Solid object shaping apparatus, control method for solid object shaping apparatus, and control program for solid object shaping apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10220604-B2
Application number	US-201514978255-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2015
Priority date	Feb 19, 2015
Publication date	Mar 5, 2019
Grant date	Mar 5, 2019

Abstract

A solid object shaping apparatus, which includes a head unit that ejects a liquid, and a curing unit that cures the liquid so as to form a block, shapes a solid object by using the blocks, and can cure the liquid in a plurality of curing modes including a first curing mode in which the liquid is cured so that the block with a first size is formed by a first reference amount of liquid, and a second curing mode in which the liquid is cured so that the block with a second size in which a surface area is larger than a surface area in the first size is formed by using the first reference amount of liquid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A solid object shaping apparatus comprising:
a head unit that ejects a liquid;
a curing unit that cures the liquid ejected from the head unit; and
a control portion that controls the head unit and the curing unit to shape a solid object by using a plurality of blocks that are formed by the cured liquid, and
the control portion controlling the curing unit to cure the liquid in a plurality of curing modes including a first curing mode in which the liquid is cured so that a first block with a first size is formed by a first reference amount of liquid ejected from the head unit, and a second curing mode in which the liquid is cured so that a second block with a second size in which a surface area is larger than a surface area in the first size is formed by using the first reference amount of liquid ejected from the head unit,
to form the second block, among a plurality of voxels with which a model for designating a shape of the solid object is approximated, which constitute a voxel assembly, and each of which is a virtual rectangular parallelepiped with the first size, the control portion controlling the head unit to eject the first reference amount of the liquid to a voxel that is adjacent to an upper face of a first edge voxel, the first edge voxel having six faces that include the upper face and a lower face facing in an opposite direction to the upper face in a vertical direction of the solid object, the lower face and at least one face of the first edge voxel, which is different from the upper and lower faces, constituting an outer surface of the voxel assembly, and the control portion controlling the curing unit to cure the liquid ejected to the voxel in the second curing mode such that the liquid ejected to the voxel hangs down toward the first edge voxel and such that the second block formed of the liquid elected to the voxel is formed in the voxel and a part of the first edge voxel.

2. The solid object shaping apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the head unit ejects the first reference amount of liquid, or ejects a second reference amount of liquid smaller than the first reference amount of liquid to form a third block, and
wherein the control portion controls the head unit to eject the liquid such that the third block formed by using the second reference amount of liquid is provided in a part of a second edge voxel among the plurality of voxels, and the second edge voxel has six faces including two or more faces that constitute a surface of the voxel assembly.

3. The solid object shaping apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the liquid is cured when irradiated with light having a predetermined wavelength,
wherein the curing unit irradiates the liquid ejected from the head unit with the light having the predetermined wavelength, and
wherein the control portion controls the curing unit such that the intensity of light applied by the curing unit in the first curing mode is higher than the intensity of light applied by the curing unit in the second curing mode.

4. The solid object shaping apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the liquid is cured by being heated,
wherein the curing unit heats the liquid ejected from the head unit, and
wherein the control portion controls the curing unit such that an amount of heat applied to the liquid ejected from the head unit by the curing unit in the first curing mode is larger than an amount of heat applied to the liquid ejected from the head unit by the curing unit in the second curing mode.

5. The solid object shaping apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control portion controls the curing unit such that time to cure the liquid ejected from the head unit by the curing unit in the first curing mode is longer than time to cure the liquid ejected from the head unit by the curing unit in the second curing mode.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Utsunomiya Kohei
• Yamazaki Satoshi

Classifications

• B29C64/112 Primary

  using individual droplets, e.g. from jetting heads · CPC title

• B29C2035/0827

  using UV radiation · CPC title

• B33Y30/00 Primary

  Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title