Method and device for controlling the exposure of a selective laser sintering or laser melting device

A method for controlling the exposure of a selective laser sintering or laser melting apparatus for manufacturing three-dimensional objects, comprising the following steps:

• providing a selective laser sintering apparatus or laser melting apparatus (1) in which three-dimensional objects can be manufactured by successive solidification of layers of a powder-type construction material (6) that can be solidified using radiation, on the positions corresponding to the respective cross-section of the object, wherein the provided apparatus (1) comprises an irradiation device for irradiating layers of the construction material, that has a plurality of scanners (8a, 8b) that can separately be actuated, simultaneously irradiating the construction material,
• characterized by the following steps
• separately detecting irradiation times of each individual scanner (8a, 8b) and/or the irradiation areas detected by each individual scanner (8a, 8b) in a first step, and storing the detected irradiation times and/or irradiation areas;
• comparing the irradiation times and/or irradiation areas of the individual scanners (8a, 8b) with each other;
• re-determining the surface sections of a construction material layer (11) to be irradiated by each individual scanner such that the irradiation times for each individual scanner (8a, 8b) are possibly approximated to each other and/or the irradiation areas of each individual scanner (8a, 8b) are aligned with each other in terms of surface area to the largest extend possible.