitted from the light source 4 to enter the processing chamber 12 and at least configured to protect the respective elements of the manufacturing device 1 mounted in the scanning head 2 from process emissions 28 (powder residues, fumes, sparks, etc.) that may occur during the generation of the workpiece.

[0076] Therefore, as already described above, in the conventional manufacturing facility 1 known from the prior art based on optical interaction, since the protective glass 10 introduced into the processing chamber 12 simultaneously performs a protective function and a transmission function, there arises a problem that the manufacturing quality of the manufacturing facility 1 may be significantly reduced due to the emission particles 28 that accumulate on the protective glass 10 (and thus interact with the manufacturing optical path 14). However, on the other hand, in most cases, it has been found that any cleaning and / or replacement process that affects the protective glass 10 is associated with extremely high costs and downtime of the manufacturing facility 1. Therefore, for the current manufacturing facility 1, it is of utmost importance to implement a method for identifying the (contaminated and / or deteriorated) state and thus generate an indication of appropriate maintenance measures as accurately as possible. As a result, in order to overcome this problem, the analyzer D of the present invention is proposed.

[0077] Figure 2 shows a first schematic view of the manufacturing system of the present invention, where the analysis device D is illustrated as integrated into the manufacturing facility 1 of FIG. 1. As can be seen, the analysis device D is specifically mounted within the free space 5 resulting from the optical characteristics of the manufacturing facility 1. Thus, the analysis device D is particularly arranged along the optical path 14 and is preferably detachably connected to the scanning head 2 and the processing chamber 12 of the manufacturing facility. In this regard, this embodiment of the manufacturing system utilizes the existing free space within the manufacturing facility 1, eliminating the need for further (e.g., optical) adaptation of the manufacturing facility 1 for the mounting of the analysis device D. Therefore, it has the advantage that the analysis device D can be very easily and efficiently integrated into the existing manufacturing process.

[0078] Furthermore, FIGS. 3A and 3B show detailed schematic views of the first embodiment of the analysis device D shown in FIG. 2 integrated into the manufacturing facility 1, in horizontal and vertical cross-sections respectively. As described above, the analysis device D is in this case mounted within the free space 5 between the scanning head 2 and the processing chamber 12, and thus occupies only the unused area of the manufacturing facility 1 for the analysis of the state of the protective glass. Here, the analysis device D itself is at least an imaging sensor device equipped with an optical system (condensing lens, mirror, filter, condenser, etc.), and an optical sensor device S, which may be defined as any camera device in any case, and a plurality of lighting devices L1 to L4 for illuminating the protective glass 10 analyzed by the optical sensor device S. Furthermore, to protect the above-described device elements of the analysis device D from external influences such as dust or harmful exposure, the optical sensor device S and the lighting devices L1 to L4 are formed, for example, in the shape of a tube, and the outer wall is connected to both the scanning head 2 and the outer processing chamber structure 11, and thus are arranged within the protective housing 7 of the analysis device D that forms a sealed connection system. Furthermore, due to the respective arrangements of the protective housing 7, the surface facing outward of the scanning head glass 3 and the protective glass 10 of the processing chamber 12 are also integrated into the enclosed area of the analysis device D, providing additional protection for these elements.

[0079] The exact arrangement of the optical sensor device S of the analysis device D and / or the lighting devices L1 to L4 may further vary depending on the configuration of the manufacturing facility 1. However, in the case shown in FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B, at least the optical sensor device S may be designed in such a way that it is located, for example, inside the protective housing 7 and above the lighting devices L1 to L4. Furthermore, the lighting devices L1 to L4 used to illuminate the protective glass 10 are configured to be arranged at uniform intervals, for example, symmetrically within the protective housing 7 (see FIG. 3B), and are likewise oriented in such a way that the surface of the protective glass to be illuminated in a given manufacturing process is not impaired, particularly so as to be able to generate a uniform exposure area. As a result, the implementation of the above-described device elements determined by the analysis device D enables an efficient and highly accurate detection of the required state of the protective glass, and also enables a simple protective glass evaluation that is adapted to any given manufacturing process due to the non-interacting arrangement of the latter elements, thereby generating a device system.

[0080] Furthermore, the evaluation process of the protective glass 10 executed by the analyzer D is executed by analyzing the reflected light image captured by the optical sensor device S in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. The optical elements of the optical sensor device S and the illumination devices L1 to L4 used for light collection and adjustment, and / or the general orientation of the latter device elements are first oriented in such a way that a specific plane of the protective glass 10, i.e., the target plane 30 (see FIG. 3B), is focused by the optical sensor device S and illuminated with the help of the illumination devices L1 to L4. Thus, a given structure 28 (material residue, dirt, scratch, discoloration, etc.) of contamination, degradation, and / or aging accumulated on the surface of the protective glass 10 facing the processing chamber 12 is uniformly illuminated from outside the processing chamber 12, and the scattered light generated by the structure is fed back as a position-dependent signal to the imaging sensor element of the optical sensor device S. Thus, in a preferred case, at least one two-dimensional signal (i.e., an image) of the preferentially focused target plane 30 can be generated within the optical sensor device S, where each structure 28 of contamination, degradation, and / or aging located in the target plane and illuminated by the illumination devices L1 to L4 is represented as a pattern of relatively high signal or intensity values, and thus can be analyzed for continuous status evaluation of each protective glass.

[0081] Thereafter, as already described above, the state of the protective glass is determined by evaluating the information obtained in the generated image, specifically, by calculating the degree of the state representing the current quality state of the protective glass 12, which depends on a plurality of imaging parameters. This can be manually generated in the present invention, for example, by outputting an image and inspecting it by a skilled staff, or can be automatically generated based on an evaluation unit (not shown) implemented in the analyzer D. Suitable examples of the above imaging parameters can specifically represent characteristics related to the captured structure 28 such as the number, size, shape, or density of the contamination, deterioration, and / or aging degradation structures 28 located along the target plane 30 (and thus along the protective glass 10), but characteristics based on optical effects such as intensity values related to the structure 28 in the generated image are also possible, which enables the evaluation of the state of the protective glass as a function of the direct factors related to the corresponding contamination and / or deterioration.

[0082] Furthermore, in order to determine the aforementioned characteristics, the evaluation unit of the analyzer D is equipped with a series of image analysis and processing programs, whereby the evaluation unit can identify the corresponding individual structure objects in the generated image and extract the necessary evaluation parameters from them, for example, through various pixel segmentation and evaluation processes. Furthermore, in order to improve the identification of any of the aforementioned structures, the evaluation unit can pre-equally adapt the aforementioned image using a plurality of processing mechanisms such as background correction, edge filtering, and / or blur correction, or can convert the former into different image formats, for example, by forming the differential image as described above, which enables a more accurate analysis of the protective glass 10.

[0083] Furthermore, in a final step, the evaluation unit is configured to convert the above-described imaging parameters into an easily understandable degree of state, such as a percentage that decreases with the state of the protective glass 10, a normative quality presentation (e.g., "protective glass clean", "protective glass damaged", "protective glass soiled"), or a proposed processing step (e.g., "cleaning required", "replacement required"). Thus, by outputting the degree of state by the analyzer D, it is possible to quickly and effectively notify the selected skilled staff of the necessary protective glass processing steps to be executed. In the case of the above-described presented or proposed processing steps, this can be achieved, for example, by comparing the identified imaging parameters with any adapted threshold value. Thus, for example, after exceeding a specific number, density, or size of the identified damage, contamination, and / or aging degradation structures, the analysis unit can issue a request for cleaning or replacement of each protective glass 10. Further, when integrating a plurality of imaging parameters to calculate the degree of state, each evaluation unit may be configured to first combine any of the foregoing parameters via a preceding combination step, such as an averaging process that is weighted and / or previously relativized. Thus, in the present invention, it is equally possible to incorporate various parameters identified in the images generated for the state determination of the protective glass.

[0084] Accordingly, the embodiments of the analyzer D shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B can be easily and very efficiently incorporated into the existing manufacturing equipment 1, and in particular, by incorporating the primary parameters for each state evaluation, i.e., the parameters explicitly present on the protective glass 10, it is also possible to provide an integrated protective glass inspection unit that can determine the current state of the protective glass 10.

[0085] Furthermore, FIGS. 4A and 4B show additional embodiments of the aforementioned analyzer D, where, instead of the incident light illumination used in FIGS. 3A and 3B, transmitted light illumination implemented to identify possible contamination, damage, and / or aging degradation structures 28 is provided. Thus, the analyzer D in these figures is different from the aforementioned embodiments in that the positions of the lighting devices L6-L9, which are used in particular to illuminate the protective glass 10, are arranged inside the processing chamber 12, and thus are arranged on the other side of the protective glass 10 compared to the optical sensor device S.

[0086] In this regard, the lighting devices L6-L9 of this embodiment are configured to illuminate the protective glass 10, in particular from the wet side / contaminated side, in order to detect particles 28 located on the protective glass 10. Thus, most of the light emitted by the lighting devices L6-L9 passes equally through the protective glass 10 and enters the beam path of the optical sensor device S, and is reflected or scattered only at the locations contaminated by the particles 28. Thus, in the image generated by the optical sensor device S, in this case, in contrast to the previous embodiments, the unaffected portions of the detected protective glass 10 are represented as a strong signal or a high-intensity background, while the locations associated with each contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structure 28 are represented as weak-signal / intensity objects. Thus, also in this embodiment, the analyzer D of this embodiment can equally achieve a spatially resolved representation of the existing contamination, degradation, and / or aging degradation structures 28, and thus can effectively determine the state of the corresponding protective glass 10, specifically, by calculation to the extent of the state already described.

[0087] Furthermore, FIGS. 5A and 5B show yet another embodiment of the present analysis apparatus D, where, in contrast to the previous example, the illumination device L5 is shown to be integrated into the processing chamber housing 11, and thus it is possible to uniformly illuminate the protective glass 10 by an illumination beam 32 directed parallel to the protective glass 10, particularly in a radially inward direction from the outside of the protective glass. For this purpose, the illumination device L5 is here designed as an integral illumination ring surrounding the protective glass 10, which is shown as a circular body in this embodiment (i.e., completely surrounding the protective glass laterally). In other embodiments, it may be equally possible to define the illumination device by different structural shapes, particularly so as to be adaptable to the design of the corresponding protective glass 10. In this regard, the advantage of this embodiment of the illumination device L5 integrated into the manufacturing system 1 is that, on the one hand, the above-described illumination device can be introduced into the manufacturing system in a very efficient and space-saving manner, while the illumination of the above-described type enables an evaluation of the protective glass that is equally suitable for the above-described processes of image analysis and calculation of the degree of the state. Additionally, the illumination from the side of the protective glass 10 (particularly the lateral scattering of the light introduced into the protective glass by annularly arranged LEDs) has the positive effect of effectively preventing defect generation processes such as back reflection on the outside of the protective glass by illuminating both the side of the protective glass 10 facing the processing chamber 12 and the side facing the analysis apparatus D.

[0088] Figures 6A and 6B further show again an embodiment of the analyzer D shown in Figures 3A and 3B, where, in addition to the lighting devices L1 to L4 and the optical sensor device S, a shutter or slide element 36 (here shown as a black anodized and thus non-reflective plate) movable along the longitudinal axis of the protective glass 10 is inserted into the processing chamber 12. In this case, the shutter or slide element 36 is provided, in particular, with a controllable drive mechanism 34 (for example, a pneumatic, electric, or mechanical motor element) coupled to the manufacturing process of the manufacturing system 1, whereby the shutter or slide element 36 is moved between a first position for shielding at least the protective glass 10 from any illumination source located within the processing chamber 12 and a second position for reopening the optical path 14 between the scanning head 2 and the processing chamber 12, parallel to the orientation of the protective glass 10. Thus, the shutter or slide element 36 additionally implemented in the manufacturing system 1 can be configured to block, in the first position, the illumination that exits the processing chamber 12 and can be captured by the analyzer D, which can efficiently block the possible interference signals, in particular with respect to the acquisition of the image of the object plane 30 by the optical sensor device S, and can realize a more consistent environmental condition for the aforementioned image generation. In this regard, in each embodiment, the protective glass evaluation process executed by the analyzer D is designed such that the shutter or slide element 36 is moved to the first position whenever the protective glass 10 is inspected by the analyzer D and returned to the second position whenever, for example, in the case of the manufacturing process, the optical path 14 defined by the protective glass 10 must not be obstructed. Thus, also in this case, it is possible to improve the protective glass analysis process without the need to modify and / or adjust the existing manufacturing mechanisms of the manufacturing system 1 described above.

[0089] Furthermore, FIGS. 7A and 7B show yet another detailed view of an embodiment of the manufacturing system recited in the claims. The manufacturing facility 1 includes a plurality of scanning heads 2A and 2B and protective glasses 10A and 10B as compared to the examples of the previous embodiments. As a result, it is possible to process one or more workpieces 26 by means of the optical path 14, preferably in a separately controllable manner. Therefore, in order to equally enable accurate detection and evaluation of the protective glasses 10A and 10B introduced into such a multi-scanner system, a plurality (in this case, two) of analyzers D1 and D2 corresponding to the number of the protective glasses 10A and 10B are incorporated into the manufacturing facility 1. Thus, each of the implemented protective glasses 10A and 10B can be preferably analyzed and evaluated individually to improve a given manufacturing process. Furthermore, for this purpose, the analyzers D1 and D2 themselves are each arranged between one of the scanning heads 2A and 2B and one of the illustrated protective glasses 10A and 10B in FIGS. 7A and 7B, similar to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. They include a plurality of respective lighting devices L10 to L17 and at least one sensor device S1 and S2 to accurately illuminate the structure of contamination, degradation, and / or aging 28 generated and present on the protective glasses 10A and 10B for detection and analysis by the detection mechanism already described above. Furthermore, in this case, protective housings 7A and 7B are respectively provided around the above-described device elements at least laterally to form the internal spaces of the analyzers D1 and D2. The incorporated device elements are also individually protected from possible process emissions (dust, smoke, etc.), and have the effect of keeping the existing protective glass analysis conditions constant, for example, by blocking the specific background irradiation generated by the respective other analyzers D1 and D2.

[0090] Therefore, from the disclosed embodiments, it is clear that the present invention can be optimally used also in manufacturing facilities related to a plurality of scanning heads 2A and 2B, protective glasses 10A and 10B, or other devices necessary for the manufacture of workpieces, in particular, by equally integrating at least a plurality of analyzers D1 and D2 that can operate individually and be arranged independently. In this regard, the above-described embodiments provide the advantage that each of the protective glasses 10A and 10B mounted in the manufacturing facility 1 can be analyzed and further evaluated by dedicated analyzers D1 and D2 respectively for each of the protective glasses 10A and 10B, and thus extremely accurate detection of its state becomes possible.

[0091] Furthermore, FIGS. 8A and 8B show additional embodiments of the analyzer D described in the claims. The manufacturing facility 1 also includes a plurality of scanning heads 2A to 2C, as well as respective scanning head glasses 3A to 3C necessary for sending the light beams 14 generated from the scanning heads 2A to 2C. At the same time, the illustrated analyzer 1 includes an illumination device L5 that conforms to the embodiments of FIGS. 5A and 5B. In this case, the scanning head glasses 3A to 3C themselves are incorporated into an independent base plate 34 that is (at least thermally) separated from the analyzer D and / or the scanning heads 2A to 2C. In particular, it can prevent the possibility of displacement / displacement of the device elements of the scanning heads 2A to 2C and / or the analyzer D based on thermal expansion in the manufacturing facility 1 (which may occur during the manufacture of a given workpiece). Therefore, a machining or analysis process that is consistently more accurate, that is, less prone to errors, can be guaranteed.

[0092] Furthermore, FIG. 8B shows a schematic top view of the inside of the above-described base plate 34 drawn along the observation plane A. Here, each of the scanning head glasses 3A to 3C is shown as a circular facility (in a further embodiment, it may have a different shape or may even have optical properties such as wavelength-specific absorption / reflection) incorporated in the scanning heads 2A to 2C, arranged at a predetermined interval, preferably concentrically arranged around a predetermined center point, and thus enabling the processing of a given workpiece 26 by a plurality of simultaneously applicable light beams or optical paths. Further, in this case, the sensor device S is attached to the center of the concentrically arranged scanning head glasses 3A to 3C and is also directed towards the center with respect to the protective glass 10, creating a maximum detection area and, based on the mounting between the protective glass 10 and the scanning heads 2A to 2C shown in FIG. 8A as well, enabling a very space-saving analysis configuration to be realized. In addition, this arrangement enables the sensor device S to be coaxially aligned, in particular, with each of the protective glasses 10 (for example, the longitudinal axis of the sensor device S may be parallel to at least one longitudinal axis of the protective glass 10), and thus the captured image plane can already coincide with the protective glass surface affected by the aforementioned degradation, contamination, and / or aging degradation structure (in particular, the inside of the protective glass 10 present in the processing chamber 12). Therefore, the above-described arrangement of the sensor device S and the lighting device L5 mainly gives rise to an embodiment of the analysis device D that not only realizes a very space-saving arrangement of each device element but also enables an optically preferable alignment of the corresponding optical sensor device S.

[0093] Furthermore, as an alternative to the last-described embodiment, the above-described coaxial alignment of the sensor device S may be realized by additional optical elements such as a completely transparent mirror or a semi-transparent mirror. For this purpose, FIGS. 9A and 9B exemplarily show a further variant of the analyzer device D based on the embodiment of FIGS. 8A and 8B, where, in contrast to the above-described central arrangement, the sensor device S is introduced laterally, for example, into the structure of the protective housing 7 and can receive the scattered and reflected illumination emitted from the structure 28 of the protective glass 10 coaxially via an additional mirror device 36 mounted in the analyzer device D. Here, the advantage of this embodiment can be seen, in particular, in the fact that the additional mounting of the mirror device 36 enables the sensor device S to be integrated at any desired position within the analyzer device D (and yet still be optically coaxially connected to the protective glass 10), thus providing a very space-saving installation of the necessary device elements. Furthermore, it is also possible to preferably design the mirror device 36 so that its orientation can be dynamically adapted equally to the current position or arrangement of the selected sensor device S. Thus, with the help of the device first mentioned, not only can the position of the corresponding sensor device S within the analyzer device D be freely changed, but several sensor devices S can also be integrated and utilized in the corresponding system.

Claims

1. At least one protective glass (10) of a manufacturing facility (1) based on optical interaction, in particular an analysis device (D) for determining and / or monitoring the state of the protective glass (10), in particular the state of contamination, deterioration, and / or aging, provided to protect a light source (4) configured to manufacture a workpiece (26) and / or optical elements of the manufacturing facility (1), · At least one optical sensor device (S) for detecting a target plane (30) related to the protective glass (10) of the manufacturing facility (1) based on the optical interaction comprising integrated with the manufacturing facility (1) and configured to be arranged in the region of the optical path (14) of the light source (4) or along the optical path (14) of the light source (4), The optical sensor device (S) is arranged between the light source (4) and the protective glass (10) of the manufacturing facility (1) and / or is configured to be located away from the protective glass (10) on the side of the protective glass (10) facing the light source (4). The analysis device (D).

2. The analysis device (D) according to claim 1, further comprising at least one lighting device (L1 to L17) for illuminating the target plane (30).

3. Comprising a protective housing (7) in which the optical sensor device (S) and / or the lighting device (L1 to L17) are integrated, The protective housing (7) is configured to surround the optical sensor device (S) and / or the lighting device (L1 to L17) at least laterally. The analysis device (D) according to at least one of the preceding claims.

4. The optical sensor device (S) comprises an imaging sensor element, The imaging sensor element is configured to generate at least a one-dimensional image of the detected target plane (30) of the protective glass (10). The analysis device (D) according to at least one of the preceding claims.

5. Further comprising at least one evaluation unit for evaluating the information obtained by detecting the target plane (30) by the optical sensor device (S), The evaluation unit is connected to a storage device to obtain additional information, The evaluation unit obtains reference information from the storage device in order to determine the state of contamination, deterioration, and / or aging deterioration of the protective glass (10), compares the information obtained by the optical sensor device (S) with the reference information in the storage device, and determines the degree of deterioration, contamination, or aging deterioration according to the difference between the compared information. The analysis device (D) according to at least one of the preceding claims, which is configured as such.

6. The information obtained by the optical sensor device (S) includes at least the intensity value of an image captured by the optical sensor device (S), The intensity value can be assigned to the individual pixel positions of the captured image, The evaluation unit is configured to identify deterioration, contamination, and / or aging deterioration structures in the image based on the intensity values of the recorded image. The analysis device (D) according to at least claim 5, which is configured as such.

7. Continuously or at predetermined time intervals, determine the state of deterioration, contamination, and / or aging deterioration of the protective glass (S), Determine the remaining life of the protective glass (S) by using at least partially a series of measurements of the determined data regarding the state of deterioration, contamination, and / or aging deterioration of the protective glass (S). The analysis device (D) according to at least one of the preceding claims, which is configured as such.

8. A manufacturing system for manufacturing a workpiece (26) by illuminating a workpiece material (18) and / or workpiece element, - A manufacturing facility (1) based on optical interaction, comprising at least one light source (4) for processing the workpiece material (18) and / or workpiece element, at least one optical path (14) generated by the light source (4), and one or more protective glasses (10) for protecting at least the light source (4) from deterioration and / or contamination; - At least one analysis device (D) according to at least one of the preceding claims integrated into the manufacturing facility (1). A manufacturing system comprising the above.

9. The manufacturing facility (1) based on optical interaction further comprises a processing chamber (12) in which the workpiece (26) is manufactured by illumination using the light source (4), The at least one protective glass (10) is integrated into the housing of the processing chamber (12). The manufacturing system according to claim 8, wherein the analysis device (D) is configured in such a way that the light source (4) guides the generated optical path (14) into the processing chamber (12) through the analysis device (D).

10. The lighting devices (L1 to L17) of the at least one analysis device (D) are integrated into the housing of the processing chamber (12) in such a way that the protective glass (10) of the manufacturing facility (1) is illuminated from the side by the lighting devices (L1 to L17), in particular by direct light illumination of the side surface of the protective glass (10). The manufacturing system according to at least one of the preceding claims, in particular an SLM system.

11. The analysis device (D) is configured to determine the state of contamination, deterioration, and / or aging deterioration of the protective glass (10) after a predetermined manufacturing process or process step of the manufacturing facility (1), in particular in an automated manner, and / or The analysis device (D) is configured to monitor the state of the protective glass (10) during the manufacturing process of the manufacturing facility (1). The manufacturing system according to at least one of the preceding claims.

12. The manufacturing facility (1) further comprises at least one shutter or slide element (36) for shielding the analysis device (D) from the illumination emitted from the manufacturing facility (1). The shutter or slide element (36) is configured to be movable between at least a first position for shielding the analysis device (D) and a second position for illuminating the analysis device (D) from at least the processing chamber (12) side. The manufacturing system according to at least one of the preceding claims.

13. A method for determining the state of at least one protective glass (10) of a manufacturing facility (1) based on an optical interaction, comprising at least one light source (4) configured to manufacture a workpiece (26) and an optical path (14) generated by the light source (4), the method being performed by the analysis device (D) according to at least one of the preceding claims, - detecting a target plane (30) associated with the at least one protective glass (10) of the manufacturing facility (1) by an optical sensor device (S). - Illuminating the target plane (30) with lighting devices (L1 to L17); - Evaluating, by an evaluation unit, information obtained by detecting the target plane (30) of the protective glass (14); comprising: The method of evaluating the information includes at least the step of analyzing the detected light intensity value.

14. - Detecting, by the analyzer (D), the state of the protective glass (10), in particular the state of deterioration, contamination, and / or aging deterioration, during the manufacturing process of the manufacturing facility (10); - Determining the degree of deterioration, contamination, or aging deterioration of the protective glass (10) by comparing the information obtained through the detection of the target plane (30) by the optical sensor device (S) with predetermined reference information; - Monitoring the state of the at least one protective glass (10) and / or determining the service life of the protective glass (10) based on a plurality of information regarding the state of deterioration, contamination, and / or aging deterioration of the protective glass (D) determined by the analyzer (D); The method according to claim 13, further comprising.

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