TWI588634B - Build material profile - Google Patents

Description

Establishing material profile related technologies

The present invention relates to techniques for constructing material profiles.

Background of the invention

A layered manufacturing system that produces three-dimensional objects on a layer-by-layer basis has been proposed as a potentially convenient method for producing a small number of three-dimensional objects. These systems typically receive a definition of the three-dimensional object in the form of an object model. This object model is processed to instruct a laminate manufacturing system to use one or more building materials to produce the article. There are many different types of laminate manufacturing systems. The processing of the object model will vary based on the type of laminate manufacturing system.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a device is specifically provided for generating control data for fabricating a three-dimensional object, comprising: an interface configured to receive: an object for a three-dimensional object to be produced Data, and selection information indicating that at least one component material to be used to produce the three-dimensional object; and a controller arranged to access a building material for the at least one component material indicated in the selection material The profile data, wherein the profile material profile data of a given component material defines one or more parameter values, the parameter values depending on the given Forming the properties of the material and configured to produce a three-dimensional object having predefined compositional characteristics, and wherein at least one of the parameter values relates to an interaction between a coalescing modifier and the given building material, the A knot modifier is used to modify the coalescence of the given building material in the manufacture of the three-dimensional article, the controller being used by the accessed component profile data for the received article material, the controller being Arranged to produce control data for making a three-dimensional object.

100‧‧‧ cross section

110‧‧‧layer/first floor

120‧‧‧ coalescing agent

130‧‧‧ coalescing modifier

140, 150‧‧‧ position

160, 170‧‧‧ Section

200‧‧‧ device

210‧‧‧ interface

220, 750‧‧ ‧ controller

230‧‧‧ Object data

240‧‧‧ Object Model Information

250‧‧‧Select information

260, 340, 760‧ ‧ ‧ construction materials profile information

270‧‧‧ storage device

280‧‧‧Control data

300‧‧‧Archive tree

310‧‧‧Building material profiles

320, 330‧‧‧ subcategories

400‧‧‧ system

410‧‧‧System Controller

415‧‧‧Control data

420‧‧‧Building material distributor

430‧‧‧ coalescent dispenser

440‧‧‧ coalescing modifier distributor

450‧‧‧Support structure

460‧‧‧layer/sediment

465‧‧‧Consolidation materials

470‧‧‧Energy source

500, 600‧‧‧ method

510~550, 605~630‧‧‧

700‧‧‧Example

720‧‧‧ processor

740‧‧‧ Machine readable storage media

The features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description of the accompanying drawings. Schematic diagram of one layer of a three-dimensional object; FIG. 2 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a device for generating control data for manufacturing a three-dimensional object according to an example; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a set of materials according to an example FIG. 4 is a simplified perspective view of a laminated manufacturing system according to an example; FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a method of generating control data according to an example; FIG. a flow chart showing a method of manufacturing a three-dimensional object; and FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example according to an example Management system.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

In the following description, numerous specific details of certain examples are set forth for purposes of explanation. Reference to "an example", "an" or "an" or "an" or "an" or "an" One potential implementation, but not necessarily in other examples or all possible implementations of the example.

Some laminate manufacturing systems are used to create a three-dimensional object through the curing of at least one of the building materials. The properties of the resulting three-dimensional articles depend on the composition of the materials used and those properties of those materials. The resulting object characteristics will also depend on additional factors such as the curing method used and the external environment and conditions. Therefore, these systems may require careful calibration and may be recalibrated to achieve a desired set of performance that will result in one of the three dimensional objects.

The presentation of certain examples described herein refers to a laminate manufacturing system using a "layer by layer" method in which a set of materials is deposited on a platform and a curing process is applied to each layer in which the materials are formed. Before the next layer is applied. A three-dimensional object to be created can be designed with a computer aided design (CAD) kit that defines the object data of an object portion of an object. The article material associated with an item or an item portion can include design characteristics such as the overall three-dimensional shape of the item, as well as surface characteristics such as color, smoothness, and opacity. In some cases The article data may also include material properties desired and/or desired for the article to be produced, such as mechanical properties such as density, stress, strength and elastic properties, thermal and electrical properties, and many other additional materials. characteristic.

Some examples described herein provide a set of material profiles for use in a multi-layer manufacturing system. In these examples, a set of materials used in a layered program has its own set of parameters that can be used to implement a set of desired values for a set of desired features in the resulting three-dimensional object. The parameters can be used with the item data received for a given item to generate suitable control data to produce the item. In some examples, operating a stacked manufacturing system using the optimal control parameters set by one or more component material profiles can provide a stable build process when one or more selected building materials are used.

A procedure for generating a three-dimensional object according to an example will now be described with reference to Figures 1A through 1C. Figures 1A through 1C relate to an exemplary laminate manufacturing system using a coalescent and a coalescing modifier. These materials allow a three-dimensional object to have varying material properties. While a particular multi-layer manufacturing system is presented as an example, the examples described below can be applied to other multi-layer manufacturing systems. These include, inter alia, selective laser sintering systems, stereolithography systems, inkjet systems, any three-dimensional printing system, inkjet deposition systems, and layered article manufacturing systems.

In the examples described herein, a coalescing agent is configured to be applied to a portion of the building material portion that coalesces any of the materials when the energy is applied to the deposited fluid. In one case, a coalescence The agent may comprise an energy absorbing agent such as an ultraviolet, visible and/or infrared energy absorbing agent. Thus, deposition of a coalescing agent may cause some portions of a set of materials to absorb energy from an energy source. This in turn can heat the portions to a temperature above the melting point of the building material to coalesce the building material, such as fusion.

Similarly, a coalescence modifier acts to modify any of the effects of a coalescent. For example, the coalescing agents and coalescing modifiers can be selected such that: i) the portion of the building material on which no coalescing agent is delivered does not coalesce when energy is temporarily applied thereto; The building material on which only the coalescing agent has been delivered or penetrated will coalesce when energy is temporarily applied thereto; iii) the building material on which only the coalescing modifier has been delivered or penetrated a portion that does not coalesce when energy is temporarily applied thereto; and iv) the building material undergoes coalescence when the coalescing agent and the coalescing modifier have both been delivered or infiltrated A degree of correction. The coalescing modifier can utilize different physical and/or chemical effects to modify these effects of a coalescent. The coalescing modifier can reduce the degree of coalescence or increase the degree of coalescence depending on the characteristics of the selected material.

1A through 1C show a series of cross-sections 100 of a layer of selected building materials, according to an example. For the sake of simplicity, the description of this example relates to a single building material, however the program can be extended to several building materials. In Figure 1A, a first layer 110 of building material is placed on a suitable support member (not shown). In an example, the thickness of the layer of construction material is in the range of about 90 to 110 microns, although in it A thinner or thicker layer of the building material in his example can be provided. This example of Figures 1A through 1C uses a coalescing agent 120 and a coalescence modifier 130 that are selectively delivered to one or more portions of the surface of the layer 110 of the build material. This selective delivery of coalescing agent 120 and coalescence modifier 130 (feed) is performed according to the control data for that layer. The control data may be control data generated by the examples described later. Selective delivery means that both the coalescent and the coalescing modifier can be delivered to selected portions of the surface layer of the building material in separate patterns. These patterns can be determined by the control data.

In one case, the coalescent 120 can include a black colorant, such as an ink type formulation comprising carbon black. The coalescing modifier 130 can include any agent that prevents the build up material from solidifying. For example, it may comprise: a liquid comprising a solid; a salt solution; a fluid exhibiting a suitable cooling effect; a suitable plasticizer; or a surface tension modifier. This layer 110 can include one or more building materials. These may include powdered semi-crystalline thermoplastic materials. They may also include powdered metal materials, powdery composite materials, powdered ceramic materials, powdered glass materials, powdered resin materials, powdered polymer materials, and the like.

FIG. 1B shows that coalescing agent 120 and coalescence modifier 130 that are delivered to the surface of the build material penetrate into the layer 110 of the build material, for example at locations 140 and 150. There may be different degrees of penetration between the different materials, or in some examples there may be substantially the same degree of penetration. In some examples, the degree of penetration will be based on the laminate manufacturing system This configuration varies.

After the coalescing agent 120 and coalescing modifier 130 have penetrated into the layer 110, a predetermined energy level is temporarily applied. In an example, the applied energy is infrared or near infrared energy, although in other examples other types of energy may be used, such as microwave energy, ultraviolet (UV) light, halogen light, ultrasonic energy, or the like. The length of time the energy source is applied and/or the type of energy source will vary depending on the configuration of the laminate manufacturing system. This temporary application of energy will cause portions of the building material on which the coalescing agent has been delivered or penetrated, such as at portion 140, to be heated above the melting point of the building material and to coalesce. Upon cooling, the agglomerated portions become solid and form part of the three-dimensional object being produced. One such portion is illustrated as portion 160 in Figure 1C. In this example, the portions of the building material on which the coalescing modifier has been delivered or have penetrated, such as at portion 150, do not coalesce with the application of the energy source. This may help to reduce these effects of lateral coalescence casting leaks. This can be used, for example, to improve the sharpness or precision of the edge or surface of the article, and/or to reduce surface roughness. In another example, the coalescing modifier can be delivered to be dispersed with a coalescing agent that can be used to modify the properties of the article. The process shown in Figures 1A through 1C can be repeated for forming subsequent layers of material associated with subsequent planes or z-sections of a three-dimensional model, such as a three-dimensional model defined by the object data described above.

2 is a schematic illustration of a device 200 for generating control data for fabricating a three-dimensional object, according to an example illustration. In Figure 2 The device 200 includes an interface 210 and a controller 220 communicatively coupled to the interface 210.

The interface 210 is arranged to receive, or acquire, an object material 230 of a three-dimensional object to be produced. In the example of FIG. 2, the item material 230 includes at least object model material 240. The object model data 240 can define a three-dimensional model of at least a portion of the three-dimensional object to be produced. The model can define the shape and extent of the object in a three-dimensional coordinate system, for example, the solid portions of the object. The object model data 240 can be generated by a computer aided design (CAD) application.

In the example of FIG. 2, the interface 210 is also arranged to receive, or acquire, the selection material 250 indicating that at least one of the building materials will be used to generate the three-dimensional object. In one case, the selection material 250 can form part of the item material 230, for example, it can be designated to be associated with the item model material 240. In another case, the selection material 250 can be received from a laminated manufacturing system that is arranged to produce the three-dimensional object; for example, the selection material 250 can indicate one or more building materials that can be used in the laminated manufacturing system. . In another case, the selection material 250 can be received from a user interface; for example, a user can select, via the user interface, a particular component material to produce the object. In some cases, the above sources of selected materials may be combined; for example, a user may select a subset of the available building materials and/or one or more of the building materials indicated in the object data 230. Perform a mapping between one or more of the available building materials.

In this example of FIG. 2, the controller 220 is arranged to be The building material profile data 260 associated with one or more of the building materials is taken. In FIG. 2, the build material profile data 260 is retrieved for the set of materials indicated in the received selection profile 250. The set material profile data 260 defines one or more parameter values that depend on the characteristics of a given building material and that are configured to produce a three-dimensional object having predetermined set characteristics. The component material profile data 260 can be accessed in the form of one or more computer files; for example, each of the available building materials can have a different computer file containing the profile material profile data. In another case, the build material profile data 260 can be retrieved from a database, such as a remote or local database, wherein the selection data is used to retrieve the columns associated with a particular build material record. One or more parameter values in the bit.

In the example of FIG. 2, the build material profile data 260 is accessed from a storage device 270. In an example, the storage device 270 is partially coupled to the controller 220, for example, it can include a memory or a hard disk accessible by the controller 220. In other examples, the build material profile data 260 can be accessed remotely, for example, through a network. In this case, a remote application programming interface can be used to pass back one or more parameter values in response to a remote request containing a given component material identification code, for example, to select data 250. A group of materials built in. The build material profile data 260 can be provided by one or more suppliers of the manufacturer and/or build material of the build-up manufacturing system. In one case, the build material profile data 260 can be editable, for example, a technician can build on a particular build-up manufacturing system. A configuration is used to edit the parameter values for a given component material.

In FIG. 2, by using the accessed building material profile data 260 for the received item data 230, the controller 220 is arranged to generate control data 280 for generating a three-dimensional object. This may include determining image and/or layer processing techniques based on one or more of the accessed component profile data 260 and the received article profile 230. For example, a parameter value of a layer selection build material thickness can be retrieved from the build material profile data 260 and used to construct an appropriate z-axis slice of the object model data 240. Similarly, when using the procedure illustrated in Figures 1A through 1C, the parameter values associated with the amount of one or more of a coalescing agent and a coalescing modifier may be from a selected building material. The component material profile data 260 is retrieved and used in conjunction with one or more z-axis slices from the object model data 240 to generate instructions for depositing the materials on one or more of the layers of build material. In an example, the build material profile data 260 can provide parameter values that are used to configure the build-up manufacturing system to generate the three-dimensional object; for example, it may provide parameter values used to set the operating temperature, apply energy, One or more of the amount, the melting power, and the deposition rate (eg, the deposition rate of one or more of the building materials and the agent), among others. Such a configuration of the build-up manufacturing system can be directed by the control data 280. A given multi-layer manufacturing system can be arranged to receive the control data 280 and automatically configure the system to produce the item.

When the apparatus of Figure 2 is used to generate control data 280 to direct the procedure shown in Figures 1A through 1C, a group of selected materials is selected. The material profile data 260 can include at least one parameter value associated with an interaction between a coalescing modifier and the selected building material, the coalescent modification being used in the fabrication of the three dimensional article. Modify the coalescence of the selected component. For example, the parameter value can relate to one or more of the following: an amount of coalescence modifier to be used per unit volume of the selected building material; a coalescence modification to be used for the selected building material The radius of the agent; a gradient profile to be applied to the radius of the coalescing modifier; the amount of building material that will be used in the mixing of the materials of the selected building material; the material of the selected component is selected The number of times at least a few of the coalescing modifier is applied to a layer; the temperature to be applied to one or more of the unagglomerated regions of the layer of the selected building material. In one case, the one or more parameter values will include a coalescing dose to be used for one unit volume of the selected building material, such as each item part unit volume will be used, and will be used The coalescing modified dose per unit volume of one of the selected building materials, for example, the unit volume per article portion will be used. The one or more parameter values can also be used to configure the melting and crystallization temperatures of the laminate manufacturing system. These values may vary for different materials.

Since a phase change is triggered in a given building material, such as coalescing, the required energy may vary from material to material, and the operational profile of the laminated manufacturing system may be set using the building material profile data 260. Appropriate parameters can be automatically set via the control profile 280, resulting in successful object generation. Three-dimensional objects can also be produced to meet one or more predetermined object characteristics, such as one or more designs, machines Mechanical and / or surface characteristics. For example, the interaction between a coalescing modifier and a given building material can be measured and used to determine one or more operating parameter values for a selected laminate manufacturing system, which results in a satisfaction of one or A plurality of three-dimensional objects of predetermined object characteristics. For example, desired structural stability and/or partial properties may be warranted, for example, defects such as curling, warping, and/or insufficient layer deposition may be avoided and/or minimized to acceptable thresholds.

In one case, a laminate manufacturing system can have multiple modes of operation. In this case, the building material profile data for a given building material can include a set of parameter values that are selected for a particular mode of operation. For example, the mode of operation can be defined to optimize the surface appearance of the resulting object, the dimensional accuracy of the resulting object, and the throughput of the laminated manufacturing system (eg, the one that can be produced over a given period of time) One or more of the number of objects. In these cases, the component material profile data may include a set of parameter values optimized for surface appearance, dimensional accuracy, and throughput, respectively. When an operational mode is selected, for example, selected by a user or automatically based on production parameters, then the appropriate parameter values for the mode can be retrieved from the component material profile data and used to configure the Multilayer manufacturing system. Thus, a multi-layer manufacturing system can produce an item in a variety of ways for a given building material, wherein in each case the desired configuration data is provided by the building material profile data.

According to an example, the building material can be reused. For example, the building material 170 that does not form part of the coalescing portion 160 in FIG. 1C may be It is collected and used to form a subsequent layer of building material. In such cases, the unused building material will comprise an amount of coalescing modifier, for example, a portion 170 of the previously absorbed coalescing modifier, as shown in the portion of position 150 of Figure IB. Portion 170 also includes portions of the build material that are not deposited, regardless of whether the feedstock is a coalescing agent or a coalescing modifier. Thus, with the creation of a three-dimensional object having a plurality of coalesced and unagglomerated building materials, such as a layer similar to that shown in Figure 1C, the unagglomerated building material can be removed to leave the coalescence. The building material has the form of the three-dimensional object. In these cases, the unagglomerated building material, which may include one or more of the building materials to which the agent is deposited and the building material to which the coalescing modifier has been deposited, may be collected It is reused as a building material in the generation of a subsequent object.

For example, unagglomerated building materials can be mixed with "pure" or "new" building materials to form a blend of building materials. This component material mix can be used as the building material in the production of subsequent articles. In such a case, the resulting building material composition will have different characteristics. In order to ensure that there is no reduction in build quality, the controller 220 can be arranged to be based on a ratio of unused building materials to the used building materials, ie, a "new" building material ratio in a set of building materials mix. The "regeneration" of the proportion of the building materials is used to configure the control data 280 for a subsequent assembly material. For example, the parameter values from the build material profile data 260 can be modified in consideration of the reuse of the build material, for example, the settings can be configured based on the amount of the reuse build material. A function used to modify the values of the parameters may be stored by the controller 220 and/or The component material profile file 260 is defined. Alternatively, a set of one or more parameter values may be provided in the set of material profile data 260 that is associated with reusing one or more ratios of the building materials in a set of materials. In one case, at least one coalescing dose and a coalescence modifying dose used in the subsequent layer of an article can be corrected based on the feedback and build material profile data 260.

3 shows an example of selecting a build material profile data 340 from a profile tree 300 of individual build material profiles that can be used in conjunction with the controller 220 of FIG. The build material profile data 340 can include a plurality of individual parameters that can be conveniently stored on the storage device 270. As an example, the component material corresponding to the build material profile data 340 can be selected from a subcategory 330 of the build material profile that shares a common parameter, such as "plastic" or "metal," while itself It can also be selected from a subcategory 320 of the build material profile. For example, the subcategory 320 of the build material profile may be a subcategory of the build material that is introduced by the manufacturer of the build material and/or the parameter values involved in the set of materials for the subcategory. constant. The subcategory 320 of the component material profile may itself include a subcategory of the "Build Material Profile" 310.

In an example, the archive tree can be updated and maintained remotely by a third party vendor or can be maintained locally, for example, local to one or more controllers 220 and a layered manufacturing system using control data 280 . In a further example, access to individual categories of building material profile data may be provided remotely and may be provided locally as a computer file or in an embedded memory in a multi-layer manufacturing system. In a love In this case, the device 200 can form part of a laminated manufacturing system; in another case, it can be individually arranged, for example, by a production driver in a computer device. The component material profile can be automatically selected by a controller 220, such as shown in Figure 2, or can be selected by a user. Once the profile data 340 has been accessed, the controller 220 can continue to generate the control profile 280 without further user intervention.

In some embodiments, the building material profile data for a selected building material includes, among other things, parameter values for one or more of the following parameters: will be used in one or more layers for the selected building material a preheating temperature; a melting energy to be delivered to each unit area of one of the layers of the selected building material, for example, which may be provided as a combination of power and speed for applying an energy source; for the selection The heating time required to construct one of the materials; the thickness of one of the layers used to select the building material; and the speed at which a layer of the selected component is dispersed. The parameter values may also involve a halftone strategy that distinguishes between different regions of the object to be produced, such as an inner body and a shell region.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified perspective view of a laminate manufacturing system 400 in accordance with an exemplary diagram. The system 400 can be used to use the program illustrated in Figures 1A through 1C and can be arranged to receive control data 280 generated by the device 200 of Figure 2.

The system 400 includes a system controller 410 that controls the general operation of the laminated manufacturing system 400. In this example, the system controller 410 is arranged to receive control data 415. This may include from Figure 2 Control data 280. Alternatively, system controller 410 can include controller 220 of FIG. 2, in which case it can also include interface 210 and be arranged to receive object data. This may be, for example, the case if the laminated manufacturing system is a separate system.

In FIG. 4, the system controller 410 is configured to control such actions of one or more of a set of build material dispensers 420, a coalescer dispenser 430, and a coalescer modifier dispenser 440. Suitable building material dispensers can include, for example, a brush blade and a roller. One or more other material and/or material dispensers may also be provided. By controlling the dispensers, at least one or more of the building materials and one or more materials can be deposited on a support structure 450 or a previously deposited layer of a set of materials. In Figure 4, a layer 460 of building material is shown having an area that is less than the area of the support structure; this is for ease of explanation, in one implementation, the layer may have any area up to and equal to This area of the support structure 450. Similar to FIG. 1C, the previously deposited layer of a three-dimensional article typically includes portions of the unagglomerated building material and portions of the coalesced building material 465. The relative proportion of the coalesced and unagglomerated building materials depends on the item being produced. In some cases, portions of the composite material that are not coalesced in any given layer provide support for subsequent layers of the building material, for example, when dispersed by the building material dispenser 420. For example, during production, each layer can have a common area such that the object is built into a cubic volume. At the end of the manufacture, the unagglomerated building material is removed, for example, manually or mechanically to reveal portions of the coalesced building material that form the article.

For example, the coalescer dispenser 430 can be arranged to receive an instruction from the system controller 410 and selectively deliver the coalescing agent to a portion of one of the at least one build material in accordance with the control profile 415. Similarly, the coalescing modifier dispenser 440 can be arranged to receive instructions from the system controller 410 and selectively deliver the coalescing modifier to one of the at least one build material in accordance with the control profile 415 Partially. The build material dispenser 420 can be arranged to provide a first layer of at least one build material and to provide a subsequent layer of at least one build material on the previously provided layer. As described above, the layers can have a common area and a defined thickness. A subsequent layer of the building material can thus be deposited on a previous layer, wherein the two layers have the same thickness and area. This thickness can be defined in the profile of the building material. An energy source 470 is also provided that applies energy to the deposited layer 460 on the support structure 450. The energy source can apply a consistent level of energy to the deposition layer 460 and/or can include a positionable and/or orientable energy source, such as a laser. Thus, according to the control data 415, when the energy source 470 is applied to a layer of at least one component material during the process of producing the three-dimensional object, the coalescing agent and coalescence modifier provide selectivity for the component material. Coalescing.

In one case, at least the coalescer dispenser 430 and the coalescing modifier dispenser 440 can include a printhead, such as a thermal inkjet head or a piezoelectric inkjet printhead. One or more of the support structure 450 and the build material dispenser 420, coalescer dispenser 430, and coalescer modifier dispenser 440 can be arranged to move in one or more dimensions. As such, the building materials and/or materials can be applied to locations that are positionable in three-dimensional space. In an implementation, the The build material dispenser 420 can be arranged to provide a layer of build material having a layer thickness in the range of about 90 to 110 microns, and wherein the material dispenser can be arranged to provide a feed of about 10 picoliters per drop. drop.

In some implementations, a set of build material supplies can be provided adjacent the support structure 450. The build material supply is movable to expose a set of materials. The amount of build material can then be spread over the support structure 450 by the build material dispenser 420; for example, if the build material dispenser 420 is a wiper, the amount of build material will be scraped across the support Structure 450 is formed as a layer of building material.

In one case, a set of material supply can include a storage medium configured to store data used to identify the material provided by the build material supply. For example, a set of building materials can include an electronic circuit or wafer that stores a set of building material identification codes. The component material identification code can be transmitted through one or more of wired and wireless transmissions to one or more of the interface 210 of FIG. 2 and the system controller 410 of FIG. For example, in this case, the selection profile 250 can indicate a set of materials that can be obtained via the build material supply, such as by way of a transmitted build material identification code. In this manner, a controller, not 220 or 410, can be configured to automatically retrieve the build material profile data to learn an available build material in a set of build material supplies. In another case, the build material profile data can be stored directly on the circuit or wafer, which can be read by the build-up manufacturing system.

In some cases, the one or more parameters of the component material profile data include, for a given component material, an indicator A proportion of the unagglomerated building material to be dispersed by the assembled material dispenser. For example, a given building material can provide satisfactory object characteristics only when no more than 30% of the recycled building materials are used. This may be because the contamination of a coalescing modifier can alter the chemical properties of the used building materials, such as those found in section 170 of Figure 1. This contamination prevents coalescence at a ratio of more than 30%. Control data 280, as shown in Figure 2, is generated based on the profile material profile of a selected building material, thereby limiting the amount of recycled building material mixed with the "new" building material.

In one case, the building materials can be mixed on a remixing station. In this case, the execution of the blend can be independent of the creation of a three-dimensional object. For example, a mixing station may obtain from the system 400 the amount of used or recycled building materials, along with the amount of "new" or fresh building materials. The mixing station can then control the selective supply of the used and new building materials to produce a predetermined ratio of building materials for use as a set of materials, as described above. In one case, the mixing station can be coupled to the system 400 to provide mixing of the build material; for example, the build material mix can be provided via a set of build material supplies. A storage medium associated with the build material supply, such as an electronic circuit or wafer as discussed above, may include data, for example, indicating the proportion of used and new build materials and a set of build material identification codes. This ratio can be used to retrieve and/or adjust the appropriate building material parameter values from the building material profile.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method 500 for generating control according to an example diagram The data is produced to produce a three-dimensional object that can be used in conjunction with the exemplary system of FIG.

At block 510, object data is obtained that represents the three-dimensional object that will be produced. In one case, the item data includes one or more parameters related to an item design, such as the shape and size of the item. In some cases, the item data may also include item property data relating to one or more characteristics of the item, such as one or more specified material characteristics.

At block 520, the building materials that will be used to produce the article are determined. The building materials can be determined automatically or can be selected by a user. In one case, an item may contain separate building materials for different portions of the item. Such building materials may be indicated in the item data and/or may be indicated by selection information as described with reference to FIG. 2.

At block 530, the building material profile data is obtained for each of the building materials determined at block 520. This may include, among other things, accessing one or more files containing the profiled material profile for one or more building materials from a tree view access profile data such as that shown in FIG. And/or retrieve material profile data from a local or remote repository. In some cases, block 530 can include generating a new build material profile for a new build material, for example, providing a new build material profile or entering a build material profile data to generate a new build material. Profile. In some cases, the component material profile data may be requested from a storage device or a provisioning service based on one or more component material identification codes retrieved from a laminate manufacturing system, for example, from one or more A building material container that is removably mounted in the system.

The set material profile data obtained at block 530 defines one or more parameter values that are dependent on the characteristics of a given building material and are configured to produce a three-dimensional object having predefined building characteristics, such as a name. Upper or smallest structural characteristics. In one case, at least one parameter value relates to an interaction of a coalescing modifier with the given building material that is being used to modify a given building material during the manufacture of the three-dimensional object Coalescence, as described with respect to Figures 1A through 1C and Figure 4. In one case, the one or more parameter values include at least one coalescing dose to be used for one unit volume of the given building material and the poly unit to be used for one unit volume of the given building material The modified dosage of the knot.

At block 540, control data is generated for use in controlling a build-up manufacturing system, based on the obtained item data and the obtained set of material profile data. This may include applying data from one or more of the building material profile data to data from an object file to determine configuration parameters for the laminated manufacturing system. The material may be generated by a controller, such as shown in one or more of Figures 2 and 4. The control data further includes information defining a coalescing agent and a coalescing coalescent modifier pattern to be used on an area of the building material, such as by the size of the article defined in the article data, and Defining such characteristics of one or more of the building materials in the resulting building material profile data. The generated control data further includes parameter values such as the timing and amount of the respective materials on a layer of the building material to achieve a set of thoughts in a generated three-dimensional object. The desired feature. The control data may be stored by a laminate manufacturing system for subsequent use, for example, at a later point in time, or it may be passed to a laminate manufacturing system for the production of the article.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 of generating a three-dimensional object, according to an example. This method uses the control data generated by the method 500 of FIG. The method 600 can be applied using the system 400 of FIG.

The method 600 of FIG. 6 begins at stage 605. In some cases, stage 605 is equivalent to stage 550 of FIG. 5, ie, method 600 represents a continuation of FIG. In other cases, the method 600 can use the control data from FIG. 5, but can be used at a later point in time, for example, based on stored and/or received control data.

At block 610, a layer of building material is formed. At block 620, a coalescing agent and a coalescence modifier are selectively deposited on the regions of the one or more building materials in accordance with the control data. At block 630, energy is applied to the area of the layer. This causes the material to coalesce on the portions of the building material on which the coalescing agent has been deposited. For example, as described with reference to Figures 1A through 1C, the building material will cure to form a portion of the three-dimensional article from which the coalescing agent and the coalescing modifier are deposited. In various examples of the method, the applied energy can be an infrared source, a source of visible light, or an ultraviolet source. In Figure 6, blocks 610 through 630 can be repeated as indicated by the arrows to repeatedly apply a subsequent layer to one of the layers of one or more of the coalesced and unagglomerated building materials. The method can be repeated until the object or a portion of the object has been created.

In some examples, the building materials from a previous layer will not Coalescence due to the absence of a deposited coalescent and/or the presence of a deposited coalescence modifier. In these cases, a dose of coalescence modifier will be present in the residual building material, such as at portion 170 of FIG. This remaining building material may be desirable for reuse, for example in a subsequent production run of one or more laminated manufacturing systems. As described above, reusing the building material in some cases may require calibrating the system such that the composition based on the building material produces control information for the layer to achieve the desired build quality of the article. For example, the parameter values for the coalescing dose and the coalescence modifying dose per unit volume may be corrected by a controller, such as the controller 410 shown in Figure 4, to take into account the reconstituted building materials. . This has the advantage of maintaining a manufacturing quality throughout the manufacturing process. In an example, this program will be repeated every production cycle.

In some examples, the one or more parameters of the component material profile data can include, for a given component material, an indication indicating a ratio of unagglomerated component materials to mix the new component materials to Form a mix of building materials. In this case, the method 600 can include mixing the unagglomerated building material and the new building material according to the component material profile to form a building material mixture, and depositing a layer of the building material mixture, for example, as a component A subsequent layer of material. In one case, this mixing can be performed off-line, for example, independently of any particular production run.

Similarly, the one or more parameter values can include a maximum dose that the coalescing modifier will be used for one unit volume of the given building material. In this case, the method 600 can include a given group Establishing a ratio of the building materials used in the material mixing, determining the dose of the coalescence modifier that has been applied to the reused building material, and adjusting the one indicated in the control data to be used for the given building material a dose of a coalescing modifier per unit volume, based on the ratio of the reconstituted materials used, the amount of coalescence modifier that has been applied to the reconstituted building material, and the coalescing modifier that will be made The maximum amount.

Certain examples described herein can be used in a laminate manufacturing system using an inkjet printhead to deposit one or more agents to a powdered building material to create a three-dimensional article using a layer-by-layer construction. Although this particular laminate manufacturing system is presented as an example, the examples described above can be applied to other laminate manufacturing systems including, among other things, selective laser sintering systems, stereolithography systems, sprays Ink system, any three-dimensional printing system, inkjet deposition system, and layered object manufacturing system.

Some examples store component material properties in a set of material profiles such that a build-up manufacturing system based on one or more building materials to be used will be configured and/or pre-configured. This material profile describes a set of required parameters to properly produce a three-dimensional object from one or more of the available materials. The set of material profiles can include data values, such as the melting point of a set of materials or the coalescing characteristics of the set of materials. Although certain parameters have been described as examples herein, they are not intended to provide an exhaustive list of parameters that can form part of a set of material profiles. Thus, the values of the parameters stored as part of a material profile will vary depending on the particular details of the laminated manufacturing system employed. through Through the use of the material profile, the correct and/or optimal parameter values can be applied to each of the building materials.

In one case, the item property data can be provided as part of the item data 230 and/or obtained in block 510. The item property data can define one or more desired object characteristics for the three-dimensional object to be produced. In one case, the item property data 180 can include desired material characteristics of at least a portion of the object to be produced. The object property data 180 can, for example, be defined for the entire object to be produced, such as global property data, or for one or more portions of the object to be produced, such as local property data. The item property data 180 can also be used to define a plurality of object characteristics for one or more portions of an object. Object characteristics may include, for example, softness, elasticity, stiffness, surface roughness, porosity, interlaminar strength, density, and the like, and may depend on the type of building material or material used to produce an article. . In view of such object characteristics, a controller, such as controller 220 or 410, can process the material profile data and the object model data to achieve the specified object characteristics in a generated three-dimensional object. For example, the controller can apply a function to modify and/or select particular parameter values from the set of material profile data to achieve the characteristics of the specified objects.

Some examples described herein may be a set, and in some cases all, image processing and/or production parameters will be combined in a single file. In this case, the image processing parameters may relate to halftone parameters. In one case, a material profile can be laminated The manufacturing system is automatically selected, for example based on available building materials. In another case, a user may select a particular building material, a particular amount of building material and/or a building material reuse one of the desired ratios and the appropriate parameter values may be based on the corresponding building materials. The profile data is applied.

According to some examples described herein, a set of building material profiles can be provided by a laminate manufacturing system manufacturer and/or by a component material supplier. If a new material is desired, a user can generate a new set of parameter values in a self-defining building material profile that can be used in the devices and methods described herein. The build material profiles can also be transferred between the build-up manufacturing systems, for example by sharing a given profile between a set of production machines and/or sharing that has been configured and tested on a particular build-up manufacturing system. A custom profile. In some cases, material profiles can also be transmitted over a network such as the Internet.

Certain methods and systems as described herein may be implemented by a processor that processes code retrieved from a non-transitory storage medium. For example, this can be used to implement at least controller 220 or controller 410. FIG. 7 illustrates an example 700 of a device that includes a machine readable storage medium 740 coupled to a processor 720. The device may comprise a computer and/or a laminate manufacturing device. Machine readable storage medium 740 can be any medium that can contain, store, or maintain programs and materials for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. Machine readable media can include any of a number of physical media such as, for example, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor media. Appropriate machine readable More specific examples of media retrieval include, but are not limited to, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read only memory, or A portable CD. In the example of FIG. 7, the machine readable storage medium includes code to implement a controller 750, such examples as described herein, and a data representation of one or more component material profile data 760. In other examples, the build material profile data 760 can be stored in a separate storage medium, for example, as described with reference to FIG.

Similarly, it should be understood that the implementation of a controller may be provided by a single wafer or integrated circuit or multiple wafer or integrated circuits, optionally provided as a wafer set, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) ), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and more. For example, this can be applied to all or a portion of a controller or other control circuit. The one or more wafers may include circuitry (and possibly firmware) for implementing at least one data processor or processor as described above, configurable to operate in accordance with the described examples. In this regard, the described examples can be implemented, at least in part, as computer code stored in (non-transitory) memory and can be stored by the processor, or by hardware, or by tangible stored code and A combination of hardware (and tangible stored firmware) is performed.

The previous description has been presented to illustrate and describe examples of such described principles. The description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to any precise form. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings.

200‧‧‧ device

210‧‧‧ interface

220‧‧‧ Controller

230‧‧‧ Object data

240‧‧‧ Object Model Information

250‧‧‧Select information

260‧‧‧Building material profile data

270‧‧‧ storage device

280‧‧‧Control data

Claims (15)

An apparatus for generating control data for manufacturing a three-dimensional object, comprising: an interface configured to receive: object data for a three-dimensional object to be produced, and selection material indicating that it will be used Generating at least one component material of the three-dimensional object; and a controller configured to access building material profile data for the at least one component material indicated in the selection material, wherein for a given The building material profile data of the building material defines one or more parameter values that are dependent on the characteristics of the given building material and are assembled to produce a three-dimensional object having predefined building characteristics, and at least one of the parameters The value is related to an interaction between a coalescing modifier and the given building material, the coalescing modifier being used to modify the coalescence of the given building material in the manufacture of the three-dimensional article, the control The device is configured to generate control data for manufacturing a three-dimensional object by applying the accessed component profile data to the received object data The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one set of materials comprises a set of material mixes comprising a proportion of previously used unagglomerated building materials and a proportion of newly formed materials, and The component material profile data indicates a parameter value for mixing a three-dimensional object with the component material, the parameter values being different from the parameter values for the newly formed material. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more parameter values comprise an amount of coalescing agent to be used in one unit volume of the given building material and one unit to be used in the given building material The amount of one of the volume coalescing modifiers. The device of claim 3, comprising: a first dose dispenser configured to receive control data from the controller and selectively deliver the coalescing agent to the at least one build material based on the control data a plurality of portions of one of the layers; a second dose dispenser configured to receive control data from the controller and selectively deliver the coalescing modifier to the at least one component material based on the control data a plurality of portions of a layer; and a set of material dispensers configured to provide a first layer of at least one set of materials and to provide a subsequent layer of at least one build material on a previously provided layer, wherein The coalescing agent and the coalescing modifier provide selective coalescence when the source is applied to a layer of at least one component material during the process of making the three-dimensional article from the control data. The apparatus of claim 4, comprising: a set of material feeders arranged to supply a set of materials for distribution by the set of material dispensers, wherein the selection data indicates supply by the set material feeder The set of materials. The device of claim 5, wherein the component material supplier is associated with a storage medium, the storage medium being configured to store data for identifying the component material, and wherein the stored material includes at least a portion of the selected material . The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters comprise one or more of the following for a given building material: a coalescing modifier to be used in one unit volume of the given building material Amount; a radius of the coalescing modifier to be used for the given building material; for which a given building material will be used in a set of building materials, the amount of unconsolidated building material; at least the coalescence The number of times the agent is spread a few times for a layer of the given building material; and a temperature to be applied to one or more of the unagglomerated regions of one of the layers of the given building material. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more parameters further comprise one or more of the following for a given building material: a pre-use to be used in the one or more layers for the given building material Thermal temperature; a melting energy that will be delivered per unit area of one of the layers of a given building material; The reheat time required for one of the given building materials; the thickness of one of the layers of the given building material; and a spreading rate for one of the layers of the given building material. A method of generating control data for three-dimensional object manufacturing, comprising: acquiring object data for a three-dimensional object to be produced; determining a component material to be used to generate the three-dimensional object; obtaining for the component One of the materials is configured to form a material profile; by applying the component material profile to the article data, generating control data for a laminate manufacturing system to produce the three-dimensional object, comprising: a set determining the laminated manufacturing system Obtaining a set of parameter values from the set of material profiles for use with the configuration of the build-up manufacturing system, the parameter values being assembled to produce a three-dimensional object having a set of predefined building characteristics, the control data being Used to direct the accumulation of a coalescence modifier on at least one layer of the building material that changes the coalescence of the building material during the manufacture of the three-dimensional article. The method of claim 9, wherein: the component material comprises a set of material mixes, the component material mix comprising a proportion of previously used unagglomerated building materials and a proportion of newly formed materials, determining the build-up manufacturing system A configuration includes determining the proportion of previously used unagglomerated building materials in the mix of the building materials, And obtaining a set of parameter values from the set of material profiles, the use of the set of material profiles to determine control data for the proportion of previously used unagglomerated building materials in the mix of the building materials. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more parameter values comprise an amount of a coalescing agent that will be used at least one unit volume of the given building material and one of the given building materials to be used The amount of coalescence modifier per unit volume. The method of claim 11, comprising: a layer of the building material; selectively depositing one or more of the coalescent and the coalescing modifier on the layer according to the control data And applying energy to the layer such that a portion of the building material coalesces and solidifies to form a portion of the three-dimensional object depending on where the coalescing agent and the coalescing modifier are deposited. The method of claim 9, wherein the component material is a given component material type and the set of parameter values indicates one or more of the chemical and physical properties of the given component material type. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining that the component to be used to generate the three-dimensional object comprises: reading a set of material identification codes from a storage medium associated with the set of material suppliers, the component material identification code Used to access the properties of the component files. A laminate manufacturing system comprising: a set of material dispensers configured to provide a first layer of building material on a support structure, and a subsequent layer of building material on a previously provided layer; a material dispenser configured to selectively deliver a coalescing agent to portions of one of the layers of the building material; a second agent dispenser configured to selectively deliver a coalescence modification The agent is applied to portions of one of the layers of the building material; wherein when an energy source is applied to one of the at least one component material, the coalescing agent and the coalescing modifier provide selective coalescence; and a control And arranged to access a set of material profiles for the set of materials, and by applying the accessed component profile to object data for a three-dimensional object to be produced to generate Control data for the build-up manufacturing system, the set material profile defining one or more parameter values that depend on the characteristics of the build material and are assembled to produce a three-dimensional object having predefined build characteristics