Patents by Inventor Akihiko Tsunoya

Akihiko Tsunoya has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11518107
    Abstract: In a three-dimensional shaped object manufacturing device, when a unit is moved in a forward direction, powder is supplied from a first supply portion, a powder layer is formed by a first layer forming portion, a liquid is discharged to a shaping region from a head, and a second layer forming portion is moved in a direction separating from a shaping table before the second layer forming portion faces the shaping region, and when the unit is moved in a backward direction, the powder is supplied from a second supply portion, the powder layer is formed by the second layer forming portion, the liquid is discharged to the shaping region P from the head, and a first layer forming portion is moved in a direction separating from the shaping table before the first layer forming portion faces the shaping region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Eiji Okamoto, Akihiko Tsunoya
  • Patent number: 11485084
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaped article production apparatus includes a shaping table, a layer forming section that forms a powder layer, a head that ejects a liquid containing a binder to a shaping region of a three-dimensional shaped article, a liquid supply system that supplies the liquid to the head, and a moving system that relatively moves the head with respect to the shaping table, wherein the head includes a nozzle that ejects the liquid, a pressure chamber that communicates with the nozzle, a supply flow channel that communicates with the pressure chamber upstream in a supply direction of the liquid, and a circulation flow channel that communicates with the pressure chamber downstream in the supply direction, the circulation flow channel includes a first filter, and a pore diameter of the first filter is larger than a particle diameter of a powder for forming the powder layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Manabu Watanabe, Toshimitsu Hirai, Akihiko Tsunoya, Kaoru Momose
  • Patent number: 11465211
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object includes a structure shaping step of supplying a shaping material including metal powder or ceramic powder, and supplying a binder to a region corresponding to a structure S of the three-dimensional shaped object to be shaped in the shaping material (step S140), a support shaping step of shaping, with a support material including a resin, a support T supporting the structure S (step S130), and a degreasing step of degreasing the support T and the binder, the support T being in a state of supporting the structure S (step S200).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Inventor: Akihiko Tsunoya
  • Patent number: 11440248
    Abstract: In a three-dimensional shaped object manufacturing device, when a unit is moved in a forward direction, powder is supplied from a first supply portion, a powder layer is formed by a first layer forming portion, a liquid is discharged to a shaping region from a head, and a shaping table is moved in a direction separating from the unit after discharging the liquid is ended and before a second layer forming portion faces the shaping region, and when the unit is moved in a backward direction, the powder is supplied from a second supply portion, the powder layer is formed by the second layer forming portion, the liquid is discharged to the shaping region from the head, and the shaping table is moved in the direction separating from the unit after discharging the liquid to the shaping region is ended and before the first layer forming portion faces the shaping region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Eiji Okamoto, Akihiko Tsunoya
  • Publication number: 20220274316
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object according to the present disclosure includes: a plasticizing step of plasticizing at least a part of a shaping material including a first fiber material and a thermoplastic resin to generate a plasticized material to be discharged from a nozzle opening for shaping a three-dimensional shaped object; a fiber introducing step including either a step of introducing a second fiber material longer than the first fiber material into the shaping material or the plasticized material before being discharged from the nozzle opening, or a step of introducing the second fiber material into the plasticized material after being discharged from the nozzle opening; and a shaping step of shaping the three-dimensional shaped object including the first fiber material and the second fiber material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2022
    Publication date: September 1, 2022
    Inventors: Eiji OKAMOTO, Akihiko TSUNOYA
  • Publication number: 20220274337
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object includes: a plasticizing step of plasticizing at least a part of a shaping material containing a thermoplastic resin to generate a plasticized material; a fiber introducing step including at least one of a step of introducing a covered fiber material, which is a fiber material covered with a covering material, into the plasticized material after being discharged from the nozzle opening, and a step of introducing the covered fiber material into the shaping material or the plasticized material before being discharged from the nozzle opening; and a shaping step of shaping a three-dimensional shaped object including the covered fiber material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2022
    Publication date: September 1, 2022
    Inventors: Eiji OKAMOTO, Akihiko TSUNOYA
  • Publication number: 20220274342
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object is a method for manufacturing a three-dimensional shaped object by laminating a shaping layer. The method includes a selection step of selecting a fiber material corresponding to a thickness of the shaping layer from a plurality of types of fiber materials having different fiber diameters, and a shaping step of forming the shaping layer by discharging a shaping material that includes the fiber material selected in the selection step from a nozzle opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2022
    Publication date: September 1, 2022
    Inventors: Eiji OKAMOTO, Akihiko TSUNOYA
  • Patent number: 11426796
    Abstract: A metal shaped article production method includes a shaping data input step, a step of forming a constituent material layer using a constituent material, a step of forming a support material layer using a support material, a step of cutting a cut face in the constituent material layer of a stacked body formed by performing the constituent material layer forming step and the support material layer forming step, a step of degreasing a thermoplastic resin contained in the stacked body for which the cut face cutting step was performed, and a step of sintering metal particles by heating the stacked body, wherein in the support material layer forming step, the support material layer is formed so that a support face comes into contact with a face to be supported at an opposite side to the cut face at a position of the constituent material layer based on the shaping data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Inventors: Akihiko Tsunoya, Toshimitsu Hirai
  • Publication number: 20220246827
    Abstract: An injection-molded article of polymer piezoelectric material includes: a helical chiral polymer constituted by a polymer chain and having a unit cell with an a-axis, a b-axis, and a c-axis as crystal axes, wherein b-axis<a-axis<c-axis in terms of lengths of the crystal axes, the c-axis is parallel to a long chain direction of the polymer chain, the helical chiral polymer is a crystal in which the b-axis is uniaxially oriented, and the injection-molded article has piezoelectricity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Publication date: August 4, 2022
    Inventors: Takayuki YONEMURA, Akihiko TSUNOYA, Koichi MURAYAMA
  • Patent number: 11383303
    Abstract: A method for producing a three-dimensional shaped article by stacking a plurality of layers is provided, and is characterized in that a series of steps including a layer forming step of forming the layer using a composition containing a plurality of particles, and a joining step of joining the particles contained in the layer to one another by irradiating the layer with a laser beam is repeatedly performed, an average particle diameter of the particles is represented by D50 and a thickness of the layer formed in the layer forming step is represented by Ds, a relation of Ds/D50<5.0 is satisfied, and an arithmetic average height Sa of a surface of the layer in a state where the particles are joined to one another by the joining step is 15 ?m or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Inventors: Takeshi Miyashita, Eiji Okamoto, Akihiko Tsunoya, Naoko Shima
  • Publication number: 20220203622
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaping apparatus shapes a first shaped article by ejecting a material from an ejection section, forms a first portion of a second shaped article by adjusting an output of a temperature adjusting section while measuring a temperature of the first shaped article by a temperature sensor so that a viscosity of the first shaped article calculated based on the temperature of the first shaped article measured by the temperature sensor and first relational data representing a relationship between a temperature and a viscosity of the material becomes a predetermined viscosity or less, and ejecting the material from the ejection section, and forms a second portion that is a portion adjacent to the first portion of the second shaped article by ejecting the material from the ejection section while adjusting a temperature of the first portion by the temperature adjusting section with the adjusted output.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventor: Akihiko TSUNOYA
  • Publication number: 20220203443
    Abstract: A production method for producing a product by joining a first part containing an inorganic powder and a binder to a second part containing an inorganic powder and a binder is provided. The production method includes a first step of forming the first part by a three-dimensional shaping apparatus, a second step of forming the second part, a third step of assembling the first part and the second part, thereby obtaining an assembly, a fourth step of heating the assembly at a first temperature, and a fifth step of heating the assembly at a second temperature higher than the first temperature after the fourth step, wherein the first part has a first region that comes in contact with the second part and a second region that does not come in contact with the second part, and a melting point of the binder contained in the first region is lower than a melting point of the binder contained in the second region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventor: Akihiko TSUNOYA
  • Patent number: 11305481
    Abstract: Provided is a manufacturing method of a three-dimensional object for manufacturing a three-dimensional object by laminating unit layers using a fluid constituent material. The manufacturing method includes a unit layer formation step of forming the unit layer of one layer by forming a first unit layer in which first layers each having a first thickness are laminated and then forming a second unit layer formed of a second layer having a second thickness greater than the first thickness to adjoin the first unit layer. By executing such a manufacturing method of the three-dimensional object, it is possible to manufacture a highly dense three-dimensional object in a short time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Inventor: Akihiko Tsunoya
  • Publication number: 20220036240
    Abstract: A machine learning device includes: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire first data including shape data related to a target shape of a three-dimensional shaped object and shaping condition data related to a condition when the three-dimensional shaped object is shaped by the three-dimensional shaping device, and second data related to a deformation of the three-dimensional shaped object; a storage unit that stores learning data set including a plurality of the first data and a plurality of the second data; and a learning unit configured to learn a relationship between the first data and the second data by executing machine learning using the learning data set.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Inventor: Akihiko TSUNOYA
  • Publication number: 20220033664
    Abstract: A molding composition contains a powder, a wax, an adhesive component, a molding component, and a plasticizer, in which a melt flow rate of the adhesive component at 190° C. is 200 g/10 min or more, and a density of the plasticizer is 1.0 g/cm3 or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2021
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Inventors: Kozo SHITAGAMI, Eiji OKAMOTO, Akihiko TSUNOYA
  • Publication number: 20220032378
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaping apparatus includes a shaping table, a layer forming section that forms a powder layer at the shaping table, a first head that ejects a liquid containing a binder to a shaping region from a first nozzle, a second head that ejects a liquid containing ceramic particles to a boundary region with respect to the shaping region from a second nozzle, and a control unit that controls movement of the first head and the second head with respect to the shaping table and driving of the first head and the second head by applying a voltage, wherein the control unit performs control so as to cause the first head to execute a first flushing operation and to cause the second head to execute a second flushing operation under a flushing condition different from that for the first flushing operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Inventors: Akihiko TSUNOYA, Toshimitsu HIRAI, Kaoru MOMOSE
  • Publication number: 20220024137
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaping device includes: a shaping table; a layer forming unit configured to form a powder layer on the shaping table; a head configured to eject a liquid containing a binder from a nozzle to a shaping region; and a control unit configured to control movement of the head with respect to the shaping table and driving of the head by applying a voltage. The control unit executes a first flushing operation when an area of the shaping region is equal to or greater than the threshold value, and executes a second flushing operation when the area of the shaping region is less than the threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2021
    Publication date: January 27, 2022
    Inventors: Akihiko TSUNOYA, Toshimitsu HIRAI, Kaoru MOMOSE
  • Publication number: 20220024133
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaping device includes: a shaping table; a layer forming unit configured to form a powder layer on the shaping table; a head configured to eject a liquid containing a binder from a nozzle to a shaping region; and a control unit configured to control movement of the head with respect to the shaping table and driving of the head by applying a voltage. The control unit executes a first flushing operation when a distance between the shaping region and the flushing position is less than a threshold value, and executes a second flushing operation when the distance between the shaping region and the flushing position is equal to or greater than the threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2021
    Publication date: January 27, 2022
    Inventors: Akihiko TSUNOYA, Kaoru MOMOSE, Toshimitsu HIRAI
  • Publication number: 20220027537
    Abstract: A machine learning device includes: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire first data including shape data representing a target shape of a three-dimensional shaped object and additional shape data representing a target shape of an additional portion to be added to the three-dimensional shaped object in order to prevent deformation of the three-dimensional shaped object during manufacturing, and second data related to the deformation of the three-dimensional shaped object; a storage unit configured to store a learning data set including a plurality of the first data and a plurality of the second data; and a learning unit configured to learn a relationship between the first data and the second data by executing machine learning using the learning data set.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2021
    Publication date: January 27, 2022
    Inventor: Akihiko TSUNOYA
  • Publication number: 20220024138
    Abstract: A three-dimensional shaping device includes: a shaping table; a layer forming unit configured to form a powder layer on the shaping table; a head configured to eject a liquid containing a binder from a nozzle to a shaping region; and a control unit configured to control movement of the head with respect to the shaping table and driving of the head by applying a voltage. The control unit changes an execution condition of a flushing operation depending on whether an idle running time during which the head is moved without ejecting the liquid is less than a threshold value or equal to or greater than the threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2021
    Publication date: January 27, 2022
    Inventors: Akihiko TSUNOYA, Toshimitsu HIRAI, Kaoru MOMOSE