JP2017019018A - Processing nozzle, processing head, processing device, processing method and processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED To efficiently supply a powder material used for processing using an energy beam.
In order to solve the above problems, a processing nozzle having a powder injection means for injecting a powder material into a molten pool formed on a processing surface by an energy beam is provided. In addition, the processing nozzle further includes an adjusting unit that changes the shape of the powder spot formed by the powder injection unit according to the modeling conditions.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a machining nozzle, a machining head, a machining apparatus, a machining method, and a machining program.

  In the above technical field, Patent Document 1 is provided with a mechanism for finely adjusting the spot position of the laser emitted from the nozzle.

Special table 2011-526211 gazette

  However, in the technique described in the above document, as the speed increases, the molten pool formed by the laser beam is positioned rearward in the traveling direction, and the powder supplied in the forward direction is not melted, and the powder supply is efficiently performed. I couldn't do it.

  The objective of this invention is providing the technique which solves the above-mentioned subject.

In order to achieve the above object, a processing nozzle according to the present invention comprises:
A powder injection means for injecting a powder material to a molten pool formed on the processing surface by energy rays;
Adjusting means for changing the shape of the powder spot formed by the powder injection means according to the modeling conditions;
Equipped with.
Moreover, the processing head according to the present invention includes:
The processing nozzle;
A focusing device for focusing the energy beam;
including.
Furthermore, the processing apparatus according to the present invention provides:
A material supply unit for supplying the powder material to the processing head;
A control unit for controlling the processing nozzle and controlling a spot diameter of the powder material;
Equipped with.

In order to achieve the above object, a processing method according to the present invention includes:
Irradiating energy rays on the processing surface to form a molten pool;
Injecting powder material from the powder injection means into the molten pool;
Moving a machining area on the machining surface;
Changing the mechanical configuration of the powder injection means according to modeling conditions, and changing the powder spot shape;
including.

In order to achieve the above object, a machining program according to the present invention includes:
Irradiating energy rays on the processing surface to form a molten pool;
Injecting powder material from the powder injection means into the molten pool;
Moving a machining area on the machining surface;
Changing the mechanical configuration of the powder injection means according to modeling conditions, and changing the powder spot shape;
Is executed on the computer.

  According to the present invention, powder can be efficiently supplied from the processing nozzle.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a simple block diagram which shows the structure and operation | movement of a process nozzle which concern on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a temperature distribution figure for demonstrating the shape of a fusion pool. It is a temperature distribution figure for demonstrating the shape of a fusion pool. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a bottom view which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a simplified lineblock diagram showing composition and operation of a processing nozzle concerning a 6th embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the process nozzle which concerns on 6th Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the optical processing apparatus which concerns on 7th Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the components described in the following embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention only to them.

[First Embodiment]
A processing nozzle 100 as a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a processing nozzle 100 according to the present embodiment. The processing nozzle 100 is a nozzle for performing processing by injecting the powder material 130 toward the molten pool 121 formed on the processing surface 120 by the energy beam 110. The processing nozzle 100 includes a powder injection unit 101 and an adjustment unit 102.

  The powder injection unit 101 injects the powder material 130 to the molten pool 121 formed on the processing surface 120 by the energy beam 110.

  The adjustment unit 102 adjusts the shape and / or position of the injection region (spot) of the powder material formed by the powder injection unit 101 according to the shape of the molten pool.

  As a source of the energy beam 110, a laser light source is used here, but an LED, a halogen lamp, or a xenon lamp can be used. The energy beam used for melting the material is not limited to the laser beam, and any energy beam can be used as long as it can melt the processed material on the processed surface. For example, an energy beam such as an electron beam or an electromagnetic wave in a microwave to ultraviolet region may be used.

  According to the above configuration, even when the modeling conditions are changed, the injection region of the powder material can be changed in accordance with the molten pool without having to replace the processing nozzle. Efficiency can be improved.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a processing nozzle 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for simply explaining the configuration and operation of the machining nozzle 200 according to the present embodiment.

  The processing nozzle 200 is a nozzle for performing processing by injecting the powder material 230 toward the molten pool 221 formed on the processing surface 220 by the laser beam 210 as an energy beam. The processing nozzle 200 includes a powder injection unit 201 and an adjustment unit 202. The powder injection unit 201 includes an inner casing 211 that forms a beam path through which the laser light 210 passes, and an outer casing 212 that is disposed via a gap 213 that serves as a flow path between the inner casing 211 and the powder material 230. And including.

  The inner casing 211 has a cylindrical shape and has a path through which the laser beam 210 passes, and emits the laser beam 210 from one end thereof. The outer surface of the inner casing 211 is narrowed toward the direction in which the laser light 210 is emitted. The outer casing 212 is also cylindrical and includes the inner casing 211, and the inner surface is narrowed in the emission direction of the laser light 210 emitted from the inner casing 211. With such a structure, the powder material 230 can be injected toward the molten pool 221. The gap 213 between the outer surface of the inner housing 211 and the inner surface of the outer housing 212 forms an injection port for the powder material 230, and the shape of the injection port is changed by the adjusting unit 202. In FIG. 2, the downstream ends of the inner casing 211 and the outer casing 212 are both represented as conical cylinder shapes, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, both may have a polygonal pyramid shape. Further, the inner casing 211 may be cylindrical and only the downstream end of the outer casing 212 may be conical.

  The adjustment unit 202 adjusts the relative positions of the inner casing 211 and the outer casing 212. Here, the adjustment unit 202 adjusts the relative horizontal position of the inner casing 211 and the outer casing 212 (a position on a plane perpendicular to the laser beam 210). In particular, only the outer casing 212 is horizontally moved (slided) in the direction opposite to the moving direction 222 to make a transition from the left state in FIG. 2 to the right state. Thereby, in the molten pool 221, the amount of the powder material 231 injected toward the downstream side in the movement direction from the laser beam 210 is larger than that of the powder material 232 injected toward the upstream side in the movement direction. That is, the adjustment unit 202 adjusts the shape and / or position of the powder spot formed by the powder injection unit 201 according to the moving direction 222 of the molten pool 221 on the processing surface 220.

  3 and 4 show the temperature distribution of the molten pool. In FIG. 3, the horizontal direction is the moving direction (scanning direction), and the vertical direction is the Y direction (sub-scanning direction) orthogonal to the moving direction. In FIG. 4, the horizontal direction is the moving direction (scanning direction), and the vertical direction is the direction (Z direction) orthogonal to the processing surface. The origin (0, 0) is the laser beam spot. From this temperature distribution, it can be seen that the molten pool spreads toward the downstream side in the moving direction. Therefore, it can be seen that the powder material should also be injected more downstream than the upstream side in the moving direction.

  A more specific configuration of the processing nozzle 200 will be described with reference to FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the processing nozzle 200 includes, as the adjustment unit 202, an X direction driving unit 521, a Y direction driving unit 522, a driver 523 that drives these driving units, and a controller 524 that controls the driver 523. And a detection unit 525 that detects the shape of the molten pool 221. The detecting unit 525 is, for example, an imaging unit that images the processed surface 220 and detects the shape of the molten pool 221 from the captured image. The controller 524 instructs the driver 523 to move the outer casing 212 in accordance with the detected shape of the molten pool 221. The driver 523 transmits a drive command to the X direction drive unit 521 and the Y direction drive unit 522 in accordance with an instruction received from the controller 524. In this way, the horizontal position of the outer casing 212 with respect to the inner casing 211 is changed to adjust the shape and / or position of the powder spot.

  FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a mechanical configuration of the processing nozzle 200. FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the processing nozzle 200. The processing nozzle 200 is attached to a nozzle holder 602 fixed to the housing holder 601. The outer casing 212 is provided with a material supply unit 606. The inner casing 211 is fixed to the nozzle holder 602, and the outer casing 212 is movable in the horizontal direction with respect to the inner casing 211 on the XY stage 603. In this figure, a drive motor 609 is provided as the adjustment unit 202. In addition, a seal 607 is attached to the upper end of the outer casing 212 so that the powder material does not leak from the gap with the inner casing 211 even when the outer casing 212 moves in the horizontal direction. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the machining nozzle 200 includes a drive motor 711 for the X-axis direction and a drive motor 712 for the Y-axis direction. The drive motors 711 and 712 change the flow of the powder material by moving the XY stage 603 and displacing the space (nozzle gap) between the inner casing 211 and the outer casing 212. That is, the outer casing 212 can be displaced in the XY directions based on the instruction value of the controller 524 following the changing scanning direction.

  On the bottom surface of the processing nozzle 200, a laser beam injection port 713 and a powder material injection port 714 appear. The laser beam injection port 713 is a downstream end opening of the inner casing 211, and the powder material injection port 714 is an outer peripheral edge of the downstream end portion of the inner casing 211 and a downstream side of the outer casing 212. It is a gap with the inner periphery of the side end.

  The X-axis direction drive motor 711 and the Y-axis direction drive motor 712 change the horizontal position of the outer casing 212 relative to the inner casing 211, thereby changing the shape and position of the powder material injection port 714. In accordance with this, the shape of the powder spot also changes. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the state transitions between a state where the inner casing 211 and the outer casing 212 are arranged concentrically (upper figure) and a shifted state (lower figure).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even when the modeling condition is changed, the injection region of the powder material can be changed in accordance with the molten pool without the need to replace the processing nozzle, and thus the processing accuracy and material can be changed. The utilization efficiency can be improved.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a machining nozzle 800 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the configuration of the machining nozzle 800 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the processing nozzle 800. The processing nozzle 800 according to the present embodiment has an outer casing 812 having a shape different from that of the outer casing 212 as compared to the second embodiment, and the inner casing 211 is moved in the horizontal direction by the drive motor 609. It is different in letting you. Since other configurations and operations are the same as those of the second embodiment, the same configurations and operations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  According to the present embodiment, since the outer casing 812 is fixed and the inner casing 211 is moved in the horizontal direction, the configuration of the material supply unit 606 can be simplified compared to the second embodiment.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a processing nozzle 1000 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the configuration of the machining nozzle 1000 according to this embodiment. FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the processing nozzle 1000. The processing nozzle 1000 according to the present embodiment differs from the second embodiment in that it has four piezoelectric elements 1001 to 1004 and a piezoelectric driver 1023 instead of the drive motors 711 and 712. Since other configurations and operations are the same as those of the second embodiment, the same configurations and operations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  According to the present embodiment, since the piezo elements 1001 to 1004 are used as the adjustment unit instead of the drive motor, the responsiveness of the change in the injection region of the powder material can be improved as compared with the second embodiment. .

[Fifth Embodiment]
Next, a machining nozzle 1200 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the configuration of the machining nozzle 1200 according to this embodiment. The processing nozzle 1200 according to the present embodiment is different from the fourth embodiment in that the inner casing 211 is moved using the piezo elements 1201 and 1202. Since other configurations and operations are the same as those in the fourth embodiment, the same configurations and operations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  According to the present embodiment, since the outer casing 812 is fixed and the inner casing 211 is moved using the piezo elements 1201 and 1202, the change in the injection region of the powder material compared to the second embodiment. The structure of the powder supply unit 606 can be simplified while improving the responsiveness.

[Sixth Embodiment]
Next, a machining nozzle 1300 according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the configuration of the processing nozzle 1300 according to the present embodiment. Compared with the second embodiment, the processing nozzle 1300 according to the present embodiment changes the relative angle formed by the axis of the inner casing 211 and the axis of the outer casing 212, thereby changing the shape of the powder injection port. Is different, and as a result, the shape of the powder spot is different. Since other configurations and operations are the same as those of the second embodiment, the same configurations and operations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram for simply explaining the configuration and operation of the machining nozzle 1300 according to the present embodiment.

  The processing nozzle 1300 is a nozzle for performing processing by injecting the powder material 230 toward the molten pool 221 formed on the processing surface 220 by the laser beam 210 as an energy beam. The processing nozzle 200 includes a powder injection unit 1301 and an adjustment unit 1302.

  The powder injection unit 1301 includes an inner casing 211 that constitutes a light path through which the laser beam 210 passes, and an outer casing 1312 that is disposed via the inner casing 211 and the gap 213.

  The outer casing 1312 is also cylindrical and includes the inner casing 211, and the inner surface is narrowed in the emission direction of the laser light 210 emitted from the inner casing 211. The gap between the outer surface of the inner casing 211 and the inner surface of the outer casing 1312 forms an injection port for the powder material 230, and the shape of the injection port is changed by the adjusting unit 1302.

  The adjustment unit 1302 adjusts the relative positions of the inner casing 211 and the outer casing 1312. Here, the adjustment unit 1302 adjusts the relative angle between the inner casing 211 and the outer casing 1312. In particular, by tilting only the outer casing 1312 in the opposite direction with respect to the moving direction 222, the state is shifted from the left side state in FIG. 2 to the right side state. Thereby, in the molten pool 221, the amount of the powder material 231 injected toward the downstream side in the movement direction from the laser beam 210 is larger than that of the powder material 232 injected toward the upstream side in the movement direction. That is, the adjustment unit 1302 adjusts the shape and / or position of the powder spot formed by the powder injection unit 1301 according to the moving direction 222 of the molten pool 221 on the processing surface 220.

  A more specific configuration of the processing nozzle 200 will be described with reference to FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 14, the processing nozzle 1300 includes, as the adjustment unit 1302, Z-direction drive units 1401 to 1404, a driver 1423 that drives these drive units, and a controller 1424 that controls the driver 1423. In this way, the angle of the outer casing 1312 with respect to the inner casing 211 is changed to adjust the shape and / or position of the powder spot.

  FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a mechanical configuration of the processing nozzle 1300. The inner casing 211 is fixed to the nozzle holder 602, and the outer casing 1312 can be displaced in the Z direction by the Z direction drive units 1401 to 1404 with respect to the inner casing 211, and as a result, the inner casing It can be inclined with respect to 211. Here, four piezoelectric elements are provided as an example of the Z-direction drive unit. A seal 607 is attached to the upper end of the outer casing 1312 so that the powder material does not leak from the gap with the inner casing 211 even when the outer casing 1312 is inclined.

  According to the present embodiment, the shape and / or position of the powder spot formed by the powder injection unit 1301 is changed on the processing surface 220 by inclining the outer casing 1312 with respect to the inner casing 211. Adjustment was made according to the moving direction 222 of 221. Thereby, similarly to 2nd Embodiment, the injection area | region of powder material can be changed according to a fusion | melting pool, and a process precision and the utilization efficiency of material can be improved by extension.

[Seventh Embodiment]
An optical machining apparatus as a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The optical processing apparatus 1600 includes any one of the processing nozzles 100, 200, 800, 1000, 1200, and 1400 described in the above-described embodiment, and three-dimensionally melts the material with heat generated by the collected light. It is an apparatus that generates a modeled object (or overlay welding). Here, as an example, an optical processing apparatus 1600 including the processing nozzle 200 will be described.

"Device configuration"
The optical processing apparatus 1600 includes a light source 1601, an optical transmission unit 1615, a stage 1605, a material storage device 1606, a material supply unit 1630, a processing head 1608, and a control unit 1607.

  Here, a laser light source is used as the light source 1601, but an LED, a halogen lamp, or a xenon lamp can be used. The energy beam used for melting the material is not limited to the laser beam, and any energy beam can be used as long as the powder material can be melted on the processed surface. For example, an energy beam such as an electron beam or an electromagnetic wave in a microwave to ultraviolet region may be used.

  The optical transmission unit 1615 is an optical fiber having a core diameter of φ0.01 to 1 mm, for example, and guides light generated by the light source 1601 to the processing head 1608.

  The stage 1605 is an X stage, an XY stage, or an XYZ stage. Each axis of XYX can be driven.

  The material container 1606 supplies a carrier gas containing a material to the processing head 1608 via the material supply unit 606. For example, the material is particles such as metal particles and resin particles. The carrier gas is an inert gas, and may be, for example, argon gas, nitrogen gas, or helium gas. The material supply unit 606 is, for example, a resin or metal hose, and guides the powder flow in which the material is mixed into the carrier gas to the processing nozzle 200. However, when the material is a wire, no carrier gas is required.

  The processing head 1608 includes therein a focusing device that focuses light as energy rays, and a processing nozzle 200 is attached downstream of the focusing device. The laser beam supplied to the processing head 1608 is adjusted so as to be condensed on the processing surface 220 through an optical system including an internal lens or the like. The optical system is provided so as to be able to control the condensing position by controlling the lens interval and the like.

  Although not shown, the optical processing apparatus 1600 may include an attitude control mechanism and a position control mechanism for controlling the attitude and position of the machining head 1608. In this case, the attitude and position of the machining head 1608 are changed. The processing area on the processing surface is moved. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the processing area on the processing surface may be moved by changing the posture and position of the stage 1605 while fixing the processing head 1608.

  The controller 524 inputs modeling conditions such as fine writing / bold writing and the shape of the modeled object, the output value of the laser light from the light source 1601, the position and orientation of the processing head 1608, the stage 1605 of the stage 1605 according to the input modeling conditions. While changing a position etc., the mechanical structure of the process nozzle 200 is changed, and a powder spot shape is changed. Thereby, the powder spot diameter by the powder material inject | emitted from the process nozzle 200 can be controlled according to a molten pool diameter.

<Device operation>
Next, the operation of the optical processing apparatus 1600 will be described. The modeled object 1610 is created on the stage 1605. Light emitted from the processing head 1608 is collected on the processing surface 220 on the modeled object 1610. The processing surface 220 is heated and condensed by light collection to form a molten pool in part.

  Material is injected from the processing nozzle 200 into the molten pool 221 of the processing surface 220. Then, the material melts into the molten pool 221. Thereafter, the molten pool 221 is cooled and solidified, whereby a material is deposited on the processed surface 220, and three-dimensional modeling is realized.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to adjust the powder injection by controlling the spot position and shape of the powder material in accordance with the shape of the molten pool. Therefore, the powder material can be efficiently supplied to the melting region.

[Other Embodiments]
While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention. In addition, a system or an apparatus in which different features included in each embodiment are combined in any way is also included in the scope of the present invention.

  In addition, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices, or may be applied to a single device. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to a case where an information processing program that implements the functions of the embodiments is supplied directly or remotely to a system or apparatus. Therefore, in order to realize the functions of the present invention on a computer, a program installed in the computer, a medium storing the program, and a WWW (World Wide Web) server that downloads the program are also included in the scope of the present invention. . In particular, at least a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the processing steps included in the above-described embodiments is included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (8)

A powder injection means for injecting a powder material to a molten pool formed on the processing surface by energy rays;
Adjusting means for changing the shape of the powder spot formed by the powder injection means according to the modeling conditions;
A processing nozzle with   The processing nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting unit adjusts a shape of the powder spot formed by the powder injection unit according to a moving direction of the molten pool on the processing surface. The powder injection means is
An inner housing constituting an energy beam path through which the energy beam passes;
An outer casing disposed via a gap as a flow path for the inner casing and the powder material;
Including
The processing nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment unit adjusts a relative position between the inner casing and the outer casing.   The processing nozzle according to claim 3, wherein the adjusting unit adjusts a relative horizontal position of the inner casing and the outer casing. The processing nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A focusing device for focusing the energy beam;
A processing head comprising: A machining head according to claim 5;
A material supply unit for supplying the powder material to the processing head;
A control unit for controlling the processing nozzle and controlling a spot diameter of the powder material;
A processing device with Irradiating energy rays on the processing surface to form a molten pool;
Injecting powder material from the powder injection means into the molten pool;
Moving a machining area on the machining surface;
Changing the mechanical configuration of the powder injection means according to modeling conditions, and changing the powder spot shape;
A processing method including: Irradiating energy rays on the processing surface to form a molten pool;
Injecting powder material from the powder injection means into the molten pool;
Moving a machining area on the machining surface;
Changing the mechanical configuration of the powder injection means according to modeling conditions, and changing the powder spot shape;
Machining program that makes a computer execute.

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