Apparatus for Producing Three-Dimensional Shaped Product

An apparatus for producing a three-dimensional shaped product in which the following steps are sequentially repeated:

• spraying one of a metallic and non-metallic powder on a surface of a base plate placed on an upper side of a vertically movable table in a shaping tank and having on the surface at least a material which can be adhered to the metallic or non-metallic powder upon solidification of the powder adjacent to the upper side by sintering and on the upper side of the table,
• subjecting an upper-side surface of the thus sprayed powder to planarization,
• irradiating one of electromagnetic waves and electron beams along a layer having a predetermined thickness to a region to be shaped which is located at an uppermost position, thereby forming a sintered layer, and
• cutting at least one of an end part and upper surface where sintering has been performed to effect molding,
• wherein the apparatus comprises:
• a frame body installed upright on the table,
• the base plate placed on a support projecting horizontally from at least one of the frame body and a step portion which serves as a lower part of the frame body situated at a side of the table on the frame body,
• the base plate adapted to be supported by an arrangement so that a center of gravity of the base plate is present inside one of:
• a triangle formed by three locations and
• a quadrangle formed by four locations inside a region of at least one of the support and the step portion on which the base plate is placed, and
• a projected part which projects at least above at least one of the support and an inner wall of the frame body in contact with a horizontally surrounding part of the base plate, and there is reliably realized at a region to be contacted such a situation that any one of crossing angles formed by individual normal lines from three or more contact locations of the triangle or quadrangle adjacent to each other is smaller than 180 degrees, thereby preventing the base plate from moving horizontally.