Optical processing apparatus and shaping apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10399182-B2
Application number	US-201615123889-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 15, 2016
Priority date	Mar 15, 2016
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

The mobility of an optical processing apparatus is improved. There is provided an optical processing apparatus for scanning a processing region having an at least one-dimensional spread by moving a nozzle head while irradiating the processing region with an optical processing light beam via the nozzle head, including a light source that emits, to air, the optical processing light beam toward the nozzle head, a nozzle head that includes a hollow nozzle in a vertical direction and a light beam direction changing optical system which receives the light beam emitted from the light source and propagated in the air, and changes a propagation direction of the received light beam to a direction of a currently processed processing point in the processing region, and a main scanning direction moving mechanism that moves the nozzle head by causing the nozzle head to scan in a main scanning direction of the processing region.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An optical processing apparatus for scanning a processing region having at least one-dimensional spread by moving a nozzle head while irradiating the processing region with an optical processing light beam via the nozzle head, comprising:
a light source that emits, to an open space, the optical processing light beam toward the nozzle head;
a nozzle head that includes a hollow nozzle and a light beam direction changing optical system which receives the light beam emitted from said light source and propagated in the open space, and changes a propagation direction of the received light beam to a direction of the processing region in the processing region, wherein said light beam direction changing optical system comprises a rotationally symmetric mirror having a rotation-symmetry axis and a mirror surface as an inner surface;
a main scanning direction moving mechanism that moves said nozzle head in a main scanning direction of the processing region; and
a pivoting unit that causes a light beam emission direction of said light source to pivot around the rotation axis so that the light beam emission direction of said light source faces said light beam direction changing optical system, in accordance with movement of said nozzle head.

2. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the processing region includes a two-dimensional region,
said optical processing apparatus further comprises a sub-scanning direction moving mechanism that moves said nozzle head in a sub-scanning direction intersecting the main scanning direction, and
the processing region is processed within a two-dimensional plane formed by the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.

3. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said light source includes an intra-light source condensing optical system whose focal length is variable, and emits a condensed light beam.

4. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said light source emits a parallel light beam.

5. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein said light beam direction changing optical system of said nozzle head includes
a planar mirror, normal to which is inclined by an angle of 45° with respect to the main scanning direction, that reflects the parallel light beam from said light source to change the propagation direction of the parallel light beam to the direction of the processing region, and
an intra-nozzle head condensing optical system that condenses, at a processing point on the processing region, the parallel light beam whose direction has been changed to the direction of the processing region by said planar mirror.

6. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein
said light source emits a parallel light beam parallel to the sub-scanning direction,
said optical processing apparatus further comprises
said main scanning direction moving mechanism,
said sub-scanning direction moving mechanism, and
a light beam direction changing mirror that is provided in said sub-scanning direction moving mechanism, and reflects the parallel light beam emitted from said light source in the sub-scanning direction and guides the parallel light beam in the main scanning direction, and
said planar mirror receives the parallel light beam propagating in the main scanning direction, and changes a traveling direction to the direction of the processing region.

7. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein
said optical processing apparatus can parallelly process the processing region by n nozzle heads, and comprises
n main scanning direction moving mechanisms that respectively scan and move the n nozzle heads in n main scanning directions parallel to each other,
n first light beam direction changing optical systems that are respectively fixed to said n main scanning direction moving mechanisms, and
said sub-scanning direction moving mechanism, and
said sub-scanning direction moving mechanism comprises
a sub-scanning direction guide rail,
n sliders that can freely move on said guide rail and respectively move said n main scanning direction moving mechanisms in the sub-scanning direction, and
n second light beam direction changing optical systems that are respectively provided on said n sliders and guide the light beam from said light source to light beam direction changing optical systems of the respective nozzle heads.

8. The multi-head optical processing apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said n second optical systems comprise n half mirrors, transmittances of said n half mirrors are set so that the transmittance decreases from a half mirror near said light source, and a last half mirror comprises a total reflection mirror with a transmittance of 0% (a reflectance of 100%).

9. The multi-head optical processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein by setting, to {1/(n−m+1)}×100%, a reflectance of an mth half mirror among (n−2) half mirrors of relaying optical systems obtained by excluding said half mirror near said light source and said last half mirror from said n half mirrors, a light amount of a light beam supplied to each of said n nozzle heads is constant.

10. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said nozzle head includes, in a separate direction from the processing point along the rotation-symmetry axis of said rotationally symmetric mirror, an incident opening portion where the light beam from said light source is received.

11. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein said light source is arranged in a separate direction from the processing point with respect to said incident opening portion so that the light beam from said light source enters from said incident opening portion and is reflected by the wall surface of said rotationally symmetric mirror.

12. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
said rotationally symmetric mirror comprises a spheroidal mirror having a major axis in a direction of the rotation-symmetry axis, and
said light source is arranged so that a focus position of a condensed light beam emitted toward said nozzle head coincides with a first focus position of said spheroidal mirror and a light beam which has passed through the first focus position, and has entered and been reflected by one of wall surfaces of said spheroidal mirror is condensed at a second focus point of said spheroidal mirror.

13. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein a focus position of said intra-light source condensing optical system of said light source coincides with the first focus position of said spheroidal mirror.

14. The optical processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
said rotationally symmetrical mirror comprises a paraboloidal mirror in which a focus point and a vertex are aligned on a rotation-symmetry axis and an inner surface comprises a mirror surface, and
the focus point of said rotationally symmetrical mirror coincides with the processing point.

15. A shaping apparatus for performing laminating and shaping, including an optical processing apparatus defined in claim 1 , wherein
a nozzle head sucks a powder material, and ejects the sucked powder material toward a processing point.

16. An optical processing apparatus for scanning a processing region having an at least one-dimensional spread by moving a nozzle head while irradiating the processing region with an optical processing light beam via the nozzle head, comprising:
a light source that emits, to an open space, the o

Assignees

• Tech Res Association Future Additive Manufacturing

Inventors

• Ohno Hiroshi
• Sasaki Yuji
• Tsuno Satoshi
• Okada Naotada
• Sasaki Mitsuo

Classifications

• B29C67/00

  Shaping techniques not covered by groups B29C39/00 - B29C65/00, B29C70/00 or B29C73/00 · CPC title

• B23K26/0876

  in at least two axial directions · CPC title

• B23K26/0673

  into independently operating sub-beams, e.g. beam multiplexing to provide laser beams for several stations · CPC title

• B22F3/16

  in successive or repeated steps · CPC title

• B22F3/105

  by using electric current {other than for infrared radiant energy}, laser radiation or plasma (B22F3/11 takes precedence){; by ultrasonic bonding (B22F3/115 takes precedence)} · CPC title