Manufacturing device, method and computer program product for the additive manufacture of components from a powder material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12539543-B2
Application number	US-202318169914-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 16, 2023
Priority date	Aug 24, 2020
Publication date	Feb 3, 2026
Grant date	Feb 3, 2026

Abstract

A manufacturing device for additive manufacture of components includes a beam generation device configured to generate energy beams, a scanner device configured to locally and selectively irradiate a working region with the energy beams, a protective gas device configured to generate a protective gas flow over the working region, and a control device configured to drive the scanner device. The control device is configured to define a first irradiation region along which a first irradiation section is displaced from a first starting position to a first end position, to define a second irradiation region along which a second irradiation section is displaced from a second starting position to a second end position, and to begin irradiation of the second irradiation region when the first irradiation section and the second starting position are not arranged within an interaction zone defined by a protective gas flow direction relative to one another.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A manufacturing device for additive manufacture of components from a powder material, the manufacturing device comprising:
a beam generation device configured to generate a plurality of energy beams, a scanner device configured to locally and selectively irradiate a working region with the plurality of energy beams in order to produce a component from the powder material arranged in the working region, a protective gas device configured to generate a protective gas flow with a defined protective gas flow direction over the working region, and a control device operatively connected to the scanner device and configured to drive the scanner device, wherein a computer program product comprising machine-readable instructions runs on the control device causing the control device to:
define a first irradiation region on the working region for a first energy beam of the plurality of energy beams, wherein a first irradiation section for the first energy beam is displaced within the first irradiation region from a first starting position to a first end position:
define a second irradiation region upstream of the first irradiation region on the working region for a second energy beam of the plurality of energy beams, wherein a second irradiation section for the second energy beam is displaced within the second irradiation region from a second starting position to a second end position,
begin irradiation of the second irradiation region with the second energy beam when the first irradiation section and the second starting position for the second irradiation section are not arranged within an interaction zone defined by the protective gas flow direction relative to one another, and
perform irradiation of the first irradiation region and the second irradiation region with irradiation vectors that are parallel and/or antiparallel to one another, the irradiation vectors being worked through in succession along a displacement direction, wherein the control device is configured to block an angle range of 150° to 210° with respect to the protective gas flow direction for the displacement direction.

2 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to,
based on the first irradiation section, determine a first blocking region that is displaced along the first irradiation region with the first irradiation section, and/or, based on the second irradiation section, determine a second blocking region that is displaced along the second irradiation region with the second irradiation section.

3 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the control device is configured
to begin the irradiation of the second irradiation region with the second energy beam only when at least one starting condition is met, wherein the at least one starting condition is selected from a group consisting of: the second starting position is not located in the first blocking region, the first irradiation section is not located within the second blocking region at the second starting position, and the first blocking region and the second blocking region do not overlap with one another.

4 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to define the first irradiation region and the second irradiation region directly adjacent to one another on the working region, such that the first irradiation region and the second irradiation region adjoin one another.

5 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to generate the first irradiation region and the second irradiation region as strips, such that a strip length of a strip as measured in a longitudinal direction of the strip is greater than an extent of the blocking region assigned to the strip as measured in the longitudinal direction.

6 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to define the first irradiation region and the second irradiation region such that the first irradiation region and the second irradiation region are oriented transverse to the protective gas flow direction.

7 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is further configured to block a first angle range of 60° to 120° and a second angle range of 240° to 300° with respect to the protective gas flow direction for the irradiation vectors.

8 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to predefine the displacement direction such that the displacement direction is oriented, at least component wise, in an angle range of 210° to 275° or in an angle range of 90° to 150° with respect to the protective gas flow direction.

9 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to define more than two irradiation regions for more than two energy beams.

10 . The manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured to define at least one blocking region, selected from blocking regions, such that the at least one blocking region has a predetermined extent in the protective gas flow direction or extends up to a working region boundary of the working region.

11 . A method for additive manufacture of a component from a powder material using a manufacturing device as claimed in claim 1 , the method comprising:
irradiating a working region locally and selectively with a plurality of energy beams in order to produce the component from the powder material arranged in the working region, generating a protective gas flow with a particular protective gas flow direction over the working region, wherein
a first irradiation region is defined on the working region for a first energy beam of the plurality of energy beams, wherein a first irradiation section for the first energy beam is displaced within the first irradiation region from a first starting position to a first end position,
a second irradiation region upstream of the first irradiation region is defined on the working region for a second energy beam of the plurality of energy beams, wherein a second irradiation section for the second energy beam is displaced within the second irradiation region from a second starting position to a second end position, and
irradiation of the second irradiation region with the second energy beam is begun when the first irradiation section and the second starting position for the second irradiation section are not arranged within an interaction zone defined by the protective gas flow direction relative to one another.

12 . The method as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising:
based on the first irradiation section, determining a first blocking region that is displaced along the first irradiation region with the first irradiation section, and/or based on the second irradiation section, determining a second blocking region that is displaced along the second irradiation region with the second irradiation section.

13 . The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein
the irradiation of the second irradiation region with the second energy beam is begun only when at least one starting condition is met, wherein the at least one starting condition is selected from a group consisting of: the second starting position is not located in the first blocking region: the first irradiation section is not located within the second blocking region at the second starting position; and the first blocking region and the second blocking region do not overlap with one another.

14 . A computer program product, compris

Assignees

• Trumpf Laser & Systemtechnik Gmbh
• Trumpf Laser—und Systemtechnik GmbH

Inventors

• Gutmann Bernhard
• Staiger Michael
• Leuck Sarah
• Findeisen Stefan

Classifications

• B22F2998/10

  Processes characterised by the sequence of their steps · CPC title

• B33Y50/02

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B33Y30/00

  Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B22F12/70

  Gas flow means · CPC title