JPH0479830B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optical modeling method for producing a cured product having a desired shape by irradiating a photocurable resin with light. Specifically, the present invention relates to an optical modeling method in which light is irradiated from a transparent plate provided on a container toward a photocurable resin inside the container.

[Prior art] A photocurable resin is irradiated with a light beam to cure the irradiated portion, and this cured portion is continued in the horizontal direction, and a photocurable resin is further supplied above it and cured in the same manner. An optical modeling method in which the cured body is made to continue in the vertical direction by repeating this process to produce a cured body in the desired shape was developed in JP-A-Sho.
It is publicly known from No. 60-247515, No. 62-35966, No. 62-101408, etc. It is also known to use a mask instead of scanning the beam.

Such an optical modeling method includes a container having a light-transmitting plate on the bottom or side surface, a device for irradiating light into the container through the light-transmitting plate, and a device movable within the container in a direction away from the light-transmitting plate. Some have a base that is This optical modeling method will be explained with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5, a photocurable resin 12 is housed in a container 11. As shown in FIG. A light transmitting plate 13 made of a light transmitting plate such as quartz glass is provided on the bottom surface of the container 11, and a light emitting part 15 having a built-in lens is provided so as to irradiate a light beam 14 toward the light transmitting plate 13. , the optical fiber 16 and the light emitting part 15 in the horizontal plane
An optical system (irradiation device) including an X-Y moving device 17 for moving in the Y direction (X, Y are two orthogonal directions), a light source 20, etc. is provided.

A base 21 is installed inside the container 11, and the base 21 can be raised and lowered by an elevator 22. These moving device 17 and elevator 22 are controlled by a computer 23.

When producing a cured body using the above-mentioned apparatus, first, the base 21 is positioned slightly above the transparent plate 13, and the light beam 14 is scanned along the horizontal cross section of the target shape. This scanning was performed using a computer controlled X
- carried out by the Y moving device 17;

After irradiating the entire horizontal cross section of the target shape (in this case, the part corresponding to the bottom or top surface), the base 21 is slightly raised, and the cured material (cured layer) 24 and transparent plate 21 are separated. After flowing an uncured photocurable resin during this period, the same light irradiation as above is performed. By repeating this procedure, a cured product having the desired shape can be obtained as a multilayer laminate.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the optical modeling apparatus described above, it is necessary that the cured product 24 separates from the transparent plate 13 when the base 21 is pulled up. That is, if the cured product 24 is peeled off from the base 21, the modeling process cannot be continued.

However, in the conventional method, the base 21 is raised while keeping the base 21 and the transparent plate 13 parallel to each other, so that the entire cured layer 24 is peeled off from the transparent plate 13 at once. Ru. At the moment of this peeling off, an extremely large force was applied to the hardened layer 24, and there was a fear that the hardened layer 24 would separate from the base 21.

Furthermore, there was also a risk that the cured layers 24 would peel off from their interfaces. In addition, such a hardened layer 2
The separation phenomenon between the four comrades or the hardened layer 24 and the base 21 is caused by an increase in the number of laminated hardened layers 24,
This tends to occur in the later stages of the molding process when the overall weight of the molding process increases. Moreover, it is also likely to occur when the contact area between the transparent plate 13 and the hardened layer 24 is large.

In the conventional method described above, since a large force is required to peel off the cured layer 24 from the transparent plate, it is necessary to use an elevator 22 having a strong driving force.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The present invention irradiates light from a transparent plate of a container and gradually separates the base from the transparent plate to form a cured layer of a photocurable resin corresponding to a cross section of a target shaped object. In an optical modeling method in which a target shape is formed by laminating a large number of layers, when forming one layer, after forming a part of the layer, the base is raised and the cured material and transparent light are formed. After separating the plate and lowering the base to bring the cured product into contact with the transparent plate, the other parts of the layer are formed.

[Function] In the method of the present invention, the cured layer and the light-transmitting plate are peeled off while the contact area between the cured layer and the light-transmitting plate is small, so that the force that pulls up the cured layer at the time of separation is It's small and sufficient. Therefore, peeling between the cured layer and the base is prevented, and delamination between the cured layers is also prevented.

[Example] Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the bottom surface of a container of an optical modeling apparatus for explaining the method of the present invention. The method of the present invention can be carried out using, for example, the apparatus shown in FIG.

In the method of the present invention, when forming a certain cured layer, the cured layer is divided into two or three or more small sections, and each small section is formed in sequence, and each small section is formed. After that, before forming the next small section, the base is pulled up once and the cured layer and the transparent plate are peeled off.

In FIG. 1, when forming a square-shaped hardened layer 30, first small sections 31 are formed. i.e. the base (or the previous hardened layer that has already been formed)
A predetermined gap t is provided between the transparent plate and the transparent plate, and light is irradiated to form the first small section 31. Next, the base is raised to peel off the hardened layer of the first small section 31 from the light-transmitting plate, and then the base is lowered again so that t is created between the base (or the previous hardened layer) and the light-transmissive plate. Leave a gap. In addition, as a result, the first small section 3
The small hardened layer formed on 1 is in contact with the base.

Next, after forming a hardened layer in the second small section 32,
The base is raised and the hardened layer and transparent plate of the second small section 32 are peeled off. Next, the base is lowered to create a gap t between the base (or the previous cured layer) and the transparent plate, thereby forming the third small section 33.

Next, the base is raised and lowered to peel off the cured layer of the third small section 33 from the light-transmitting plate, and to create a gap t in the fourth small section 34. From this state, the fourth small section 34 is irradiated with light to form a cured layer in the fourth small section 34, thereby forming the entire cured layer 30.

After forming this hardened layer 30, the next hardened layer to be laminated on this hardened layer 30 is formed.

In this way, when forming a certain hardened layer, after some small sections are formed, the hardened layer is peeled off from the transparent plate before forming the next small section, so the force applied during this peeling is It's small enough. Therefore, peeling between the cured layer and the base and delamination between the cured layers does not occur.

Furthermore, an elevator with a small upward driving force is sufficient.

2 to 4 and FIG. 7 show another example method, and in FIG. 2, when forming a certain hardened layer 40, the hardened layer is formed starting from the central portion of the hardened layer 40. The hardened layer has small sections 41, 42,
43, and finally the hardened layer 4
0 is formed.

In FIG. 3, a large hardened layer is formed in the order of scattered small sections 51 to clustered small sections 52 and 53, and finally a hardened layer 50 is formed.

In FIG. 4, the hardened layer starts to be formed from the outer peripheral side of the hardened layer 60, and the hardened layer grows in the order of small sections 61, 62, and 63, and finally the hardened layer 60 is formed.

In FIG. 7, the hardened layer 70 is formed starting from a grid-shaped hardened layer small section 71, and larger hardened layers are formed in the order of small sections 72 and 73, and finally the hardened layer 70 is formed.

Also in Figures 2 to 4 and Figure 7, small section 4
1, 51, 61, 71, and before proceeding to curing the small sections 42, 52, 62, 72, the base is raised and the small sections 41, 51, 71 are cured.
The cured layers 61 and 71 are peeled off from the transparent plate. Thereafter, the base is lowered to form a hardened layer in the small sections 42, 52, 62, and 72.

From subdivisions 42, 52, 62, 72 to subdivision 4
Similarly, when moving to the formation of the hardened layers 3, 53, 63, 73, and when moving from the small sections 43, 53, 63, 73 to the formation of the final hardened layers 40, 50, 60, 70. The base is raised and lowered to separate the cured layer and the transparent plate.

In the above embodiment, the square hardened layers 30, 40, 5
0, 60, and 70, but the shape of the hardened layer is arbitrary. Further, the location and number of the subdivisions to be divided may be arbitrary, and the shape of the subdivisions may also be arbitrary.

In the present invention, all of the cured layers to be laminated may be formed through the curing procedure of small sections in the same manner as described above. For example, only the cured layers with a large planar area are formed in sections as described above, and As for a small hardened layer, the hardened layer may be formed all at once as in the conventional case.

In the above embodiment, the transparent plate 13 is provided on the bottom of the container so that light is irradiated from below the container.
In the present invention, a light-transmitting plate may be provided on the side surface of the container 11, and light may be irradiated from the side surface of the container 11. In this case, the base may be gradually moved laterally during the molding process.

In the method shown in FIG. 5, the beam 14 is scanned by the X-Y moving device 17, but the light from the light source is reflected by a mirror (not shown), converged by a lens, and irradiated onto the photocurable resin. An optical system may also be used. In this case, the light beam can be scanned by rotating the mirror.

In the above method, the cured product 24 is created by scanning the light beam 14, but the present invention applies this to a known mask method, for example, as shown in FIG. You may use the mask 26 which has this. Reference numeral 27 indicates a parallel light beam. Other symbols in FIG. 6 indicate the same members as in FIG. 5.

In the present invention, the photocurable resin includes:
Various resins that are cured by light irradiation can be used, such as modified polyurethane methacrylate,
Examples include oligoester acrylates, urethane acrylates, epoxy acrylates, photosensitive polyimides, and amino alkyds.

As the light, various types of light such as visible light and ultraviolet light can be used depending on the photocurable resin used. Although the light may be ordinary light, using laser light has the advantages of increasing the energy level, shortening the modeling time, and improving the modeling accuracy by utilizing good light focusing. can.

[Effect] As described above, according to the optical modeling method of the present invention,
Since the cured layer always separates from the transparent plate when the base is pulled up, the desired shape can be reliably formed. That is, the cured layer will not peel off from the base, and the cured layers will not peel off. Further, according to the present invention, it is sufficient to use an elevator with a small driving force. A base with low strength and rigidity will also be sufficient.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 are plan views for explaining the method of the present invention. Fifth
The figure and FIG. 6 are cross-sectional views illustrating the optical modeling apparatus. 12...Photosetting resin, 13...Transparent plate, 16
...Optical fiber, 20...Light source, 21...Base, 22...Elevator, 30, 40, 50, 6
0,70...hardened layer, 31-34, 41-43,
51-53, 61-63, 71-73...small sections.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container having a light-transmitting plate on the side or bottom surface, a base movable toward and away from the inner surface of the container of the light-transmitting plate, and irradiating light into the container through the light-transmitting plate. Using an optical modeling device equipped with a light irradiation device, light is irradiated through the transparent plate and the base is gradually moved in a direction away from the window, so that a cured layer corresponding to one cross section of the target shape is formed on the base. In an optical modeling method in which a target shape is formed by stacking layers on top of each other, when forming one layer, after forming a part of the layer, the base is raised to separate the cured material and the transparent plate. and then lowering the base to bring the cured product into contact with a transparent plate, and then forming other parts of the layer.