US-12623291-B2 - Powder supply apparatus and AM apparatus using a powder supply apparatus

US12623291B2US 12623291 B2US12623291 B2US 12623291B2US-12623291-B2

Abstract

A powder supply apparatus including a container store for storing powder therein, a supply passage for supplying powder to the container, and a valve mechanism that opens and closes the supply passage. The valve mechanism includes a valve main body movable between a first and second position, and a valve seat configured so that the valve main body is seated thereon. The valve main body includes first and second seal portions. The valve seat includes first and second seat portions on which the first and second seal portions are seated, respectively. The valve mechanism defines a space sealingly closed when the first and second seal portions are seated on the first and second seat portions, respectively. The valve mechanism includes an exhaust passage that exhausts gas from the sealingly closed space and a pressure monitoring passage that monitors pressure in the sealingly closed space.

Inventors

Hiroyuki Shinozaki
Junki Asai

Assignees

EBARA CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20210914
Priority Date: 20201006

Claims (6)

1 . A powder supply apparatus comprising: a container configured to store powder therein; a supply passage configured to supply the powder to the container therethrough; and a valve mechanism configured to open and close the supply passage thereby, wherein the valve mechanism includes a valve main body movable between a first position, at which the valve main body closes the supply passage, and a second position, at which the valve main body opens the supply passage, and further includes a valve seat configured in such a manner that the valve main body is seated thereon, wherein the valve main body includes a first seal portion and a second seal portion, wherein the valve seat includes a first seat portion on which the first seal portion is seated, and a second seat portion on which the second seal portion is seated, wherein the valve mechanism defines a space sealingly closed when the first seal portion is seated on the first seat portion and the second seal portion is seated on the second seat portion, the sealingly closed space being defined between the first seat portion and the second seat portion, and wherein the valve mechanism includes an exhaust passage configured to exhaust gas from the sealingly closed space therethrough and a pressure monitoring passage configured to be used to monitor a pressure in the sealingly closed space.
2 . The powder supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the supply passage is configured to be able to allow a tube for supplying the powder to the container to be inserted therein.
3 . The powder supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first seat portion includes a first O-ring and the second seat portion includes a second O-ring.
4 . The powder supply apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the valve main body is supported using a pin rotationally movably between the first position, at which the valve main body closes the supply passage, and the second position, at which the valve main body opens the supply passage.
5 . The powder supply apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising an elastic member configured to bias the valve main body toward the first position.
6 . An AM apparatus configured to manufacture a fabrication object, the AM apparatus comprising: a DED nozzle, the DED nozzle including a laser port provided at a distal end of the DED nozzle and configured to emit laser light therefrom, and a laser passage provided in communication with the laser port and configured to allow the laser light to pass through inside the DED nozzle, and a powder port provided at the distal end of the DED nozzle and configured to inject a powder material therefrom, and a powder passage provided in communication with the powder port and configured to allow the powder material to pass through inside the DED nozzle; the AM apparatus further comprising the powder supply apparatus configured to supply the powder material to the DED nozzle according to claim 1 .

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates to a powder supply apparatus and an AM apparatus using a powder supply apparatus. The present application claims priority under the Paris Convention to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-169369 filed on Oct. 6, 2020. The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-169369 including the specification, the claims, the drawings, and the abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND ART There are known techniques for directly fabricating a three-dimensional object based on three-dimensional data present on a computer that expresses the three-dimensional object. Known examples thereof include the Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique. As one example thereof, Direct Energy Deposition (DED) is available as the AM technique employing the deposition method. DED is a technique that carries out fabrication by melting and solidifying a powdered metal material together with a base material using an appropriate heat source while supplying the powdered metal material locally. In the case where the three-dimensional object is fabricated by DED, the fabrication is carried out in such a manner that the powder material is melted and solidified by being irradiated with a laser while being supplied to a fabrication position using a DED nozzle. Therefore, in the case where the three-dimensional object is fabricated by DED, the powder material should be kept supplied to the DED nozzle. Generally, the supply of the powder material to the DED nozzle is conducted by supplying the powder material to the DED nozzle together with carrier gas using a powder supply apparatus. The powder supply apparatus can store the powder material therein and supply the powder material to a supply destination such as the DED nozzle by a predetermined supply amount. CITATION LIST Patent Literature PTL 1: Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure No. 2005-219060 SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem When a large three-dimensional object is fabricated by DED, the fabrication may be unable to be completed using only the powder material prestored in the powder supply apparatus, and therefore the powder material should be replenished into the powder supply apparatus in the middle of the fabrication. The powder material is often replenished into the powder supply apparatus manually because this work necessitates detachment of a component or the like. This means that the fabrication by DED is temporarily interrupted and a longer time is required for the fabrication to replenish the powder material into the powder supply apparatus. In light thereof, it is desirable to allow the powder material to be supplied to the powder supply apparatus not manually but automatically. Further, automatically supplying the powder material to the powder supply apparatus can contribute to reducing a risk that a human inhales the powder material. Further, when the powder material is supplied to the supply destination such as the DED nozzle using the powder supply apparatus together with the carrier gas, a container storing the powder material therein in the powder supply apparatus may be pressurized. Therefore, the powder material may scatter around from the container unless the container storing the powder material therein is appropriately sealed. In light thereof, it is desirable to appropriately seal the container storing the powder material therein. One of objects of the present application is to provide a structure capable of solving or alleviating at least a part of these problems. Solution to Problem According to one aspect, a powder supply apparatus is provided. The powder supply apparatus includes a container configured to store powder therein, a supply passage configured to supply the powder to the container therethrough, and a valve mechanism configured to open and close the supply passage thereby. The valve mechanism includes a valve main body movable between a first position, at which the valve main body closes the supply passage, and a second position, at which the valve main body opens the supply passage, and further includes a valve seat configured in such a manner that the valve main body is seated thereon. The valve main body includes a first seal portion and a second seal portion. The valve seat includes a first seat portion on which the first seal portion is seated, and a second seat portion on which the second seal portion is seated. The valve mechanism defines a space sealingly closed when the first seal portion is seated on the first seat portion and the second seal portion is seated on the second seat portion. The valve mechanism includes an exhaust passage configured to exhaust gas from the sealingly closed space therethrough and a pressure monitoring passage configured to be used to monitor a pressure in the sealingly closed space. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an AM apparatus for manufacturing a fabrication object