Three-dimensional shaping device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11999108-B2
Application number	US-202117443039-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2021
Priority date	Jul 23, 2020
Publication date	Jun 4, 2024
Grant date	Jun 4, 2024

Abstract

A three-dimensional shaping device includes: a shaping table; a layer forming unit configured to form a powder layer on the shaping table; a head configured to eject a liquid containing a binder from a nozzle to a shaping region; and a control unit configured to control movement of the head with respect to the shaping table and driving of the head by applying a voltage. The control unit executes a first flushing operation when a distance between the shaping region and the flushing position is less than a threshold value, and executes a second flushing operation when the distance between the shaping region and the flushing position is equal to or greater than the threshold value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A three-dimensional shaping device, comprising:
a shaping table;
a layer forming unit configured to form a powder layer on the shaping table;
a head configured to eject a liquid containing a binder from a nozzle to a shaping region of a three-dimensional shaped object on the powder layer; and
a control unit configured to control movement of the head with respect to the shaping table and driving of the head by applying a voltage, and to control the head to execute a flushing operation at a flushing position which is a position different from the shaping region, wherein
the control unit is configured to
control the head to execute a first flushing operation under a first flushing condition that a distance between the shaping region and the flushing position is less than a threshold value, and

control the head to execute a second flushing operation, which is different from the first flushing operation, under a second flushing condition that the distance between the shaping region and the flushing position is equal to or greater than the threshold value.

2. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , wherein
a frequency of a waveform input to the head in the second flushing operation is higher than a frequency of a waveform input to the head in the first flushing operation.

3. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , wherein
a voltage to be applied to the head in the second flushing operation is higher than a voltage to be applied to the head in the first flushing operation.

4. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , wherein
an ejection speed of the liquid from the head in the second flushing operation is faster than an ejection speed of the liquid from the head in the first flushing operation.

5. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , wherein
a droplet size of the liquid ejected from the head in the second flushing operation is larger than a droplet size of the liquid ejected from the head in the first flushing operation.

6. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , wherein
the head includes a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzle, a supply path configured to supply the liquid to the pressure chamber, and a circulation path into which the liquid from the pressure chamber flows for circulation.

7. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 6 , wherein
the control unit is configured to control such that q2/q1 is equal to or greater than 0.05 and equal to or less than 20, where q1 is a flow rate of the liquid flowing into the circulation path per unit time, and q2 is a maximum flow rate of the liquid ejected from the nozzle per unit time.

8. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 7 , wherein
q2/q1 is 0.05.

9. The three-dimensional shaping device according to claim 1 , wherein the shaping region includes a first region and a second region,
a distance between the first region and the flushing position is less than the threshold value, and
a distance between the second region and the flushing position is greater than or equal to the threshold value.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Tsunoya Akihiko
• Momose Kaoru
• Hirai Toshimitsu

Classifications

• B29C64/35 Primary

  Cleaning · CPC title

• B29C64/165

  using a combination of solid and fluid materials, e.g. a powder selectively bound by a liquid binder, catalyst, inhibitor or energy absorber · CPC title

• B29C64/209

  Heads; Nozzles · CPC title

• B29C64/227

  Driving means · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title