JP2697138B2 - 3D molding equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional molding apparatus, and in particular, ejects a photocurable resin by an inkjet method, cures it by light irradiation, and laminates the same. Accordingly, the present invention relates to a three-dimensional molding apparatus for producing a target three-dimensional molded product.

[Background of the Invention and Prior Art]

Conventionally, there is an apparatus for performing three-dimensional molding as shown in FIG.

A 3D model created by CAD is sliced into several layers of thin sections. Control computer according to this data
111, the XY-direction movement control device 112 and the Z-direction movement device 11
3 is operated, and at the same time, a laser beam is emitted from the laser light source 114 to scan the liquid surface 117 of the photocurable resin 116 in the resin tank 115, and a cross-sectional shape based on the information of the control computer 111 is drawn. Table 118 in tank 115
Above, the photocurable resin 116 irradiated with the laser beam changes from a liquid to a solid and cures. This creates one section. The control computer 111 lowers the table 118 by a distance corresponding to one layer thickness, and a new layer is created by the same operation as described above following the next layer formed. In this way, several layers of thin sections produced continuously are laminated to form a cured product 119.
Is molded.

However, this type of equipment uses a structure in which the photocurable resin is in a liquid state in a tank and is cured by irradiating it with a laser beam. Can not. If it is attempted to change to a photocurable resin of another type or other color during molding, it is necessary to replace all of the photocurable resin in the tank, and operations such as cleaning must be performed, so that time and Costs more than necessary. It is also very difficult to control the polymerization of the resin.

Therefore, a three-dimensional molding apparatus shown in FIG. 3 has been considered so as to mold a molded article made of different kinds of resin, a molded article of a plurality of colors, or an arbitrary mixed color. This type of three-dimensional molding apparatus basically includes a host computer 11 for forming a three-dimensional model and sending out data, a drive control unit 12 for taking in data from the host computer 11, and controlling each part according to the data, An XY-direction movement control device 13, a turning movement control device 14, and a Z-direction movement control device 15, an inkjet head 16 to 21, for controlling the ejection direction of the photocurable resin according to a control signal from the drive control unit 12.
It comprises resin tanks 22 to 24, pumps 25 to 30, a molding stage 31, and a resin curing light source 32. To explain the operation of this apparatus, the three-dimensional model formed by the host computer 11 is sliced into a number of thin cross-sections, and each cross-section is converted into coordinate data. The color is converted into color data according to the model color. When this data is transferred to the drive control unit 12, according to the data, the XY direction movement control device 13,
The turning movement control device 14 and the Z direction movement control device 15 are operated, and the inkjet heads 16 to 21 and the molding stage 31 located above the ink jet heads 16 to 21 are moved to predetermined positions. After the movement, the inkjet heads 16 and 21 or 17 and 20 from the host computer 11 via the drive control unit 12, or
18 and 21, or 16, 17, 20 and 21, or 17, 18,
A command is issued to 19 and 20 or all the ink jet heads, and the photocurable resin contained in the corresponding tanks 22 to 24 is discharged via the pump. Each of the tanks 22 to 24 contains a photosensitive resin of a different type or a different color, and as a result, it is possible to form a molded article made of a plurality of types of resins or to make a desired color. The droplets of the photocurable resin discharged from the ink jet head are stacked one by one on the molding stage 31, and then the resin is cured by irradiation of the light source 32. By repeating the above-described ejection from the ink jet heads 16 to 18 at the lower position and the ink jet heads 19 to 21 at the side position, a molded product made of various kinds of resins, or a molded product of multiple colors or an arbitrary mixed color is formed. Is done.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the three-dimensional molding apparatus, in order to discharge the photosensitive resin as small droplets from the inkjet head, the resin needs to have a low viscosity. If the viscosity is high, the head is clogged.

On the other hand, when molding with a low-viscosity photosensitive resin, sagging may occur during photocuring after lamination, or resins and colors may be mixed at boundaries where different types of resins are used or where color changes. Problem.

[Means for solving the problem]

Therefore, the present invention has been created in order to solve the above-described problems, ejects a low-viscosity photosensitive resin droplets, and without sagging during photocuring after lamination,
Another object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional molding apparatus in which resin components and colors in an integrally molded product are not mixed at different boundary portions.

In order to achieve this object, a three-dimensional molding apparatus according to the present invention includes: an inkjet head that discharges a photocurable resin as small droplets; a stage on which the photocurable resin discharged from the inkjet head is laminated; A light source that irradiates light, and a control unit that relatively changes the discharge direction of the resin during the discharge of the resin, and using the inkjet head, according to information of a molded product cross-sectional slice input externally. The three-dimensional molding is performed by laminating a photo-curable resin, and furthermore, light is applied to a flight path of the photo-curable resin droplet so as to irradiate the photo-curable resin droplet ejected from the inkjet head during flight. Irradiation means for irradiating is provided.

[Action]

The three-dimensional molding apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration discharges the photocurable resin droplets from the inkjet head toward the stage according to data externally input, and irradiates light during the flight of the droplets. The partially cured droplets are stacked on the stage, cured by further irradiating light, and the process is repeated to form a three-dimensional molded product.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, since the photo-curable resin droplets discharged from the inkjet head are partially cured during flight and then laminated and cured, clogging of the inkjet head can be prevented, and maintenance burden can be reduced. And at the same time, a molded product having excellent dimensional accuracy without sagging can be obtained. In particular, when a resin of a plurality of colors is used, mixing at the boundary portion where the type and color of the resin is changed hardly occurs, and a resin molded product with clear color coding can be obtained.

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The three-dimensional forming apparatus of the present invention basically has the components of the sink jet type three-dimensional forming apparatus described in FIG. 3 above, and FIG. 1 shows a main part of the present invention in detail. As described above, there is provided an irradiating unit 33 for irradiating light to the flight path of the liquid droplet of the photocurable resin so as to irradiate the light curable resin liquid droplet discharged from the ink jet head during the flight. This irradiation means 33
For example, a plurality of optical fibers are arranged so that the tips face the nozzle tip positions of the respective inkjet heads 16 to 21, and although not shown at the base end of the optical fibers, the photocurable ink discharged from each inkjet head is not shown. A light source that emits light having a wavelength that matches the photocuring sensitivity of the resin droplet is naturally arranged.

The operation of the three-dimensional molding apparatus of the present invention is substantially the same as the operation of the ink-jet type three-dimensional molding apparatus described above, except that the low-viscosity photo-curable resin droplets discharged from the ink-jet head are irradiated with resin curing light. After being cured to an arbitrary degree by the means 33, the layers are laminated one by one on the molding stage 31, and are completely cured and fixed by light irradiation from the light source 32. A molded article is formed by repeating this step. The irradiating means 33 may be configured to irradiate in multiple stages using glass fiber or the like.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in detail above, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged view of the vicinity of an ink jet head and a stage of the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional three-dimensional forming apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a conventional ink jet type three-dimensional forming apparatus. . 16,17,18,19,20,21 ... Inkjet head 31 ... Stage 32 ... Light source 33 ... Irradiation means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An ink jet head for discharging a photo-curable resin as small droplets, a stage on which the photo-curable resin discharged from the ink-jet head is laminated, a light source for irradiating the laminated resin with light, and a discharge of the resin Control means for relatively changing the ejection direction of the resin in the middle, using the ink-jet head, according to information of a cross-sectional slice of the molded product externally input, laminating a photocurable resin, and performing three-dimensional molding. 3. A three-dimensional molding apparatus, comprising: irradiating means for irradiating light onto a flight path of a photocurable resin droplet discharged from the inkjet head.