Method and apparatus for calibrating a projected image manufacturing device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9541844-B2
Application number	US-85321610-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2010
Priority date	Aug 9, 2009
Publication date	Jan 10, 2017
Grant date	Jan 10, 2017

Abstract

A method for calibrating a manufacturing device that manufactures solid parts by projecting images onto a photo-curable substrate includes providing the manufacturing device including a projector and an optical train, positioning an imaging plate at a manufacturing position relative to the manufacturing device, and providing a contrasting image on the imaging plate. The method further includes projecting a test image from the projector through the optical train onto the contrasting image and calibrating the projector and/or the optical train in response to the test image projected onto the contrasting image. The method further includes manufacturing a solid component with the manufacturing device after the calibrating.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
positioning an imaging plate at a manufacturing position relative to a manufacturing device, wherein the manufacturing device comprises a projector and an optical train, and wherein the imaging plate comprises a surface comprising a contrasting image;
projecting a test image from the projector through the optical train onto the surface comprising the contrasting image such that the test image is positioned with the contrasting image on the surface of the imaging plate; and
calibrating at least one of the projector or the optical train based on registration between the test image and the contrasting image,
wherein calibrating at least one of the projector or the optical train comprises tuning magnification, skew, and parallelism of the test image in relation to the contrasting image until registration between the test image and the contrasting image on the surface of the imaging plate is achieved before manufacturing a solid part with the manufacturing device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contrasting image comprises a negative of the test image.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the test image comprises an image from a manufacturing build file.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising manufacturing the solid part with the manufacturing device by projecting images onto a photo-curable substrate after calibrating the at least one of the projector or the optical train.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the manufacturing position comprises an equivalent optical position with a surface of the photo-curable substrate.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the manufacturing position comprises a first manufacturing position, wherein the manufacturing device comprises a first manufacturing device, wherein the projector comprises a first projector, and wherein the optical train comprises a first optical train, the method further comprising:
positioning the imaging plate at a second manufacturing position relative to a second manufacturing device, wherein the second manufacturing device comprises a second projector and a second optical train;
projecting a second test image from the second projector through the second optical train onto the surface comprising the contrasting image such that the second test image is positioned with the contrasting image on the surface of the imaging plate; and
calibrating at least one of the second projector or the second optical train based on registration between the second test image and the contrasting image.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising manufacturing the solid part with the first manufacturing device by interpreting images from a first electronic build file, and manufacturing a second solid part with the second manufacturing device by interpreting images from a second electronic build file that comprises identical build data to the first electronic build file.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the test image comprises a fixed grid.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising manufacturing the solid part with the manufacturing device by projecting images onto a photo-curable substrate after calibrating the at least one of the projector or the optical train.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the fixed grid comprises a pattern resolution determined in response to a manufacturing tolerance of the solid part.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising repeating the positioning, projecting, and calibrating in response to a calibration trigger.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the calibration trigger comprises an event selected from the events consisting of: an initial acquisition of the manufacturing device, a movement of the manufacturing device, an initial acquisition of a build file, a change in a build file, a replacement of a component of the manufacturing device, an off-nominal test of a component built by the manufacturing device, an elapsed time threshold since a last calibration event, and an elapsed number of components manufactured since a last calibration event.

13. An apparatus comprising:
a manufacturing device including a projector and an optical train;
an imaging plate comprising a surface comprising a contrasting image, wherein the surface is positioned at a manufacturing position relative to the manufacturing device; and
the projector being configured to project a test image through the optical train onto the surface comprising the contrasting image such that the test image is positioned with the contrasting image on the surface of the imaging plate;
a means for calibrating at least one of the projector or the optical train based on registration between the test image and the contrasting image to achieve a proper magnification, skew, and parallelism of the test image in relation to the contrasting image before manufacturing a solid part with the manufacturing device,
wherein the means for calibrating at least one of the projector or the optical train comprises a means for tuning the magnification, skew, and parallelism of the test image in relation to the contrasting image until registration between the test image and the contrasting image on the surface of the imaging plate is achieved.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the contrasting image comprises a negative of the test image.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the test image comprises a fixed grid.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the manufacturing position comprises a first manufacturing position, wherein the manufacturing device comprises a first manufacturing device, wherein the projector comprises a first projector, wherein the optical train comprises a first optical train, the method, and wherein the means for calibrating comprises a first means for calibrating, further comprising a second manufacturing device including a second projector and a second optical train, the imaging plate being positioned at a second manufacturing position relative to the second manufacturing device, and a second means for calibrating at least one of the second projector or the second optical train based on registration between a second test image and the contrasting image to achieve a proper magnification, skew, and parallelism of the second test image in relation to the contrasting image.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the solid component comprises a first solid component, the apparatus further comprising the first solid component manufactured on the manufacturing device from a first electronic build file, a second solid component manufactured on the second manufacturing device from a second electronic build file, and wherein the first and second electronic build files comprise identical build data.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the first solid component and the second solid component comprise identical part numbers.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first solid component and the second solid component comprise identical physical parts within a specified tolerance.

20. A method for calibrating a manufacturing device structured to manufacture a solid component by projecting images onto a photo-curable substrate, the method comprising:
positioning an imaging plate at a manufacturing position relative to a manufacturing device, wherein the manufacturing device comprises a projector and an optical train, and wherein the imaging plate comprises a surface comprising a contrasting image;
projecting a test image from the projector through the optical train onto the surface comprising the contrasting image such that

Assignees

• Maguire Michael Christopher
• Rolls Royce Corp

Inventors

• Maguire Michael Christopher

Classifications

• G03F7/70516

  Calibration of components of the microlithographic apparatus, e.g. light sources, addressable masks or detectors · CPC title

• B29C67/007

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• G03F7/70416 Primary

  2.5D lithography · CPC title

• B29C64/129

  characterised by the energy source therefor, e.g. by global irradiation combined with a mask · CPC title