Patents Assigned to TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
  • Patent number: 10500834
    Abstract: The cost required to shape a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is suppressed. A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus for shaping a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object by irradiating a powder with a high-energy beam includes a laminating and shaping data acquirer that acquires laminating and shaping data to be used for laminating and shaping of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object, an attribute information acquirer that acquires attribute information of the powder to be used for laminating and shaping of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object, a model generator that generates, based on the laminating and shaping data and the attribute information, a circuit pattern model for removing electrons from the powder electrically charged by irradiation with the high-energy beam, and a circuit pattern shaping unit that shapes a circuit pattern based on the generated circuit pattern model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Tetsuyoshi Furukawa
  • Patent number: 10456983
    Abstract: A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus capable of measuring the quality of a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object in real time during shaping of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object includes a material ejector that ejects the material of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object onto a shaping table on which the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is shaped, a light beam irradiator that irradiates the ejected material with a light beam, a data acquirer that acquires monitoring data used to monitor a shaping state of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object during shaping of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object, and a shaping quality estimator that estimates shaping quality of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object based on the monitoring data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Haruhiko Niitani
  • Patent number: 10449560
    Abstract: An optical processing nozzle that homogeneously supplies a fluid to a processing surface in optical processing. The optical processing nozzle includes a beam path that is arranged so that a beam can pass through the beam path towards a processing surface in order to perform processing using a beam guided from a light source, and a channel structure that is arranged around the beam path and is configured to eject a fluid towards the processing surface. The channel structure includes an inflow port through which the fluid flows, at least two passage holes through which the fluid flowing from the inflow port passes, a channel that guides the fluid from the inflow port to the passage holes, and an ejection port from which the fluid having passed through the at least two passage holes is ejected toward the processing surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ohno, Yuji Sasaki, Mitsuo Sasaki, Takashi Obara, Kazuyuki Masukawa
  • Patent number: 10442136
    Abstract: This invention provides a three-dimensional laminating and fabricating system that shortens the scanning time of a divided scanning region and shortens the fabricating time of three-dimensional laminating and fabricating. The three-dimensional laminating and fabricating system includes a laminating and fabricating unit that includes at least one irradiator configured to irradiate a laminating material and fabricates each layer of a laminated and fabricated object made of the laminating material as an aggregate of cell regions, and a laminating and fabricating controller that controls the laminating and fabricating unit such that the irradiator irradiates the laminating material in each of the cell regions by performing spiral scanning along sides of a scanning region that is used to irradiate the cell regions by the irradiator and has a shape including at least five vertices with an interior angle of not less than 90°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventors: Koichi Amaya, Tetsushi Midorikawa, Masaaki Kawaji
  • Publication number: 20190291211
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, a nozzle of an additive manufacturing device includes a first inner surface that defines a first path through which an energy ray passes; and a second inner surface that defines a second path that extends along the first path and through which gas and a powder material pass. The first path opens to a leading end of the nozzle. The second path opens to near or around the first path. At least part of the second inner surface includes a first region having a larger friction coefficient for the powder material than the friction coefficient of at least one of the first inner surface and an outer peripheral surface of the leading end.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Publication date: September 26, 2019
    Applicants: Technology Research Association for Future Additive Manufacturing, KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, Toshiba Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Satoshi TSUNO, Hiroshi Ohno, Mitsuo Sasaki, Tomohiko Yamada, Yasutomo Shiomi, Shimpei Fujimaki
  • Patent number: 10406748
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaped object using a plurality of materials can be shaped, and replenishment of the materials is implemented during shaping without stopping an apparatus. A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus includes a shaping chamber in which a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is shaped, at least two material spreaders that are provided in the shaping chamber and spread materials of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object, at least two material suppliers that supply the materials to the material spreaders, a controller that controls movements of the material spreaders and the material suppliers, and a beam irradiator that irradiates the materials with a beam. The material spreaders and the material suppliers are respectively paired, and the controller controls the movements of the material spreaders and the material suppliers so that each of the material spreaders is supplied, at a predetermined timing, with the material from a paired one of the material suppliers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Honda
  • Patent number: 10399182
    Abstract: The mobility of an optical processing apparatus is improved. There is provided an optical processing apparatus for scanning a processing region having an at least one-dimensional spread by moving a nozzle head while irradiating the processing region with an optical processing light beam via the nozzle head, including a light source that emits, to air, the optical processing light beam toward the nozzle head, a nozzle head that includes a hollow nozzle in a vertical direction and a light beam direction changing optical system which receives the light beam emitted from the light source and propagated in the air, and changes a propagation direction of the received light beam to a direction of a currently processed processing point in the processing region, and a main scanning direction moving mechanism that moves the nozzle head by causing the nozzle head to scan in a main scanning direction of the processing region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ohno, Yuji Sasaki, Satoshi Tsuno, Naotada Okada, Mitsuo Sasaki
  • Patent number: 10371645
    Abstract: An optical processing head that detects a trouble of an optical processing head that will be generated at the time of optical processing before the trouble occurs is disclosed. The optical processing head that performs processing by condensing, on a process surface, a ray emitted by a light source for processing includes a cylindrical housing that surrounds a ray for processing emitted by the light source for processing, a ray emitter for inspection that is incorporated in the cylindrical housing and arranged outside the path of the ray for processing, and a light receiver that is incorporated in the cylindrical housing, arranged outside the path of the ray for processing, and receives a ray for inspection emitted by the ray emitter for inspection. The contamination of the inner surface of the cylindrical housing or the concentration of a scattering object flowing into the cylindrical housing is inspected by using a signal acquired from the light receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ohno, Yuji Sasaki, Mitsuo Sasaki, Takashi Obara, Kazuyuki Masukawa
  • Patent number: 10369661
    Abstract: An optical processing head capable of downsizing an apparatus while increasing the shaping accuracy of optical processing is disclosed. The optical processing head performs processing while moving, in a predetermined moving direction on a processing surface, an optical spot formed by condensing light emitted by a light source. The optical processing head includes an optical element that condenses light emitted by the light source to generate the optical spot of a shape elongated in the moving direction of the optical spot. Part of the optical spot is set as a processing region, the front side and/or rear side of the processing region in the moving direction is set as a pre-heating region and/or post-heating region, and a processing target object before and/or after processing in the region is heated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ohno, Yuji Sasaki, Mitsuo Sasaki, Takashi Obara, Kazuyuki Masukawa
  • Patent number: 10315251
    Abstract: A high-precision three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is shaped based on a captured image. A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus includes a material ejector that ejects a material of a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object onto a shaping table, a light beam irradiator that irradiates the ejected material with a light beam, an image capturer that captures a molten pool formed by irradiating the ejected material with the light beam, a scanning direction determiner that determines a scanning direction of the light beam with respect to a shaped object based on a change in a position of the shaping table, a detector that detects the molten pool based on an image captured by the image capturer and the scanning direction, and a shaping controller that controls at least one of an output of the light beam and a scanning speed of the light beam based on the detected molten pool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Haruhiko Niitani
  • Patent number: 10289755
    Abstract: An apparatus according to this invention is an information processing apparatus that efficiently combines and arranges a plurality of three-dimensional fabricating models by simple processing. The information processing apparatus includes a grid generator that generates three-dimensional grids by dividing a three-dimensional virtual area by a predetermined size, a converter that converts a plurality of three-dimensional fabricating models into aggregate models of the three-dimensional grids respectively including the three-dimensional fabricating models, a moving unit that relatively moves the aggregate models without overlapping each other, and an arrangement determiner that determines, if an arrangement of the aggregate models satisfies a predetermined condition, the arrangement of the aggregate models as an arrangement of the plurality of three-dimensional fabricating models.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Yukito Sugiura
  • Patent number: 10272516
    Abstract: Overheating of and unintended melting of powder is suppressed, and thus the shaping accuracy is improved. A three-dimensional shaping apparatus includes an electron gun that generates an electron beam, at least one primary deflector that deflects the electron beam one- or two-dimensionally, at least one lens that is provided between the electron gun and the primary deflector and focuses the electron beam, a secondary deflector that is provided between the electron gun and the primary deflector, and deflects the electron beam one- or two-dimensionally, and a controller that controls the deflection directions and scanning speeds of the primary deflector and the second deflector. The controller controls the deflection direction and scanning speed of the second deflector while the scanning speed of the primary deflector is lower than a predetermined speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Kazuya Goto
  • Publication number: 20190091926
    Abstract: A nozzle according to one embodiment has an inner surface and an outer surface, and is provided with a first passage through which an energy ray passes, and a second passage that is provided between the inner surface and the outer surface, and through which powder and fluid pass. The second passage includes a second open end on one end thereof in a first direction. A first surface that is one of the inner surface and the outer surface includes a first edge on one end thereof in the first direction. A second surface that is the other one of those includes a second edge on one end thereof in the first direction, and is distanced from the first edge toward the first direction. The fluid ejected from the second open end flows along the second surface, and separates at the second edge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2018
    Publication date: March 28, 2019
    Applicants: Technology Research Association for Future Additive Manufacturing, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ohno, Satoshi Tsuno, Mitsuo Sasaki, Tomohiko Yamada, Yasutomo Shiomi, Shimpei Fujimaki
  • Patent number: 10239305
    Abstract: A dissimilar material joined three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is shaped using a three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus. The three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus includes a material supplier that supplies materials of a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object to a shaping surface, an irradiator that irradiates the materials with a light beam, and a controller that controls the material supplier. The three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is a joined member obtained by joining dissimilar materials. The controller controls the material supplier to form a graded composition of the materials in a boundary region between the dissimilar materials of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Yasushi Fukase
  • Publication number: 20190084226
    Abstract: A nozzle according to one embodiment includes a nozzle unit and a guide surface. A first passage, a second passage, and the guide surface are provided to the nozzle unit. The first passage has a first open end. The second passage has a second open end, and a section that is positioned upstream of the second open end and that extends in a second direction. The guide surface has an edge in a first direction. The guide surface is exposed on the outer side at the edge, is along a third direction at the edge, the third direction being a direction becoming more distanced from an axis than the second direction does, as the third direction is extended further toward the first direction. A flow of fluid ejected from the second open end follows the guide surface, and becomes separated from the nozzle unit at the edge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2018
    Publication date: March 21, 2019
    Applicants: Technology Research Association for Future Additive Manufacturing, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroshi OHNO, Satoshi TSUNO, Mitsuo SASAKI, Tomohiko YAMADA, Yasutomo SHIOMI, Shimpei FUJIMAKI
  • Patent number: 10234645
    Abstract: A variation in coupling ratio of output light from a laser element to an optical fiber is suppressed. A semiconductor laser module including a plurality of semiconductor laser elements, an optical fiber, a condenser that condenses a laser beam emitted from each of the semiconductor laser elements to the optical fiber, and a housing that implements the laser elements, the condenser, and the optical fiber includes at least one thin plate that is arranged between the laser elements and a top of the housing, and arranged on the top to form a gap with the top.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventors: Yuta Ishige, Etsuji Katayama, Hajime Mori
  • Patent number: 10220473
    Abstract: Ejection and stop of a powder flow are switched while maintaining a once generated steady flow without stopping it. A processing nozzle includes a supply source of a fluid containing a powder, a first channel through which the fluid supplied from the supply source passes, a second channel that supplies the fluid to an ejection port of the nozzle, a third channel that releases the fluid outside the nozzle, and a switch that causes the first channel and the second channel to communicate with each other when supplying the fluid to the ejection port, and causes the first channel and the third channel to communicate with each other when not supplying the fluid to the ejection port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: Technology Research Association for Future Additive Manufacturing
    Inventors: Hiroshi Ohno, Mitsuo Sasaki, Yuji Sasaki, Satoshi Tsuno, Go Obara, Tomohiko Yamada, Yasutomo Shiomi, Takashi Obara
  • Patent number: 10217599
    Abstract: When an emission current is changed, a decrease in brightness of an electron beam is prevented. An electron gun includes a cathode that emits thermoelectrons, a Wehnelt electrode that focuses the thermoelectrons, a control electrode that extracts the thermoelectrons from a distal end of said cathode, an anode that accelerates the thermoelectrons and irradiates a powder with the thermoelectrons as an electron beam, and an optimum condition collection controller that changes at least one of a bias voltage to be applied to the Wehnelt electrode and a control electrode voltage to be applied to the control electrode, and decides a combination of the bias voltage and the control electrode voltage at which the brightness of the electron beam reaches a peak.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Takashi Sato
  • Publication number: 20190047229
    Abstract: A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus capable of measuring the quality of a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object in real time during shaping of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object includes a material ejector that ejects the material of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object onto a shaping table on which the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is shaped, a light beam irradiator that irradiates the ejected material with a light beam, a data acquirer that acquires monitoring data used to monitor a shaping state of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object during shaping of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object, and a shaping quality estimator that estimates shaping quality of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object based on the monitoring data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2018
    Publication date: February 14, 2019
    Applicant: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Haruhiko NIITANI
  • Publication number: 20190039323
    Abstract: A three-dimensional laminating and shaping apparatus capable of measuring the quality of a three-dimensional laminated and shaped object in real time during shaping of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object includes a material ejector that ejects the material of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object onto a shaping table on which the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object is shaped, a light beam irradiator that irradiates the ejected material with a light beam, a data acquirer that acquires monitoring data used to monitor a shaping state of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object during shaping of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object, and a shaping quality estimator that estimates shaping quality of the three-dimensional laminated and shaped object based on the monitoring data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2018
    Publication date: February 7, 2019
    Applicant: TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR FUTURE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
    Inventor: Haruhiko NITANI