Three-dimensional shaping device and injection molding device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11602880-B2
Application number	US-202017005975-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 28, 2020
Priority date	Aug 30, 2019
Publication date	Mar 14, 2023
Grant date	Mar 14, 2023

Abstract

A three-dimensional shaping device includes: a material storage unit and a mouth portion which is provided below the body portion and which has a hole with a diameter smaller than a maximum inner diameter of the body portion, a material supply unit configured to supply a material to the material storage unit, a melting unit configured to melt the material supplied through the mouth portion, a nozzle configured to discharge the shaping material toward a stage, a remaining state detection unit configured to detect a remaining state of the material, a remaining amount determination unit configured to determine whether a remaining amount of the material is less than a first reference value based on the remaining state, and a control unit configured to supply, when the remaining amount is less than the first reference value, the material to the material storage unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A three-dimensional shaping device comprising:
a material storage unit including a cylindrical body portion, a stirring mechanism disposed within the cylindrical body, a mouth portion which is provided below the body portion and which has a hole with a first diameter smaller than a maximum inner diameter of the body portion, and configured to store a material in a form of pellet, and an inclined portion whose inner diameter decreases from the body portion toward the mouth portion, the stirring mechanism comprising a shaft off-axis from a central longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body and a blade disposed at the lower end of the shaft;
a material supply unit configured to supply the material to the body portion of the material storage unit;
a melting unit configured to melt the material supplied through the mouth portion of the material storage unit to form a shaping material;
a nozzle configured to discharge the shaping material toward a stage;
a remaining state detection unit configured to detect a remaining state of the material stored in the material storage unit;
a remaining amount determination unit configured to determine whether a remaining amount of the material stored in the material storage unit is less than a first reference value based on the remaining state; and
a control unit configured to control, when the remaining amount is less than the first reference value, the material supply unit to supply the material to the material storage unit until the remaining amount is larger than the first reference value, wherein
the first reference value is determined as a value at which a height of the material stored in the material storage unit when the remaining amount is equal to the first reference value is less than a height of an upper end of the mouth portion, the hole of the mouth portion has the first diameter from the upper end of the mouth portion to a lower end of the mouth portion adjacent the melting unit,
when the remaining amount is less than the first reference value, the control unit controls the material supply unit to supply the material to the material storage unit until the remaining amount is equal to or larger than a second reference value, which is different from and larger than the first reference value, and
the second reference value is determined as a value at which a height of the material stored in the material storage unit when the remaining amount is equal to the second reference value is less than the height of the upper end of the body portion and more than the first reference value.

2. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , wherein
at least a part of the material storage unit is transparent, and
the remaining state detection unit is an optical sensor configured to optically detect the remaining state from an outside of the material storage unit via a transparent portion of the material storage unit.

3. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first reference value when a first material is used as the material is larger than the first reference value when a second material having a maximum outer dimension larger than that of the first material is used as the material.

4. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an impact generation unit configured to apply an impact to the material stored in the material storage unit.

5. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a material supply pipe coupling the material supply unit and the material storage unit;
a supply-side coupling portion provided in the material supply unit and coupling to the material supply pipe;
a receiving-side coupling portion provided in the material storage unit and coupling to the material supply pipe; and
a material pumping mechanism configured to pump the material from the material supply unit to the material storage unit via the material supply pipe, wherein
the receiving-side coupling portion is positioned above the supply-side coupling portion.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Anegawa Kenta

Classifications

• B22F3/115

  by spraying molten metal, i.e. spray sintering, spray casting · CPC title

• B29C64/106 Primary

  using only liquids or viscous materials, e.g. depositing a continuous bead of viscous material · CPC title

• B29C64/209

  Heads; Nozzles · CPC title

• B33Y50/00

  Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title