# US 10,500,791 B2 · Three-dimensional laminating and fabricating system, three-dimensional laminating and fabricating method, laminating and fabricating control apparatus and method of controlling the same, and control program

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- Number: US 10,500,791 B2
- Document ID: US10500791B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/125,104
- Filed: 2016-03-09
- Published: 2018-03-29
- Granted: 2019-12-10
- Earliest claimed: 2016-03-09
- Assignees: Technology Reseach Association for Future Additive Manufacturing
- Applicants: Technology Research Association for Future Additive Manufacturing
- Inventors: Koichi Amaya; Tetsushi Midorikawa; Takeshi Yamada
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10500791B2

## CPC

- B29C 64/393: for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
- B22F 3/105: by using electric current {other than for infrared radiant energy}, laser radiation or plasma (B22F3/11 takes precedence){; by ultrasonic bonding (B22F3/115 takes precedence)}
- B22F 3/16: in successive or repeated steps
- B22F 10/28: Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM]
- B22F 10/366: Scanning parameters, e.g. hatch distance or scanning strategy
- B22F 10/85: for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
- B22F 12/67: Blades
- B29C 64/10: Processes of additive manufacturing
- B29C 64/153: using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting
- B29C 64/214: Doctor blades
- B29C 64/264: Arrangements for irradiation
- G05B 19/4099: Surface or curve machining, making three-dimensional [3D] objects, e.g. desktop manufacturing
- B33Y 10/00: Processes of additive manufacturing
- B33Y 30/00: Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
- B33Y 50/00: Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
- B33Y 50/02: for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
- Y02P 10/25: Process efficiency
- B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00)
- B22F: WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER (making alloys by powder metallurgy C22C); APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)
- B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING
- Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS

## Abstract

A system of this invention is a three-dimensional laminating and fabricating system that suppresses, in advance, a squeezing blade from getting caught on a surface of a laminated and fabricated object. The three-dimensional laminating and fabricating system includes a laminating and fabricating unit that includes a squeezing blade configured to spread a laminating material on an upper layer of a laminated and fabricated object, and an irradiator configured to irradiate the laminating material, and fabricates each layer of the laminated and fabricated object as an aggregate of cell regions, and a laminating and fabricating controller that controls the laminating and fabricating unit such that a scanning direction in which the irradiator irradiates the laminating material in the cell region changes with respect to a moving direction of the squeezing blade during laminating and fabricating.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A three-dimensional laminating and fabricating system comprising:
a laminating and fabricating unit that includes a squeegeeing blade configured to spread a laminating material on an upper layer of a laminated and fabricated object, and an irradiator configured to irradiate the laminating material, said laminating and fabricating unit fabricating each layer of the laminated and fabricated object, the each layer comprising an aggregate of cell regions; and
a laminating and fabricating controller configured to control said laminating and fabricating unit such that a scanning direction in which said irradiator irradiates the laminating material while scanning in each of the cell regions changes with respect to a moving direction represented by a vector of said squeegeeing blade during laminating and fabricating, wherein the scanning direction is selected from directions having acute angles with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade,
wherein the laminating and fabricating controller includes a scanning direction controller comprising an accumulator that accumulates laminating and fabricating conditions and a history of changes in the scanning direction in association with each other, and a selector that selects the changes in the scanning direction during laminating and fabricating based on the laminating and fabricating conditions, wherein the laminating and fabricating conditions include the laminating material, characteristics of the laminating and fabricating unit and features of data of the laminated and fabricated object.

### Claim 2

A method of three-dimensional laminating and fabricating, comprising:
fabricating each layer of a laminated and fabricated object, the each layer comprising an aggregate of cell regions, using a laminating and fabricating unit that includes a squeegeeing blade configured to spread a laminating material on an upper layer of the laminated and fabricated object, and an irradiator configured to irradiate the laminating material; and
controlling the laminating and fabricating unit such that a scanning direction in which the irradiator irradiates the laminating material while scanning in each of the cell regions changes with respect to a moving direction represented by a vector of the squeegeeing blade during laminating and fabricating, wherein the scanning direction is selected from directions having acute angles with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade,
wherein, in the controlling the laminating and fabricating unit, laminating and fabricating conditions and a history of changes in the scanning direction are accumulated in association with each other, and the changes in the scanning direction during laminating and fabricating are selected based on the laminating and fabricating conditions, wherein the laminating and fabricating conditions include the laminating material, characteristics of the laminating and fabricating unit and features of data of the laminated and fabricated object.

### Claim 3

A laminating and fabricating control apparatus comprising:
a data acquirer that acquires data of a laminated and fabricated object as a target of laminating and fabricating; and
a scanning direction controller configured to control, based on the data of the laminated and fabricated object, a laminating and fabricating unit fabricating each layer of the laminated and fabricated object, the each layer comprising an aggregate of cell regions, such that a scanning direction in which a laminating material while scanning in each of the cell regions is irradiated changes, during laminating and fabricating, with respect to a moving direction represented by a vector of a squeegeeing blade configured to spread the laminating material on an upper layer of the laminated and fabricated object, wherein the scanning direction is selected from directions having acute angles with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade,
wherein said scanning direction controller comprises an accumulator that accumulates laminating and fabricating conditions and a history of changes in the scanning direction in association with each other, and a selector that selects the changes in the scanning direction during the laminating and fabricating based on the laminating and fabricating conditions, wherein the laminating and fabricating conditions include the laminating material, characteristics of the laminating and fabricating unit and features of the data of the laminated and fabricated object.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The laminating and fabricating control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said scanning direction controller is configured to control the laminating and fabricating unit such that the scanning direction changes with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade in the each layer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The laminating and fabricating control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said scanning direction controller is configured to control the laminating and fabricating unit such that the scanning direction changes, every laminated layer counts, with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The laminating and fabricating control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said scanning direction controller is configured to change, every laminated layer counts, a position of each of the cell regions, to control such that the scanning direction changes with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The laminating and fabricating control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said scanning direction controller is configured to change a shape of each of the cell regions with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade, to control such that the scanning direction changes with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade.

### Claim 8 (depends on 3)

The laminating and fabricating control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, when a load on moving said squeegeeing blade exceeds a threshold, said scanning direction controller is configured to control the laminating and fabricating unit such that the scanning direction during the laminating and fabricating changes with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade.

### Claim 9 (depends on 3)

The laminating and fabricating control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said scanning direction controller comprises:
a unit that acquires the data of the laminated and fabricated object as the target of laminating and fabricating; and
a unit that generates, based on the data of the laminated and fabricated object, three-dimensional fabricating data used to control said laminating and fabricating unit in consideration of a change in the scanning direction.

### Claim 10 (depends on 3)

The laminating and fabricating control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said scanning direction controller is further configured to control said laminating and fabricating unit so as to perform at least one of change of a moving speed of said squeegeeing blade, change of a vertical movement of a fabricating table, and change of an intensity of a laser beam.

### Claim 11

A method of controlling a laminating and fabricating control apparatus, comprising:
acquiring data of a laminated and fabricated object as a target of laminating and fabricating; and
controlling, based on the data of the laminated and fabricated object, a laminating and fabricating unit fabricating each layer of the laminated and fabricated object, the each layer comprising an aggregate of cell regions, such that a scanning direction in which a laminating material while scanning in each of the cell regions is irradiated changes, during laminating and fabricating, with respect to a moving direction represented by a vector of a squeegeeing blade configured to spread the laminating material on an upper layer of the laminated and fabricated object, wherein the scanning direction is selected from directions having acute angels with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade,
wherein, in the controlling the laminating and fabricating unit, laminating and fabricating conditions and a history of changes in the scanning direction are accumulated in association with each other, and the changes in the scanning direction during the laminating and fabricating are selected based on the laminating and fabricating conditions, wherein the laminating and fabricating conditions include the laminating material, characteristics of the laminating and fabricating unit and features of the data of the laminated and fabricated object.

### Claim 12

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a control program of a laminating and fabricating control apparatus, which causes a computer to execute a method, comprising:
acquiring data of a laminated and fabricated object as a target of laminating and fabricating; and
controlling, based on the data of the laminated and fabricated object, a laminating and fabricating unit fabricating each layer of the laminated and fabricated object, the each layer comprising an aggregate of cell regions, such that a scanning direction in which a laminating material while scanning in each of the cell regions is irradiated changes, during laminating and fabricating, with respect to a moving direction represented by a vector of a squeegeeing blade configured to spread the laminating material on an upper layer of the laminated and fabricated object, wherein the scanning direction is selected from directions having acute angles with respect to the moving direction of said squeegeeing blade,
wherein, in the controlling the laminating and fabricating unit, laminating and fabricating conditions and a history of changes in the scanning direction are accumulated in association with each other, and the changes in the scanning direction during the laminating and fabricating are selected based on the laminating and fabricating conditions, wherein the laminating and fabricating conditions include the laminating material, characteristics of the laminating and fabricating unit and features of the data of the laminated and fabricated object.