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Apparatus and method for production of three-dimensional models by spatial light modulator
| Details |
Inventors: Hagenau, William R.;
Assignee: Replicator Systems, Inc. (El Dorado, CA)
Primary Examiner: Davis; Robert
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Shaw, Jr.; Philip M. Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May
An apparatus and the method of its operation for rapid prototyping of a three-dimensional object which includes a radiant energy source of a wide beam of radiant energy of suitable intensity and wavelength for curing a layer of photo-curable resin contained in an open vat, a spatial light modulator (SLM) having an array of pixel elements which are individually digitally controllable by a computer, for modulating the radiant energy beam projected from the radiant energy source on a pixel by pixel basis, to form a series of time sequential images of the cross-sectional laminae of the object, an optical system for focusing each image formed by the SLM, one at a time, onto successive layers of photo-curable resin for predetermined exposure times to thereby form stacked laminae of cured resin, each lamina of cured resin being in the shape of a different one of the cross-sectional laminae, and a piston support for lowering each lamina of cured resin after it is formed by the SLM and for depositing a layer of resin corresponding to the thickness of one cross sectional lamina of the three-dimensional object before the step of projecting a new image by the SLM. The SLM, the piston support for lowering, and the optical system operate repeatedly and sequentially until a complete copy of the object is thereby produced. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION The above and other problems of prior art RP systems are overcome by the present invention of an improved three-dimensional object producing apparatus of the type for irradiating a liquid surface of a vat of liquid photo-curable resin to form a succession of cured resin layers corresponding to successive cross-sectional laminae of a three-dimensional object and incrementally lowering the cured resin layers below the liquid surface as they are formed to build up a three-dimensional copy of the object.
The improvement according to the invention comprises a radiant energy source of a wide beam of radiant energy of suitable intensity and wavelength for curing a layer of the photo-curable resin, a spatial light modulator (SLM) having an array of pixel elements which are individually controllable, for modulating the radiant energy beam projected from the radiant energy source on a pixel-by-pixel basis, to form a series of time sequential images of the cross-sectional laminae of the object, optical means for focusing each image formed by the SLM, one at a time, onto successive layers of photo-curable resin for predetermined exposure times to thereby form stacked laminae of cured resin, each lamina of cured resin being in the shape of a different one of the cross-sectional laminae, and means for lowering each lamina of cured resin after it is formed by the SLM below the liquid surface by a distance corresponding to the thickness of one cross sectional lamina of the three-dimensional object before the projection of a new image by the SLM to thereby flow a layer of photo-curable liquid resin to cover the lamina of cured resin.
The SLM, the means for lowering, and the optical means operate repeatedly and sequentially until a complete copy of the object is thereby produced.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pixel elements are individually digitally addressable.
The SLM is comprised of an array of micromirrors on a semiconductor memory chip, for example, an array of 800
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