JPH03184687A - Laser beam machining apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable machinings at multiple points at the same time with a laser beam by adjusting an angle and horizontal position adjusting means arranged at beam splitters and a total reflecting mirror and a vertical position adjusting means arranged at an optical element. CONSTITUTION:In a laser beam machining apparatus for radiating plural laser beams to the multiple places at the same time, the beam splitters 2a, 2b having each angle and horizontal directional position adjusting means, the total reflecting mirror 3 and condenser lens 4 having the vertical directional position adjusting means condensing plural beams reflected from these are provided and plural laser beams condensed by the condenser lens 4 are projected at the desired interval on the straight line at the same time. By this method, multiple machining points can be machined on a work at the same time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a laser processing device that simultaneously processes a plurality of processing lines or processing points using a laser beam.

[Prior Art] FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional laser processing apparatus that can simultaneously process two rows, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-58832. In the figure, (1) is a laser beam extracted from a laser oscillator (not shown), (2)
> is a beam splitter for distributing the laser beam (1), (3> is the first total reflection mirror. (4a),
(4b) is a beam splitter (2) and a total reflection mirror (3)
(5) a condenser lens that condenses the laser beams (la) and (lb) reflected by the laser beams to the power density necessary for processing;
, (6) are gas nozzles, (7a) and (7
b) is the second total reflection mirror, (8) is the third total reflection mirror, (9
> is the processing head. In addition, (10) is the workpiece, (
11) is a back boulet on which the workpiece (lO) is placed.

(12a), (12b) are condensing lenses (4a), (
4b) vertical fine movement mechanism, (I3> is the third total reflection mirror (8
) is a vertical fine movement mechanism, and (14) is a vertical movement mechanism for the processing head (9).

Next, the effect will be explained. First, laser beam (1)
is divided into two by a beam splitter (2). The divided laser beams (la) and (lb) are bent by a beam splitter (2) and a first total reflection mirror (3), forming two parallel laser beams (la),
(lb). Two parallel laser beams (la)
, (lb) are condenser lenses (4a) and (lb), respectively.
4b), and the direction of the optical axis is changed by the second total reflection 'a (7a) and (7b) in the middle of the focusing, respectively. Furthermore, two laser beams (la
), (lb) are totally reflected by the third total reflection mirror (8) and become two condensed laser beams (le), (ld) that travel parallel to each other in the vertical direction. The interval between these two focused laser beams (le) and (ld) is adjusted by the vertical fine movement mechanism (13) of the third total reflection mirror (8). In addition, the focus is adjusted by moving the respective condensing lenses (4a) and <4b) up and down using a fine movement mechanism (12a).
, (12b) by moving up and down. In this way, by adjusting the interval and focal position of the laser beam (1), the laser beam (l) is applied to the workpiece (10).
e) , (ld) is irradiated to perform processing such as welding and cutting.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to the conventional laser processing apparatus configured as described above,
Condensing lenses (4a), (4b) and laser beam (lc
), (ld) Two total reflection mirrors (second total reflection mirror (7)) are placed on the optical path of the laser beam between the focus and the
a), (7b) and the third total reflection mirror (8)) are inserted, so the laser irradiation point (processing point) (10a), (
10b) and the total reflection mirror becomes shorter, and the smaller the distance between the two laser beams (le) and (ld), the shorter this distance becomes, so the total reflection mirror gets dirty and becomes impractical. There was a problem that it could not be used. Further, in principle, this device is limited to two laser beams, and processing cannot be performed using three or more laser beams.

The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is simple, reduces contamination of optical components, narrows the interval between processing lines (or processing points), and reduces the number of processing lines. The object of the present invention is to obtain a laser processing device that can be used with three or more laser beams.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A laser processing apparatus according to the present invention includes at least one beam splitter and a total reflection mirror each having an angular and horizontal position adjustment means, and a vertical position adjustment means. , is equipped with these beam splitters and an optical element that focuses the plurality of laser beams reflected by the total reflection mirror, so that the plurality of laser beams focused by the optical element can be simultaneously aligned at desired intervals in a straight line or on the same plane. It is designed to irradiate.

[Operation] By simultaneously irradiating a workpiece with a plurality of laser beams at desired intervals, a plurality of processing lines or processing points are processed simultaneously.

The interval between the laser beams is set to a desired value by adjusting the angle and horizontal position adjustment means provided on the beam splitter and the total reflection mirror, and the vertical position adjustment means provided on the optical element. be able to.

[Embodiments of the invention] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a laser processing apparatus according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, (1) is a laser beam extracted from a laser oscillator (not shown), (2a) and (2b) are beam splitters for splitting and distributing the laser beam (1), (
3) are total reflection mirrors, (la), (lb), (lc)
are laser beams that are split into two by beam splitters (2a) and (2b) and a total reflection mirror (3), respectively. (4) is a laser beam (la) to (lc
) is a condensing lens that condenses light to the power density required for processing. (lO> is the workpiece, (12) is a vertical adjustment mechanism consisting of, for example, a rack and a pinion, and adjusts the focal position by moving the condensing lens (4) in the vertical direction;
5a) to (15c) are seams (processing lines) of the workpiece. (16a), (lfib) are beam splitters (2
〉 and total reflection mirror (3〉 angle adjustment mechanism, (17a), (
x7b) consists of, for example, a rack and a pinion, and an angle adjustment mechanism (
16a).

(16b) is a moving mechanism that moves it in the horizontal direction.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the present invention configured as described above will be explained. A laser beam (1) emitted from a laser oscillator is split into a required number of beams by a beam splitter (2a) and a total reflection mirror (3). That is, as shown in FIG. 2, one-half of the laser beam (1)
) at a predetermined angle and becomes a laser beam (1a), the remaining half passes through a beam splitter (2a) and is reflected at a predetermined angle by a total reflection mirror (3>), forming a laser beam (lb ).

Both laser beams (la) and (lb) enter the condenser lens so that their leading axes intersect at approximately one point, and simultaneously irradiate the workpiece (10) with an offset distance fia.
Cutting, welding, etc. of the workpiece (10) are performed.

Figure 1 is an example of dividing the laser beam (1) into three parts.
When making the output of the three laser beams (1a) to (1c) equal, the beam splitter (2a) is 33.3%
Reflection, 6.66% transmission, beam splitter (2b> is 5
Use one with 0% 0% reflection and 0% transmission. If the three divided laser beams (la), (lb), and (lc) are adjusted to pass through the center of the condenser lens (4), each laser beam (la) to (lc) will align with the optical axis. The light is focused from the condenser lens (4) on A to a position having a focal length f. At this time, the lens optical axis A of the focal point of the laser beam (1c)
The offset distance a from f is the focal length of the condensing lens (4), and the incident angle of the laser beam to the condensing lens (4) is θ.
Then, a −f X tanθ.

That is, to adjust the offset distance a, the condenser lens (
4) The incident angle θ may be adjusted. For this purpose, the distance between the condenser lens (1) and the workpiece (lO) is adjusted by moving the condenser lens (1) up and down using the vertical adjustment mechanism (12) of the condenser lens (4). Next, the beam splitter (2a) and the angle adjustment mechanism (lea) of the total reflection mirror (3).

(ieb) and horizontal movement mechanism (17a), (1
7a), the offset distance a can be adjusted by adjusting the incident angle θ to the condenser lens (4).

In the example shown in Fig. 2, the focal length f of the condenser lens (4) is 127 mm (5 inches), and the distance from the condenser lens (4) to the beam splitter (2) and the total reflection mirror (4) is 1500m+*, horizontal movement mechanism (17a),
When the stroke of (17b) was set to 300 mm, the offset distance 11i1a could be adjusted from a minimum of 2 mm to a maximum of 25 steps.

In the above embodiment, a case is shown in which the laser beam is split into a plurality of parts by a beam splitter, but laser beams taken out from a plurality of oscillators may also be used. In addition, the incident laser beams were arranged on the same plane so that the focal points of each laser beam were aligned on a straight line, but for example, in the case of three laser beams, the focal point was arranged in a triangular shape. Good too.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, the present invention adjusts the angle and horizontal position adjustment means provided on the beam splitter and the total reflection mirror, and the vertical position adjustment means provided on the optical element. By setting the offset distance of the focal points of multiple laser beams to a desired value, the laser beams are irradiated in a straight line or on the same plane, so that multiple processing lines or processing points can be printed on the workpiece. It is possible to simultaneously process the optical element and the workpiece, the gap can be adjusted freely, and the distance between the optical element and the workpiece can be increased, so that remarkable effects such as reduced contamination can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a conventional laser processing apparatus. In the figure, (1), (la), (lb), (
lc) is a laser beam, (2a) and (2b) are beam splitters, (3) is a total reflection mirror, (4> is a condenser lens,
(lO> is the workpiece, (12> is the vertical adjustment mechanism, (16
a), (leb) are angle adjustment mechanisms, (17a), (17
b) is a horizontal movement mechanism. Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A laser processing device that processes a workpiece by simultaneously irradiating a plurality of laser beams to a plurality of locations, each having means for adjusting the angle and horizontal position, and at least one beam splitter and one total reflection mirror that reflects the laser beam; and one beam splitter that has means for adjusting the position in the vertical direction and that focuses the plurality of laser beams reflected by the beam splitter and the total reflection mirror, respectively. What is claimed is: 1. A laser processing apparatus comprising: an optical element, which simultaneously irradiates a plurality of laser beams focused by the optical element on a straight line or on the same plane at desired intervals.