JPS633473B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an invisible laser path visualization device for visualizing the path of an invisible laser in a laser processing machine or the like using a high-power laser.

Conventionally, this type of equipment uses a high-power invisible light laser for processing (for example, as shown in Figure 1).
A semi-transparent mirror b is provided in the path of the CO ₂ laser) a, and a low-power visible light laser (e.g. He-Ne laser) c is irradiated to the semi-transparent mirror b to make the path visible, and the non-visible laser a and the visible light are irradiated. It is known that the path of the non-visible laser a can be made visible by superimposing it with the laser c. d is a beam damper.

However, with this structure, the outputs L _C and L _H of invisible light laser a and visible light laser c are 1/2 (L _C2 , L _H2 )
is applied to the beam damper d through the semi-transparent mirror b, so 1/2 of the output of each laser a and c becomes a loss, resulting in poor efficiency.Especially, 1/2 of the output (light energy) of the high-power laser a for processing is lost. Losing /2 has the disadvantage of reducing the efficiency of laser processing.

In addition, since semi-transparent mirror b is constantly irradiated with high-power invisible light laser a for processing, semi-transparent mirror b
If it is damaged, there will be a problem.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 2, a total reflection mirror e is rotatably provided in the path of a high-power invisible light laser a for processing, and a low-power visible light laser c for making the path visible is irradiated onto the total reflection mirror e. A known example is one in which the visible light laser c is reflected by the total reflection mirror e and is irradiated coaxially with the invisible light laser path when the total reflection mirror e is rotated to the position crossing the path (solid line position). It is being

However, in this structure, if the position crosses the total reflection mirror e, the invisible light laser a will pass through the beam damper d.
Since all of the light is reflected by the invisible light laser a, the path cannot be seen during laser processing using the invisible light laser a, which is disadvantageous in terms of safety and workability.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to make a non-visible laser visible even during laser processing, and to significantly reduce the output loss of the non-visible laser to improve laser processing efficiency. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for visualizing the path of a non-visible laser.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 3 and subsequent figures.

A part of the rotatable chopper 3 faces the path of the high-output invisible light laser 2 for processing generated from the laser generator 1 for processing.

The chopper 3 has a structure in which a plurality of narrow reflecting members 6 are radially fixed to a boss portion 5 fixed to a shaft 4, and the outer peripheral side of each reflecting member 6 is fixed to a ring body 7. It is made of a material with excellent thermal conductivity, such as Cu or Al, and its surfaces are processed so that both surfaces perpendicular to the rotational direction of the reflecting member 6 are parallel and reflective surfaces.

The shaft 4 is rotatably supported by a fixed body (not shown) at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the path of the invisible laser 2, and the shaft 4 is connected to the output shaft 11 of the motor 10 via a pulley 8 and a belt 9. The power is transmitted to a pulley 12 provided at.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a visible light laser generator, and the visible light laser 14 is sent to a collimator 15 and expanded in width, and then irradiated toward the back surface 6a of the reflective member 6 of the chopper 3, and the reflected light is invisible. It is configured to match the path of the optical laser 2 that passes through the chopper 3.

16 is a power meter, and the power meter 3
is opposed to the surface 6b of the reflective member 6.

Next, the operation will be explained.

When the motor 10 is driven to rotate the chopper 3, the reflecting member 6 is intermittently exposed to the path of the invisible laser 2.

When the reflecting member 6 faces into the path of the invisible light laser 2, a part of the invisible light laser 2 is reflected on the surface 6 of the reflecting member 6.
b and is reflected and reaches the power meter 16.

Thereby, the output of the invisible laser 2 can be detected even during laser processing.

Further, when the reflective member 6 faces into the path of the invisible light laser 2 and the visible light laser 14 is irradiated and reflected on its back surface 6a, the reflected visible light laser 14 passes through the chopper 3 of the invisible light laser 2. It coincides with the path and is overlapped with the invisible light laser 2.

This allows the path of the invisible laser 2 to be visible even during laser processing.

In addition, since the reflecting member 6 is significantly narrower than the beam diameter of the invisible laser 2 and intermittently faces into the invisible laser 2 by rotating the chopper 3, the light reflected by the power meter 16 is Since the amount of visible light laser 2 is extremely small, the loss of output of non-visible laser 2 is extremely small, and the efficiency of laser processing is hardly reduced.

In addition, since the visible light laser 14 is expanded by a collimator 15 so that its beam diameter matches the beam diameter of the invisible laser 2, after optically processing the invisible laser for processing with various optical accessories, Its size and location become clear.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the invisible light laser 2
is a CO ₂ laser, and the visible light laser 14 is a He-
In addition to being a Ne laser, the visible light laser 14 has sufficient brightness even though its output is small, so the visible light laser 14 may be emitted all the time.

The present invention is as described above, and by rotating the shaft 4 with the motor 10, the narrow reflecting member 6 intermittently faces the path of the high-output invisible light laser 2, and the high-output invisible light is emitted from the surface 6b of the narrow reflecting member 6. A part of the laser 2 is reflected to the power meter 16, and the visible light laser is reflected from the back surface 6a to the path of the high-power invisible light laser 2, so that the invisible light laser and the visible light laser are superimposed and output. Therefore, the path of the invisible light laser can be seen during laser processing, and only a part of the high-power invisible light laser is reflected by the power meter 16, and the remaining part is irradiated toward the processing area, resulting in high output. The output loss of the invisible light laser can be significantly reduced, the laser processing efficiency can be improved, and the output of the high output invisible light laser can be measured with the power meter 16.

Further, the reflecting member 6 is simply rotated continuously by rotating the shaft 4 by the motor 10,
Its control is also extremely easy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are explanatory diagrams of different conventional examples, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the overall configuration showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 4 is a plan view of the chopper, and Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of its operation. be. 2 is an invisible light laser, 6 is a reflective member, and 14 is a visible light laser.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In the path of the high-output invisible light laser 2 for processing generated from the laser generator 1 for processing, a chopper 3 having a plurality of narrow reflecting members 6 radially attached to the shaft 4 is installed, and the shaft 4 is a high-output laser. It is arranged so that it forms an angle of 45 degrees with the path of the invisible light laser 2, and its axis 4
is connected to the motor 10, and the reflective member 6
A power meter 16 is disposed opposite the surface 6a facing the processing laser generator 1, and a visible light laser generator 13 is disposed opposite the back surface 6b of the reflective member 6. Invisible light laser path visualization device.