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JP-7856128-B2 - Molding apparatus and molding method

JP7856128B2JP 7856128 B2JP7856128 B2JP 7856128B2JP-7856128-B2

Inventors

  • 柴崎 祐一

Assignees

  • 株式会社ニコン

Dates

Publication Date
20260511
Application Date
20241008

Claims (20)

  1. A fabrication device for creating three-dimensional objects, A material processing unit equipped with a nozzle member that supplies molding material to the surface to be molded, A beam irradiation unit that irradiates the surface to be fabricated with a beam to form a molten pool on the surface to be fabricated, A moving device that moves the molding surface and the nozzle member relative to each other along the direction of movement, Equipped with a control device, The nozzle member supplies the molding material from a plurality of material supply ports arranged in a direction intersecting the direction of movement to the beam irradiation position on the surface to be molded, thereby forming a material supply region extending in the intersecting direction. The material processing unit comprises a material supply control member that controls the supply operation of the molding material from the plurality of material supply ports by the control device.
  2. The molding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the molding material is supplied from the nozzle member by pressurized ejection.
  3. The molding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the molding material is supplied using the weight of the molding material itself.
  4. The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the molding material from the nozzle member is supplied directly downward.
  5. The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the nozzle member supplies the molding material from an inclined direction.
  6. The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the nozzle member is provided with a gas supply port.
  7. The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the nozzle member is provided with a gas supply port for supplying a gas that guides the supply of the molding material.
  8. The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the beam irradiation unit comprises a mirror element into which a beam from a light source is incident, an actuator for changing the tilt angle of the mirror element, and a focusing optical system into which the beam reflected by the mirror element is incident.
  9. The molding apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the actuator changes the inclination angle of the mirror element to change the incident angle of the beam incident on the focusing optical system.
  10. The molding apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the tilt angle of the mirror element is changed to change the position of the beam irradiated onto the surface to be molded.
  11. The molding apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the beam irradiation unit makes the irradiation area on the surface to be molded into a spot shape or a slit shape.
  12. The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the beam irradiation unit and the material supply control member change the width of the bead in the direction intersecting the direction of movement.
  13. The molding apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the material supply control member supplies the molding material from one or more material supply ports selected from among the plurality of material supply ports.
  14. The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the nozzle member is provided with a suction port.
  15. The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the nozzle member is provided with a recovery port for recovering the molding material that was not melted.
  16. A method for creating three-dimensional objects, Supplying the molding material from the nozzle member to the surface to be molded, The beam is irradiated onto the surface to be fabricated to form a molten pool on the surface to melt the fabrication material, The molding surface and the nozzle member are moved relative to each other along the direction of movement, This includes controlling the supply operation of the molding material from a plurality of material supply ports formed on the nozzle member in a direction intersecting the aforementioned direction of movement, A molding method comprising supplying the molding material from the nozzle member to the beam irradiation position on the surface to be molded from the nozzle member .
  17. The molding method according to claim 16, wherein the molding material is supplied from the nozzle member by pressurized ejection.
  18. The molding method according to claim 16, wherein the molding material is supplied using the weight of the molding material itself.
  19. The molding method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the molding material from the nozzle member is supplied directly downward.
  20. The molding method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the nozzle member supplies the molding material from an inclined direction.

Description

This invention relates to a fabrication apparatus and a fabrication method, and more particularly to a fabrication apparatus and a fabrication method for forming a three-dimensional object on a target surface. The fabrication apparatus and fabrication method according to the present invention can be suitably used for forming three-dimensional objects by rapid prototyping (sometimes called 3D printing, additive manufacturing, or direct digital manufacturing). The technology of directly generating 3D (three-dimensional) shapes from CAD data is called rapid prototyping (sometimes called 3D printing, additive manufacturing, or direct digital manufacturing, but hereafter referred to collectively as rapid prototyping), and has contributed to the production of prototypes primarily for shape verification with extremely short lead times. When classifying 3D printing equipment that forms three-dimensional objects using rapid prototyping, such as 3D printers, by the materials they handle, they can be broadly divided into those that handle resins and those that handle metals. Unlike resin objects, metal 3D objects produced by rapid prototyping are primarily used as actual parts. That is, they are not prototype parts for shape verification, but rather function as part of actual mechanical structures (whether mass-produced or prototypes). Two types of existing metal 3D printers (hereinafter abbreviated as M3DP (Metal 3D Printer)) are well known: PBF (Powder Bed Fusion) and DED (Directed Energy Deposition). In PBF (Powder-Blocked Fabrication), a thin layer of sintered metal powder is deposited onto a bed on which the workpiece is mounted. A high-energy laser beam is then scanned over the powder using a galvanometer mirror or similar device, melting and solidifying the areas where the beam hits. Once one layer is completed, the bed lowers by the thickness of that layer, and another layer of sintered metal powder is spread onto it. The process is then repeated. In this way, layer by layer, the desired three-dimensional shape is obtained. Due to its manufacturing principle, PBF (polypropylene fiber molding) inherently has several problems, including (1) insufficient manufacturing precision of parts, (2) poor surface finish, (3) slow processing speed, and (4) the cumbersome and time-consuming handling of sintered metal powder. DED (Depositional Energy Deposition) employs a method of adhering molten metal material to the workpiece. For example, powdered metal is sprayed near the focal point of a laser beam focused by a focusing lens. The powdered metal then melts into a liquid state due to the laser irradiation. If the workpiece is located near this focal point, the liquefied metal adheres to the workpiece, cools, and solidifies again. This focal point acts like a pen tip, allowing for the drawing of "lines with thickness" on the surface of the workpiece. The desired shape is formed by the appropriate relative movement of either the workpiece or the processing head (laser and powder spray nozzle, etc.) relative to the other, based on CAD data (see, for example, Patent Document 1). As can be seen from this, in DED, powder material is ejected from the processing head only as needed and in the required amount, resulting in no waste and eliminating the need to process with large amounts of excess powder. As mentioned above, DED (Derived End-of-Fiber) shows improvements compared to PBF (Powdered Metal Fuel) in areas such as the handling of raw material powder metals, but there are still many areas that need improvement. Against this backdrop, there is a strong desire for improved convenience as a machine tool for creating three-dimensional objects, and ultimately, for improved economic efficiency in manufacturing. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0206820 This is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a molding apparatus according to one embodiment.This diagram schematically shows the configuration of the mobile system along with the measurement system.This is a perspective view showing a mobile system with a workpiece mounted on it.This diagram shows a beam lithography system along with a table on which the workpiece is mounted.This figure shows an example of the configuration of a light source system that constitutes part of the beam irradiation section of a beam lithography system.This figure shows a state in which a parallel beam from a light source system is irradiated onto a mirror array, and the incident angle of the reflected beam from each of the multiple mirror elements to the focusing optical system is individually controlled.This shows the material processing unit of the beam fusion system, along with the focusing optical system.This figure shows a plurality of supply ports formed in the nozzle of a material processing unit, and an opening/closing member that opens and closes each of the plurality of supply ports.Figure 9(A) is a magnified view of the area within circle A in Figure 4, and Figure