Powder removing apparatus, molding system, and method of manufacturing molded object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9475234-B2
Application number	US-201213590689-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2012
Priority date	Aug 30, 2011
Publication date	Oct 25, 2016
Grant date	Oct 25, 2016

Abstract

A powder removing apparatus includes a box, a stage moving mechanism, and a powder removing processing mechanism. The box has a main body with an opening and a stage movably provided in the main body. The box is capable of accommodating a molded object and non-bonding powder so as to arrange the molded object, which is formed using powder according to a rapid prototyping technique, on the stage together with the non-bonding powder. The stage moving mechanism is capable of moving the stage upward relative to the main body inside the main body. The powder removing processing mechanism is configured to remove the non-bonding powder existing around the molded object extruded by a driving operation of the stage moving mechanism via the opening.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a chamber with a floor, the floor having an opening;
a box having a main body with an opening and a stage movable within the main body, the box being capable of accommodating therein a formed object and non-bonded powder on the stage within the box;
a box holding mechanism to hold the box in registration with the opening in the floor of the chamber;
a stage moving mechanism capable of controllably moving the stage vertically inside the main body and relative to the main body to expose the formed object and the non-bonded powder to the chamber;
a powder removing processing mechanism configured to remove the non-bonded powder existing around the formed object by moving the stage relative to the box opening while applying a gas to the formed object and the non-bonded powder, the powder removing processing mechanism including an exhaust fan system to remove powder entrained in the gas and holes in the floor via which the non-bonded powder can fall through;
a container positioned to catch the non-bonded powder falling through the holes in the floor; and
a nozzle driving mechanism configured to control ejection of the gas onto the formed object according to a weight of the non-bonded powder collected into the container,
wherein the exhaust fan system is structured to direct exhaust gas to the container.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the box is capable of vertically accommodating a plurality of formed objects on a plurality of shelves, and
the apparatus further comprises a controlling part configured to (a) operate the stage moving mechanism such that corresponding one of the plurality of formed objects accommodated on the plurality of shelves is extruded from the main body for each of the plurality of shelves, and (b) operate the powder removing processing mechanism for each of the plurality of shelves.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an acquiring part configured to acquire related information related to the formed object inside the main body of the box; and
a controlling part configured to operate the powder removing processing mechanism based on the acquired related information.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the acquiring part is configured to acquire at least three-dimensional data related to the formed object.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the powder removing processing mechanism includes:
an articulating nozzle configured to eject the gas onto the formed object, and
the nozzle driving mechanism configured to variably drive at least one of a position and a posture of the nozzle according to control of the controlling part based on the three-dimensional data.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the powder removing processing mechanism includes, a nozzle configured to eject the gas onto the formed object.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a determining part configured to determine progress of powder removing processing of the powder removing processing mechanism.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 ,
wherein the determining part includes a sensor configured to detect an amount of the non-bonded powder collected from the powder removing processing mechanism.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the determining part includes a sensor configured to detect a degree of clearness of atmosphere inside the chamber.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a sieving mechanism configured to remove a foreign substance from the non-bonded powder entering the container.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the box holding mechanism is configured to move the box vertically relative to the opening in the floor of the chamber.

12. A molding system, comprising:
a molding apparatus configured to form a formed object using powder according to a rapid prototyping technique; and
an apparatus comprising:
a chamber with a floor, the floor having an opening;
a box having a main body with an opening and a stage movable within the main body, the box being capable of accommodating therein a formed object and non-bonded powder on the stage within the box;
a box holding mechanism to hold the box in registration with the opening in the floor of the chamber;
a stage moving mechanism capable of controllably moving the stage vertically inside the main body and relative to the main body and to expose the formed object and the non-bonded powder to the chamber;
a powder removing processing mechanism configured to remove the non-bonded powder existing around the formed object by moving the stage relative to the box opening while applying a gas to the formed object and the non-bonded powder, the powder removing processing mechanism including an exhaust fan system to remove powder entrained in the gas and holes in the floor via which the non-bonded powder can fall through;
a container positioned to catch the non-bonded powder falling through the holes in the floor; and
a nozzle driving mechanism configured to control ejection of the gas onto the formed object according to a weight of the non-bonded powder collected into the container,
wherein the exhaust fan system is structured to direct exhaust gas to the container.

Assignees

• Morikawa Hiroaki
• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Morikawa Hiroaki

Classifications

• B33Y40/20

  Post-treatment, e.g. curing, coating or polishing · CPC title

• B29C67/0096

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B29C67/0077 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B29C64/176

  Sequentially · CPC title

• B29C64/153

  using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting · CPC title