JP4889266B2 - Three-dimensional shaped object and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a three-dimensional shaped article formed by selective sintering of a powder material and a method for producing the same.

  As a manufacturing method of a three-dimensional shaped object, for example, there is one described in Patent Document 1. In this method, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a), (b), and (c), a base 100 as a lower constituent material is installed on a sintering table 600, and an inorganic or organic powder material is formed on the base 100. A powder layer 103 made of 102 is formed, and a predetermined portion thereof is irradiated with a light beam (laser beam) L and sintered to form a sintered portion 101a. Thereafter, a new powder layer 103 is formed, By repeating the step of forming the sintered part 101b integrated with the previous sintered part 101a by irradiating the predetermined part with the light beam L and sintering, the sintered part is made from the powder material 102. 101 is formed one layer at a time to produce a three-dimensional shaped object, and a complicated three-dimensional shaped object can also be produced in a short time.

If the sintering density is increased to ensure strength, problems such as gas burning will occur, and some have added a degassing function. As shown in FIG. 5, the base 100 is previously processed with a gas vent hole 100 a opened on the surface covered with the sintered portion 101, and the inside is filled with a porous material, thereby forming the sintered portion 101. At this time, the lower portion of the sintered portion 101 on the vent hole 101a has a lower sintering density than the other portions so as to resemble a porous material, thereby forming a vent structure.
JP 2003-001715 A

  However, since the three-dimensional shaped object to which the degassing function is added is similar to the porous material by lowering the sintering density of the degassing part as described above, the strength of the degassing part is different from that of the other part. Inferior. Therefore, there is a problem that rigidity and durability are insufficient for use as an insert of an injection mold, and it is difficult to use as a mold part for a mold having a large number of molding shots.

  The present invention solves the above-described problem, and has an object to form a three-dimensional shaped article having a strength that can be used as a mold part even in a mold having a large number of molding shots while having a gas venting function. To do.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention forms a layer of an inorganic or organic powder material on a base, and sinters a predetermined portion of the powder material layer by irradiation with a light beam so as to be in the plane. By repeating the formation of a sintered layer provided with a high density region having a high sintered density and a porous low density region having a lower sintered density, a plurality of sintered layers can be integrated. A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object comprising the low density region and the high density region provided on the base on which the gas venting portion is provided so as to cover the gas venting portion. A plurality of sintered layers on the base side are formed, and adjacent to the plurality of sintered layers on the base side, a sintered layer on the side opposite to the base having a high density region and a low density region. the forming a plurality, of the sintered layer adjacent the low density region in the sintering layer of the base side Area, is greater than the area of the low density region of the opposite side of the sintered layer and the base. By dispersing the low density region, the strength is increased as compared with the case where the same area is concentrated in one place, for example. Based on the low density region, it can be freely set, and this makes it possible to shorten the irradiation time of the light beam.

  Of the adjacent sintered layers, the sintered layer on the side of the sintering table may be provided with a low density region having a larger area than the area of the low density region of the sintered layer on the opposite side of the sintering table. Thus, the irradiation time of the light beam can be further shortened.

A plurality of three-dimensional shaped objects manufactured by the above method, that is, a plurality of sintered layers on the base side provided with a degassing portion provided with a high-density region and a low-density region formed so as to cover the degassing portion And a plurality of sintered layers on the side opposite to the base, which is formed adjacent to the plurality of sintered layers on the base side and includes the high density region and the low density region. Among the adjacent sintered layers, the area of the low density region in the sintered layer on the base side is larger than the area of the low density region of the sintered layer on the opposite side of the base, This constitutes the present invention.

  According to the method of the present invention, a three-dimensional shaped object having both a gas venting function and a strength that can be used as a mold part of an injection mold having a large number of shots can be obtained. The degassing setting range and contour can be freely set based on the size of one low density region. By increasing the low density region, the irradiation time of the light beam can be shortened.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a three-dimensional shaped object in one embodiment of the present invention. It comprises a base 100 and a sintered part 101 covering it. The sintered portion 101 has a laminated structure (to be described later) in which a plurality of sintered layers are integrated, a high-density region 401 for ensuring strength, and a porous low-density region 402 for degassing. Are distributed in a lattice pattern on the surface, that is, a plurality of vertical and horizontal.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the three-dimensional shaped object. On the sintering table 600, a lifting table 601 for raising and lowering the sintering table 600, and the sintering table 600. It comprises a powder supply device 602 for supplying a powder material, a light beam irradiation device 604 for generating a light beam L to be irradiated on a sintering table 600 via a polarizing device 603, and a control device 605 for controlling them. The powder supply device 602 has a blade 606.

A method for manufacturing the above-described three-dimensional shaped object will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the base 100 that is all or part of the lower structure in the three-dimensional shaped object is set on the sintering table 600. The base 100 may be formed of any material as long as it is integrated with the sintered product when the powder material is sintered on the surface thereof, but the necessary processing is completed in advance. Use the same thing. Here, what processed the vent hole 100a opened on the surface covered with the sintered part 101 was used. The vent hole 100a may be filled with a porous material.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, while supplying the powder material 102 onto the sintering table 600, the surface thereof is leveled by the blade 606, and the powder layer 103 having a thickness of Δt is formed on the base 100. Form. Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the light layer L is irradiated to a predetermined region to sinter the powder layer 103, thereby forming a sintered portion 101 a integrated with the base 100. At that time, the light beam L from the light beam irradiation device 604 is polarized by the polarizing device 603 and applied to the powder layer 103. At that time, the irradiation position of the light beam L is moved by controlling the polarizing device 603 by the control device 605. The powder material 102 may be a metal, plastic, polymer, ceramic, or an inorganic or organic powder material in which these are combined.

  After that, as shown in FIG. 3D, the powder layer 103 is further formed, and the powder layer 103 is sintered to form a sintered portion 101b integrated with the lower sintered portion 101a. Are repeatedly stacked in order to bring it closer to the desired three-dimensional shape. At that time, the irradiation position of the light beam L is moved so as to follow the surface shape of a predetermined range of the sintered portions 101a, 101b,.

  During sintering, the sintering density in the plane of the sintered portions 101a, 101b,... (Surface direction of the base 100) is adjusted. This is because the controller 605 controls the output of the light beam irradiation device 604 to change the intensity of the light beam L, or controls the operation of the polarizing device 603 to control the scanning speed of the light beam L (movement of the irradiation position). By changing the (speed). The greater the intensity of the light beam L and the slower the scanning speed of the light beam L, the greater the sintering density. Here, the output of the light beam irradiation device 604 is kept constant, and by changing the scanning speed of the light beam L through the polarizing device 603, a high-density region with a porosity of 0.1% and a porous material with a porosity of 10%. A condition for forming a low density region is set. Sintering is started after setting the conditions in this way.

  In the initial stage of lamination by sintering, the scanning speed of the light beam L is increased with respect to the entire range in which gas venting is set (the above-described distribution range of the low density region), as shown in FIG. As described above, the low density region 402 over the range is formed, and the other part is the high density region 401. Here, the low-density region 402 is formed in a large rectangle at the center so as to cover the gas vent hole 101a of the base 100, and the high-density region 401 is disposed only at the other portion, that is, the peripheral portion. As a result, the low-density region 402 having a large area resembles a commonly used porous material, and the gas venting performance is improved. Also, with respect to the irradiation time of the light beam L, the low-density region 402 having a high scanning speed of the light beam can be widened as compared to aiming to form the high-density region 401 and the low-density region 402 in a lattice shape from the beginning. Therefore, the irradiation time can be shortened.

  When the layers are laminated to a certain thickness, the scanning speed of the light beam L is switched by the control device 605 and the polarizing device 603, and as shown in FIG. 3 (f), the high density region 401 and a plurality of low density regions 402 are mixed. Let Here, the low-density region 402 is formed linearly and in parallel, and the other is a high-density region 401, but the high-density region 401 and the low-density region 402 described above are arranged in a lattice pattern. This is a simplified illustration (of course, it may have a linear distribution as shown). The low density region 402 is disposed on the previously formed low density region 402. The final thickness of the sintered portion 101 is a thickness that can ensure the strength required for the three-dimensional shaped object by the high-density region 401 formed only in the peripheral portion and the high-density region 401 formed here. To do. This is determined by simulation.

  When the sintered portion 101 having a predetermined thickness is formed, the target 100 is removed by removing the base 100 from the sintering table 600 and removing the unsintered powder material 102. .

  As described above, the base 100 has a lower structure, the laminated sintered portion 101 has an upper structure, and a low density region 402 and a high density region 401 for degassing are formed on the surface of the sintered portion 101. A three-dimensional shaped article formed in a lattice shape or the like can be obtained. Using such a three-dimensional shaped object as a powder material 102, a housing for home appliances is formed using a powder material containing 50 mass% or more of iron-based powder and the balance being a powder alloy made of nickel and a nickel-based alloy. When a resin injection mold and its mold parts were manufactured as a movable side insert, good results were obtained in both strength and degassing function.

  In this three-dimensional shaped object, as described above, the irradiation time was shortened by providing only one low density region 402 in the inside (lower layer) to the limit where the strength can be secured. The region 401 and the low density region 402 may be formed in a lattice shape or the like.

Moreover, although the lower structure was comprised in the base 100, the whole structure may be comprised in the sintered part 101, and the same effect can be acquired also in that case.
In addition, the load of the control program for the three-dimensional shaped object and the light beam L has been reduced by making the shape of the high-density region 401 and the low-density region 402 a shape such as a rectangle or a frame shape connected to the rectangle. The same effect can be obtained in any form. The degassing setting range and contour can be freely set based on the size of one low density region 402.

  According to the method of the present invention, it is possible to produce a three-dimensional shaped article having both a gas venting function and strength, and it is also useful for producing a mold part of an injection mold having a large number of shots.

External perspective view of three-dimensional shaped object in one embodiment of the present invention Structural drawing of a conventional manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the three-dimensional shaped object of FIG. Process sectional drawing explaining the manufacturing method of the three-dimensional shape molded article of FIG. Process sectional drawing explaining the manufacturing method of the conventional three-dimensional shape molded article Sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the three-dimensional shape modeling thing which added the gas venting function

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Base 100a Degassing hole 101 Sintering part 102 Powder material 103 Powder layer 401 High density area 402 Low density area 600 Sintering table L Light beam

Claims (4)

Form a layer of inorganic or organic powder material on the base,
A predetermined portion of the powder material layer is sintered by irradiation with a light beam to provide a high density region having a high sintering density and a porous low density region having a lower sintering density in the plane. A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object by integrating a plurality of sintered layers by repeating forming a sintered layer,
A plurality of the base-side sintered layers having the low density region and the high density region provided so as to cover the gas vent portion are formed on the base having the gas vent portion,
Adjacent on the plurality of sintered layers on the base side, forming a plurality of sintered layers on the side opposite to the base having a high density region and a low density region,
Production of a three-dimensional shaped object in which the area of the low density region in the sintered layer on the base side among the adjacent sintered layers is larger than the area of the low density region in the sintered layer on the side opposite to the base Method. The method for producing a three-dimensional shaped article according to claim 1, wherein the sintered layer on the side opposite to the base is formed so that the high density region and the low density region are distributed in a lattice shape. The gas vent portion of the base is plural,
3. The three-dimensional shaped object according to claim 1, wherein the low-density region of the sintered layer on the base side is one low-density region that covers and connects the plurality of gas vent portions. Manufacturing method. A laminated structure in which a plurality of sintered layers are integrated, and a high density region having a high sintered density and a porous low density region having a sintered density lower than that in the plane of the sintered layer; A three-dimensional shaped object comprising
A plurality of sintered layers on the base side provided with a degassing portion comprising the high density region and the low density region formed so as to cover the degassing portion;
A plurality of sintered layers on the opposite side of the base including the high-density region and the low-density region formed adjacent to the plurality of sintered layers on the base side,
Among the adjacent sintered layers, a three-dimensional shaped article in which the area of the low density region in the sintered layer on the base side is larger than the area of the low density region in the sintered layer on the side opposite to the base .

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