Calibration device and calibration method for an apparatus for producing an object in layers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10444068-B2
Application number	US-201414903660-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 27, 2014
Priority date	Jul 10, 2013
Publication date	Oct 15, 2019
Grant date	Oct 15, 2019

Abstract

A calibration device (30) for an apparatus (1) for layerwise production of a three-dimensional object (2) by layerwise solidification of building material (10) at the locations corresponding to the cross section of the object to be produced in the respective layer by means of at least two energy beams (14a, 14b) includes a housing (31) and a sensor (32) which is arranged in the housing. The sensor serves to receive the at least two energy beams and to output an output signal as a function of the intensity of the energy beams. The housing has at least two through-openings (34a, 34b) for transmitting the at least two energy beams, which are arranged so that their central axes intersect on a surface of the sensor.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for producing a three-dimensional object by layerwise solidification of building material at locations corresponding to a cross section of the object to be produced in respective layers by introducing energy, the apparatus comprising:
a support on which the object is constructed;
a coater that applies a layer of the building material to the support or to one of the respective layers of building material that was previously at least selectively solidified;
at least one energy source that generates at least two energy beams;
at least two scanning apparatuses that scan locations, corresponding to the cross section of the object to be produced, of the applied layer of the building material with the at least two energy beams for selectively solidifying the building material; and
a calibration device including:
a housing; and
a sensor arranged in the housing, for receiving the at least two energy beams and outputting an output signal as a function of the intensity of the energy beams, the housing having at least two through-openings for transmitting the at least two energy beams, which are arranged so that their central axes intersect on a surface of the sensor.

2. An apparatus for producing a three-dimensional object by layerwise solidification of building material at locations corresponding to a cross section of the object to be produced in respective layers by introducing energy, the apparatus comprising:
a support on which the object is constructed;
a coater that applies a layer of the building material to the support or to one of the respective layers of building material that was previously at least selectively solidified;
at least one energy source that generates at least two energy beams;
at least two scanning apparatuses that scan locations, corresponding to the cross section of the object to be produced, of the applied layer of the building material with the at least two energy beams for selectively solidifying the building material; and
a control unit that controls operation of the apparatus, wherein the control unit controls the apparatus for carrying out a method for calibrating the apparatus for layerwise production of the three-dimensional object by layerwise solidification of the building material at the locations corresponding to the cross section of the object to be produced in the respective layers by the at least two energy beams, the method including the steps of:
positioning a calibration device in the apparatus in such a way that a surface of the sensor is situated in an overlapping area of the at least two energy beams;
iteratively deflecting a first energy beam, and determining a first actual position in which an output signal of the sensor reaches a maximum signal;
iteratively deflecting a second energy beam, and determining a second actual position in which the output signal of the sensor reaches a maximum signal; and
comparing the first and the second actual positions with one another and/or with corresponding desired positions, and determining at least one correction value from the comparison,
wherein the calibration device includes a housing, and a sensor arranged in the housing, for receiving the at least two energy beams and outputting the output signal as a function of the intensity of the energy beams, the housing having at least two through-openings for transmitting the at least two energy beams, the through-openings being arranged so that central axes of the through-openings intersect on a surface of the sensor.

3. An apparatus for producing a three-dimensional object by layerwise solidification of building material at locations corresponding to cross sections of an object to be produced in successive respective layers by introducing solidifying energy to the building material for formation of each layer, comprising:
a movable support on which the object is constructed in a build area;
an apparatus that successively applies at least one of the layers of the building material to the support or thereafter over a previous layer that has been selectively solidified;
one or more energy sources that generate at least two energy beams that are each operated to provide the solidifying energy corresponding to at least one of the cross sections;
at least two scanning apparatuses that scan locations corresponding to at least one of the cross sections, a scanning apparatus directing a respective one of the at least two energy beams to selectively solidify the building material; and
a calibration device including:
a base that is removably positionable on the support or on a layer, and
a sensor arranged in the base, the sensor receiving at least a portion of the energy of each of the at least two energy beams and outputting an output signal as a function of the intensity of the received energy beams, each of the at least portion of the energy beams impinging the sensor from differing directions relative to a horizontal plane corresponding to the surface of the build area but intersecting on a surface of the sensor.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the base has two apertures formed therein each defined by a sidewall, the apertures passing at least a portion of a respective energy beam, the apertures being arranged so that respective central axes of the apertures intersect at the surface of the sensor.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the apertures are defined by conical shaped sidewalls having a widened diameter at a beam entry point and a smaller diameter at a beam exit point.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein a first one of the energy beams impinges the sensor and then the other of the at least two energy beams impinges the sensor.

7. The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising:
iteratively deflecting a first energy beam, and determining a first actual position in which an output signal of the sensor reaches a maximum signal;
iteratively deflecting a second energy beam, and determining a second actual position in which the output signal of the sensor reaches a maximum signal; and
comparing the first and the second actual positions with one another and/or with corresponding desired positions, and determining at least one correction value from the comparison.

Assignees

• Eos Gmbh Electro Optical Systems

Inventors

• Philippi Jochen

Classifications

• B29C64/393

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B29C64/153

  using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting · CPC title

• G01J1/4257

  applied to monitoring the characteristics of a beam, e.g. laser beam, headlamp beam (monitoring arrangements for lasers in general H01S3/0014) · CPC title

• B29K2105/251

  Particles, powder or granules (expandable particles B29K2105/046) · CPC title

• B29C64/386

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title