A three-dimensional printing apparatus is provided, including a container, a display, a control unit and an optical film. The container contains a photosensitive material. The display has a plurality of display units. Each of the display units is capable of emitting a light beam. The control unit is capable of controlling the display units. The optical film is capable of projecting the light beams emitted from the display units onto the photosensitive material, forming a plurality of projected patterns. An arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the projected patterns are substantially the same as an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the display units.
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0. #3# 31. A projection system for a three-dimensional printing apparatus, comprising:
a display, comprising a plurality of display units; and
a container disposed above the display and comprising a light-transparent bottom being configured to accommodate a photosensitive material, wherein the light-transparent bottom of the container has an upper surface facing the photosensitive material,
wherein each of the display units is capable of emitting light beams to the light-transparent bottom, and a distance between the display and of the upper surface of the transparent bottom of the container is less than or equal to 3 cm.
0. #3# 18. An optical assembly for a three-dimensional printing apparatus, comprising:
a container and a display, optically connected with each other, wherein
a plurality of display units are located in the display, and each of the display units is capable of emitting a light beam; and
the container is disposed above the display and comprises a light-transparent bottom being configured to accommodate a photosensitive material, wherein the light-transparent bottom of the container has an upper surface facing the photosensitive material;
wherein a distance between the display and an upper surface of the transparent bottom of the container is less than or equal to 3 cm.
0. #3# 33. A container for a three-dimensional printing apparatus comprising a display and an optical film, comprising:
a light-transparent bottom, being configured to accommodate a photosensitive material, and the light-transparent bottom of the container has an upper surface facing the photosensitive material, wherein a display is disposed under the light-transparent bottom of the container and has a plurality of display units, each of the display units being capable of emitting light beams,
wherein a single layer optical film is disposed between the display and the light-transparent bottom of the container, and the single layer optical film comprises a plurality of optical structures formed thereon and is arranged in a direction perpendicular to a transmission direction of the light beams,
wherein the light beams emitted from each of the display units pass through the single layer optical film and subsequently pass through the light-transparent bottom in a substantially parallel manner to reach a lower surface of a cured photosensitive material.
0. #3# 1. A three-dimensional printing apparatus, comprising:
a container, containing a photosensitive material;
a display, having a plurality of display units, each of the display units being capable of emitting a light beam;
a control unit, connected to the display and controlling the display units of the display; and
an optical film, disposed between the display and the container, the optical film comprising a plurality of optical structures folined thereon and arranged in a direction perpendicular to a transmission direction of the light beams, and the optical structures respectively projecting the light beams emitted from the corresponding display units onto the photosensitive material to a plurality of projected patterns, wherein an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the projected patterns are substantially the same as an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the display units, and a dimension of each of the projected patterns is substantially equal to a dimension of each of the display units, so that the projected patterns are formed as not overlapping, and a distance between the display and the upper surface of the container is less than or equal to 3 cm.
0. #3# 2. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 3. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 4. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
a work platform, dipped into the photosensitive material, capable of moving relatively with the container, wherein the work platform has a work surface;
wherein the work platform is controlled by the control unit, the control unit commands the display to display a first image during a first time and locates the work surface to a first location, the light beams emitted from the display units corresponding to the first image are projected onto a first layer of the photosensitive material between the work surface and the upper surface through the optical film, so as to cure the first layer of the photosensitive material to form a first cured layer, and the control unit commands the display to display a second image during a second time and locates the work surface to the second location, the light beams emitted from the display units corresponding to the second image are projected to a second layer of the photosensitive material between the first cured layer and the upper surface through the optical film, so as to cure the second layer of the photosensitive material to form a second cured layer.
0. #3# 5. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 6. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 7. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 8. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 9. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 10. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 11. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 12. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 13. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 14. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 15. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 16. The three-dimensional printing apparatus of
0. #3# 17. A three-dimensional printing apparatus, comprising:
a container, containing a photosensitive material;
a display, having a plurality of display units, each of the display units being capable of emitting a light beam;
a control unit, connected to the display and controlling the display units of the display; and
an optical film, disposed between the display and the container and projecting the light beams emitted from the display units onto the photosensitive material to form a plurality of projected patterns, wherein an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the projected patterns are substantially the same as an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the display units, and the projected patterns are formed as not overlapping, wherein the container has a bottom, disposed between the display and the photosensitive material, the bottom is a light-transparent bottom, the bottom of the container has an upper surface facing the photosensitive material, and a distance between the display and the upper surface of the container is less than or equal to 3 cm.
0. #3# 19. The optical assembly of claim 18, wherein the optical assembly further comprises:
a control unit, connected to the display and controlling the display units of the display; and
an optical film, comprising a plurality of optical structures formed thereon and arranged in a direction perpendicular to a transmission direction of the light beams, wherein the optical film is disposed between the display and the container and projects the light beams emitted from the display units onto the photosensitive material to form a plurality of projected patterns,
wherein an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the projected patterns are substantially the same as an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the display units, and the three-dimensional printing apparatus does not have a projection lens,
wherein a dimension of each of the projected patterns is substantially equal to a dimension of each of the display units, so that the projected patterns are formed as not overlapping.
0. #3# 20. The optical assembly of claim 19, further comprising:
a work platform, dipped into the photosensitive material, capable of moving relatively with the container, wherein the work platform has a work surface;
wherein the work platform is controlled by the control unit, the control unit is programmed to command the display to display a first image during a first time and locates the work surface to a first location, the light beams emitted from the display units corresponding to the first image are projected onto a first layer of the photosensitive material between the work surface and the upper surface through the optical film, so as to cure the first layer of the photosensitive material to form a first cured layer, and the control unit commands the display to display a second image during a second time and locates the work surface to the second location, the light beams emitted from the display units corresponding to the second image are projected to a second layer of the photosensitive material between the first cured layer and the upper surface through the optical film, so as to cure the second layer of the photosensitive material to form a second cured layer.
0. #3# 21. The optical assembly of claim 20, wherein the work surface faces the bottom, the second cured layer is located between the first cured layer and the bottom, and the first location is located between the bottom and the second location.
0. #3# 22. The optical assembly of claim 19, wherein the optical film comprises a plurality of optical structures, and each of the optical structures is aligned with at least one of the display units.
0. #3# 23. The optical assembly of claim 22, wherein an image of the display units is projected on the photosensitive material to form the projected patterns by the optical structures.
0. #3# 24. The optical assembly of claim 22, wherein each of the display units comprises at least a pixel.
0. #3# 25. The optical assembly of claim 24, wherein a size of each of the optical structures is an integer times a size of the pixel of the corresponding display unit.
0. #3# 26. The optical assembly of claim 19, wherein the optical film comprises a plurality of optical structures, and each of the display units is aligned with some of the optical structures.
0. #3# 27. The optical assembly of claim 26, wherein a size of each of the display units is an integer times a size of the corresponding optical structure.
0. #3# 28. The optical assembly of claim 19, wherein the optical film comprises a plurality of optical structures, and each of the optical structures is a lens, a cylindrical lens, a pyramidal prism or a triangular-shaped prism.
0. #3# 29. The optical assembly of claim 19, wherein the optical film is a Fresnel lens, diffusing film or a privacy filter.
0. #3# 30. The optical assembly of claim 18, wherein the light beams incident on a lower surface of a cured photosensitive material are substantially perpendicular to the lower surface of the cured photosensitive material.
0. #3# 32. The projection system of claim 31, wherein the light beams incident on a lower surface of a cured photosensitive material are substantially perpendicular to the lower surface of the cured photosensitive material.
0. #3# 34. The container of claim 33, wherein the single layer optical film projects the light beams emitted from the display units onto the photosensitive material to form a plurality of projected patterns.
0. #3# 36. The container of claim 34, wherein an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the projected patterns are substantially the same as an arranging sequence and an arranging direction of the display units.
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This application Referring again to FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C, in some embodiments, an optical assembly configured for the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100 can be formed by including the container 110 and the display 120 therein.
It is noted that, in the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100 of the embodiment, the image displayed on the display 120 is divided into multiple display units 122 for displaying, and the light beams L of the display units 122 corresponding to the image are projected onto the photosensitive material 112 to form the projected patterns through the optical film 130 in the one-to-one manner. The arranging sequence and the arranging direction of the projected patterns on the photosensitive material 112 are substantially the same as the arranging sequence and the arranging direction of the display units 122 on the display 120. In the present embodiment, a projection system configured for the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100 can be formed by including the container 110 and the display 120 comprising the display units 122 therein. Comparatively, a conventional three-dimensional device with the projection lens projects the image of the display 120 by using whole surface image-forming method via the projection lens, forming the image on the photosensitive material 112. Based on the image-forming principle, the image formed on the photosensitive material 112 is a 180 degree reversed image. Therefore, design of an image-forming distance is necessary in order to meet the image-forming requirement, thereby increasing the size of the printing device.
In the embodiment, the image displayed on the display 120 is divided into multiple display units 122, and the light beams L of the display units 122 of the display 120 corresponding to the image are projected on the photosensitive material 112 to form the projected patterns through the optical film 130 in the one-to-one manner. Since a size of each display unit 122 is smaller than the entire image, the projecting distance between the display units 122 and the photosensitive material 112 may be reduced. As a result, a required distance between the display 120 and the photosensitive material 112 may be reduced, and the size of the three-dimensional printing apparatus 100 may also be reduced. For example, in the embodiment, a distance between the display 120 and an upper surface 114a of the bottom 114 of the container 110 is less than or equal to 3 cm. On the other hand, the display 120 of the embodiment may be a liquid crystal display. Therefore, a light source of the display 120 provided for projecting may be a visible light. However, an invisible light (such as UV light) source for curing or hardening the photosensitive material 112 may also be used.
Referring to
Next, referring to
Regarding the embodiment, the work surface 140a faces the upper surface 114a of the bottom 114, the second cured layer S2 is located between the first cured layer S1 and the upper surface 114a of the bottom 114, and the first location is located between the bottom 114 and the second location. More specifically, a slicing process may be performed on the three-dimensional object, so as to divide an object into multilayer image data. The control unit 150 commands the corresponding display units 122 to display the first layer image of the object during the first time. Next, the corresponding display units 122 are commanded to display the second layer image of the object during the second time. After repeating said process for a number of times, the images of different layers are sequentially projected to the corresponding layers of photo sensitive material 112 through the optical film 130, so that the corresponding layers of the photosensitive material 112 are cured in respond to each different layer of images, such that a three-dimensional object is formed in a layer-by-layer manner.
In the embodiment, the display 120 is disposed under the bottom 114 of the container 110, so that the light beams L of the display units 122 may be emitted from bottom to top onto the photosensitive material 112 above the upper surface 114a of the bottom 114. However, the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the display 120 may also be disposed on a top of the container 110 (not illustrated), so that the light beams L of the display units 122 may be emitted from top to bottom onto the photosensitive material 112.
In the embodiment, the optical film 130 includes a plurality of optical structures 132, for projecting the light beams L emitted from the display unit 122 onto the photosensitive material 112. Several preferable embodiments are provided below to further illustrate the relative relation between the display unit 122 and the optical film 130.
Referring to
According to the embodiments in
However, in other embodiments, the size of the triangular-shaped prism or the pyramidal prism may not be an integer times the display unit 122, and the location of the triangular-shaped prism or the pyramidal prism may not have corresponding relationship with the location of the display unit 122, both are also possible.
In the embodiments of
Based on above, the three-dimensional printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the invention projects the display units of the display onto the photosensitive material through the optical film, and the arranging sequence and the arranging direction of the projected patterns are substantially the same as the arranging sequence and arranging direction of the display units. As a result, the distance between the display and the photosensitive material may be reduced, thereby reducing the size of the three-dimensional printing apparatus, and providing good effect of three-dimensional printing.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form or to exemplary embodiments disclosed. Accordingly, the foregoing description should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. The embodiments are chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its best mode practical application, thereby to enable persons skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use or implementation contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated. Therefore, the term “the invention”, “the present invention” or the like does not necessarily limit the claim scope to a specific embodiment, and the reference to particularly preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention does not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The abstract of the disclosure is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract, which will allow a searcher to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure of any patent issued from this disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Any advantages and benefits described may not apply to all embodiments of the invention. It should be appreciated that variations may be made in the embodiments described by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. Moreover, no element and component in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element or component is explicitly recited in the following claims. In addition, the terms such as “first”, “second” as recited in the specification or the claims are used to give the elements names or distinguish different embodiments or scopes, but not to limit the maximum number or the minimum number of the elements.
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