Additive manufacturing apparatus and methods
AssigneeRenishaw PLC
InventorsCeri Brown, Nicholas H H Jones, David G J Ewing, Geoffrey McFarland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An additive manufacturing apparatus including a scanner for directing a laser beam on to layers of flowable material to selectively solidify the material to form an object in a layer-by-layer manner. The scanner includes an optical component operable under the control of a first actuator to reflect the laser beam over a first range of angles in a first dimension and the or a further optical component operable under the control of a second actuator to reflect the laser beam over a second range of angles in the first dimension, wherein the second actuator provides a faster dynamic response but a smaller range of movement of the laser beam than the first actuator.
Claims15
A selective laser melting or selective laser sintering additive manufacturing apparatus comprising:
- a scanner for directing a laser beam on to layers of powder to selectively melt or sinter the powder to form an object in a layer-by-layer manner, the scanner comprising an optical component operable under the control of a galvanometer to reflect the laser beam over a first range of angles in a first dimension in order to scan an area to be solidified and the optical component or a further optical component operable under the control of a piezoelectric, voice coil or normal stress actuator to reflect the laser beam over a second range of angles in the first dimension in order to scan an area to be solidified,
- wherein the piezoelectric, voice coil or normal stress actuator provides a faster dynamic response but a smaller range of movement of the laser beam than the galvanometer;
- and
- encoders for providing a measurement of an angle of the galvanometer and a controller arranged to control the piezoelectric actuator, voice coil or normal stress in response to readings from the encoders.
A selective laser melting or selective laser sintering additive manufacturing apparatus comprising:
- a scanner for directing a laser beam on to layers of flowable material to selectively solidify the material to form an object in a layer-by-layer manner, the scanner comprising an optical component operable under the control of a first actuator to reflect the laser beam over a first range of angles in a first dimension;
- the optical component or a further optical component being operable under the control of a second actuator to reflect the laser beam over a second range of angles in the first dimension, and
- the second actuator providing a faster dynamic response but a smaller range of movement of the laser beam than the first actuator;
- an encoder for providing a measurement of an angle of the first actuator;
- and
- a controller arranged to control the second actuator in response to readings from the encoder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.