Patent Publication Number: US-2017361404-A1

Title: Deposition apparatus and deposition method

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 105119326, filed Jun. 20, 2016, which is herein incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a deposition apparatus and a deposition method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a direct deposition apparatus and a direct deposition method. 
     Description of Related Art 
     A direct metal deposition (DMD) technique is a laser technology, which can be used to manufacture high precise molds and high precise components, and also can be applied to modification, or tool and component repairing. Currently, a common direct metal deposition technique focuses an industrial laser beam on a substrate of a work piece to form a melted bath in the substrate of the work piece, and a metal powder is injected into the melted bath by using nozzles around the industrial laser. During the process, a control system removes the laser beam according to a predetermined geometrical pattern, the laser beam in removing melts the metal particles/powder into liquid metal, and the liquid metal is directly deposited on the substrate of the work piece to form a desired component. 
     In such a direct metal deposition technique, because the nozzles are the components for delivering the metal particles/powder to the melted bath, the nozzles have a direct effect on a metallurgical property of the deposition layera deposition efficiency, uniformity and accuracy of the deposition process, and brightness and cleanness of a surface of the deposition layer. Therefore, the nozzles are very critical components in the deposition apparatus. 
     However, the nozzles of the existing deposition apparatus have very low efficiency on depositing and laser melting procedures of the metal particles/powder, and the metal particles/powder are easily deposited by using the nozzles to result in waste of the material. In addition, the current laser direct metal deposition technique typically uses a high power laser, and manufacturing cost of the high power laser is very expensive, thus resulting in high cost of the laser direct deposition processing. 
     Therefore, a direct deposition apparatus and a direct deposition method, which can effectively decrease spattering of liquid metal and a metal powder, and can reduce waste of the material, and have low cost and high efficiency, are needed in the field. 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, one objective of the present invention is to provide a deposition apparatus and a deposition method, which uses various lasers to simultaneously emit various laser beams toward a material supplied by an accommodating element. The deposition material can be applied with various laser beams simultaneously, such that the deposition material can be successfully melted into a deposition liquid without using a high power laser, and the cost of the laser can be greatly decreased, thereby reducing cost of a direct deposition process. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a deposition apparatus and a deposition method, which can use a metal welding rod to replace metal particles or powder, such that a spatter problem of the metal particles or powder can be solved, thereby increasing utilization of the deposition material, reducing waste of the deposition material, increasing uniformity and accuracy of depositing, and enhancing brightness and cleanness of a surface of a deposition layer. 
     According to the aforementioned objectives, the present invention provides a deposition apparatus. The deposition apparatus includes an accommodating element, a plurality of lasers, and a carrier. The accommodating element is configured to accommodate a material. The lasers are disposed at a periphery of the accommodating element, and are configured to simultaneously emit a plurality of laser beams toward the material to melt the material into a deposition liquid. The carrier is disposed under the accommodating element and the lasers, and is configured to carry the deposition liquid. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the material is a welding rod, and the accommodating element is a clamp and is suitable to hold the welding rod. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the material is a powder, and the accommodating element is a nozzle and is suitable to jet the powder. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the accommodating element is a movable device, and is suitable to move in relation to the carrier. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the carrier is a movable device, and is suitable to move in relation to the accommodating element. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, powers of the lasers range from about 30 W to about 1000 W. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the lasers are equidistantly disposed at the periphery of the accommodating element. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the deposition apparatus further includes a cover which is configured to cover the accommodating element and the lasers. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the deposition apparatus further includes a charge-coupled device (CCD) which is disposed on the accommodating element and is configured to monitor the deposition liquid. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the deposition apparatus further includes at least one gas nozzle, in which a bottom of the accommodating element has a material supplying hole, the at least one gas nozzle is disposed on the bottom of the accommodating element and is located outside the material supplying hole, and the at least one gas nozzle is configured to jet an inert gas to form a gas wall surrounding the material supplying hole. 
     According to the aforementioned objectives, the present invention further provides a deposition method. In this method, a material is supplied by using a material supplying hole in a bottom of an accommodating element. A plurality of laser beams are emitted toward the material simultaneously under the bottom of the accommodating element to melt the material into a deposition liquid. The deposition liquid is carried by using a carrier. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the material is a welding rod, the accommodating element is a clamp, and the welding rod is held in the material supplying hole. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the material is a powder, the accommodating element is a nozzle, and the powder is jetted from the material supplying hole. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, emitting laser beams toward the material simultaneously includes using a plurality of lasers to emit the laser beams, and powers of the lasers range from about 30 W to about 1000 W. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the lasers are disposed at a periphery of the accommodating element, and are equidistantly disposed at the periphery. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the deposition method further includes using a cover to cover the accommodating element and the lasers. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, supplying the material includes using at least one nozzle to jet an inert gas to form a gas wall surrounding the material supplying hole. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, carrying the deposition liquid by using the carrier includes moving the carrier in relation to the accommodating element according to a predetermined pattern. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, carrying the deposition liquid by using the carrier includes moving the accommodating element in relation to the carrier according to a predetermined pattern. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, carrying the deposition liquid by using the carrier includes using a charge-coupled device to monitor the deposition liquid. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing of a deposition apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom view showing an accommodating element and lasers of a deposition apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a deposition method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing of a deposition apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 2  is a bottom view showing an accommodating element and lasers of a deposition apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a deposition apparatus  100  may be a direct deposition apparatus, which can melt a deposition material and directly deposit the melted deposition material onto an object. In some examples, the deposition apparatus  100  may mainly include an accommodating element  102 , a plurality of lasers  104  and a carrier  106 . 
     The accommodating element  102  is mainly configured to accommodate and supply a material  108  for depositing. For example, the material  108  may be metal, or a combination of metal and nonmetal. As shown in  FIG. 2 , a bottom  110  of the accommodating element  102  may have a material supplying hole  112 . In some examples, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the material  108  may be a welding rod, and the accommodating element  102  is a clamp, such that the accommodating element  102  can hold the welding rod in the material supplying hole  112 . The welding rod may be, for example, a metal welding rod. When the material  108  is a welding rod, a spatter problem of the powder material can be solved, such that utilization of the material  108  can be increased, waste of the material  108  can be reduced, uniformity and accuracy of the deposition can be enhanced, and brightness and cleanness of a surface of a deposition layer can be increased. 
     In some examples, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the deposition apparatus  100  may optionally include one or more gas nozzles  114 . In addition, the gas nozzles  114  are disposed on the bottom  110  of the accommodating element  102  and are located outside the material supplying hole  112 . For example, the deposition apparatus  100  may include various gas nozzles  114 , and the gas nozzles  114  are arranged around the material supplying hole  112 . The gas nozzles  114  may be arranged equidistantly, or may be arranged unequidistantly. Sizes of the gas nozzles  114  may be the same, or may be different. In addition, shapes of the gas nozzles  114  may be the same, or may be different. In some certain examples, the deposition apparatus  100  may only include one gas nozzle  114 , and the gas nozzle  114  may have a circular shape and surround the material supplying hole  112 . The gas nozzles  114  may jet inert gas to form a gas wall surrounding the material supplying hole  112 . 
     Because the gas nozzles  114  are set, in some certain examples, the material  108  may use a powder, the accommodating element  102  is a nozzle, and the accommodating element  102  can jet the powder from the material supplying hole  112  in the bottom  110 . For example, the powder may be a metal powder. The gas wall formed by the inert gas jetted from the gas nozzles  114  not only can guide the flow of the jetted material  108  in the form of the powder to prevent the material  108  in the form of the powder from spattering everywhere, but also can guide a dripping direction of a deposition liquid formed by melting the material  108  and cool the deposition liquid. Accordingly, a contamination problem caused by the spattering of the material  108  can be improved, utilization of the material  108  can be increased, accuracy of the deposition process can be enhanced, and the deposition efficiency can be increased. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  again, the lasers  104  are disposed at a periphery  116  of the accommodating element  102 , in which the periphery  116  of the accommodating element  102  is represented by a dotted line in  FIG. 2 . The lasers  104  can simultaneously emit laser beams  118  toward the material  108  supplied from the material supplying hole  112  in the bottom  110  of the accommodating element  102 . The laser beams  118  are simultaneously emitted to the material  108 , such that the energy of the laser beams  118  heats the material  108  together. Thus, the material  108  can be successfully melted into a deposition liquid by using low power lasers, such as the lasers  104 . For example, the powers of the laser  104  may range from about 30 W to about 1000 W. The powers of the lasers  104  may be all the same; portions of the powers of the lasers  104  may be the same, and the other portions of the powers of the lasers  104  may be different; or the powers of the lasers  104  may be different from each other. In some examples, the lasers  104  may be equidistantly disposed at the periphery  116  of the accommodating element  102 , such that the material  108  can be heated more uniformly. Of course, in other examples, the lasers  104  may be unequidistantly disposed at the periphery  116  of the accommodating element  102 . 
     With the lasers  104 , various laser beams can be emitted to the material  108  simultaneously, such that it is unnecessary to use a high power laser, and thus the cost of the lasers  104  can be greatly reduced, thereby decreasing the cost of the direct deposition process. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the carrier  106  is disposed under the accommodating element  102  and the lasers  104 , and may carry a deposition liquid which is formed after the material  108  is melted by the laser beams  118  emitted from the lasers  104 . The deposition liquid deposited on carrier  106  is solidified to form a deposition object  120  on the carrier  106 . The accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106  may move in relation to each other. In some examples, the accommodating element  102  is a movable device, and the carrier  106  is an immovable device, such that the accommodating element  102  can move in relation to the carrier  106 . In various examples, the carrier  106  is a movable device, and the accommodating element  102  is an immovable device, such that the carrier  106  can move in relation to the accommodating element  102 . In some certain examples, both the accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106  are movable devices, and the accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106  can move in relation to each other according to requirements of the deposition process. 
     In the present embodiment, the accommodating element  102 , the carrier  106 , or the accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106  of the deposition apparatus  100  may be connected to a control positioning system, such as a computer numeric control (CNC) system. During the deposition process, the control positioning system removes the accommodating element  102 , the carrier  106 , or the accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106  according to a structure pattern to be deposited, to adjust the relative position of the accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106 , such that the deposition liquid is deposited on the carrier  106  according to the structure pattern. 
     In some examples, referring to  FIG. 1  again, the deposition apparatus  100  may optionally include a cover  122 . The cover  122  covers the accommodating element  102  and the lasers  104  to prevent the material  108  or the deposition liquid from spattering, so as to prevent from contaminating or damaging external apparatus, or damaging workers, and to reduce the influence of the external air on the deposition process. In some examples, such as shown in  FIG. 1 , there is a gap between a lower edge of the cover  122  and the carrier  106  to facilitate the inert gas jetted by the gas nozzles  114  to exhaust out of the cover  122 . While the inert gas is exhausted out of the cover  122 , an un-melted portion of the material  108 , such as the powder, can be carried out of the cover  122 . 
     In some examples, the deposition apparatus  100  may optionally include a monitor device, such as a charge-coupled device  124 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the charge-coupled device  124  is disposed on the accommodating element  102 . During the deposition process, the online workers can use the charge-coupled device  124  to monitor that whether there is something wrong with the deposition process or not. For example, the charge-coupled device  124  may be used to monitor the dripping position of the deposition liquid. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a deposition method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. A deposition method of the present embodiment may be a direct deposition method, which may be performed by using the deposition apparatus  100  in the aforementioned embodiment. In some examples, a step  200  may be firstly performed to supply a material  108  by using a material supplying hole  112  in a bottom  110  of an accommodating element  102  of the deposition apparatus  100 . In some examples, the material  108  is a welding rod, and the accommodating element  102  is a clamp, such that the accommodating element  102  supplies the material  108  by holding the welding rod in the material supplying hole  112 . In some certain examples, the material  108  is a powder, and the accommodating element  102  is a nozzle, such that the accommodating element  102  can jet and supply the powder from the material supplying hole  112  in the bottom  110 . In some exemplary examples, in the supplying of the material  108 , gas nozzles  114  disposed in the bottom  110  of the accommodating element  102  may be used to jet inert gas, so as to form a gas wall surrounding the material supplying hole  112 . In the examples that the material  108  is a powder, the gas wall formed by the inert gas jetted from the gas nozzles  114  can guide the jetted flow of the powder to prevent the material  108  in the form of the powder from spattering everywhere. Thus, the gas nozzles  114  are preferably arranged equidistantly to provide a uniformly-distributed gas flow. 
     Next, a step  202  may be performed to use the lasers  104  of the deposition apparatus  100  to simultaneously emit laser beams  118  toward the material  108 , so as to simultaneously use the laser beams  118  to melt the material  108  into a deposition liquid while the material  108  is supplied. The method emits various laser beams  118  toward the material  108  simultaneously, and the energy of the laser beams  118  heats the material  108  together, such that the material  108  can be successfully melted into a deposition liquid by using low power lasers as the lasers  104 . Thus, it is unnecessary to use a high power laser in the method. In some exemplary examples, the powers of the laser  104  may range from about 30 W to about 1000 W. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the lasers  104  may be preferably disposed at the periphery  116  of the accommodating element  102  equidistantly, such that the material  108  can be heated more uniformly. Of course, in other examples, the lasers  104  may be unequidistantly disposed at the periphery  116  of the accommodating element  102 . 
     Then, a step  204  may be performed to use a carrier  106  of the deposition apparatus  100  to carry the melted and dripping deposition liquid. The deposition liquid is solidified to form a deposition object  120  on the carrier  106 . In the deposition apparatus  100 , the accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106  may move in relation to each other. In addition, the accommodating element  102 , the carrier  106 , or the accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106  of the deposition apparatus  100  may be connected to a control positioning system, such as a computer numeric control system. In some examples, the accommodating element  102  is a movable device, and the carrier  106  is an immovable device, such that when the carrier  106  is used to carry the deposition liquid, the accommodating element  102  can be removed in relation to the carrier  106  by using the control positioning system according to a predetermined pattern, so as to deposit the deposition liquid on the carrier  106  according to the predetermined pattern. In some examples, the carrier  106  is a movable device, and the accommodating element  102  is an immovable device, such that when the carrier  106  is used to carry the deposition liquid, the carrier  106  can be removed in relation to the accommodating element  102  by using the control positioning system according to a predetermined pattern. In some examples, both the accommodating element  102  and the carrier  106  are movable devices, and when the carrier  106  is used to carry the deposition liquid, the accommodating element  102  and/or the carrier  106  can be removed by using the control positioning system according to a predetermined pattern. 
     In some exemplary examples, when the carrier  106  is used to carry the deposition liquid, a charge-coupled device  124  of the deposition apparatus  100  may be optionally used to monitor that whether there is something wrong with the deposition liquid during the deposition process or not. For example, the charge-coupled device  124  may be used to monitor the dripping position of the deposition liquid. 
     In the present embodiment, when the deposition apparatus  100  is used to perform the deposition process, a cover  122  may be optionally used to cover the accommodating element  102  and the lasers  104  to prevent the material  108  or the deposition liquid from spattering, so as to prevent from contaminating or damaging external apparatus, or damaging workers, and to reduce the influence of the external air on the deposition process. In some examples, such as shown in  FIG. 1 , there is a gap between a lower edge of the cover  122  and the carrier  106 , such that the inert gas jetted by the gas nozzles  114  can be exhausted out of the cover  122  through the gap between the cover  122  and the carrier  106 . While the inert gas is exhausted out of the cover  122 , an un-melted portion of the material  108  can be carried out of the cover  122 . 
     According to the aforementioned embodiments, one advantage of the present invention is that a deposition apparatus and a deposition method of the present invention use various lasers to simultaneously emit various laser beams toward a material supplied by an accommodating element. The deposition material can be applied with various laser beams simultaneously, such that the deposition material can be successfully melted into a deposition liquid without using a high power laser, and the cost of the laser can be greatly decreased, thereby reducing the cost of a direct deposition process. 
     According to the aforementioned embodiments, another advantage of the present invention is that a deposition apparatus and a deposition method of the present invention can use a metal welding rod to replace metal particles or powder, such that a spatter problem of the metal particles or powder can be solved, thereby increasing utilization of the deposition material, reducing waste of the deposition material, increasing uniformity and accuracy of depositing, and enhancing brightness and cleanness of a surface of a deposition layer. 
     Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, the foregoing embodiments of the present invention are illustrative of the present invention rather than limiting of the present invention. It will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.