Jeol Ltd.

Eisai Company, Limited

Technology Research Association for Future Additive Manufacturing

Jfe Steel Corporation

Shinichi Kitamura

Nari Tsutagawa

Takashi Sato

Shinya Abe

Isao Yamatsu

Takeshi Suzuki

Koukichi Harada

Akiharu Kajiwara

Kouji Nakamoto

Toshiji Igarashi

Sachiyuki Hamano

Tohru Fujimori

Yoshikage Nakajima

Takashi Sueyoshi

Atsushi Kimura

Takuma Iwasaki

Yusuke Ota

Kohei Kurihara

Ken Sakai

Tatsuo Naruse

Yohei Daino

Ayumu Miyakita

Kozo Koiwa

Masahiko Kawakami

Hironobu Manabe

Taku Hisaki

A three-dimensional powder bed fusion additive manufacturing apparatus includes a powder application device that includes a squeegee and applies a powder material to a build plate to form a powder layer, a camera that photographs a manufactured surface of the powder layer, and a determination unit that determines whether powder application failure of the powder material has occurred using an image photographed by the camera while or immediately after the squeegee passes through the manufactured surface.

Three-dimensional powder bed fusion additive manufacturing apparatus and three-dimensional powder bed fusion additive manufacturing method

An additive manufacturing machine is provided which can smooth out powdered material while preventing mechanical interference between a smoothing plate and a manufacturing box. The additive manufacturing machine has a support stage, a manufacturing box, and a powder feeder mechanism. The powder feeder mechanism feeds powdered material onto the support stage and smooths out the powdered material. The powder feeder mechanism has an arm portion, a guide mechanism, a connective portion, and a drive mechanism. The guide mechanism is secured to the manufacturing box and supports the arm portion such that it can move in a first direction. The connective portion is connected to the arm portion and transmits force to the arm portion only in the first direction. The drive mechanism is secured to a support member different from the manufacturing box and has a drive portion for moving the connective portion in the first direction.

Additive manufacturing machine

A method of annealing a steel sheet in an annealing furnace, including: supporting and conveying a steel sheet with hearth rolls; and supporting and conveying the steel sheet with a full-ceramic hearth roll as a hearth roll located in an area where a furnace temperature is equal to or higher than 950&#xb0; C., wherein a main constituent of the full-ceramic hearth roll is silicon nitride with use of an Al&#x2014;Y-based sintering aid.

Steel sheet annealing method and steel sheet annealing furnace

A three-dimensional powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (PBF-AM) apparatus includes a movement mechanism, a stage, a plurality of support columns, a base plate, and a shielding member. The base plate is supported by the plurality of support columns, and a powder material for forming a product is laminated on the base plate. The shielding member surrounds the plurality of support columns between the stage and the base plate.

Three-dimensional powder bed fusion additive manufacturing apparatus

An electron gun includes a cathode that is heated to emit thermions; a cathode heating power supply that supplies a cathode heating current for heating the cathode; a grid that has a first aperture formed therein and that has a grid voltage applied thereto, the grid voltage having a potential lower than that of the cathode, wherein the grid converges the thermions passing through the first aperture by the grid voltage; an anode that has a second aperture formed therein and that has an anode voltage applied thereto, wherein the anode causes the thermions extracted from the cathode to pass through the second aperture as an electron beam by the anode voltage; an anode-voltage power supply that applies the anode voltage to the anode; and a controller that causes the anode voltage having a positive potential to be applied from the anode-voltage power supply to the anode.

Electron gun, electron microscope, three-dimensional additive manufacturing apparatus, and method of adjusting current of electron gun

This invention effectively prevents charge-up of an unsintered region. A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus includes a linear funnel for recoating the material of a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object onto a shaping surface on which the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is to be shaped. The three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus also includes an electron gun for generating an electron beam. The three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus further includes a charge shield for shielding the material recoated on the shaping surface when irradiating the material with the electron beam. In addition, the apparatus includes a vertical driving mechanism for vertically moving the charge shield.

Three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus, three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus control method, and three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus control program

This invention effectively suppresses the generation of scattered electrons such as secondary electrons and backscattered electrons. A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus includes a linear funnel that recoats a material of a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object onto a shaping surface on which the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is to be shaped. The three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus also includes an electron gun that generates an electron beam. The three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus further includes an anti-deposition cover made of a metal and formed between the shaping surface and the electron gun. In addition, the three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus includes a DC power supply that applies a positive voltage to the anti-deposition cover.

Three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus, three-dimensional lamenting and shaping apparatus control method, and three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus control program

A phase feedback AFM (atomic force microscope) and method for the phase feedback AFM. A cantilever is driven to oscillate at a constant frequency close to the resonance frequency of the cantilever by a driving signal. The distance between the probe and the sample is controlled such that the phase difference between the driving signal and a cantilever deflection signal indicating deflections of the cantilever is kept constant. The phase feedback AFM has an amplifier-controller for receiving the cantilever deflection signal, the output from an oscillator for driving the cantilever into oscillation, and a signal representing a reference amplitude of oscillation of the cantilever. The phase feedback AFM further includes a feedback circuit which receives the output from the amplifier-controller which controls the cantilever deflection signal to a preset amplitude.

Phase feedback AFM and control method therefor

The present invention is intended to solve the problem that the tip of the probe of a scanning probe microscope cannot be conditioned stably due to overload in a contact region. This problem is solved by a scanning probe microscope for scanning the probe and a sample relative to each other. The microscope has a cantilever, a vibration means for vibrating the cantilever, and a vibration signal-switching means for switching a vibration signal applied to the vibration means between at least two different signals. The cantilever has a resilient body that supports the probe.

Scanning probe microscope

A magnetic force microscope capable of producing a topographic image containing no magnetic information. In the topographic imaging mode, an error amplifier controls the distance between a cantilever and the sample to cause the oscillation frequency of the cantilever to shift from f to f , for causing a probe to tap each observation position (x , y ) on the sample. According to the results of the control, topographic information in the observation position (x , y ) is obtained. In the magnetic force imaging mode, the probe is placed on the observation position (x , y ), and the distance between the cantilever and the sample is held to the distance used in the topographic imaging mode according to information stored in the memory. At this time, the amplitude of the cantilever is so adjusted that the probe does not tap the sample. Magnetic information about the observation position (x , y ) on the sample is obtained based on the oscillation frequency of the cantilever at this time.

Magnetic force microscope

There is disclosed a scanning probe microscope for producing a topographic image of a surface of a sample by noncontact AFM (atomic force microscopy). First, a first topographic image of the sample undergoing magnetic effects is produced from the resonance frequency of a cantilever by FM detection. Then, a second topographic image of the sample free of magnetic effects is produced from the amplitude of the cantilever by slope detection. The difference between these two topographic images is taken. Thus, a magnetic force image is produced.

Method of producing magnetic force image and scanning probe microscope

There is disclosed a scanning probe microscope capable of producing a topographic image at a high resolution with a cantilever of a large spring constant and, at the same time, a surface potential image at a high resolution. This microscope can take the form of an atomic force microscope that detects the surface potential of a sample, using a gradient of the force acting between the probe tip and a sample. The gradient is represented by the output from a frequency-to-voltage converter. The frequency of an AC voltage applied across the probe tip and the sample is so set that a z-signal fed back to the cantilever to maintain constant the shift in the resonance frequency of the cantilever can sufficiently follow the AC voltage.

Scanning microscope for image topography and surface potential

There is disclosed a device for applying vibrations to a cantilever used in an atomic force microscope. The cantilever has a base portion, and a probe is attached to the front end of the cantilever. The device has a piezoelectric plate subassembly consisting of first and second piezoelectric plates having junction faces cemented together. A piezoelectric plate subassembly support portion supports a part of the second piezoelectric plate. A voltage is applied to the piezoelectric plates so that one of them is stretched vertical to the junction faces and that the other is contracted vertical to the junction faces.

Device for vibrating cantilever

There is disclosed a scanning probe microscope capable of producing a topographic image at a high resolution with a cantilever of a large spring constant and, at the same time, a surface potential image at a high resolution. This microscope can take the form of an atomic force microscope that detects the surface potential of a sample, using a force gradient acting between the probe tip and the sample. The gradient is represented by the output from a frequency-to-voltage converter.

There is disclosed a scanning probe microscope capable of producing a topographic image and a magnetic image of a surface of a sample in one measurement. The microscope has a probe tip made of a magnetic material. A physical force, such as an atomic force, is exerted between the probe tip and the sample. When this physical force does not act on the probe tip, it vibrates at a first vibrational frequency. Displacements of the probe tip are detected by a photodetector. A topographic information-extracting portion including a voltage-to-current converter, a phase shifter, an FM demodulator, a low-pass filter, and an error amplifier extracts a signal representative of topographic information from the output from the photodetector. A magnetic distribution-extracting portion, including an oscillator and a lock-in amplifier, extracts information about the magnetism of the sample from the output from the photodetector.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Shinichi Kitamura