JPS5933077B2 - How to position items - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a positioning method for sequentially processing a plurality of articles of similar shape.

Sequential positioning of articles of similar shape and size is often performed in mass production, but positioning for processing that does not require moderate precision is performed manually using a simple jig or the like.

However, when precision is required, for example when welding with a laser beam with a very small spot diameter, positioning is performed using a microscope. To briefly describe this with reference to FIG. 1, a processing laser beam 2 oscillated from a laser oscillator 1 is deflected at right angles by a reflecting mirror 3 and is applied to the butt portion of an article 6 consisting of members 4 and 5 to be welded. 6a is focused by a focusing lens 7, and a focal point 8 is connected to the abutting portion 6a.
Welding is done along the

In general, for positioning in this case, a detection laser beam 10 is emitted from the laser oscillator 1 coaxially with the processing laser beam 2, and is focused 11 on the abutting portion 6a. While inspecting this using the microscope 12, the part 6 is inspected along the butt portion 6a.
The position is determined by moving the The above-mentioned positioning method has the advantage of being highly accurate, and since it does not use a contact jig, there is no negative effect caused by splashes from laser processing adhering to the jig, but it takes a lot of time to position. However, there were major inconveniences such as eye strain for workers and the inability to automate the process. The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, and includes a detection laser oscillator that irradiates a detection laser beam to an article to be positioned, and a detection laser oscillator that irradiates a predetermined part of the article that has been positioned in advance. A light receiving device is provided at a position where the reception of the reflected light is maximum at the same time, and the detection laser beam is irradiated onto the part to be positioned and the object to be positioned is moved. Positioning is done by scanning the object with a beam and maximizing the incident light on the light receiving device, and it is easy to automate.
Furthermore, this positioning method uses a highly accurate laser beam.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is based on the same process as the conventional example shown in FIG. This is an application of the invented method.

Components that are the same as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed explanations will be omitted. The device used to implement the present invention includes a detection laser oscillator 14 that oscillates a detection laser beam 13, a reflector 15 that deflects this laser beam 13, and an abutting member 4.
, 5, and a focusing lens 16 that focuses the detection laser beam 13 on the upper surface 6b (hereinafter referred to as a predetermined portion) of the abutting portion 6a of the article 6. An XY table 18 that is movable in the Y direction. A drive device 19 consisting of a pulse motor that drives this XY table 18 and a detection laser beam 13
The light receiving device 21 includes a built-in photoelectric element that receives reflected light 20, and a control device 22 that controls the driving device 19 based on the output from the light receiving device 21. Next, an embodiment of the method of the present invention will be explained along with its operation.

An article 6 constructed by abutting two members 4 and 5 to be abutted is placed on an XY table 18, and a laser beam for adjusting the optical axis from the laser oscillator 1 is applied to the abutting portion 6a.
The upper surface, that is, a predetermined portion 6b, is positioned on the optical axis of the processing laser beam, and the lens 7 is adjusted so that the processing laser beam focuses 8 on the predetermined portion 6b. This adjustment is performed using a microscope as shown in FIG. Article 6
The positioning in the Y direction, that is, the direction in which the abutting portion 6a0 extends, is determined by an abutment jig (not shown). In this state, if the XY table 18 is sent in the Y direction (direction perpendicular to the drawing), the specified welding can be performed.
is the positioned state referred to in this specification. Next, the detection laser beam 13 is irradiated onto the predetermined portion 6b, and the focal point 11 is focused on the predetermined portion 6b by adjusting the lens 16.
This detection laser beam 13 is generally reflected normally on the surface of the article 6, but since the predetermined portion 6b is an abutting surface, the reflected light becomes scattered light. The light receiving device 21 is attached at a position to receive a portion 20 of the scattered light. At this time, a position off the normal reflected optical path is selected. The output of the light receiving device 21 installed in this manner is as shown in FIG. That is, the horizontal axis represents the position of the predetermined portion 6b, and the vertical axis represents the amount of received scattered light. Curve 25 is the positioned article 6
This shows the change in the amount of received light (change in the output of the light receiving device 21) when the pointer is moved back and forth in the x direction (arrow 17 direction in Figure 2) from that position, and the predetermined portion 6b coincides with the focal point 11. If the point is a predetermined point 26 on the horizontal axis, all of the reflected light here becomes scattered light, so although the light receiving device 21 is provided at a position deviating from the normal reflection optical path, the amount of light received is large.

However, as the distance from the front and rear increases, the scattered light changes to normal reflected light, and the amount of light received decreases significantly. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the curve becomes a curve having a maximum value at the predetermined point 26.
After adjusting the light receiving device 21 as described above and adjusting the device, the article 6 is processed by the laser beam 2 from the laser oscillator 1.
I met Yoji Raku.

The article 6 that has been processed is removed and the article 6 to be processed next is placed on the XY table 18. XY table 1
Assuming that 8 is at the left end, it is moved to the right along the X direction. At the same time, a detection laser beam 13 illuminates the article 6, but focuses 11 on the member 5 and undergoes normal reflection.
Therefore, the input to the light receiving device 21 is small, and the feeding control device 2
In response to the command No. 2, the drive device 19 continues to move the XY table 18 to the right. When the predetermined portion 6b comes to the focal point 11 due to movement, the reflected light rapidly changes to scattered light, so the output of the light receiving device 21 reaches its maximum.The control device 22 detects this and immediately controls the driving device 19. Stop the pulse motor
Stop the table 18. In this position, the butt part 6
a coincides with the focal point 8 of the processing laser beam 2, and the positioning is completed. After that, the article 6 is moved in the Y direction at the same time as the processing laser beam 2 is irradiated? A meeting will take place. FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment.

An article 32 consisting of a plate member 30 with a rectangular cross section and a round bar member 31 is placed on the XY table 18 . In this embodiment, the abutting portion 32a of these two members 30 and 31 is processed using the laser beam 2. This is a positioning method in the contacting process. As in the first embodiment, the mutual relationship between the article 32 and the processing laser beam 2 is adjusted in advance so that the processing laser beam 2 focuses 8 on the 6 abutting portions 32a. In other words, it is placed in a positioned state. Then detection laser beam 1
3 is parallel to the processing laser beam 2, for example, at an interval d, and focused on a predetermined portion 32b of the article 32, in this embodiment, the upper arcuate portion of the round bar-shaped member 31. Since this detection laser and beam 13 are regularly reflected and become reflected light 33, a light receiving device 21 is provided on this optical path. In this state, the amount of light received by the light receiving device 21 changes as shown in FIG. 5 as the XY table 18 moves back and forth in the X direction. That is, when the vertical axis represents the amount of light incident on the light receiving device 21 and the horizontal axis represents the position of the predetermined portion 32b in the x direction, the relationship between the two becomes a curve 34. The abutting portion 32a is the focal point 8
If the position of the predetermined part 32b on the horizontal axis at a position that coincides with the point 35 is a point 35, the amount of incident light corresponding to this will be maximum because the light receiving device 21 is on the optical path of the reflected light 33.For example, when the article 32 is placed at one point When the detection laser beam 13 is moved to the position 36 indicated by the chain line, the position of the focal point 11 of the detection laser beam 13 does not change, so the light is not reflected at the predetermined portion 32b and becomes reflected light 37. The light receiving device 21 is not on the reflected optical path and is incident The amount of light decreases significantly. Therefore, the curve 34 reaches a maximum at a point 35 and rapidly decreases before and after that. In this embodiment, after the light receiving device 21 is installed in this manner, the processing laser beam system and the detection laser beam system are fixed and positioning is performed. First, the XY table 18 is positioned on the left side of the figure in the X direction, and the article 32 to be newly positioned is placed thereon. Thereafter, while irradiating the detection laser beam 13, the XY table 18 is moved to the right in the figure in the X direction by the control device 22 and the drive device 19. Due to this movement), when the predetermined portion 32b of the article 32 approaches the focal point 11 of the detection laser beam 13, the amount of light incident on the light receiving device 21 changes as shown by the curve 34 in FIG. 5, and reaches a maximum value. The control device detects this and orders the drive device 19 to stop, completing the positioning. At this position, the focal point 8 of the processing laser beam 2 is focused on the abutting portion 32a. Next, an example of laser beam processing of a thin plate will be described.

For example, it is applicable when drilling a hole in the end surface 42 of a thin plate 41 using the processing laser beam 2 as shown in FIG. 6A, or when attaching a plate member 43 to the end surface 42 as shown in FIG. This is what I did. FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment.

This is a stopper for aligning the optical axis 2a of the laser beam 2 with the center of the end surface 42. A predetermined portion 41b, which is the center of the end face 42, is aligned in advance with the optical axis 2a of the detection laser beam 13, which is coaxial with the optical axis of the processing laser beam 2. That is, the article 41 is positioned and the reflected light 3 of the detection laser beam 13 is
3 is deflected in the right angle direction by a semi-transparent mirror 44, and the lens 4
5, the light is condensed and incident on the light receiving device 21. In this state, when the article 41 is slightly moved back and forth along the X direction 17 as in the previous embodiment, the relationship between the output of the light receiving device 21 and the position in the X direction is as shown in FIG. Become.
As shown in FIG. 8A, the detection laser beam 1 is
3, the intensity distribution of the reflected light becomes a Gaussian distribution curve 45, as shown at the top of the figure. Therefore, when the XY table moves back and forth, the output of the light receiving device 21 becomes maximum when the center line 42a of the end face 42 and the optical axis 2a coincide. Next, the article 41 to be newly positioned is
When placed on the Y table 18 and moved from →l in the X direction 17 to the other side according to a command from the control device 22, the output of the light receiving device 21 gradually increases and reaches a maximum value. The control device 22 detects this point and stops the movement of the XY table 18. At this position, the predetermined positioning is completed. FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment.

In this embodiment, the detection laser beam 13
A light receiving device 21 is provided at a position to receive the scattered light 20 when the edge 41b, that is, a predetermined region is irradiated,
In addition, as shown in FIG. 10, the focal point 8 of the processing laser beam 2
The distance between the object 41 and the focal point 11 of the detection laser beam 13 is
The thickness is set to 1/2 of the thickness t. With this configuration, the article 41 is moved from one side to the other along the X direction 17, and the local maximum value of the output of the light receiving device 21 is detected and positioned, as in the previous embodiment. FIG. 11 shows a fifth embodiment.

The detection laser beam 13 is projected perpendicularly onto the side surface 48 of the article 41 through a semi-transparent mirror 44, and the reflected light 33 is reflected through a lens 49.
, 50, the light is convergently incident on the light receiving device 21. In this case as well, the output of the light receiving device 21 changes as the article 41 moves back and forth, and the detection laser beam 13 is focused on the side surface 48, forming a curve with a maximum value at the position. The predetermined positioning is done in the same manner as in the previous embodiment. In the above embodiment, the case of laser processing has been described, but it is not limited to this and may be used for positioning in other processing, and the processing laser beam 2 and detection laser beam 13 are fixed, , 41 has been shown, but it is of course also possible to fix the articles 6, 32, 41 and position them by scanning each laser beam 2, 13 (using a deflection device). It is.

Furthermore, the detection sensitivity may be adjusted by adjusting the beam diameter (by moving the lens 16) and adjusting the aperture 51 of the light receiving device 21. As described in detail above, the article positioning method using a laser beam of the present invention uses a laser beam for position detection, so the beam diameter, light intensity, and directionality can be adjusted with high precision. Highly accurate positioning is possible by detecting regular reflected light.

Furthermore, since it is easy to separate light of wavelengths other than the detection light, the detection of the maximum value of the amount of human light is accurate without malfunction, and furthermore, it has various excellent effects such as being easy to automate.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view of the conventional positioning method, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is the relationship between the amount of human light and the movement of the article in the first embodiment. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the second embodiment of the method of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram of the relationship between the amount of human light and the movement of the article in the second embodiment, and FIG. Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the third embodiment of the method of the present invention, and Fig. 8 A and 8 show the main points of the third embodiment described above. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the fourth embodiment of the method of the present invention, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the main part of the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 11 is a fifth embodiment of the method of the present invention. FIG. 6, 32, 41... Goods, 6b, 32b, 41
b... Predetermined portion, 13... Detection laser beam, 20, 33... Reflected light, 21...
...Light receiving device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A positioning method for sequentially placing and processing a plurality of articles with similar shapes and dimensions at predetermined positions, in which the detection is performed when a detection laser beam irradiates a predetermined part of the article that has been positioned in advance. A light receiving device is provided at a position where the incidence of reflected light of the laser beam is maximum, and the detection laser beam is irradiated onto the article to be positioned, and the article is moved relative to the detection laser beam to receive the light. A method for positioning an article, characterized by maximizing the above-mentioned incidence on the device.