Three-dimensional deposition device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10744561-B2
Application number	US-201916265520-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 1, 2019
Priority date	Mar 31, 2014
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

Provided is a three-dimensional deposition device, including: a powder supply unit which supplies a powder material; a light irradiation unit which irradiates the powder material with a light beam so that the powder material irradiated with the light beam is sintered or melted and solidified to form a formed layer; a three-dimensional deposition chamber which is sealed from an outside and accommodates the powder supply unit, the light irradiation unit, and a base unit; a gas discharge unit which discharges a gas inside the three-dimensional deposition chamber; and a gas introduction unit which introduces a predetermined gas into the three-dimensional deposition chamber. When the gas discharge unit discharges a gas inside the three-dimensional deposition chamber and the gas introduction unit introduces a predetermined gas thereinto, a predetermined gas atmosphere is formed inside the three-dimensional deposition chamber.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An additive manufacturing device which builds a three-dimensional object by injecting a powder material to a target region while irradiating the powder material with a laser beam and thereby forming an additive layer in the target region, comprising:
a base unit on which the three-dimensional object is built;
a deposition chamber accommodating the base unit;
a hat-shaped cover provided inside the deposition chamber, the hat-shaped cover and the base unit defining the target region, the target region being configured to have a gas atmosphere different from a gas atmosphere outside hat-shaped cover;
a deposition head attached to the hat-shaped cover and configured to inject the powder material in the target region;
a first gas introducer which controls a first residual oxygen concentration by introducing and supplying an inert gas into the target region when forming the three-dimensional object, and
a device controller which controls an operation of the additive manufacturing device and a supplying condition of the inert gas supplied by the first gas introducer, wherein
the device controller is capable of;
storing an information in a memory, the information includes at least one of (i) an operation program of the additive manufacturing device, (ii) an information of the additive manufacturing device, and (iii) a design information of the three-dimensional object for determining a forming condition of the additive layer, and
determining the supplying condition of the inert gas to the target region based on the information stored in the memory to achieve a certain first gas atmosphere having a predetermined residual oxygen concentration in accordance with a type of the powder material used in forming the three-dimensional object.

2. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a reader which acquires a material information displayed on a cartridge at least partially filled with the powder material;
a carrying path to which the powder material is input from the cartridge and from which powder material is output toward the target region, and
a powder identifier which identifies the type of the powder material in the cartridge based on the material information acquired by the reader.

3. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 2 , wherein,
the memory stores a relationship between the type of the powder material used in forming the three-dimensional object and the forming condition of the additive layer, and
the device controller determines the appropriate forming condition of the additive layer based on the identified type of the powder material and the relationship.

4. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein,
the first gas introducer introduces the inert gas such that substantially a whole area in the target region becomes the certain first gas atmosphere having the predetermined residual oxygen concentration.

5. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein,
the first gas introducer introduces the inert gas such that the target region becomes the certain first gas atmosphere having the predetermined residual oxygen concentration.

6. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a second gas introducer which introduces the inert gas such that substantially a whole area in the deposition chamber outside the hat-shaped cover becomes a certain second gas atmosphere having a second predetermined residual oxygen concentration, wherein
the first gas introducer introduces the inert gas such that a periphery of the target region becomes the certain first gas atmosphere having a first predetermined residual oxygen concentration.

7. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein,
the first residual oxygen concentration is same as or less than 100 ppm.

8. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein,
the first residual oxygen concentration is same as or less than 10 ppm.

9. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first gas discharger which discharges a gas from the target region.

10. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 9 , wherein,
the first gas introducer includes a first opening for introducing the inert gas into the target region, and
the first gas discharger includes a second opening for discharging the gas from the target region, and a vertical position of the first opening is lower than that of the second opening.

11. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the first gas introducer introduces the gas such that a periphery of the target region becomes the certain first gas atmosphere having the predetermined residual oxygen concentration.

12. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 11 , wherein
the first gas introducer is located below the first cover gas discharger.

13. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first gas discharger which discharges air inside the deposition chamber to an outside of the target region,
wherein the first gas introducer is provided below the first gas discharger when a weight of the inert gas supplied into the target region is higher than a weight of the air inside the target region.

14. The additive manufacturing device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first gas discharger which discharges air inside the target region to an outside of the target region,
wherein the first gas introducer is provided above the first gas discharger when a weight of the inert gas supplied into the target region is lower than a weight of the air inside the target region.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Heavy Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Yoshimura Hitoshi

Classifications

• B29C64/188 Primary

  involving additional operations performed on the added layers, e.g. smoothing, grinding or thickness control (surface shaping B29C59/00; after-treatment of articles without altering their shape B29C71/00) · CPC title

• B22F12/90

  Means for process control, e.g. cameras or sensors · CPC title

• B22F12/70

  Gas flow means · CPC title

• B22F12/30

  Platforms or substrates · CPC title

• B22F12/10

  Auxiliary heating means · CPC title