Abstract:
A system of rapid prototyping, comprises a calculate controller, a stage, a deliver, a frame former, a filler and a forming machine. A board material was disposed on the stage by the deliver. The frame former heats up the board material to melt the board material and then forms at least a space on the board material. The filler fills a solidable liquid into the space. The deliver disposes another board material on the board material filled with solidable liquid and repeats the abovementioned steps until the plurality of spaces constitute the target article. And then the forming machine heats up the board materials to melt the board materials, meanwhile, the solidable liquid is solidified to form the target article. Wherein the calculate controller connects and operates the deliver, the frame former, the filler and the forming machine.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a system of rapid prototyping, and in particular to a system and a method for forming a three-dimensional object through a print device. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Three-dimensional Printing (3D printing) technology has been developed for about three decades, the prototyping of the printed object is based on a digital file, and the printed object is formed layer by layer with a pile of metal or plastic to duplicate an actual three-dimensional object. Therefore, for the objects which require the precision machining, such the manner can effectively reduce the production time and improve accuracy. 
         [0003]    Before printing system starts to print, it needs to obtain a digital three-dimensional model of the object to be printed. Then, the three-dimensional model is divided into a plurality of sections so as to the print device can laminate the object layer by layer. The prototyping methods of the print device includes selective laser sintering, fused deposition modeling, stereo lithography, electron beam melting, laminated object manufacturing, laminated object manufacturing and so on. One of the main differences between aforementioned methods is that the selection of the materials, some of them are thermal plastic or softened plastic, and some are liquid material. 
         [0004]    In aforementioned manner, the printing device mainly outputs the aforementioned materials to form the cross-section of the three-dimensional model layer by layer. Each droplet size of the material is calculated in microns, theoretically, a variety of three-dimensional objects with great precision can be obtained. 
         [0005]    However, the complexity of calculation of printing path in current 3D printing systems using layering technique remains a drawback. Because of the outputted solidified material requires to support for each other to form a three-dimensional object, and the calculation also needs the algorithms for forming outer wall and extra support to complete the printing. However, the complex calculation will reduce the operation speed of the printing device and the development of calculator also requires additional expense. Since the droplet size of the outputted material is calculated in microns, it also means that the surface smoothness of the printed object is only in micron order, such that the resolution of the three-dimensional object which is formed by current 3D printing system is limited and the surface smoothness of the object is not able to meet a higher standard of smooth degrees, for example, the formation of nano-scale surface. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    According to aforementioned drawbacks, the present invention provides a system of rapid prototyping and the method thereof, which uses the thermal fuse material and filling liquid configuration material to achieve the three-dimensional printing system requires lower complexity of calculation. 
         [0007]    The present invention further provides a rapid prototyping system which includes a delivering device that is provided for moving and disposing a board, a frame forming device that is provided for heating and melting an area of the board to form a space on the board, a filling device that is provided for filling a thermosetting material into the space, a forming device that is provided for heating the board with the filled thermosetting material therein to melt the board and solidifying the thermosetting material, and a calculating controller that is provided for electrically connected to the delivering device, the frame forming device, the filling device and the forming device and is provided for controlling the operation for the delivering device, the frame forming device, the filling device and the forming device. 
         [0008]    In addition, the present invention also provides a rapid prototyping method which includes the steps of disposing a first hot-metable board on a stage, heating and melting a first area on the first hot-meltable board to form a first space on the first hot-meltable board, filling a first thermosetting material into the first space, disposing a second hot-meltable board on the first hot meltable board, heating and melting a second area on the second hot-meltable board to form a second space on the second hot-meltable board, wherein the second space is connected with the first space, filling a second thermosetting material into the second space, then the first hot-meltable board and the second hot-meltable board are heated and melted, meanwhile the first and second thermosetting material are solidified. 
         [0009]    The present invention also provides a rapid prototyping method which includes the steps of a first hot-meltable board is provided, a first area on the first hot-meltable board is heated and melted to form a first space on the first hot-meltable board, a second hot-meltable board is disposed on the first hot-meltable board, a second area on the second hot-meltable board is heated and melted to form a second space on the second hot meltable board, in which the second space connected with the first space, a thermosetting material is filled into the first space and the second space and the first hot-meltable board and the second hot-meltable board are heated and melted and the thermosetting material is solidified at the same time. 
         [0010]    According to aforementioned, the rapid prototyping system of the present invention utilizes the thermal fuse material to form a frame and the liquid configuration material so as to achieve the formation of the object through the calculation method with lower requirement of hardware and software for rapid prototyping system and the formation time of three-dimensional object are reduced and the cost of the formation of three-dimensional object is also reduced. 
         [0011]    Furthermore, forming the object with the thermal fused frame and the liquid configuration material can achieve better object surface resolution than that of laminated with the solid materials. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the drawings, in which: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of rapid prototyping system in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a schematic of showing an object modeling with different cross-sectional view of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is cross-sectional view of showing an object modeling of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the consecutive state of rapid prototyping of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the consecutive state of rapid prototyping of the second embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram of the rapid prototyping method of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a flow diagram of the rapid prototyping method of the second embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0020]    The present invention is related to a rapid prototyping system and the method thereof, which is a three-dimensional (3D) printing system for forming a three-dimensional object. The present invention mainly provides a rapid prototyping method which is different from the current 3D printing method. The required calculation or the apparatus configuration for the system is not the important feature of the present invention and it is not to be described in detail herein. 
         [0021]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a rapid prototyping system. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the rapid prototyping system  1  of the present invention includes a calculating controller  10 , a delivering device  11 , a frame forming device  12 , a filling device  13 , a draining device  14 , a carrier  15  and a forming device  16 . The calculating controller  10  can be a computer, and the calculating controller  10  is electrically connected with the delivering device  11 , the frame forming device  12 , the filling device  13 , the draining device  14  and the forming device  16 . The calculating controller  10  emits a controlling signal for controlling the delivering device  11 , the frame forming device  13 , the draining device  14  and the forming device  16 . In one embodiment of the present invention, an object model  3 ′ of an object is obtained by the calculating controller  10  through scanning or computer drafting. The size of the object model  3 ′ relative to that of the actual object can be scaled down or enlarge. Then, the calculating controller  10  is provided for analyzing to obtain a plurality of different sectional surfaces of the object model  3 ′. Please refer to  FIG. 2 . According to the analysis of the calculating controller  10 , the object model  3 ′ is delaminated into a plurality of sectional surfaces  2   a ,  2   b ,  2   c , . . . ,  2   z  from bottom to the top. As shown in  FIG. 3 , each the plurality of sectional surfaces  2   a ,  2   b ,  2   c , . . . ,  2   z  have the outlines  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c , . . . ,  22   z  of the cross-section of the aforementioned objects. Obviously, if each the plurality of sectional surfaces  2   a ,  2   b ,  2   c , . . . ,  2   z  are stacked in sequence, then each outlines  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c , . . . ,  22   z  are connected to form a frame of the object model  3 ′. 
         [0022]    Please also refer to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the consecutive state of rapid prototyping of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention. After the plurality of sectional surface of the object model  3 ′ is obtained, the delivering device  11  is provided for disposing a board  4   a  with solid state on a carrier  15 , in which the delivering device  11  is disposed above the carrier  15  and has a capability of performing three-dimensional movement. In this embodiment, the material of hot-meltable board  4   a  is thermal fusible, for example, the material of hot-meltable board  4   a  is made of gellan gum or wax. As the state (a) of  FIG. 4 , after the hot-meltable board  4   a  is disposed on the carrier  15 , the hot-meltable board  4   a  is heated and an area of the hot-meltable board  4   a  is molten to form a space  40   a  on the board  4   a  by the frame forming device  12  according to one of the sectional surface  2   a  on the outline  22   a  of the object model  3 ′ as the state (b) of  FIG. 4 . In above embodiment, the frame forming device  12  is disposed above the carrier  15 , and has a capacity of performing three-dimensional movement. The frame forming device  12  is a point-heating device for heating the hot-meltable board  4   a , and the detail mechanical structure of the frame forming device  15  is not limited in this invention. In addition, the hot-meltable board  4   a  is to be melted into liquid after heated, and the liquid is drained out by the draining device  14 . In one of the embodiment, the draining device  14  is disposed above the carrier  15  and has a capacity of performing three-dimensional movement. After the space  40   a  is formed on the hot-meltable board  4   a , the draining device  14  is moved to the space  40   a  to drain out the liquid therein, for example, the liquid is drained out by suction. In other embodiment, the draining device  14  is disposed above the carrier  15 , and the draining device is a drain hole with switch. When the hot-meltable board  4   a  is heated and melted into liquid, the switch is turned on to drain out the liquid from the draining device  14 , and the detail mechanical structure of the draining device  14  is not described herein. In above embodiment, the material of hot-meltable board  4   a  is gellan gum or wax. 
         [0023]    As the state (b) of  FIG. 4 , after the space  40   a  is formed on the hot-meltable board  4   a , as the state (c) of  FIG. 4 , a forming liquid  42   a  is filled into the space  40   a  by the filling device  14 , the forming liquid  42   a  such as the egg white, starch solution, cyanoacrylate or silicon. The filling device  13  is disposed above the carrier  15  and has a degree of freedom of three-dimensional movement. Then, as the state (d) of  FIG. 4 , after the forming liquid  42   a  fills the space  40   a , another hot-meltable board  4   b  is stacked on the hot-meltable board  4   a  by the delivering device  11  and the sectional surface  2   b  is projected to the hot-meltable board  4   b  after stacked. Next, as the state (e) of  FIG. 4 , the area which is enclosed by the outline  22   b  on the hot-meltable board  4   b  is heated and melted by the frame forming device  12  to form a space  40   b . Also, as the state (f) of  FIG. 4 , the forming material  42   b  is filled into the space  40   b . Finally, the stacked hot-meltable board  4   a  and  4   b  with the forming liquids  42   a ,  42   b  is heated by the forming device  16  to melt the stacked hot-meltable board  4   a  and  4   b  and solidify the forming liquids  42   a ,  42   b  as shown in the state (g) of  FIG. 4 . The solidified forming liquids  42   a ,  42   b  will be formed an object that is identical to the object model  3 ′. In another embodiment, when the object model  3 ′ is delaminated into the sectional surfaces  2   a - 2   z , the rapid prototyping system  1  of the present invention can sequentially stack the hot-meltable board  4   a  with sectional surface  2   a , the hot-meltable board  4   b  with sectional surface  2   b , . . . , and the hot-meltable board  4   z  with sectional surface  2   z . Meanwhile, each space  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  on each hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are connected and the forming liquids  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are filled into the spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . .  40   z . Finally, the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are heated and melted and the forming liquid  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are solidified to obtain an object  3  that is identical to the object model  3 ′. 
         [0024]    Please refer to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 5 . is a cross-sectional view of the consecutive state of rapid prototyping of the second embodiment in accordance with the present invention. As the state (a) of  FIG. 5 , after the space  40   a  is formed on the hot-meltable board  4   a , the liquid which is formed by heated and melted is drained out, and the forming liquid  42  is not filled into the space  40   a . But as the state (b) of  FIG. 5 , the hot-meltable board  4   b  is stacked on the hot-meltable board  4   a  and a space  40   b  is formed on the hot-meltable board  4   b . Now, the space  40   a  is intercommunicated with the space  40   b  as the state (c) of  FIG. 5 . The forming liquid  42  is filled into the space  40   a  which is intercommunicated with the space  40   b . Also as the state (d) of  FIG. 5 , the stacked hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b  are heated to melt and the forming liquid  42  in the space  40   a  intercommunicated with the space  40   b  is solidified by the forming device  16  to obtain an object  3 . In another embodiment, when the object model  3 ′ is delaminated into the plurality of sectional surfaces  2   a ,  2   b , . . . ,  2   z , the rapid prototyping system  1  can sequentially stack the hot-meltable board  4   a  with the sectional surface  2   a , the hot-meltable board  4   b  with the sectional surface  2   b , . . . , the hot-meltable board  4   z  with the sectional surface  2   z  respectively. Now, each spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  on each hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are intercommunicated with each other, and the forming liquid  42  is filled into the communicated spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z . Then the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are heated and melted and the forming liquid  42  is solidified to obtain the object  3  that is identical to the object model  3 ′. In another embodiment of the present invention, the partial spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  which are formed on the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are disposed above the carrier  15  with the draining device  14 , and the hot-meltable boards  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  are moved to another area above the carrier  15  by the delivering device  11  to stack each other after the liquid is drained out. The above embodiments can prevent the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  to bland with the uncured forming liquid  42 . 
         [0025]    Please also refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  is a flow diagram of the rapid prototyping method of the first embodiment in accordance with the present invention. According to above rapid prototyping system  1 , the present invention also provides a rapid prototyping method, as shown in  FIG. 6 . The rapid prototyping method includes the steps of following: 
         [0026]    Step  701 : an object model  3 ′ of an object  3  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ) is obtained by a calculating controller  10 , in which the obtaining method is scanning or computer drafting. 
         [0027]    Step  702 : the object model  3 ′ is analyzed by the calculating controller  10  to obtain a plurality of sectional surfaces of the object model  3 ′ as the reference numbers  2   a ,  2   b , . . . ,  2   z  in  FIG. 2 , in which each the plurality of sectional surfaces has outlines of the object sectional surface as the reference numbers  22   a ,  22   b , . . . ,  22   z  in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0028]    Step  703 : as shown in  FIG. 4 , a hot-meltable board  4   a  is provided and is disposed on the carrier  15 . 
         [0029]    Step  704 : one of the plurality of sectional surfaces  2   a  of the object model  3 ′ is corresponding to the hot-meltable board  4   a , and the hot-meltable board  4   a  is heated by the frame forming device  12  according to the enclosed area which is enclosed by the outline  22   a  of the sectional surface  2   a  of the object model  3 ′, such that the enclosed area is heated and melted to form a space  40   a , in which after the space  40   a  is formed, the liquid which is formed by heating and melting the hot-meltable board  4   a  and is further drained out by the draining device  14 . 
         [0030]    Step  705 : the forming liquid  42   a  is filled into the space  40   a  by the filling device  13 , and the forming liquid  42   a  is a thermosetting liquid such as the egg white, starch solution, cyanoacrylate or silicon. In one of the embodiment, the space  40   a  is formed on the hot-meltable board  4   a  by the frame forming device  13  when the hot-meltable board  4   a  is disposed on one area of the carrier  15  and the hot-meltable board  4   a  is moved to another area to fill with the forming liquid  42   a.    
         [0031]    Step  706 : the sectional surface  2   a  of the board  4   a  is determined to form a last sectional surface  2   a  of the object model, if yes, the step  707  is performed, otherwise, the step  708  is performed. 
         [0032]    Step  707 : as shown in  FIG. 4 , another board  4   b  is stacked on the hot-meltable board  4   a  with the forming liquid  42   a  therein, and the steps  704 ˜ 706  are repeated. The sectional surface of the object model  3 ′ is sequentially corresponding to the different hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  from the bottom to the top. For example, the hot-meltable board is sequentially stacked through the hot-meltable board  4   a , the hot-meltable board  4   b , . . . , the hot-meltable board  4   z . The sectional surface  2   a , the sectional surface  2   b , . . . , and the sectional surface  2   z  of the object model  3 ′ is corresponding to the hot-meltable board  4   a , the hot-meltable board  4   b , . . . , and the hot-meltable board  4   z  respectively. Each sectional surfaces  2   a ,  2   b , . . . ,  2   z  are corresponding to each outlines  22   a ,  22   b , . . . ,  22   z  which are enclosed to form a first area, a second area, . . . , a Zth area on the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  respectively. The enclosed first area, the enclosed second area, . . . the enclosed Zth area are heated and melted to form a spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  so as to the forming liquids  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are filled into the spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  respectively. 
         [0033]    Step  708 : the stacked hot-meltable boards is heated to melt by the forming device  16  and the forming liquids  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are solidified. 
         [0034]    Then, please refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 5 , and  FIG. 7 .  FIG. 7  is a flow diagram of the rapid prototyping method of the second embodiment in accordance with the present invention. According to above rapid prototyping system  1 , the present invention provides a rapid prototyping method as shown in  FIG. 7 . The rapid prototyping method includes the steps of following: 
         [0035]    Step  801 : an object model  3 ′ of the object (as shown in  FIG. 2 ) is obtained by a calculating controller  10 , in which the obtain method is scanning or computer drafting. 
         [0036]    Step  802 : the object model  3 ′ is analyzed by the calculating controller  10  to obtain a plurality of sectional surfaces of the object model  3 ′ as the reference numbers  2   a ,  2   b , . . . ,  2   z  in  FIG. 2 , in which each sectional surfaces has outline of the sectional surface of the object as the reference numbers  22   a ,  22   b , . . . ,  22   z  in  FIG. 2  respectively. 
         [0037]    Step  803 : As shown in  FIG. 4 , a solid board  4   a  is provided and is disposed above the carrier  15 , in which the material of the solid board  4   a  is capable of heating and melting. 
         [0038]    Step  804 : one of the plurality of sectional surfaces  2   a  of the object model  3 ′ is corresponding to the hot-meltable board  4   a , and the hot-meltable board  4   a  is heated by the frame forming device  12  to heat and melt the enclosed area to form a space  40   a , and the enclosed area is enclosed by the outline  22   a  of the sectional surface  2   a  of the object model  3 ′. After the space  40   a  is formed, the liquid which is formed by heating and melting the hot-meltable board  4   a  is further drained out by the draining device  14 . 
         [0039]    Step  805 : the sectional surface  2   a  of the solid board  4   a  is determined to form a last sectional surface  2   a  of the object model  3 ′, if yes, the step  806  is performed, otherwise, the step  807  is performed. 
         [0040]    Step  806 : as shown in  FIG. 5 , a hot-meltable board  4   b  is provided and is disposed above the hot-meltable board  4   a  and the step  805  is repeated. The sectional surface of the object model  3 ′ is sequentially corresponding to the different hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  from bottom to the top respectively. For example, the hot-meltable board is sequentially stacked by the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . .  4   z , and the sectional surfaces  2   a ,  2   b , . . . ,  2   z  of the object model  3 ′ are corresponding to the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  respectively. A first area, a second area, . . . a Zth area is enclosed on the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  by each sectional surfaces  2   a ,  2   b , . . . ,  2   z  are corresponding to the outlines  22   a ,  22   b , . . . ,  22   z  of the object  3 . The enclosed first area, the enclosed second area, . . . , the enclosed Zth area are heated and melted to form a spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  respectively. 
         [0041]    Step  807 : a forming liquid  42  is filled into the spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z , in which the spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  are connected to each other and thus the forming liquid  42  can fill into all of the spaces  40   a ,  40   b , . . . ,  40   z  at a time. 
         [0042]    Step  808 : the stacked hot-meltable boards is heated to melt by the forming device  16  and the forming liquid is solidified. 
         [0043]    In above different embodiments, both the frame forming device  12  and the filling device  13  can move in three-dimensional direction and the frame forming device  12 , and the filling deice  13 , the draining device  14  and the forming device  16  are controlled to operate by the calculating controller  10 . In addition, the forming device  16  is a heating device for heating the hot-meltable board  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  on the carrier  15  and the forming liquid  4     2   ,  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  at the same time. For example, the electric calorific installation is disposed under the carrier  15  and the type of the forming device  16  is not limited in this invention. 
         [0044]    In above embodiment, when the forming liquids  42 ,  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are thermosetting material, the melting point of the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are higher than the temperature of the forming liquids  42 ,  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z . Thus, when the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  with the forming liquids  42 ,  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  therein respectively are heated, the forming liquids  42 ,  42   z ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are first solidified, and the hot-meltable board  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are then heated and melted. In one embodiment, the melting point of the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are in ranges from 60° C. to 130° C. and the solidification temperature of the forming liquids  42 ,  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are in range from 50° C. to 120° C. In addition, when the forming liquids  42 ,  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are a thermosetting colloid, the forming liquids  42 ,  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z  are solidified during the hot-meltable boards  4   a ,  4   b , . . . ,  4   z  are heated and melted and the heating process will not affect the solidified forming liquids  42 ,  42   a ,  42   b , . . . ,  42   z.    
         [0045]    According to the rapid prototyping system and the method, to compare the present invention with the current object forming device, even the calculating controller  10  is still provided a forming path for the operation of the forming element but the object is directly formed by the solid or semi-solid material thorough the current object forming device. Thus, the calculation for the formation of outer wall and material supported for each other are still required. In contrast, the present invention utilizes the liquid to fill the modeling which is formed by the board so as to the simple calculation can apply for the formation of object. 
         [0046]    According to the rapid prototyping system and method contrast to the current object forming device with solid ink stacking to form an object, the present invention heats and melts the board to form a frame and fills the forming liquid into the frame. Thus, the rapid prototyping system and method has better resolution, such as the surface is more smoothness. 
         [0047]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.