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US 11,686,960 B2Granted
Optical forming device and optical modulation device
AssigneeTianma Japan, Ltd.
InventorChikaaki Mizokuchi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical forming device includes a resin tank that holds a photocurable resin, a light source that emits light for curing the photocurable resin, and an optical modulator. The optical modulator includes a liquid crystal, a first substrate and a second substrate that sandwich the liquid crystal, and a first electrode and a second electrode that apply voltage to the liquid crystal. The optical modulator modulates, in a pattern based on the shape of a three-dimensional shaped object, light that causes the photocurable resin to cure, and irradiates the modulated light on the photocurable resin. The optical modulator includes a plurality of modulation regions including a first region and a second region that have mutually different voltage transmittance characteristics.
Claims10
An optical forming device, comprising:
- a resin tank that holds a photocurable resin;
- a light source that emits light for curing the photocurable resin;
- and
- an optical modulator that includes a liquid crystal, a first substrate and a second substrate that sandwich the liquid crystal, and a first electrode and a second electrode that apply voltage to the liquid crystal, modulates the light in a pattern based on a shape of a three-dimensional shaped object, and irradiates the modulated light on the photocurable resin, wherein
- the optical modulator includes a plurality of modulation regions including a first region and a second region that have mutually different voltage transmittance characteristics,
- the liquid crystal is aligned in a direction parallel to a main surface of the first substrate and the first electrode and the second electrode apply voltage to the liquid crystal to rotate the liquid crystal in a plane parallel to the main surface of the first substrate,
- in a first state in which a predetermined first voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the first region and the second region have transmittances that are lower than a predetermined transmittance,
- in a second state in which a predetermined second voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the first region has a transmittance that is greater than or equal to the predetermined transmittance, and the second region has a transmittance that is lower than the predetermined transmittance,
- in a third state in which a predetermined third voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the first region and the second region have transmittances that are greater than or equal to the predetermined transmittance,
- in a fourth state in which a predetermined fourth voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the first region has a transmittance that is less than the predetermined transmittance, and the second region has a transmittance that is greater than or equal to the predetermined transmittance, and
- the photocurable resin cures when the transmittance of the first region or the second region is greater than or equal to the predetermined transmittance.
8 more elements
An optical modulation device comprising:
- a plurality of modulation regions that includes a first region and a second region that have mutually different voltage transmittance characteristics, and that modulates incident light;
- and
- a liquid crystal, a first substrate and a second substrate that sandwich the liquid crystal, and a first electrode and a second electrode that apply voltage to the liquid crystal, wherein
- the first electrode and the second electrode have a comb tooth shape,
- in a plan view, a comb-tooth of the first electrode and a comb-tooth of the second electrode are alternately disposed, parallel to each other, and a spacing between the comb-tooth of the first electrode and the comb-tooth of the second electrode in the first region is narrower than a spacing between the comb-tooth of the first electrode and the comb-tooth of the second electrode in the second region,
- the liquid crystal is aligned in a direction parallel to a main surface of the first substrate and the first electrode and the second electrode apply voltage to the liquid crystal to rotate the liquid crystal in a plane parallel to the main surface of the first substrate,
- in a first state in which a predetermined first voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the first region and the second region have transmittances that are lower than a predetermined transmittance,
- in a second state in which a predetermined second voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the first region has a transmittance that is greater than or equal to the predetermined transmittance, and the second region has a transmittance that is lower than the predetermined transmittance,
- in a third state in which a predetermined third voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the first region and the second region have transmittances that are greater than or equal to the predetermined transmittance, and
- in a fourth state in which a predetermined fourth voltage is applied to the liquid crystal, the first region has a transmittance that is less than the predetermined transmittance, and the second region has a transmittance that is greater than or equal to the predetermined transmittance.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.