Three-dimensional modeling apparatus, object, and method of manufacturing an object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018290379-A1
Application number	US-201816007012-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 13, 2018
Priority date	Aug 19, 2010
Publication date	Oct 11, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Provided is a three-dimensional modeling apparatus including a stage, a constraining body, a supply nozzle, an irradiation unit, and a movement mechanism. The constraining body includes a surface including a linear region along a first direction, and is opposed to the stage so that the linear region is the closest to the stage. The supply nozzle supplies a material curable by energy of an energy ray into a slit region between the stage and the linear region. The irradiation unit irradiates the supplied material with the energy ray through the constraining body. The movement mechanism moves the stage relative to the constraining body along a second direction for forming a cured layer of the material for one layer, and moves the constraining body and the stage relative to each other along a stacking direction for stacking the cured layers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A three-dimensional modeling apparatus, comprising:
a stage; a constraining body that includes a surface including a linear region along a first direction, and is arranged so as to be opposed to the stage so that the linear region of the surface is the closest to the stage; a supply nozzle configured to supply a material curable by energy of an energy ray into a slit region being a region between the stage and the linear region; an irradiation unit configured to irradiate the material supplied by the supply nozzle into the slit region with the energy ray through the constraining body; and a movement mechanism configured to move, in order to form a cured layer of the material for one layer by using the energy ray, the stage relative to the constraining body along a second direction different from the first direction, and to move, in order to stack the cured layers of the material, the constraining body and the stage relative to each other along a stacking direction.

2 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the constraining body is formed to have a cylindrical shape, and the surface including the linear region includes an outer peripheral surface of the constraining body having the cylindrical shape.

3 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the irradiation unit is arranged in an inside of the constraining body having the cylindrical shape.

4 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 2 , further comprising
a plurality of guide rollers configured to support the constraining body so as to be rotatable.

5 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising
a drive portion configured to drive at least one of the plurality of guide rollers.

6 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the constraining body is formed to have a shape of a plate including the surface being a curved surface.

7 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the constraining body is formed to have a part of a cylindrical body.

8 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the movement mechanism is configured to move the constraining body and the stage relative to each other along a direction including a vertical component.

9 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising
a cleaning nozzle configured to supply a cleaning material to the object formed on the stage.

10 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the supply nozzle includes a plurality of supply nozzles, and the plurality of supply nozzles are configured to discharge different materials.

11 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the supply nozzle includes a nozzle of a slit coating type.

12 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the supply nozzle is configured to supply a material having a thixotropy as the material.

13 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the constraining body and the supply nozzle include a plurality of constraining bodies and a plurality of supply nozzles with a set of each of the plurality of constraining bodies and each of the plurality of supply nozzles being as one pair, and the plurality of sets of the constraining bodies and the supply nozzles are arranged along the second direction along which the movement mechanism is configured to move the stage.

14 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the irradiation unit radiates the energy ray so as to form a main body being a target to be modeled and an anchor pattern arranged in at least a part of a periphery of the main body of the object.

15 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the irradiation unit includes
a generation source configured to generate the energy ray, and
a detector configured to detect intensity distribution of the energy ray generating from the generation source, and
further comprising a control mechanism configured to control relative positions between the constraining body and the irradiation unit on a basis of the intensity distribution of the energy ray detected by the detector.

16 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising
a rotation mechanism configured to rotate the stage about an axis along the stacking direction.

17 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising
a protective film that is provided on the surface of the constraining body.

18 . The three-dimensional modeling apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an irradiation mechanism configured to radiate a plurality of energy beams as the energy ray; and a control portion configured to control the irradiation mechanism so that a period of time when all of the plurality of energy beams are being radiated includes a period of time when at least two energy beams of the plurality of energy beams are being radiated simultaneously.

19 . An object to be formed by a three-dimensional modeling apparatus, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus including a stage, and a constraining body that includes a surface including a linear region along a first direction, and is arranged so as to be opposed to the stage so that the linear region of the surface is the closest to the stage, the object being formed by:
supplying a material curable by energy of an energy ray into a slit region being a region between the stage and the linear region; irradiating the material supplied into the slit region with the energy ray through the constraining body; moving, in order to form a cured layer of the material for one layer by using the energy ray, the stage relative to the constraining body along a second direction different from the first direction; and moving, in order to stack the cured layers of the material, the constraining body and the stage relative to each other along a stacking direction.

20 . A method of manufacturing an object by a three-dimensional modeling apparatus, the three-dimensional modeling apparatus including a stage, and a constraining body that includes a surface including a linear region along a first direction, and is arranged so as to be opposed to the stage so that the linear region of the surface is the closest to the stage, the method comprising:
supplying a material curable by energy of an energy ray into a slit region being a region between the stage and the linear region; irradiating the material supplied into the slit region with the energy ray through the constraining body; moving, in order to form a cured layer of the material for one layer by using the energy ray, the stage relative to the constraining body along a second direction different from the first direction; and moving, in order to stack the cured layers of the material, the constraining body and the stage relative to each other along a stacking direction.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Yasukochi Hiroyuki

Classifications

• B29C64/241

  for rotary motion · CPC title

• Y10T428/24479

  including variation in thickness · CPC title

• B29C64/218

  Rollers · CPC title

• B33Y30/00 Primary

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

• B29C64/393

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title