JPH0224196B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a focus head of a laser processing machine, and more particularly, to a method for closing an opening that allows movement of the focus head and sealing a path through which a laser beam passes. Relating to a closing device.

``Prior Art'' In general, in a laser processing machine, the path through which the laser beam passes, which is formed between a laser oscillator that oscillates and emits a laser beam and a focus head that irradiates the workpiece with the laser beam, is sealed from the atmosphere. This prevents atmospheric dust and the like from entering the path of the laser beam. The focus head is housed in a covering case, and a part of the focus head is made to protrude outside through an opening formed in the covering case along the moving direction of the focus head to enable irradiation of the laser beam. The opening is closed with a closing device to seal the inside of the covering case.

Conventionally, as an opening closing device that allows movement of the focus head, one end of a closure belt for closing the opening is connected to both sides of the focus head, and the other end of each closure belt is wound around a take-up reel. Winding with the tension of the take-up spring, following the operation of the focus head, one closure belt is pulled out from the take-up reel, and the other closure belt is wound up with the tension of the take-up spring.
A closing device that permanently closes the opening is known.

``Problems to be Solved by the Invention'' However, in such a configuration, not only the life of the take-up spring is short, but also the take-up spring is not capable of winding up the closure belt by an amount corresponding to the travel stroke of the focus head. As a result, the take-up spring has become large and expensive, especially in those with a long focus head travel distance.

``Means for Solving the Problems'' In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a system in which both ends of the closure belt connected to the focus head are wound around the rotating shaft, and the connecting wire is loosened by the required amount. Then, both ends of the wire are wound around each of the rotating shafts in a direction opposite to the winding direction of the closure belt, and a tension means is provided to apply a predetermined tension to the connecting wire, and the tension is used to connect the connecting wire from each of the rotating shafts. The closure belt is tensioned by pulling out the wire.

"Operation" According to such a configuration, when the focus head is moved in one direction, the closure belt on one side connected to the focus head follows and is pulled out from the rotating shaft, thereby causing the rotating shaft to move. When rotated, the connecting wire wound around the rotating shaft from the direction opposite to that of the closure belt is wound around the rotating shaft. When one end of the connecting wire is wound around the rotating shaft, the other end of the connecting wire is pulled out from the other rotating shaft, and when the other rotating shaft is rotated by pulling out the connecting wire, the connecting wire In this case, a closure belt is wound around the rotating shaft from the opposite direction.

In this way, the driving force for the rotating shaft on the winding side of the closure belt is supplied from the other rotating shaft on the pull-out side via the connecting wire, so that the movement stroke of the focus head is increased and the accompanying Even if the amount of wrapping of the closure belt to be wrapped around each rotating shaft becomes large, this can be dealt with by simply increasing the length of the connecting wire, so the entire device can be made more compact than before. .

"Example" The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated example.
In FIG. 2, a laser oscillator 1 is fixed to the top of a gate-shaped frame 2, and a laser beam L from the laser oscillator 1 is transmitted through a plurality of reflecting mirrors 3 and a pipe 4 that accommodates and supports each reflecting mirror 3. The light is emitted horizontally into a covering case 5 disposed below the laser oscillator 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, a focus head 6 is housed in the covering case 5, and the focus head 6 is moved to a guide rail 7 arranged parallel to the radiation direction of the laser beam L inside the covering case 5. A freely supported guide rail 7
It is designed to be reciprocated in its longitudinal direction by a screw shaft (not shown) disposed parallel to the shaft and a servo motor interlocked with the screw shaft. An opening 5a is formed in the bottom surface of the cover case 5 housing the focus head 6 along the moving direction of the focus head 6, and a lower portion 6a of the focus head 6 projects downward from the opening 5a.

As shown in FIG. 2, the focus head 6 includes a reflecting mirror 8 that reflects downward the laser beam L emitted horizontally within the covering case 5;
It is equipped with a condensing lens (not shown) that condenses the laser beam L, and the lower part 6 of the focus head 6
A laser beam L can be irradiated onto a workpiece (not shown) on a processing table 9 from a point a. The processing table 9 is movable along a guide rail 10 laid in a horizontal plane in a direction orthogonal to the direction of movement of the focus head 6.

However, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the focus head 6 that protrudes downward from the opening 5a of the cover case 5 has a pair of closure belts 11 and 12 at front and rear positions in the direction of movement thereof. The ends of each closure belt 11, 12 are connected to each other.
The other end portions are wound around a pair of rotating shafts 13 and 14 that are pivotally supported at both ends in the longitudinal direction within the covering case 5, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, a sealing member 15 made of felt or the like is provided with the closure belts 11 and 12 on the upper surface of both sides in the longitudinal direction of the opening 5a.
By placing it slidably on top, the inside of the covering case 5 is sealed by the closing belts 11 and 12.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, both ends of one connecting wire 16 are wound around the rotating shafts 13 and 14, respectively.
The directions in which the closure belts 11 and 12 are wound around the rotation shafts 13 and 14 are opposite to the directions in which the closure belts 11 and 12 are wound around the rotation shafts 13 and 14, respectively.
A predetermined amount of slack is given to the connecting wire 16 in advance, and at the same time, a predetermined tension is applied to the connecting wire 16 by a pair of tension means 17 provided at an intermediate position between the rotating shafts 13 and 14. ing.

In this embodiment, each tension means 17 is equipped with a fixed roller 18 and a tension roller 19, and the connecting wire 16 is wrapped around each roller 18, 19 in an S-shape, and the S-shaped portion is connected to the connecting wire 16. At the same time, by pulling the pair of tension rollers 19 with a tension spring 20, a predetermined tension is applied to the connecting wire 16.

Then, when both ends of the connecting wire 16 receive the tensile force of the tension spring 20 and are pulled out from the rotating shafts 13 and 14, each rotating shaft 1
3 and 14 are rotated in the drawing direction. However, since the closure belts 11 and 12 are wound around the rotating shafts 13 and 14 in a direction opposite to the direction in which the connecting wire 16 is wound, the rotating shafts 13 and 14 are rotated in the direction in which the connecting wire 16 is pulled out. Then, each closure belt 11, 12 comes to be wrapped around each rotation shaft 13, 14, and each closure belt 11, 12 is tensioned with a constant tension between each rotation shaft 13, 14 and the focus head 6. Then, each rotating shaft 13,1
4 is stopped, so that the connecting wire 16 is also kept under constant tension.

According to the above configuration, the passage path of the laser beam L is shielded from the atmosphere by the laser oscillator 1, the pipe 4, the covering case 5, and the closure belts 11 and 12. And focus head 6
For example, the first
When the closing belt 11 is moved to the right in the figure, the leading end of the closing belt 11 connected to the focus head 6 is moved accordingly, so that it is pulled out from the rotating shaft 13. Then, the rotating shaft 13 is rotated as the closure belt 11 is pulled out, so that the connection wire 16 is wound around the rotating shaft 13 due to the rotation.

Next, one end of the connecting wire 16 is attached to the rotating shaft 13.
When the connecting wire 16 is wound up, the other end of the connecting wire 16 is pulled out from the rotating shaft 14, so the rotating shaft 14 is rotated as the connecting wire 16 is pulled out. When the closure belt 12 is rotated in accordance with this rotation, the closure belt 12 is wound around the rotating shaft 14.

At this time, the diameters of the closure belts 11, 12 wrapped around the rotating shafts 13, 14 are usually different, so a difference occurs in the amount of rotation between the rotating shafts 13, 14, and therefore the connection Although the amount of slack in the wire 16 fluctuates, the fluctuation in the slack is absorbed by the displacement of the tension roller 19, and the tension in the connecting wire 16 and the closure belts 11, 12 is always maintained constant.

In this way, when the focus head 6 is moved in one direction, one of the rotating shafts 1 is moved accordingly.
At the same time as the closure belt 11 is pulled out from the case 3, the closure belt 12 is wound around the other rotating shaft 14, so that the interior of the case 1 is always maintained in a sealed state by the closure belts 11 and 12.

The driving force of the rotating shaft 14 on the winding side is
Since it is transmitted and supplied from the rotating shaft 13 on the other drawer side via the connecting wire 16, the movement stroke of the focus head 6 is increased, and accordingly, the closing belt 11, which is wrapped around the rotating shafts 13 and 14, is
Even if the amount of winding of the connecting wire 12 is increased, this can be dealt with by simply increasing the length of the connecting wire 16.

In addition, in the above embodiment, one rotating shaft 13, 1
4, the closure belts 11, 12 and the connecting wire 16 are wound around the closure belt 1.
1 and 12 and the rotating shaft around which the connecting wire 16 is wound are separate rotating shafts disposed in orthogonal directions, and the two rotating shafts may be interlocked by a universal joint. Further, the tension means 17 is not limited to the configuration shown in the illustrated embodiment, but it is obvious that any suitable configuration can be adopted, and the connecting wire in the present invention includes a wide belt-shaped one.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a small-sized closing device even for a laser processing machine in which the movement stroke of the focus head is large.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view showing the entire laser processing machine, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line - in FIG. 2. 1... Laser oscillator, 2... Portal frame, 5
... Covering case, 5a ... Opening, 6 ... Focus head, 6a ... Lower part, 11, 12 ... Closure belt, 13, 14 ... Rotating shaft, 16 ... Connection wire, 17 ... Tension means, 18 ... fixed roller, 19 ... tension roller, 20 ... tension spring, L ... laser beam.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A focus head that irradiates a workpiece with a laser beam, a cover case that movably and hermetically stores the focus head, and an opening formed in the cover case along the moving direction of the focus head; A closure belt for closing this opening, a part of the focus head protrudes outside from the opening, the closure belt is connected to the focus head, and the closure belt is operated following the operation of the focus head. In the opening closing device for allowing the movement of the focus head, the opening is always closed by the focus head, and the closure belt is connected to the focus head, and both ends of the closure belt are wound around a rotating shaft, and
With the connecting wire loosened by a required amount, both ends of the connecting wire are wound around each of the rotating shafts in a direction opposite to the direction in which the closure belt is wound, and a tensioning means is provided for applying a predetermined tension to the connecting wire. . A closing device for an opening that allows movement of a focus head, characterized in that the tension is used to pull out connecting wires from each of the rotating shafts to tension the closing belt.