Sony Corporation

Junichi Kuzusako

Nobuhiro Kihara

Masanobu Yamamoto

Yasuhiro Tanaka

Takeshi Matsui

Katsuhisa Honda

Hiroyuki Yasukochi

Tomohide Koizumi

Akira Ookubo

Tatsuya Minakawa

Toshihiro Kamewa

Kazuo Niizaka

Ikuko Tsurui

Kazuma Tamura

Masato Nakakura

A powder transfer mechanism laminates powder layers containing water-soluble powder as a main component one by one at a modeling portion. An inkjet line head injects a water-based ink that dissolves the powder in an area of an uppermost layer of the powder layers laminated by the powder transfer mechanism, the area corresponding to a cross-sectional shape of a modeled object. Then, a heater heats the powder for each layer of the powder layers. Further, the heater heats the powder after the water-based ink is injected by the inkjet line head or before the water-based ink is injected by the inkjet line head. The present invention can be applied to a modeling apparatus, for example.

Modeling apparatus and modeling method

There is provided a method of manufacturing a structural object, including using rapid prototyping technology, forming a structure body from a powder material whose main component is a water-soluble compound. The formed structure body is impregnated with an adhesive that provides adhesive function upon reaction with moisture contained in the structure body.

Method of manufacturing structural object

A three-dimensional modeling apparatus includes a stage, a head, a movement mechanism, and a control unit. The head supplies a process liquid that is one of a solution and a dispersion liquid onto the stage to cause a material that constitutes a three-dimensional object to be precipitated out of the process liquid by evaporating one of a solvent and a dispersion medium therefrom. The movement mechanism relatively moves the head and the stage. The control unit controls a drive of the movement mechanism to form the three-dimensional object.

Three-dimensional modeling apparatus, method of producing a three-dimensional object, and three-dimensional object

A three-dimensional modeling apparatus includes a stage, a head, an adjustment mechanism, an ejection command means, and a control means. On the stage, a powder material is accumulated. The head ejects ink to the powder material on the stage. The adjustment mechanism adjusts a relative height of the stage and the head for each predetermined layer thickness so that a three-dimensional object is formed on the stage by the predetermined layer thickness. The ejection command means causes the ink to be ejected from the head so that the powder material is colored a plurality of colors corresponding to multilevel luminance information items in a multivalued image obtained by performing a multivalued processing of luminance with respect to a two-dimensional cross-sectional image data of a modeling target object. The control means controls the adjustment mechanism and the ejection command means so that the multivalued image is drawn for each layer thickness.

Three-dimensional modeling apparatus, control apparatus, control method, and three-dimensional object

Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a molded object. The method includes: supplying a first liquid material to a first region out of a molding enabling region where a powder material is arranged and curing the powder material of the first region using a lamination molding technology to form a first insoluble part insoluble in a solvent; supplying a second liquid material different from the first liquid material to the powder material of a second region, which is provided so as to be surrounded by the first region, out of the molding enabling region and curing the powder material of the second region using the lamination molding technology to form a second soluble part soluble in the solvent; and dissolving the second part in the solvent.

Method of manufacturing molded object and molded object

Provided is a three-dimensional modeling apparatus including a supply mechanism, a deposition area, a variable mechanism, a discharge mechanism, and a control means. The supply mechanism supplies a powder material. In the deposition area, the supplied powder material is deposited. The variable mechanism varies a volume of the deposition area per a predetermined layer thickness, and thus the powder material is deposited per the predetermined layer thickness in the deposition area. The discharge mechanism discharges liquid for forming a three-dimensional object to the deposited powder material, the liquid being capable of hardening the powder material. The control means causes the discharge mechanism to discharge the liquid to the powder material, to thereby form a main body being an object being as a target to be modeled and a frame body being an object to be formed in a periphery of the main body, of the three-dimensional object.

Three-dimensional modeling apparatus, method of manufacturing a three-dimensional object and three-dimensional object

An optical shaping apparatus includes: an exposing unit for turning on/off irradiation of light to a hardening resin surface for each predetermined unit area to irradiate light collectively on multiple the unit areas with irradiation of light being on; and a scanning unit for irradiating an optical beam with a predetermined diameter to scan the optical beam on the hardening resin surface; with the exposing unit irradiating the light in an area offset by a predetermined number of unit areas toward the inner side than the unit areas overlapped with the profile line of the cross-sectional-shaped data on the hardening resin surface; and with the scanning unit scanning an optical beam having a first diameter along a center line offset from the profile line of the cross-sectional-shaped data, and scanning an optical beam having a second diameter shorter than the first diameter along the inner side of the profile line.

Optical shaping apparatus and optical shaping method

An optical molding apparatus molds an optically molded product by stacking cured layers. Each cured layer is formed by emitting light according to cross-sectional-shape data of the optically molded product onto a surface of photo-curable resin. The optical molding apparatus includes an exposing unit and an exposure control unit. The exposing unit performs exposure on the photo-curable resin for each of small work areas that are defined by dividing an overall work area, which is where an optical molding operation is performed, into a plurality of areas. The exposure control unit controls an exposure condition of the exposing unit for each of the small work areas and allows the exposure to be performed collectively on multiple layers' worth of the photo-curable resin in a predetermined one of the small work areas.

Optical molding apparatus, optical molding method, and optically molded product

An optical molding apparatus molds a three-dimensional model by stacking cured layers. Each cured layer is formed by emitting light according to cross-sectional-shape data of the three-dimensional model onto a surface of photo-curable resin. The optical molding apparatus includes a container that contains the photo-curable resin, a movable stage that is movable in a direction orthogonal to the surface of the photo-curable resin, an optical system that emits the light onto the surface of the photo-curable resin contained in the container so as to form each cured layer on the movable stage, and a discharging mechanism that performs a discharging operation for discharging new photo-curable resin onto a surface of each cured layer formed on the movable stage before stacking a subsequent cured layer.

Optical molding apparatus and optical molding method

A stereolithography apparatus that is configured to fabricate a three-dimensional model by forming a cured layer by irradiating an interface of a photocurable resin with light corresponding to sectional data of the three-dimensional model and stacking the cured layers includes a container holding the photocurable resin and having a constraining window configured to constrain the interface of the photocurable resin; a vertical movement table movable in a vertical direction orthogonal to the interface of the photocurable resin; an optical system configured to form the cured layer between the vertical movement table and the constraining window by irradiating the interface of the photocurable resin with light through the constraining window; and a position constraining mechanism configured to substantially flatten the constraining window by applying a force to the constraining window from the outside of the container when the cured layer is formed by the optical system.

Stereolithography apparatus

An optical shaping apparatus includes a light transmissive member, a shaping base, and a movement mechanism. The light transmissive member includes a regulation surface to regulate a liquid level of a photo-curable resin, and causes light used for curing the photo-curable resin to pass therethrough. The shaping base includes a support surface, a first end portion, and a second end portion, the support surface being opposed to the regulation surface and supporting a three-dimensionally shaped object that is formed by laminating the photo-curable resins cured by the light in a stepwise manner, the second end portion being on an opposite side of the first end portion. The movement mechanism moves the shaping base in a direction away from the light transmissive member so that the support surface is gradually moved away from the regulation surface from the first end portion side to the second end portion side.

Optical shaping apparatus and shaping base

The cross-sectional shape data of a three-dimensional model is divided according to work small areas obtained by dividing a work entire area where optical shaping work is performed into a plurality of areas, and work small area data which is cross-sectional shape data corresponding to said work small areas is generated. Also, the work small area data is enlarged with offset width based on the contracting ratio of a light hardening resin, and areas, which are wider than the work small areas on the surface of the light hardening resin by the offset width, are subjected to one-shot exposure based on the enlarged work small area data to form a hardening layer for each of the work small areas. The present invention can be applied to, for example, an optical shaping apparatus.

A molding tool used for molding products of fibrous material is manufactured efficiently by employing a lamination molding method. A molding tool having a porous structure used for molding products of fibrous material such as pulp molding is manufactured by lamination molding method (a method for molding a three dimensional product by subjecting a material to be laminated to prescribed treatment, the method includes a photo-setting resin method). Material lacks or voids are formed on each layer of a laminating material, the layer is laminated one above another, thereby, many suction holes are formed on the molding tool as the material lacks.

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Saitama, Japan

Junichi Kuzusako