JP2015123743A - Solid molding system, solid information processing program, and solid object production method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate removal of a support part formed for a part which needs the support in molding of a solid object, with a simple structure.SOLUTION: Target object solid information indicating a three-dimensional shape of a target object to be molded is acquired, and based on the target object solid information, an identification result of a part where a support member for supporting a part whose vertical lower part is a space is formed in the three-dimensional shape of the target object, then an interface part including a boundary surface with the target object is set out of the part where the support member is formed. Then, support body solid information indicating a three-dimensional shape of the support body of parts other than the set interface part is created, and based on the target object solid information and support body solid information, converted solid information for making a solid molding device mold the solid object is created and then outputted.

Description

  The present invention relates to a three-dimensional modeling system, a three-dimensional information processing program, and a three-dimensional object manufacturing method, and more particularly to support of a portion of a three-dimensional object whose vertical lower side is not in contact with a base.

  In recent years, a technique called three-dimensional molding has been used in the field of rapid prototyping and the like. The three-dimensional object obtained by such three-dimensional molding is often used as a prototype or an exhibition for evaluating the appearance and performance of the final product in the product development stage.

  As such three-dimensional molding techniques, an optical modeling method, a powder method, a sheet lamination method, and the like are known. Among them, a method of laminating a mask pattern by spraying an ultraviolet curable resin with a 3D printer is frequently used (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this method, the design and mechanism of the appearance and appearance of the final product is converted into data using 3D CAD, and then the data is sliced by a computer and multilayer mask pattern data is created by superimposing thin plates, and UV curing is performed. A three-dimensional object is manufactured by jetting and laminating a functional resin from a head in accordance with mask pattern data.

  In recent years, a fine stacking pitch of micron order has been realized, and a complicated three-dimensional shape can be generated. In addition, a part that protrudes in the horizontal direction in a three-dimensional object or a part that is inversely tapered, such as a part that needs to be supported because the vertical lower part is not in contact with the base (hereinafter referred to as “support part required”). It is also possible to manufacture a three-dimensional object with a support material. At this time, it is necessary to remove the support material adhering to the three-dimensional object. However, the complicated process of removing the support material has been pointed out as one of the factors hindering the spread of the technique of three-dimensional molding.

  As means for removing the support material, known are a removal method in which a mechanical load such as scrubbing with a water jet or a finger is applied, a method of dissolving using water, an organic solvent, or the like. However, the removal method of applying a mechanical load involves a complicated operation and may damage the modeled object. Moreover, in the method of making it melt | dissolve, removal of a support material takes time and is inefficient. In addition, in recent years, it has become a requirement to provide a treatment method that takes into consideration environmental resistance and safety in handling.

  In Patent Document 1, a model material, which is a material for modeling a three-dimensional object, and a support material for supporting the above-described support portion are molded, and a mold release is performed between the model material and the support material. It is disclosed that the separation of the model material and the support material is facilitated by molding a support material having the property. In the case of this method, a support material having releasability is required in addition to the conventional support material. For this reason, the types of materials are increased, and a function of ejecting each material separately is required in the 3D printer, which causes a problem that the apparatus becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to easily remove a support portion formed for a portion requiring support in modeling a three-dimensional object with a simple configuration. To do.

  In order to solve the above problem, one aspect of the present invention is a three-dimensional modeling system that models a three-dimensional object based on three-dimensional information indicating a three-dimensional shape, and a layer of a molding material is formed based on input information. A three-dimensional modeling apparatus that models the three-dimensional object by stacking and a three-dimensional information processing program that processes information to be input to the three-dimensional modeling apparatus, wherein the three-dimensional information processing program is a tertiary object to be modeled A step of acquiring object three-dimensional information indicating an original shape, and a support for supporting a portion of the three-dimensional shape of the object whose space is vertically downward based on the acquired object three-dimensional information. A step of acquiring an identification result of a part to form a member, and a boundary surface between a part in which the supporting member is to be formed and a part in which the vertically lower part is a space in the three-dimensional shape Generating a support three-dimensional information indicating a three-dimensional shape of a support that is a part other than the set interface part among the parts to form the support member, And causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of generating and outputting converted three-dimensional information for causing the three-dimensional modeling apparatus to model a three-dimensional object based on the three-dimensional object information and the support three-dimensional information. To do.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the removal of the support part formed for the part which needs a support in modeling of a solid object can be easily performed with a simple structure.

It is a figure which shows the operation | use form of the system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a 3D printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of PC concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the 3D data conversion process part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the aspect of a process of 3D data which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the manufacturing method of the three-dimensional molded item which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the conversion operation | movement of the three-dimensional information which concerns on this invention embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the parameter item which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the converted data conversion confirmation screen which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the aspect of the division | segmentation of the molded object for support which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of the parameter item which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the aspect of a deformation | transformation of the molded article for support which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of a function structure of PC1 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the measuring method of apparent viscosity.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, 3D data indicating the shape of a three-dimensional object such as CAD (Computer Aided Design) data is received, and a layer formed by ejecting a molding material by a head that ejects droplets based on the data is laminated. A system configured by a 3D printer that forms a three-dimensional object and a PC (Personal Computer) that transmits 3D data to the 3D printer will be described as an example. In such a system, the data processing function by the PC when transmitting 3D data to the 3D printer is one of the gist according to the present embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an operation mode of the three-dimensional modeling system according to the present embodiment. The 3D modeling system according to the present embodiment analyzes the input 3D data, converts the data, and then causes the 3D printer to execute 3D modeling output. The 3D printer 2 executes 3D modeling output according to the control of the PC 1. Including. Here, the hardware configuration of the PC 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the PC 1 according to the present embodiment includes the same configuration as a general information processing apparatus. That is, in the PC 1 according to the present embodiment, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 40, and an I / F 50 are connected via the bus 80. Connected. Further, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 60 and an operation unit 70 are connected to the I / F 50.

  The CPU 10 is a calculation means and controls the operation of the entire PC 1. The RAM 20 is a volatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information at high speed, and is used as a work area when the CPU 10 processes information. The ROM 30 is a read-only nonvolatile storage medium and stores a program such as firmware. The HDD 40 is a non-volatile storage medium that can read and write information, and stores an OS (Operating System), various control programs, application programs, and the like.

  The I / F 50 connects and controls the bus 80 and various hardware and networks. The LCD 60 is a visual user interface for the user to check the state of the PC 1. The operation unit 70 is a user interface such as a keyboard and a mouse for the user to input information to the PC 1.

  In such a hardware configuration, the software control unit is configured by the CPU 10 performing calculations according to a program stored in the ROM 30 or a program loaded into the RAM 20 from a storage medium such as the HDD 40 or an optical disk (not shown). A functional block that realizes the functions of the PC 1 according to the present embodiment is configured by a combination of the software control unit configured as described above and hardware.

  Next, the configuration of the 3D printer 2 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The 3D printer 2 according to the present embodiment has the same configuration as a general droplet discharge type 3D printer. As shown in FIG. 3, the 3D printer 2 according to this embodiment supports a base 201 for stacking molding materials to form a three-dimensional object, a head 202 for discharging the molding material, and a head 202. An arm 203 that moves the head 202 in a space on the base 201 is included.

  As described above, the 3D printer 2 discharges a molding material from the head 202 in accordance with a ring slice image generated by horizontally cutting a three-dimensional object to be determined based on the input 3D data, thereby forming one layer of molding. 3D modeling is performed by laminating such layers. Therefore, the 3D printer 2 forms a portion (hereinafter, referred to as “required support portion”) that needs to be supported because the vertical lower portion is a space and does not contact the base among the portions of the three-dimensional modeled object. A support material made of a material different from the molding material is discharged into a portion corresponding to the space below the support portion. Therefore, the head 202 has a function of individually ejecting two types of materials, that is, a molding material for forming a three-dimensional structure and a support material.

  Note that the 3D printer 2 also includes an information processing function according to the configuration described in FIG. And while receiving control from PC1 by such an information processing function, the movement of the arm 203 and the discharge of the molding material from the head 202 are controlled by the control unit realized by the information processing function.

  Next, a functional configuration of the PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the PC 1 according to the present embodiment includes a controller 100 and a network I / F 101 in addition to the LCD 60 and the operation unit 70 described in FIG. 2. The network I / F 101 is an interface for the PC 1 to communicate with other devices via the network, and uses an Ethernet (registered trademark) or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface.

  The controller 100 is configured by a combination of software and hardware, and functions as a control unit that controls the entire PC 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 100 includes a 3D data conversion processing unit 110 and a 3D printer driver 120 that provides a function for the PC 1 to control the 3D printer 2.

  The 3D data conversion processing unit 110 acquires input 3D data and performs conversion processing. The input of 3D data to the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 is performed when the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 acquires data input to the PC 1 via the network, or a file path specified by a user operation on the operation unit 70 May be acquired by the 3D data conversion processing unit 110.

  The 3D data conversion processing unit 110 analyzes the acquired 3D data and performs data processing according to the gist of the present embodiment to convert the data. The 3D data conversion processing unit 110 according to the present embodiment analyzes the space around the three-dimensional object represented by the input 3D data, and the three-dimensional object is not in contact with the base but is a space. The data of the support part for supporting the part that needs to be supported (hereinafter referred to as “support part required”) is generated and added to the original 3D data. Such a process is a process according to the gist of the present embodiment. That is, a software program for realizing the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 is used as the three-dimensional information processing program. Details will be described later.

  The 3D printer driver 120 is a software module for operating the 3D printer 2 from the PC 1 and has the same function as that of a general 3D printer driver software. The 3D printer driver 120 conforms to the function of a printer driver in, for example, a general paper printer, and generates image information for operating the 3D printer 2 based on input 3D data, and controls information. At the same time, it is transmitted to the 3D printer 2.

  Here, the function of the 3D printer driver 120 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C. FIG. 6A is a perspective view showing a three-dimensional object represented by 3D data input to the 3D printer driver 120, that is, a target object. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, a solid object having a shape similar to the alphabet “y” having a depth is taken as an example.

  FIG.6 (b) is a figure which shows the state which looked at the solid object shown to Fig.6 (a) from the front. As described above, the 3D printer 2 according to the present embodiment forms a three-dimensional object by stacking layers formed by ejecting droplets based on input 3D data. Here, when the molding material is discharged on the basis of the shape as shown in FIG. 6 (b), in the three-dimensional object, the concave portion on the left side in the drawing or the reverse taper portion on the right side in the drawing has the molding material vertically downward. Since there is nothing to support, it is impossible to form a layer as it is. Such a vertically lower portion is a space, and a portion that is not in contact with the base is a supporting portion according to the present embodiment.

  The 3D printer driver 120 recognizes the required support portion based on the input 3D data, and generates data in which the support material forming space is set so as to fill the space vertically below the required support portion. FIG. 6C is a diagram illustrating an example of data in which such a support material formation space is set. In FIG.6 (c), the part to which the oblique line of the broken line was attached is a support material formation space. In other words, the support material formation space is filled with the member of the support main part for supporting a support required part.

  As shown in FIG. 6C, data in which a support material formation space is set in a space vertically below the support portion is transmitted to the 3D printer 2 by the 3D printer driver 120. Thereby, the layer in which the molding material and the support material are selectively ejected by the 3D printer 2 is laminated, and a shaped article composed of the molding material and the support material is output. By removing the support material from such a shaped article, it is possible to obtain a target three-dimensional object, that is, a shaped article in which the target object is formed, as shown in FIG.

  When removing the support material, there is a removal method of applying a mechanical load such as scrubbing with a water jet or fingers. In this case, it is necessary to be careful not to damage the three-dimensional object formed by the molding material with a heavy work burden on the operator. There is also a method of dissolving the support material using water or an organic solvent, but in this case, the time required for dissolving the support material and the disposal of the dissolved support material and the liquid used for dissolution are problematic. It becomes.

  In the present embodiment, in order to solve the problem related to the removal of the support material as described above, the support material forming space shown in FIG. 6B is also formed of the same molding material as the three-dimensional object, and the molded product and the support. 3D data is converted so that a portion of a conventional support material is formed with a molded product for use (hereinafter referred to as “support molded product”). This molded product for support is used as a support for supporting a portion whose space is vertically below in the three-dimensional shape of a three-dimensional object.

  Accordingly, the supporting portion can be molded, and the molded product and the support molded product are molded as separate solids in a state where the lamination of the respective layers by discharging the molding material is completed. Also, in such a state, it is possible to obtain the desired shaped object simply by peeling the support molding from the shaped object, and the surroundings of the shaped object are better than the conventional molding method using the support material. Thus, it is possible to reduce the work load when separating the support portion formed on the cover. In the present embodiment, the functions of the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 enable the existing 3D printer driver 120 and 3D printer 2 to be used. Details will be described later.

  Next, a functional configuration of the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 according to the present embodiment includes a 3D data acquisition unit 111, a support material area specifying unit 112, an interface extraction unit 113, an attribute conversion unit 114, a data synthesis unit 115, and conversion data. An output unit 116, a display data output unit 117, and a data adjustment unit 118 are included. As described above, the 3D data acquisition unit 111 acquires 3D data input to the 3D data conversion processing unit 110, that is, target object three-dimensional information indicating the three-dimensional shape of the target object.

  The support material area specifying unit 112 analyzes the 3D data acquired by the 3D data acquisition unit 111, and when the 3D data is directly input to the 3D printer driver 120 as described in FIG. 6C. Then, an area to be a support material forming space is specified. The function of the support material area specifying unit 112 is the same as that of the conventional 3D printer driver 120, and the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 uses the function provided in the 3D printer driver 120 to specify the support material area. The function of the unit 112 may be realized. The support material region specifying unit 112 has at least a function of acquiring an identification result of a portion in which a support material for supporting a support part that supports a vertical support space in the three-dimensional shape of the target object is to be formed.

  The interface extraction unit 113 specifies and extracts an interface portion including a boundary surface with a target modeled object in the support material forming space specified as shown in FIG. FIG. 6D is a diagram showing the identification result of the interface portion when the interface extraction unit 113 executes the process when the support material formation space is identified as shown in FIG. 6C. In FIG. 6D, the portion specified as the interface portion is indicated by a bold line. As shown in FIG. 6 (d), one of the gist according to the present embodiment is that the interface portion specified as shown in FIG. 6 (d) is formed not by the support molding material described above but by a conventional support material.

  The attribute conversion unit 114 uses the support material attribute of the support member other than the interface portion specified as shown in FIG. 6D in the support material forming space specified as shown in FIG. 6C. Instead, it is converted to the same molding material as the model. In other words, the attribute conversion unit 114 generates support 3D information that is the same 3D data as in FIG. 6B for the support portion other than the interface portion in the support material formation space. FIG. 6 (e) is a diagram conceptually showing a state in which the attributes are converted as described above. In FIG. 6 (d), the support material forming space indicated by the dashed diagonal line is converted into the region of the molding material indicated by the solid diagonal line in FIG. 6 (e), which is the same as in FIG. 6 (b). 3D data is generated. The 3D data generated in this way is 3D data indicating the position and shape of the support molding.

  The data synthesis unit 115 synthesizes the 3D data of the support molding generated by the attribute conversion unit 114 with the original 3D data acquired by the 3D data acquisition unit 111. FIG. 6F is a diagram illustrating a state in which the 3D data of the support molding is synthesized with the original 3D data. As described in FIG. 6E, the 3D data of the support molding is a portion other than the interface portion in the support material forming space. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6F, 3D data (hereinafter referred to as “converted 3D data”) in a state where a gap is provided between the original modeled object and the support molding is a data synthesis unit. 115.

  As shown in FIG. 6F, the converted 3D data according to the present embodiment is 3D data in which a portion other than the interface portion specified in FIG. 6D is configured as a three-dimensional object. Therefore, when the converted 3D data is input to the 3D printer driver 120, the original modeled object and the support molding part are formed by the normal molding material, and the interface part is formed by the support material. It becomes.

  As a result, it is possible to obtain a target shaped object simply by peeling off the support molding as described above, and the support portions such as the support material and the support molding can be removed with a simple operation. In addition, by using such converted 3D data, the 3D printer driver 120 and the 3D printer 2 need only execute functions as in the past, and thus can be realized with a simple configuration.

  The converted data output unit 116 outputs the converted 3D data generated by the data synthesis unit 115 for input to the 3D printer driver 120. As a result, the 3D printer driver 120 controls the 3D printer 2 to execute 3D modeling output.

  The display data output unit 117 generates and outputs display information of a confirmation screen for confirming the converted 3D data generated by the data synthesis unit 115. Thereby, the converted data conversion confirmation screen is displayed on the LCD 60, and the user can accept the operation.

  The data adjustment unit 118 adjusts the converted 3D data generated by the data synthesis unit 115 in response to a user operation on the data conversion confirmation screen displayed on the LCD 60 by the display information output by the display data output unit 117. Do. This makes it possible to generate fine converted 3D data as intended by the user.

  Next, the procedure of the three-dimensional modeling according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the entire manufacturing method of the three-dimensional structure according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, first, 3D data of a modeled object to be three-dimensionally modeled is input to the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 (S701).

  As described in FIGS. 6C to 6F, the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 that has acquired the input 3D data combines the 3D data of the support molding with the original 3D data, and converts the 3D data into the 3D data. The converted 3D data is generated (S702). When the converted 3D data is generated, the 3D printer driver 120 controls the 3D printer 2 on the basis of the converted 3D data, thereby executing 3D modeling output (S703).

  In step S <b> 703, the 3D printer 2 uses a material for forming a three-dimensional object to be modeled, a material for a support for supporting a required support portion in the three-dimensional object, and an interface serving as an interface material between the three-dimensional object and the support. Three-dimensional modeling output is executed by laminating layers formed by selectively outputting the material of the part. In the present embodiment, the support material is the same molding material as the material for forming the three-dimensional object.

  When three-dimensional modeling output is executed and an output result product in which the gap between the modeling part and the support molding is filled with the support material is generated, the support material, the support molding, etc. The part is removed (S704). Thereby, the target modeling thing is obtained and the three-dimensional modeling which concerns on this embodiment is completed.

  Next, the 3D data conversion process of S702, which is one of the gist, in the 3D modeling output procedure according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, in the 3D data conversion processing unit 110, when the 3D data acquisition unit 111 acquires 3D data (S801), the support material region specifying unit 112 and the interface extraction unit 113 perform data conversion. A parameter to be referred to is set (S802).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the parameters described above. As shown in FIG. 9, the parameters according to the present embodiment include items such as “molding material support”, “arrangement position setting”, and “posture setting”. “Molding material support” is an item for setting whether or not to use the function of supporting the required support portion with the molding material for forming the modeled object, that is, the function according to the gist of the present embodiment. When this item is set to “present”, the setting item of “interface thickness” becomes valid. The setting item of “interface thickness” is an item for setting the thickness of the portion recognized as the interface portion described with reference to FIG. In other words, the interface extraction unit 113 sets a portion to be an interface portion of the support material region acquired from the support material region specifying unit 112 according to the set value of “interface thickness”.

The interface portion has a function for simplifying the work when the three-dimensional object to be shaped and the molded article for support are separated into separate individuals, and both are peeled off. Therefore, the thickness of the interface portion needs to be a thickness at which at least the three-dimensional object to be modeled and the support molding do not melt. However, if the thickness of this interface part is large, the amount of work in removing the support material after peeling the support molding from the object to be modeled increases, so the thickness of the interface part is for the three-dimensional object and the support. It is preferable that the thickness of the molded product is such that the molded product does not melt and the support material can be easily removed after the molding is completed. This thickness is, for example, about 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.
“Arrangement position setting” is a setting item for setting the arrangement position of the three-dimensional structure, and is mainly used as a setting of the position on the base 201 of the 3D printer 2. “Position setting” is a setting item for setting the posture of the three-dimensional object, that is, the tilt angle when the three-dimensional object is output by the 3D printer 2. The inclination angle on the base 201 of the 3D printer 2 is set. Used as a setting. The parameter setting values as shown in FIG. 9 are stored in the storage medium of the PC 1 as part of information constituting the 3D data conversion processing unit 110.

  When the parameter setting is completed, in the 3D data conversion processing unit 110, the support material region specifying unit 112, the interface extracting unit 113, the attribute converting unit 114, and the data synthesizing unit 115 are configured according to the setting parameters as described above with reference to FIGS. It operates as described in a) to (f), executes data conversion, and generates converted 3D data (S803). When the converted 3D data is generated, the display data output unit 117 acquires the converted 3D data from the data synthesis unit 115, and generates and outputs the display information of the screen for the user to confirm the converted 3D data. Thus, a confirmation screen is displayed on the LCD 60 (S804).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data conversion confirmation screen according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, on the data conversion confirmation screen according to the present embodiment, an image of converted 3D data generated as described in FIG. 6F is displayed. Under the present circumstances, a user's understanding can be helped by changing a display mode with the part of the target object of modeling object, and the part of a molding for support. In FIG. 10, the target object is indicated by a solid line, and the support molding is indicated by a broken line.

  Further, the setting values of the parameter items described in FIG. 9 are displayed on the data conversion confirmation screen. The user can edit the converted 3D data and change each parameter value by operating the screen shown in FIG.

  When adjustment is performed on the converted 3D data on the screen illustrated in FIG. 10, the information is acquired by the data adjustment unit 118, and the converted 3D data generated by the data synthesis unit 115 is adjusted. When the “OK” button is clicked on the confirmation screen displayed as shown in FIG. 10 (S805 / YES), the conversion data output unit 116 acquires the converted 3D data from the data synthesis unit 115. The data is output for input to the 3D printer driver 120 (S806). Thereby, the process of S703 of FIG. 7 is started.

  On the other hand, when the “reset” button is clicked on the confirmation screen (S805 / NO), the data adjustment unit 118 accepts the change information of the parameter designated by the user's operation on the confirmation screen and stores it in the storage medium. The parameter value is changed (S807). Then, the processing from S802 is repeated according to the changed parameter. By such processing, the data conversion processing according to the present embodiment is completed.

  As described above, in the three-dimensional modeling system according to this embodiment, the input 3D data is analyzed to identify the support material forming space for supporting the required support portion, and corresponds to the interface portion with the modeled object. The 3D data is converted by generating 3D data corresponding to the support material forming space and combining it with the original 3D data.

  By executing 3D modeling output as usual based on the 3D data thus converted, the output result is a state in which the modeled object to be modeled and the molded product for support are connected by a support material. Become. If it is such an output result product, the part of the support material is a weaker part than the part of the molded product or the molded product for support, and this part is easily broken, so that the molded product for support is removed from the molded product. Since it can be easily peeled off, it is possible to easily remove the support portion formed for the portion that requires support in the modeling of the three-dimensional object.

  In addition, according to such a configuration, the 3D printer driver 120 and the 3D printer 2 do not require any special function other than the conventional function of individually ejecting the molding material and the support material. Therefore, in the three-dimensional modeling system according to the present embodiment, it is only necessary to generate converted 3D data obtained by synthesizing the 3D data of the support molded product with the 3D data indicating the three-dimensional shape of the modeled product. That is, the three-dimensional modeling system according to the present embodiment can be realized with a simple configuration without causing complication of the apparatus.

  In addition, since the support molded product peeled off from the modeled product in the output product as described above does not require special treatment upon disposal, it is effective in terms of environmental load and safety in handling.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the previous embodiment, a case where 3D data of the part is generated as an example assuming that the part other than the part specified as the interface part with the modeled object in the support material forming space is a part to be molded by the support molding. explained. However, if the portion of the support molding is simply set as described above, it may be difficult to remove the support molding from the output result.

  A general support material has fluidity and fragility, and even if the inside of the modeled object is hollow and the inside is filled with the support material, it can be scraped out from the inside of the modeled object. On the other hand, such fluidity and fragility are factors that increase the work load required to remove the support material from the modeled object.

  In the three-dimensional modeling system according to the present embodiment, by forming most of the support material as a material similar to the modeled object, that is, as a solid object, the work can be performed simply by peeling the solid object from the modeled object. It is a merit to complete. However, when the inside of the modeled object is hollow as described above, in particular, as shown in FIG. 11A, in the case of a shape that becomes wider as it goes into the modeled object, If the support molding that is a solid material is formed as shown in FIG. 11B, it becomes difficult to remove the support molding from the inside of the modeled product.

  Such a problem can be solved by dividing the support molding. FIG.11 (c) is a figure which shows the one aspect | mode in the case of dividing | segmenting the molding for support. In the example of FIG. 11C, the molded product for support inside the modeled object that is hollow so that the width increases as it goes inward is divided and formed into a size that can be taken out from the opening. . According to such an aspect, as shown in FIG.11 (d), it is possible to take out each support material from the inside of a molded article.

  Such an aspect is possible by specifying a dividing surface for dividing the support molded product in addition to the interface portion between the shaped product and the support molded product described in FIG. That is, when the attribute conversion unit 114 performs attribute conversion on the support material forming space other than the portion specified as the interface portion as 3D data, the divided portion including the dividing surface for dividing the support material forming space is specified and specified. The divided part is excluded from the object to be converted into 3D data in the same manner as the interface part. Thereby, as shown in FIG.11 (c), the output result thing of the state by which the molding for support was divided | segmented can be obtained.

  The above-described divided portion is preferably set so that the support molding can be removed as shown in FIG. 11 (c). For example, the maximum size of the mass of the support molding is set. A divided portion may be set for each size. With such an aspect, it is possible to reduce the processing load required for setting the dividing plane, and it is not necessary to create an advanced program for suitably setting the divided portion.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12 as “maximum dimension”, the maximum size of a mass of the support molding is set as a detailed setting item when the “setting material support” parameter setting item is “present”. It is possible. In setting the maximum dimension, for example, in a mode in which the support molding is formed by being divided into a plurality of cubes, a mode in which the length of one side of the cube is designated is conceivable.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11C and 11D of the previous embodiment, it is necessary to extract the support molding from the inside of the hollow shaped article. In order to improve the efficiency of such work, a mode in which a concave portion such as a notch or a convex portion for grasping is formed in the support molding can be considered. FIGS. 13A and 13B show such an example.

  Fig.13 (a) is a figure which shows the example in the case of providing a notch in the support molding. By using a notch as shown in FIG. 13A in the removal operation of the support molded product, the support molded product can be easily removed from the modeled product. FIG. 13B is a diagram showing an example in the case where a protrusion is provided on the support molding. By using the protrusion as shown in FIG. 13B in the removal work of the support shaped article, the support molded article can be easily removed from the shaped article.

  In the mode as shown in FIG. 13A, the attribute conversion unit 114 also uses the 3D data other than the part specified as the interface part in the support material forming space, similarly to the division of the support molding described in the previous embodiment. When the attribute conversion is performed, it is possible to identify the portion where the cutout is provided and exclude the identified divided surface from the conversion target to 3D data in the same manner as the interface portion. As a result, as shown in FIG. 13A, an output result in a state in which a notch is formed in the support molding can be obtained.

  Further, in the mode as shown in FIG. 13B, after the attribute conversion unit 114 converts the attribute of the support material forming space other than the part specified as the interface part as 3D data, the 3D data is applied to the part where the protrusion is provided. It is possible by adding. Thereby, as shown in FIG.13 (b), the output result of the state in which the protrusion was formed in the support molding can be obtained.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
In the first embodiment, as described in FIG. 4, the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 is provided as a module different from the 3D printer driver 120, and the converted 3D data is converted from the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 to the 3D printer driver 120. The case where data is input has been described as an example. However, this is only an example. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the 3D data conversion processing unit 110 may be configured as a part of the function of the 3D printer driver 120. Even in such an embodiment, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

Embodiment 5 FIG.
In Embodiment 1, the case where the support molding is formed of the same molding material as that of the model has been described as an example. This is particularly effective when a 3D printer capable of separately ejecting the molding material and the support material is used. However, the significance of this case is that the strength of the support molding formed to support the required support portion in the molded article is higher than the strength of the support material formed between the support molding and the molded article. When the force is applied in the direction of peeling the support molded product and the modeled product, the support molded product can be easily removed from the modeled product by breaking the support material.

  In other words, the purpose of this case is that the support material formed as an interface portion between the modeled object and the support molding is a material that is more fragile than the modeled product or the support molded product. When a force is applied in the direction in which the support is peeled off, the support material is broken first. Therefore, the support molding and the molded article do not have to be the same material. If the support molding material is a material having higher strength than the support material, that is, the support material is more than the support molding. If the material is brittle and easily broken, the above-described effects can be obtained.

  The support material of the 3D printer is deformed because it is fragile, but a material that is defined as a semi-solid that has a characteristic that does not flow in a normal state is used. In the material defined as semi-solid, depending on the force to maintain the shape, a material having a high force to maintain the shape is called a clay, and a material having a low power is called a paste. Therefore, it is possible to use a paste-like material as the support material described above and a clay-like material as the material of the support molding.

  A property called “apparent viscosity” can be used as the force for maintaining the shape described above. The apparent viscosity is a numerical value of a property related to deformation and flow of a substance for a non-Newtonian fluid. As a simple method for measuring the apparent viscosity, a method as shown in FIG. 15 can be used. That is, a sample syringe 152 is filled with a tubular syringe 151 with a capillary tube at the tip like a syringe, and a piston 153 for pushing the material out of the hole like a syringe is pressed against a scale 154 for applying a load. The material is extruded at a predetermined speed (here, 0.5 cm / s).

  By recording the time and load required at this time, the following equation (1) is obtained using the capillary radius R, capillary length L, syringe radius S, material filling length v, extrusion time t, and load reading M. Can be used to calculate the apparent viscosity η.

The effects described above can be achieved by using materials that have different apparent viscosities to some extent as shown in the above formula (1) as the materials for the support material and the support molding. In addition, since the support material of the 3D printer is determined to some extent, the above-mentioned effects can be obtained by using a material having a larger apparent viscosity than the support material of the 3D printer as the support molding material. Can be achieved.

10 CPU
20 RAM
30 ROM
40 HDD
50 I / F
60 LCD
70 Operation unit 80 Bus 100 Controller 101 Network I / F
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 3D data conversion process part 111 3D data acquisition part 112 Support material area | region identification part 113 Interface extraction part 114 Attribute conversion part 115 Data composition part 116 Conversion data output part 117 Display data output part 118 Data adjustment part 151 Syringe 152 Sample 153 Piston 154 Scale 201 Base 202 Head 203 Arm

JP 2004-255839 A

Claims (9)

A three-dimensional modeling system for modeling a three-dimensional object based on three-dimensional information indicating a three-dimensional shape,
A three-dimensional modeling apparatus that models the three-dimensional object by laminating layers of molding materials based on the input information;
Including a three-dimensional information processing program for processing information for input to the three-dimensional modeling apparatus,
The three-dimensional information processing program is
Obtaining object three-dimensional information indicating the three-dimensional shape of the object to be modeled;
Based on the acquired object three-dimensional information, obtaining a discrimination result of a part to form a support member for supporting a part in which the vertically lower part is a space in the three-dimensional shape of the object;
Among the portions to form the supporting member, an interface portion including a boundary surface with the object is set, and the portion other than the set interface portion is set among the portions to form the supporting member. Generating support three-dimensional information indicating a three-dimensional shape of the support;
Causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of generating and outputting converted three-dimensional information for causing the three-dimensional modeling apparatus to model a three-dimensional object based on the target three-dimensional information and the support three-dimensional information. A featured 3D modeling system. The three-dimensional modeling apparatus is based on the converted three-dimensional information, a part specified by the target three-dimensional information, a part specified by the support three-dimensional information, a part specified by the target three-dimensional information, and the support Modeling the three-dimensional modeled object by laminating layers formed using members according to each part between the parts specified by the three-dimensional information,
The material of the part between the part specified by the object three-dimensional information and the part specified by the support three-dimensional information is more easily broken than the part specified by the support three-dimensional information. The three-dimensional modeling system according to claim 1.   The three-dimensional modeling system according to claim 2, wherein a material of a part specified by the target object three-dimensional information and a material of a part specified by the support three-dimensional information are the same. The three-dimensional information processing program is
In the step of generating and outputting the converted three-dimensional information, the three-dimensional shape specified by the support three-dimensional information is converted into the same attribute as the three-dimensional shape specified by the target object three-dimensional information. By
The three-dimensional modeling system according to claim 3, wherein the converted three-dimensional information is generated and output. The three-dimensional information processing program is
In the step of generating the support three-dimensional information, a divided portion including a dividing surface for dividing the three-dimensional shape of the support is set, and the three-dimensional shape of the support other than the set divided portion is set. The three-dimensional modeling system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the three-dimensional shape of the support is generated. The three-dimensional information processing program is
The step of generating the support three-dimensional information sets the divided portions so that each portion after dividing the three-dimensional shape of the support does not exceed a predetermined size. 5. The three-dimensional modeling system according to 5.   In the step of generating the support 3D information, the 3D information processing program sets a convex part or a concave part provided in the support, and supports 3D information indicating a three-dimensional shape including the set convex part or concave part The three-dimensional modeling system according to claim 5, wherein the three-dimensional modeling system is generated. A three-dimensional information processing program for processing three-dimensional information for inputting to a three-dimensional modeling apparatus for modeling a three-dimensional object by laminating layers of molding materials based on input information,
Obtaining object three-dimensional information indicating the three-dimensional shape of the object to be modeled;
Based on the acquired object three-dimensional information, obtaining a discrimination result of a part to form a support member for supporting a part in which the vertically lower part is a space in the three-dimensional shape of the object;
Among the portions to form the supporting member, an interface portion including a boundary surface with the object is set, and the portion other than the set interface portion is set among the portions to form the supporting member. Generating support three-dimensional information indicating a three-dimensional shape of the support;
Causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of generating and outputting converted three-dimensional information for causing the three-dimensional modeling apparatus to model a three-dimensional object based on the target three-dimensional information and the support three-dimensional information. A featured three-dimensional information processing program. A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional object by manufacturing a three-dimensional object by laminating layers of molding materials,
A material for forming the three-dimensional object, a material for a support for supporting a portion whose space is vertically below in the three-dimensional shape of the three-dimensional object, and an interface formed between the three-dimensional object and the support Laminate layers formed by selectively outputting the material of the material,
Removing the support from the three-dimensional object by breaking the interface material in the resultant product formed by lamination;
A method for producing a three-dimensional object, wherein the material of the support is more easily broken than the material of the interface material.