US-12625085-B2 - Analysis device for condition monitoring of a protective glass of a manufacturing facility and a manufacturing facility for an additive manufacturing process

US12625085B2US 12625085 B2US12625085 B2US 12625085B2US-12625085-B2

Abstract

An automatable manufacturing facility being based on optical interactions, in particular a manufacturing facility for Selective Laser Melting processes (“Selective Laser Melting”, SLM), and an integrable analysis device which, by optical detection and analysis of an object plane allocated in the manufacturing facility, is configured to determine the state of deterioration, ageing and/or contamination of one or more protective glasses integrated in the manufacturing facility. In addition, a manufacturing system for automatic manufacturing of a workpiece based on optical raw material irradiation, wherein the manufacturing system is, by means of signal exchange between the manufacturing system and the integrated analysis device, capable of assessing the state and/or remaining lifespan of a corresponding protective glass.

Inventors

Hermann Sturzebecher
Christian Tenbrock

Assignees

DMG MORI ADDITIVE GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20221128
Priority Date: 20220518

Claims (13)

1 . An analysis device for determining and/or monitoring a state of at least one protective glass of a manufacturing facility that is based on optical interaction, the protective glass being provided for protecting a light source configured for manufacturing a workpiece and/or optical elements of the manufacturing facility, the analysis device comprising: at least one optical sensor device for detecting an object plane associated with the protective glass of the manufacturing facility that is based on optical interactions; and at least one evaluation unit for evaluating information obtained by detecting the object plane by means of the optical sensor device, wherein: the analysis device is configured to be integrated into the manufacturing facility and to be positioned in the area of or along the light path of the light source, the optical sensor device is configured to be arranged in between the light source and the protective glass of the manufacturing facility and/or spaced from the protective glass on the side of the protective glass facing the light source, the evaluation unit is connected to a storage device for obtaining additional information, and the evaluation unit is configured, for determining a state of contamination, deterioration and/or aging of the protective glass, to take reference information from the storage device, to compare the information obtained by the optical sensor device with the reference information of the storage device and, depending on the differences of the compared information, determine a degree of deterioration, contamination or aging.
2 . The analysis device according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis device additionally comprises at least one illumination device for illuminating the object plane.
3 . The analysis device according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis device comprises a protective housing in which the optical sensor device and/or the illumination device are integrated; and the protective housing is configured to at least laterally enclose the optical sensor device and/or the illumination device.
4 . The analysis device according to claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor device comprises an imaging sensor element; and the imaging sensor element is configured to generate an at least one-dimensional image of the detected object plane of the protective glass.
5 . The analysis device according to claim 1 , wherein the information obtained by the optical sensor device comprises at least intensity values of an image captured by the optical sensor device; the intensity values can be assigned to individual pixel positions of the captured image; and the evaluation unit is configured to identify deterioration, contamination and/or aging structures within the image based on the intensity values of the recorded image.
6 . The analysis device according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis device is configured to determine the state of deterioration, contamination and/or aging of the protective glass continuously or at predefined time intervals; and to at least partially use a measurement series of determined data relating to the state of deterioration, contamination and/or aging of the protective glass to determine a remaining lifetime of the protective glass.
7 . A manufacturing system for manufacturing a workpiece by means of illuminating workpiece material and/or workpiece elements, comprising: a manufacturing facility that is based on optical interaction, comprising at least one light source for processing the workpiece materials and/or workpiece elements, at least one light path generated by the light source and one or more protective glasses for protecting at least the light source from deterioration and/or contamination; and the analysis device according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis device is integrated into the manufacturing facility.
8 . The manufacturing system according to claim 7 , wherein the optical interaction-based manufacturing facility additionally comprises a process chamber in which the workpiece is manufactured by illumination using the light source; wherein the at least one protective glass is integrated into a housing of the process chamber, and the analysis device is configured in such a way that the light source directs the generated light path through the analysis device into the process chamber.
9 . The manufacturing system according to claim 8 , wherein an illumination device of the analysis device is integrated into the housing of the process chamber in such a way that the protective glass of the manufacturing facility is laterally illuminated by the illumination device, and wherein the manufacturing system is an SLM system.
10 . The manufacturing system according to claim 7 , wherein the analysis device is configured to determine the state of contamination, deterioration and/or aging of the protective glass after predefined manufacturing processes or process steps of the manufacturing facility, and/or wherein the analysis device is configured to monitor the state of the protective glass during a manufacturing process of the manufacturing facility.
11 . The manufacturing system according to claim 7 , wherein the manufacturing facility additionally comprises at least one shutter or sliding element for shielding the analysis device from illuminations emanating from the manufacturing facility; wherein the shutter or sliding element is configured to be at least movable from a first position for shielding the analysis device to a second position for illuminating the analysis device at least from the sides of the process chamber and back.
12 . A method for determining a state of at least one protective glass of a manufacturing facility that is based on optical interactions comprising at least one light source configured to manufacture a workpiece and a light path generated by the light source, wherein the method is conducted by an analysis device according to claim 1 and comprising: detecting an object plane associated with the at least one protective glass of the manufacturing facility by an optical sensor device; illuminating the object plane by an illumination device; evaluating the information obtained by the detection of the object plane of the protective glass by an evaluation unit, the evaluation of the information comprising at least the step of analyzing detected light intensity values.
13 . The method according to claim 12 further comprising: detecting the state of the protective glass by the analysis device in between manufacturing processes of the manufacturing facility; determining a degree of deterioration, contamination or aging of the protective glass by comparing the information obtained through detection of the object plane by the optical sensor device with predefined reference information; monitoring the condition of the at least one protective glass and/or determining the service life of the protective glass on the basis of a plurality of information regarding the state of deterioration, contamination and/or aging of the protective glass determined by the analyzing device.

Description

The present invention relates to an automatable manufacturing facility being based on optical interactions, in particular a manufacturing facility for Selective Laser Melting processes (“Selective Laser Melting”, SLM), and an integrable analysis device which, by optical detection and analysis of an object plane allocated in the manufacturing facility, is configured to determine the state of deterioration, ageing and/or contamination of one or more protective glasses integrated in the manufacturing facility. In addition, the present invention relates to a manufacturing system for automatic manufacturing of a workpiece based on optical raw material irradiation, wherein the manufacturing system is, by means of signal exchange between the manufacturing system and the integrated analysis device, capable of assessing the state and/or remaining lifespan of a corresponding protective glass. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Due to the raising complexity of current work processes and the resulting requirement of manufacturing facilities to produce as precise, automatic and extensive as possible, manufacturing and processing of workpieces on the basis of optical interaction processes have been established. Herein, state of the art manufacturing facilities that are based on optical interactions, e.g. laser-induced manufacturing facilities and/or facilities being based on additive production steps, for example, Selective Laser Melting, normally comprise one or more high-intensity light sources that are coupled with a multitude of fine-tuned and automatic controllable optical elements (lenses, mirrors, filters etc.) and thus enable the manufacturing facility, by means of generating a condensed and focused ray of light aimed at a given production point, to plastically deform a given work piece or a corresponding raw material. As an example, a manufacturing facility using a Selective Laser Melting procedure may comprise at least a laser light source which, by means of software-supported optics, is configured to focus a bundled laser light beam on powdery layers of raw materials to be processed and thus generate an extremely effective, three-dimensional production process capable of creating local layer-by-layer based fusions within the above-mentioned material. Despite continuous further development of such production systems, however, the problem still arises in most such systems that the components required for forwarding the aforementioned optical processing beam can become contaminated or even damaged due to contamination or processing residues arising during the manufacturing process, resulting in a reduction in the illumination precision and consequently in a reduction in the quality of the generated workpiece. On that basis, in order to protect such components, said production systems normally comprise at least an additional (e.g. translucent) protective glass, which is generally positioned between the light-guiding optics or the respective light source and an operating position used to produce a respective workpiece and thus also inevitably is coming into contact with the aforementioned process emissions. Herein, contamination or damage to the protective glass yet likewise introduces a variety of problems: On the one hand, clouding of the protective glass may occur which may adversely affect the aforementioned manufacturing light path so that, for example, the intensity of the processed light beam may decrease. In addition, it is also possible that individual light scattering events occurring at contamination or damage areas may lead to a shift in the beam profile, so that not only quality fluctuations within the production line may become apparent, but also the energy of the light source deflected or absorbed in this way may generate further damage (e.g. melting, fractures or cracks) to the protective glass. Accordingly, it is critical for manufacturing facilities that are based on optical interactions to develop an accurate analysis mechanism for identifying any abnormal conditions, such as contamination and damage conditions, that is both capable of providing an assessment of the level of contamination or deterioration of a protective glass implemented in the manufacturing facility, as well as integrating such assessment possibilities as non-invasively and efficiently as possible into the latter. Herein, as an example, the content of DE 102014203798 relates to a method for monitoring the state of contamination and/or damage on a protective glass of a laser processing head attached to a robot in which the robot is configured to move said laser processing head into the field of view of a stationary placed camera device. However, respectively common methods and devices have the problem that, due to the merely passive measurement techniques (normally, the respective methods measure the effects emanating from a contamination, but not the contamination itself), no direct prediction about the degree of contamination of a pr