JP7616792B2 - Laser Processing Equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a laser processing device for drilling holes by irradiating a laser onto, for example, a printed circuit board.

In recent years, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, there has been a laser processing device that, when dust is generated when a substrate to be processed is irradiated with laser light, a filter panel connected to a suction unit is placed under the substrate and the dust is immediately collected by the filter panel, preventing the accumulated dust from flying up and adhering to the substrate.

However, with the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, when drilling holes in a substrate using a laser, dust generated during substrate processing cannot be adequately collected from the holes, resulting in defects in the subsequent plating process and reduced processing quality of the substrate.

JP 2011-104636 A

The present invention aims to provide a laser processing device that can sufficiently collect dust generated during laser drilling of a substrate, thereby improving processing quality.

Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, a representative laser processing apparatus has a laser unit that irradiates a laser from the surface side of a workpiece to process the workpiece, and a movable table that moves the workpiece relative to the laser unit, and is characterized in that it is equipped with an suction table that adsorbs the workpiece placed on the movable table, the suction table having holes in the same pattern as the pattern of holes to be machined in the workpiece , and an suction head that moves the workpiece after processing, the suction head being configured to send air into the holes to be machined in the workpiece .

The representative features of the invention disclosed in this application are as described above. However, features not described here are explained in the detailed description of the invention described below, and are also as set forth in the claims.

According to the present invention, when performing laser drilling on a substrate, dust generated during processing can be sufficiently collected, improving processing quality.

1 is a diagram for explaining a structure of a laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of a suction table in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a suction head in the embodiment. 11A and 11B are diagrams for explaining a workpiece carrying-out operation in the embodiment.

Below, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are given the same reference numerals and the description will be omitted.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a laser processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the laser processing device is composed of a laser processing machine 2 that uses a laser to drill holes in a workpiece 1 such as a printed circuit board, a carry-in device 3 that supplies the unprocessed workpiece 1 to the laser processing machine 2, and a carry-out device 4 that is provided at a position symmetrical to the carry-in device 3 with respect to the laser processing machine 2 and carries the processed workpiece 1 out of the laser processing machine 2. The laser processing machine 2 is provided with an XY table 5 that can move the placed workpiece 1 in the X direction (perpendicular to the paper surface) and the Y direction (left and right directions on the paper surface), a suction table 6 that is fixed on the XY table 5 and absorbs or releases the workpiece, a laser unit 7 that irradiates laser light onto each of the workpieces 1, a gate-shaped column 8 on which the laser unit 7 is provided, a bed 9 on which the XY table 5 is installed, and a control device 10 that controls the laser processing machine 2, the carry-in device 3, and the carry-out device 4. The laser processing machine 2, the carry-in device 3, and the carry-out device 4 are arranged in the Y direction.

The loading device 3 comprises a suction head 11a for suctioning or releasing the workpiece 1, a lifter 12a for raising and lowering the suction head 11a, a slider 13a to which the lifter 12a is fixed, a guide rail 14a for guiding the slider 13a, and a stocker 15a on which the workpiece 1 to be machined is loaded. The suction head 11a is movable in the Y direction. Above the stocker 15a, the suction head 11a and a lifter 12a for moving the suction head 11a in the Z direction on the paper surface are arranged. When the workpiece 1 before machining is moved from the stocker 15a to the XY table 5, the workpiece 1, the XY table 5, the suction head 11a, and the stocker 15a are arranged in a straight line in the Y direction.

On the other hand, the discharge device 4 comprises a suction head 11b for suctioning or releasing the workpiece 1, a lifter 12b for raising and lowering the suction head 11b, a slider 13b to which the lifter 12b is fixed, a guide rail 14b for guiding the slider 13b, and a stocker 15b on which the workpiece 1 to be machined is loaded. The suction head 11b is movable in the Y direction. Above the stocker 15b, the suction head 11b and a lifter 12b for moving the suction head 11b in the Z direction on the paper surface are arranged. When the machined workpiece 1 is moved from the XY table 5 to the stocker 15b, the workpiece 1, the XY table 5, the suction head 11b, and the stocker 15b are arranged in a straight line in the Y direction.

Figure 2 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the suction table 6. Figure 2(a) shows a plan view of the suction table 6, and Figure 2(b) shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in Figure 2(a).

In FIG. 2, the suction through hole 16 is connected to the hollow portion 17 and sucks the vicinity of the periphery of the workpiece 1. The hollow portion 17 is connected to the suction duct 18, which is connected to the pressure reducer 20 via a pipe 19. The pressure reducer 20 connected to the suction duct 18 is controlled by the control device 10. The dust collection through holes 21 are connected to the hollow portion 22 and are arranged corresponding to the positions of the holes to be machined from the center to the periphery of the workpiece 1 (one dust collection through hole 21 is provided for one hole to be machined. In other words, the dust collection through holes 21 are provided in the same pattern as the pattern of the holes to be machined in the workpiece 1), so that the cutting chips of the holes to be machined fall into the hollow portion 22 through the dust collection through hole 21, and the diameter of the through hole is about 1.1 times the diameter of the hole to be machined. The hollow portion 22 is connected to the dust collection duct 23, which is connected to the dust collector 25 via a pipe 24. The dust collector 25 is controlled by the control device 10. The suction table 6 is composed of an upper suction table 6a and a lower suction table 6b, and the upper suction table 6a is replaceable depending on the pattern of holes to be machined in the workpiece 1. A different upper suction table 6a is prepared for each pattern to be machined in the workpiece 1, and is replaced when a different pattern is to be machined in the workpiece 1. Therefore, there is no need to replace the entire suction table 6, making it possible to reduce production costs.

Figure 3 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the suction head 11b. A plan view of the suction head 11b is shown in Figure 3(a), a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in Figure 3(a) is shown in Figure 3(b), and a bottom view is shown in Figure 3(c).

In Figure 3, the arrows in Figure 3(b) indicate the flow of air, and the suction through-hole 26 is connected to a hollow portion 27 and sucks the vicinity of the periphery of the workpiece 1 through an opening 28. A suction duct 29 is connected to the hollow portion 27, and a pressure reducer 31 is connected to the suction duct 29 via a pipe 30.

The air supply through hole 32 is connected to the hollow portion 33 and injects air to the workpiece 1 through the opening 34. The hollow portion 33 is connected to the air supply duct 35, and the air supply duct 35 is connected to the compressor 37 through the piping 36. When the suction head 11b suctions the workpiece 1, the opening 34 covers the entire area (machining area) where holes are machined in the workpiece 1, and the ejected air passes through all the machined holes in the machined workpiece 1 to the dust collection through hole 21 of the suction table 6. The pressure reducer 31 connected to the suction duct 29 and the compressor 37 connected to the air supply duct 36 are controlled by the control device 10. In addition, in FIG. 3(a), the piping 30, the pressure reducer 31, the piping 36, and the compressor 37 are omitted from the illustration to avoid the drawing becoming unclear.

Next, the operation of the laser processing device will be explained based on the operation explanatory diagram in Figure 4.

The control device 10 controls the loading device 3 to place the unmachined workpiece 1 placed on the stocker 15a on the suction table 6 of the XY table 5, and operates the pressure reducer 20 (FIG. 4(a)). Then, the suction through hole 16, the hollow portion 17, and the duct 18 become negative pressure, and the workpiece 1 is suctioned to the suction table 6. The negative pressure at this time is a negative pressure that does not cause the workpiece 1 to be sucked into the suction through hole 16 and deform, and is a suction negative pressure that does not cause the workpiece 1 to be displaced when laser-machined by the laser unit 7. Next, the dust collector 25 is operated. Then, the dust collection through hole 21, the hollow portion 22, and the dust collection duct 23 become negative pressure. The negative pressure at this time is a negative pressure that does not cause the workpiece 1 to be sucked into the dust collection through hole 21 and deform, and is a suction negative pressure that does not cause the workpiece 1 to be displaced when laser-machined by the laser unit 7.

The control device 10 controls the laser unit 7 to machine a through hole 38 in the workpiece 1 (FIG. 4(b)). Because the dust collection through hole 21, the hollow portion 22, and the dust collection duct 23 are under negative pressure, the chips cut off from the workpiece 1 fall as if being sucked into the dust collection through hole 21, and are collected in the dust collector 25 through the hollow portion 22 and the dust collection duct 23 (FIG. 4(c)). In addition, when a hole is machined in the workpiece 1, the dust collection through hole 21 is sequentially opened, which may make it difficult to adsorb the workpiece 1, but the workpiece 1 is adsorbed by the adsorption through hole 16, and the position is hardly shifted during laser processing.

When the laser processing by the laser unit 7 is completed, the control device 10 moves the suction head 11b to abut against the laser irradiated surface of the processed workpiece 1 (Fig. 4(d)). After that, air is sprayed from the opening 34 to cause the chips remaining in the through-hole 38 to fall into the dust collection through-hole 21, and suction is started from the opening 28 to suction the peripheral portion of the laser irradiated surface of the workpiece 1 (Fig. 4(e)). Note that the arrows in Fig. 4(e) indicate the flow of air.

When the air injection into the through hole 38 is completed, the control device 10 finishes suctioning the suction through hole 16 and the dust collection through hole 21, then raises the suction head 11b (Figure 4(f)) and places the workpiece 1 on the stocker 15b of the discharge device 4.

According to the above embodiment, the chips remaining in the through hole 38 machined in the work 1 are collected from the dust collection through hole 21, so that defects in the subsequent plating process can be prevented and the processing quality can be improved. In addition, air is sprayed from the air supply through hole 32 through the opening 34 to the machined through hole 38, so that even if chips remain in the through hole 38 due to dust collection by the suction table 6, the remaining chips can be dropped into the dust collection through hole 21, so that defects in the subsequent plating process can be prevented and the processing quality can be improved. Furthermore, by providing the suction table 6 or the suction head 11b with a mechanism for collecting chips remaining in the through hole 38 machined in the work 1, there is no need to provide a device for collecting chips remaining in the machined through hole 38 separately from the laser processing machine, so that the cost of the entire device can be reduced. In addition, since the dust collection process can be incorporated into a part of the carrying-out process, the process can be shortened compared to the case where a separate dust collection device is provided, and the processing efficiency can be improved.

The present invention has been described above based on examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention, and various variations are included.

1: Workpiece 2: Laser processing machine 3: Loading device 4: Unloading device 5: XY table 6: Suction table 7: Laser unit 8: Gate-type column 9: Bed 10: Control device 11a, 11b: Suction head 12a, 12b: Lifter 13a, 13b: Slider 14a, 14b: Guide rail 15a, 15b: Stocker

Claims (1)

A laser processing apparatus having a laser unit that irradiates a laser to process a workpiece and a moving table that moves the workpiece relative to the laser unit,
a suction table for suctioning the workpiece placed on the moving table, the suction table having holes in the same pattern as the holes to be machined in the workpiece ;
A laser processing device comprising : a suction head for moving the workpiece after processing, the suction head being configured to feed air into a hole being machined in the workpiece .

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