JPH02153722A - Optical molding method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily manufacture even if it is in a complex configuration by conducting light irradiation to an optical curing fluid substance via an optical conductor or converging lens or the like such that the optical energy required in curing is centered thereat in the form of spots, and making it relative movement to an accommodation vessel for the substance of the converged part. CONSTITUTION:At first, an optical curing fluidized substance 4 is put in a proper quantity into a vessel 1, and the light from a light source device 2 is allowed to emit in a state wherein the tip 3a of an optical conductor 3 is in the vicinity of the bottom of the vessel 1. Since the light is converged in the form of spots in front of the emittance end, the cure of the substance 4 can be performed at only the light converged part by adjusting the incident light strength. In this state, the cured part being put into contact with the bottom of the vessel 1 is formed in shifting the vessel 1 by a position control device 5. Subsequently, after the vessel 1 is descended slightly, or being descended gradually in order to be shifted in a horizontal direction, a successive cured part is formed in a curing part. In this manner, the vessel 1 is being shifted appropriately so as to form a cured part successively, thereby obtaining the solid 6 of a desired configuration.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to optical modeling methods using light and photocurable fluid materials.

Conventional technology and its problems Traditionally, models corresponding to the product shape required during mold production, or models for tracing control in cutting or die-sinking electrical discharge machining electrodes, have been produced by hand processing or using an NC milling machine. This was done by NC cutting using, etc. However, when using manual machining, there is a problem in that it requires a lot of time and skill, and when using NC machining, it is necessary to create a complex machining program that takes into account replacement and wear to change the shape of the cutting edge of the blade. In addition, there is a problem in that additional finishing machining may be required to remove steps formed on the machined surface.

In order to solve this problem, a method has been proposed in which a thin photocurable resin layer is selectively and repeatedly irradiated with light by masking to obtain a desired three-dimensional shape. First, when light is irradiated onto a very shallow photocurable resin from above or below, a masking film with a light-transmitting part corresponding to the horizontal cross-sectional shape of the three-dimensional object to be obtained is placed in front of the photocurable resin. A thin layer hardened portion with a desired cross-sectional shape is obtained by this irradiation, and a horizontal cross-sectional shape that continues with this is
A desired three-dimensional shape is obtained by increasing the depth of the photocurable resin little by little, replacing the masking film one by one, and repeating light irradiation. However, this method has the following difficulties.

■) It is necessary to produce a masking film for each horizontal cross-sectional shape of the 3D to be obtained, which is characterized by time and effort.In particular, in order to obtain smooth curved surfaces, it is necessary to increase the number of divisions of the 3D. As a result, a large number of masking films are required, which increases production time and costs.

■) To obtain a three-dimensional object with high dimensional accuracy, it is necessary to irradiate parallel light that accurately reflects the masking shape, which makes it difficult to create a large three-dimensional object and limits the type of light that can be used. arise.

■) Since irradiation is performed with parallel light, the curing of the resin can be controlled in the horizontal direction by masking, but in the vertical direction, it must be left to the absorption of light energy by the resin, that is, the depth at which the light energy reaches. Therefore, the accuracy will be inferior.

■) Light usage efficiency is low because masking blocks part of the irradiated light.

(2) Since the entire horizontal section of the target shape is irradiated with light and cured at the same time, shrinkage strain occurs all at once, which may cause cracking or deformation.

The present invention solves the problems of these conventional techniques, and allows models for mold making, copying machining, and die-sinking electric discharge machining to be made without the need to replace tools such as cutters, even if the shape is complex. The purpose is to provide a modeling method that not only can be manufactured easily and accurately, but also can be applied to the manufacturing of various other shaped objects, and which requires less time and cost for manufacturing. do.

Means for Solving the Problems The object of the present invention is to accommodate a photocurable fluid material that is cured by light in a container, so that the light energy is concentrated in a dot shape with an energy level necessary for curing the material. This is achieved by an optical modeling method characterized in that while irradiating light with light, the light energy concentration area is moved relative to the container in horizontal and vertical directions according to the shape of the object to be modeled to obtain a solid with a desired shape. Ru.

In order to irradiate the photocurable material with concentrated light in a point-like manner at an energy level necessary for curing, a light guide having a substantially hemispherical light emitting end is provided in the photocurable fluid material. By inserting the light guide and irradiating light through the light guide, it is possible to obtain a concentrated area of light energy in front of the light output end, and while relatively moving the container and the light output end, the light guide A solid having a desired shape can be obtained by irradiating light from the solid material.

The light guide may be a fiber or rod made of quartz, glass, or synthetic resin. When using ultraviolet light, it is preferable to use quartz.

The formation of the solid in the desired shape is achieved by placing the photocurable fluid material in a container at a depth that allows a continuous hardened portion covering the upper and lower surfaces of the material to be obtained by irradiating light from above; By irradiating light from above the substance through an optical lens, a point where light energy is concentrated is located in the substance to form a cured portion extending over the upper and lower surfaces of the substance, and the photocurable substance is further cured. The photocurable material is applied to the part to a depth corresponding to the depth, and the concentrated part of the light energy is moved from above the photocurable material to the added depth part of the material to remove the light from the cured part. This can be achieved by forming a continuously extending cured portion and repeating the addition of the photocurable substance and the formation of the cured portion.

Formation of a solid through such repetition can be achieved, for example, by immersing a hollow or solid bottomed body that is translucent in the vertical direction into the photocurable fluid material in a container, so that the bottom surface of the bottomed body is immersed. and the upper surface of the bottom of the container, from above (
The material is housed at a depth that allows a continuous hardened portion to be obtained over the upper and lower surfaces of the material by laser beam irradiation, and light is irradiated from above the bottomed body through an optical lens to generate optical energy. by locating a concentrated point in the substance to form a hardened part extending over the upper and lower surfaces of the substance between the bottom and top surfaces, and then by slightly pulling up the bottomed body, the upper surface of the hardened part and the bottom face of the bottomed body are separated. During the process, the substance is added around the bottomed body to a depth corresponding to the depth, and the light energy is concentrated from above the bottomed body to the added part of the substance. It is possible to form a cured portion extending continuously from the cured portion by moving the photocurable material, and repeat the addition of the photocurable material and the formation of the cured portion to form a solid having a desired shape.

As the photocurable fluid substance, various substances that are cured by light irradiation can be used, such as modified polyurethane methacrylate, oligoester acrylate, urethane acrylate, epoxy acrylate, photosensitive polyimide, and amino alkyd.

As the light, various types of light such as visible light and ultraviolet light can be used depending on the photocurable material used.

The illumination may be regular light, but laser light has the advantage of increasing the energy level, shortening the molding time, and improving the molding accuracy by utilizing good light focusing. .

Alternatively, the photocurable fluid substance may be mixed with a modifying material such as pigment, ceramic powder, metal powder, etc. in advance.

Example Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the invention. The device includes a container (1) containing a photocurable fluid material (4), a light source device (2), and a light source device that directs light emitted from the light source device to the photocurable material (4) in the container (1). It includes a light guide (3) that guides the light guide, and a position control device (5) that relatively moves the container (1) and the light guide (3). container(
1) may be any suitable size and shape that can accommodate the object to be obtained. The light source device (2) and the light guide (3) are fixed outside the container (1). The light guide (3) is a quartz fiber, and both ends thereof are fused by an oxyhydrogen flame to form a hemispherical shape in order to improve the efficiency of light incidence and to collect light into a point shape when emitted. The position control device (5) supports the container (1) and is configured to control and move the container (1) in horizontal and vertical directions. This control is
Automatic control such as NC, control by acquisition, or constant speed, etc.
This can be done as appropriate.

To perform modeling using this device, first put an appropriate amount of the photocurable material (4) into the container (1), and then put the tip of the light guide (3) into the container (1).
3a) close to the bottom of the container (1), place the light source device (
2) to emit light from. Since the light is concentrated in a dotted manner in front of the output end, by adjusting the intensity of the incident light, the material (4) can be cured only at the point where the light is concentrated.

In this state, the container (1) is moved by the position control device (5) to form a hardened portion in contact with the bottom surface of the container (1). Subsequently, the container (1) is lowered slightly or gradually while being moved in the horizontal direction to form a hardened portion that is continuous with the hardened portion. In this way, by appropriately moving the container (1) and continuously forming hardened portions, it is possible to obtain a solid (6) having a desired shape. Depending on the shape of the object to be obtained, an appropriate stand (7) may be placed in the container (1) as shown in Figure 1.
Separately from the modeling from the bottom of the container, modeling may also be performed from the top of the table (7), so that the two hardened portions are made to be continuous.

The position control device only needs to be able to move the container (1) and the light guide (3) relatively horizontally and vertically,
In place of the above embodiments, it is possible to use a device that moves the light guide (3), a device that moves the container (1) and the light guide (3) in either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, etc. It can be configured as follows.

Next, another embodiment of the method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in Fig. 2(a), a photocurable fluid material (4) is applied.
Place it in the container (1) to an appropriate depth, and as shown in Figure 2 (
As shown in b), the optical lens (2) is inserted from above the substance (4).
The light is focused into the substance (4) by irradiating it through the substance (4). In this state, the light concentration point is moved relative to the container, and light is selectively irradiated in accordance with the shape of the object to be obtained. At this time, the depth of the substance (4) is determined by the continuous hardening portion (6
0) is obtained. If the depth exceeds this, the hardened portion formed loosely from the bottom of the container (1) will settle, making it impossible to obtain an accurate shaped object. Then the second
As shown in FIG. 2(C), a photocurable material (4) is further added, and as shown in FIG. 2(d), light is selectively irradiated from above the material (4). At this time, the substance (4) is added onto the hardened portion (60) to the same depth as described above. In addition, the light irradiation is applied to the newly formed hardened portion (6
1) is carried out in succession to the previously formed hardened portion (60). Furthermore, by repeating the addition of the photocurable substance (4) and the formation of a cured portion by light irradiation, a solid having a desired shape can be formed. Of course, a plurality of light source devices may be used, and light irradiation may be performed using a light guide such as an optical fiber. Alternatively, light irradiation can be performed by a position control device that relatively moves the light source device and the container, as in the previous example.

Note that the following example can be cited as a modification of the example shown in FIG. First, as shown in Figure 3(a), a container (
A box-shaped bottomed body (9) equipped with a liquid-tight bottom wall and side walls is immersed in the photocurable fluid material (4) in 1).
) and the upper surface (10) of the bottom of the container. As described above, this depth is such that a continuous hardened portion covering the upper and lower surfaces of the material (4) can be obtained by irradiating light from above. In this state, as shown in FIG. 3(b), light is irradiated from above the bottomed body (9) through the optical lens (20) to concentrate the light into the substance (4) and select it. Light irradiation is performed to obtain a cured portion (60). Therefore, the bottom wall of the bottomed body (9) is made transparent to the irradiation light. Next, as shown in FIG. 3(c), the bottomed body (9) is pulled up slightly. This results in a bottomed body (
9) The surrounding substance (4) flows below the bottomed body (9) and is added thereto. The amount of lifting is the already hardened portion (60)
A substance (4) added between the top surface and the bottom surface (90) of the bottomed body
) is determined to be the same depth as described above. In addition, the lens (20) constituting the light source and the bottom surface of the bottom body (
90) to maintain a constant distance. The light source device (2) is raised the same distance as the bottomed body (9). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3(d), the light is focused selectively as described above so as to obtain a hardened part (61) that is continuous with the hardened part (60) from above the bottomed body (4). Perform light irradiation. Furthermore, the bottom surface (90) by pulling up such a bottomed body (9)
By repeating the addition of the photocurable substance (4) downward and the formation of a cured portion by light irradiation, a solid having a desired shape can be obtained.

In this example, the bottomed body (9) and the light source device (2) are raised, but it goes without saying that the container (1) may be lowered instead. In any case, changes in these relative positions can be controlled by an appropriate positioning mechanism.

According to the example in FIG. 3, the liquid surface of the photocurable substance (4) to be cured is covered by the bottom surface (90) of the bottomed body, so that it is not affected by the atmosphere in the container such as components in the air or dust. This has the advantage of being preventable.

Experimental examples of the method of the present invention are shown below.

[Experimental Example 1] A helium φ cadmium laser beam with a wavelength of 3250 nm emitted from a light source with an output of 20 mW was focused using a quartz lens with a focal length of 20 mm, and based on the method shown in Fig. 2, a diameter of 111III11 and a height of 14 mm was obtained. , thickness 0, 2ma
A + cylinder was created. In this case, a highly accurate cylinder was obtained by a simple operation of vertically raising the light source device while making the container containing the photocurable material equidistant around the vertical axis. Note that Table 1 shows the photocurable materials used and the time required for modeling.

[Experiment Example 2] The same light source as in Experiment Example 1 was used, and a 5M quartz fiber manufactured by Fujikura Electric Wire Co., Ltd. with a diameter of 0.125 mm was used as the light guide.
A cylinder having the same dimensions and shape as in Experimental Example 1 was modeled using 10O-8Y. Both ends of the quartz fiber are melted using an oxyhydrogen flame to create a diameter of 0. A hemispherical material with a diameter of about 2 mm was used. As a result, a highly accurate cylinder was obtained by a simple operation of vertically raising the tip of the light guide while rotating the container containing the photocurable material around the vertical axis.

The photocurable material used was the same as in Experimental Example 1, and the time required for modeling was also approximately the same.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, light irradiation is applied to the photocurable fluid material via a light guide, a condensing lens, etc. so that the light energy necessary for curing is concentrated in a dotted manner. By moving the concentration point relative to the container containing the substance, it is possible to form a solid with a desired shape, so even if the shape is complex, tool replacement and wear are taken into account. It can be easily manufactured without any problems, and even members with complicated internal hole structures can be manufactured in a single process. Therefore, when automating production using numerical control or the like, the program can be simplified.

In particular, in the present invention, since the irradiation light is concentrated in a dotted manner, high energy can be obtained at the concentrated point, making it possible to speed up curing. Further, since the curing is performed at the concentrated areas, it is possible to accurately control the curing area not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction, resulting in good modeling accuracy.

Therefore, there is no need for a masking film as in the conventional example described above, and the time and cost required for modeling can be reduced.

Moreover, since there is no light blocking due to masking, the efficiency of light utilization is high. Furthermore, since the curing reaction always occurs at one narrow point, even if the photocurable material shrinks during curing, the volume loss due to shrinkage is compensated for by the supply of surrounding uncured materials. It does not cause problems such as hardening distortion and cracking.

As can be understood from the above description, the method of the present invention can be applied not only to the production of molds, copying machining, and die-sinking electrical discharge machining electrode models, but also to the production of various other shaped products. It is. Furthermore, by dispersing pigments, metal powders, ceramic powders, etc. in photocurable materials and modeling them, it is possible to manufacture products with various characteristics such as decorative effects, conductivity, and wear resistance. . In this case, the shaped object can be used not only as a model or a matrix, but also for various purposes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures are for detailed explanation of the present invention, and FIG.
A longitudinal sectional front view schematically showing an apparatus for carrying out one example,
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram sequentially showing the implementation status of another example, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram sequentially showing the implementation status of still another example. (
1) Container (2) Light source device (3) Light guide (4) Photocurable fluid material (6) ...Solid with desired shape (9) ...Bottomed body (60), (61) ...Hardened portion (90) ...
・・・Bottom surface of bottomed body (and above)

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A photocurable fluid substance that is cured by light is housed in a container, and while irradiating light so that the light energy is concentrated in a dot shape with an energy level necessary for curing the substance, the light energy is concentrated at the point where the light energy is concentrated. An optical modeling method characterized in that a solid body having a desired shape is obtained by moving the solid body relative to the container in horizontal and vertical directions according to the shape of the object to be modeled. (2) A light guide whose light emitting end is substantially hemispherical is inserted into the photocurable fluid material, and light is irradiated through the light guide to create a point where light energy is concentrated in front of the emitting end. 2. The optical modeling method according to claim 1, wherein the output end is moved relative to the container. (3) The photocurable fluid material is placed in a container at a depth such that a continuous hardened portion covering the upper and lower surfaces of the material is obtained by irradiation with light from above, and an optical lens is placed from above the photocurable material. By irradiating light through the material, a concentrated point of light energy is located in the material to form a hardened portion extending over the upper and lower surfaces of the material, and the photocurable material is further applied to the hardened portion to the depth. The photocurable material is applied to a depth corresponding to the depth of the photocurable material, and the point of concentration of the light energy is moved from above the photocurable material to the added depth portion of the material, so that the curing material extends continuously from the cured portion. 2. The optical modeling method according to claim 1, wherein a solid portion having a desired shape is formed by repeating the addition of the photocurable substance and the formation of the cured portion. (4) By immersing a hollow or solid bottomed body having translucency in the vertical direction into the photocurable fluid material in the container, the gap between the bottom surface of the bottomed body and the upper surface of the container bottom is created. By irradiating light from above through an optical lens, the substance is housed at a depth such that a continuous hardened portion covering the upper and lower surfaces of the substance is obtained by irradiating light from above, and light is irradiated from above the bottomed body through an optical lens. A point where light energy is concentrated is located in the material to form a hardened portion that extends to the upper and lower surfaces of the material between the bottom surface and the top surface, and then the bottomed body is slightly pulled up to separate the upper surface of the hardened portion and the bottomed body. Adding the material around the bottomed body so as to form a depth corresponding to the depth between the material and the bottom surface, and concentrating the light energy from above the bottomed body to the added part of the substance. A cured portion extending continuously from the cured portion is formed by moving the portion, and the addition of the photocurable substance and the formation of the cured portion are repeated to form a solid having a desired shape. The optical modeling method according to scope 3. (5) Any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the photocurable fluid substance is mixed with a modifying material such as a pigment, ceramic powder, or metal powder in advance. An optical modeling method described in Crab.