Stereolithography apparatus with a container assembly
AssigneeBEGO Bremer Goldschlagerei Wilh. Herbst GmbH & Co.
InventorsHeinz LAMBRECHT, Sergej TREGUBOW
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Abstract
The invention relates to a stereolithography apparatus comprising: a container for a fluid material curable by radiation, a substrate plate, an actuator means for generating a relative movement between the container and the substrate plate, and an irradiation device for selectively irradiating the material arranged in the container. According to the invention, the actuator means and the irradiation device are mounted on a frame assembly, and the container and the substrate plate are combined to form an assembly and the assembly consisting of the container and the substrate plate is jointly inserted into the frame assembly, detachably secured therein by means of an attachment means and to be jointly removed from the frame assembly.
Claims33
A stereolithography apparatus comprising:
- a container for receiving a fluid material curable by irradiation,
- a substrate plate,
- an actuator means for generating a relative movement between the container and the substrate plate,
- an irradiation device for selectively irradiating the material arranged in the container, said irradiation device comprising:
- a radiation source, and
- an imaging mask
- a controller for controlling the irradiation device,
- characterized in that the actuator means and the irradiation device are mounted on a frame assembly and that the container and the substrate plate are combined to form an assembly and the assembly consisting of the container and the substrate plate is jointly inserted into the frame assembly, detachably secured therein by means of an attachment means and to be jointly removed from the frame assembly.
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A stereolithography apparatus comprising:
- a container for receiving a fluid material curable by irradiation,
- a substrate plate,
- an actuator means for generating a relative movement between the container and the substrate plate,
- an irradiation device for selectively irradiating the material arranged in the container, said irradiation device comprising:
- a radiation source, and
- an imaging mask
- a controller for controlling the irradiation device, wherein
- the controller is adapted to perform the steps of:
- moving the substrate plate before irradiation of a layer into a position which provides a cavity with a predetermined layer spacing between a latest layer to be produced and an anti-stick film,
- then selectively irradiating and thus selectively curing a fluid disposed in the cavity in specific regions,
- moving the substrate plate, after irradiation of the fluid disposed in the cavity, by a detachment path which is sufficient to separate the selectively cured regions from the anti-stick film,
- wherein the controller is also adapted to determine the detachment path from the size of the selectively cured regions of the previously cured layer, in particular from a number of irradiated pixels in said layer.
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The method according to claim 27,
- characterized in that the selective irradiation is through a bottom plate that is permeable to the radiation from the irradiation device, and
- characterized in that a coupling rod connected to the substrate plate extends through the cover and that in the cover the movement of the substrate plate relative to the container is performed as an axial movement in the longitudinal direction of the coupling rod.
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A method of producing three-dimensional shaped bodies by means of stereolithography comprising the steps of:
- securing a container, with a fluid material curable by irradiation disposed therein to a frame assembly,
- producing the three-dimensional shaped body, layer by layer, by multiple repetition of a series of steps comprising the steps of:
- moving a substrate plate detachably mounted on the frame assembly by a predetermined layer thickness relative to the container by means of an actuator means mounted on the frame assembly,
- filling a cavity ensuing from the relative movement with the fluid material, and
- selectively curing the material disposed in the cavity by selectively irradiating the material in regions to be cured by means of an irradiation device mounted on the frame assembly,
- characterized in that said irradiation is performed by a radiation source generating radiation, said radiation being homogenized in a radiation homogenizer and being selectively guided or selectively shielded in such a way, after passing through the radiation homogenizer, that the areas of the material disposed in the cavity and to be cured are irradiated, and the areas that are not to be cured are not irradiated.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.