JPH0376178A - Gas laser oscillator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a stable laser beam by burying a pair of discharge electrodes provided in a laser gas passage in a board except parts to be conducted for discharging, and providing a bell-mouth type convergent passage at a laser gas inlet of a discharger and a diffuser type enlarged passage at an outlet. CONSTITUTION:A convergent passage 18 for smoothly supplying laser gas is formed between discharge electrodes 15 and 16 at the side of a laser gas inlet 17 of a discharger 10. The passage 18 is formed of two blocks 181, 182 bent at the surfaces, the blocks 181, 182 are disposed adjacent to boards 13, 14 on electrode supporting plates 11, 12, and formed in a bell-mouth shape. When a blower 7 is driven by a driving motor 7, laser gas in a gas laser body 1 is circulated, supplied between the electrodes 15 and 16 through the passage 18 to be excited by discharging. The excited energy is externally output perpendicularly to the laser gas circulation passage as a laser beam. On the other hand, the laser-oscillated laser gas is sent to a cooler through an enlarged passage 20, cooled by heat exchanging, again returned to the blower 6, and supplied to the sides of the electrodes 15, 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a gas laser oscillation device in which a gas flow path in a discharge section is improved.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, there is a gas laser oscillation device configured as shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is a gas laser main body, and this gas laser main body 1 has a frame 1a in the center,
A wind tunnel 1b is formed along the periphery of the frame 1a in which a laser gas is sealed. Then, a pair of bases 2.2 is provided at positions where the inner surface of the gas laser main body 1 and the cylindrical body 1a face each other in the wind tunnel 1b, and a hemispherical discharge electrode 3.3 is connected to these bases 2.2 through a gap 4. It is placed. These discharge electrodes 3.3 are connected to a high voltage power source (not shown). Further, the wind tunnel 1b is provided with a cooler 5 and an air blower 116 for circulating the laser gas.

The blower 6 is provided with a drive motor 7.

When the blower 6 is driven by the drive motor 7, the laser gas in the wind tunnel 1b is circulated in the direction of the arrow in the figure and is supplied between the discharge electrodes 3.3, where it is excited by the discharge between them. The excited energy then goes directly to the laser gas circulation path and is extracted to the outside as a laser beam. On the other hand, the laser gas generated by laser oscillation retains most of the energy obtained by the discharge as heat, but is cooled by heat exchange in the cooler 5, returned to the blower 6, and supplied to the discharge electrode 3.3 side. be done.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, according to such a configuration, the discharge electrode 3.3 to which the laser gas is supplied is provided protruding into the laser gas circulation flow path, so that the circulation resistance to the laser gas flowing through the gap 4 increases. becomes larger.

This means that in order to supply a predetermined laser gas, the blower 6 needs to have a large blowing capacity, which increases the output of the drive motor 7, and thus reduces the operating efficiency of the entire device.

In addition, the fact that the discharge electrode 3.3 protrudes into the laser gas circulation path causes disturbances in the flow velocity distribution of the laser gas in this part, which makes the discharge at the discharge electrode 3.3 less stable. There was a risk that the stability of the laser beam would deteriorate.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a gas laser oscillation device that can smooth the flow of laser gas supplied to the discharge electrode, improve operational efficiency, and generate a stable laser beam. The purpose is to

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a blowing means for circulating laser gas inside a gas laser main body in which laser gas is sealed, and a cooling means for cooling the circulated laser gas. a pair of discharge electrodes provided in the circulation flow path and buried in the base leaving a part where discharge occurs; a bellmouth-shaped contracted flow path provided at the laser gas inlet to the discharge electrode; A discharge portion having a diffuser-shaped enlarged flow path provided at the laser gas outlet is provided.

(Function) According to the present invention, the pair of discharge electrodes of the discharge section do not protrude into the laser gas circulation channel, and moreover, the pair of discharge electrodes of the discharge section do not protrude into the laser gas circulation channel, and moreover, the discharge section is supplied to the discharge section through the contracted channel at the laser gas inlet and the enlarged channel at the laser gas outlet. Since the flow of the laser gas can be made smooth, the pressure loss when the laser gas passes through the discharge section can be reduced, and furthermore, the flow velocity distribution of the laser gas flowing into the discharge section can be made uniform.

(Example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the same embodiment, and the same parts as in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals. In this case, the discharge section 10 provided in the gas laser main body 1 has electrode support plates 11.12 arranged at predetermined intervals, and bases 13.14 are provided on opposing plate surfaces of these support plates 11.12, respectively.
has been established. The Mffi 13 has a recess 13a in the center, and a hemispherical discharge electrode 15 is buried in the four parts 13a, and the base 14 also has four parts 14a in the center, and a hemispherical discharge electrode 16 is buried in the recess 14a. It is buried. In this case, the surfaces of the bases 13, 14 are inclined in the longitudinal direction toward the center, as shown in FIG. 2, and parallel to each other in the width direction, as shown in FIG. Furthermore, the peripheral edges of the concave portions 13g and 14a of the base plate 13.14 are extended toward the center so as to cover part of the surface of the discharge electrodes 15.16. ! ! Only a portion of the electrodes 15, 16 where the discharge occurs is exposed.

A discharge electrode 1 is provided on the laser gas inlet 17 side of the discharge section 10.
A contracted flow path 18 for smoothly supplying laser gas is formed between 5.16 and 16. This contraction channel 18 consists of two blocks 181.182 with curved surfaces, each block 181.182 is arranged adjacent to the base ff113.14 on the electrode support plate 11.12,
It is configured in a bell mouth shape. Further, an enlarged path 20 is formed on one side of the laser gas outlet of the discharge section 10 to smoothly send out the laser gas supplied between the discharge electrodes 15 and 16. This expansion path 20 also consists of two blocks 201 and 202 with curved surfaces, and each block 201 and 202 is connected to the electrode support plate 11.
．． It is arranged adjacent to the base plate 13, 14 on 12 and is configured in a diffuse user shape. In this case, the inclination angle 20a of the expansion path 20 is set to about 8° to 13°.

In such a discharge unit 10, the electrode support plate 11 is attached to the gas laser main body 1 via an O-ring 21, and the condensing channel 18, the discharge electrodes 15, 16, and the expanding channel 20 are positioned in the laser gas circulation channel. Set.

The other parts are the same as those in FIG. 4, and the explanation here will be omitted.

In the gas laser oscillation device configured in this way, when the blower 6 is driven by the drive motor 7, the gas laser main body 1
The internal laser gas is circulated in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure, and the laser gas is circulated in the direction of the arrow in the figure.
8 and between the discharge electrodes 15 and 16, and is excited by the discharge between them. The excited energy then goes directly to the laser gas circulation path and is extracted to the outside as a laser beam. On the other hand, the laser gas that has been oscillated is sent to the cooler 5 through the expansion path 20, where it is cooled by heat exchange, and returned to the blower 6, where it is supplied to the discharge electrode 15.16m. .

Therefore, by doing this, the discharge electrodes 15, 16 will not protrude into the laser gas circulation flow path, and moreover, the condensed flow path 18 of the laser gas inlet 17 and the laser gas outlet 1
Since the expanded flow path 20 of 9 allows the laser gas supplied to the discharge section 10 to flow smoothly, the pressure loss when the laser gas flows through the discharge section 10 can be reduced, and the flow rate of the laser gas flowing into the discharge section 10 can be reduced. The distribution can be made uniform.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be implemented with appropriate modifications without changing the gist.

For example, in the embodiment described above, the contracting channel 18 and the expanding channel 2
Although a block-shaped material is used for the present invention, a thin plate-like material may be bent and formed.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the pair of discharge electrodes of the discharge section provided in the laser gas flow path in the gas laser main body are buried in the base, leaving a part where discharge occurs, and the laser gas inlet of the discharge section is buried in the base. A bell-mouth-shaped contraction channel is provided at the laser gas outlet, and a diffuser-shaped expansion channel is provided at the laser gas outlet, so the discharge electrode does not protrude into the laser gas circulation channel, and the laser gas inflow port is closed. The enlarged channel and the laser gas outlet allow the laser gas supplied to the discharge section to flow smoothly. Thereby, the pressure loss when the laser gas flows through the discharge section can be reduced, the output of the blower can be reduced, and the output of the blower Kuon motor can be reduced, so that the operating efficiency of the apparatus can be increased. Furthermore, since the flow velocity distribution of the laser gas flowing into the discharge section can be made uniform, the discharge can be stabilized and a stable laser beam can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view showing two embodiments of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an enlarged main part of the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is taken along line A-A in Fig. 2. 4 is a side sectional view showing an example of a conventional gas laser oscillation device. 141. Gas laser main body, 5... Cooler, 6... Blower, 7... Drive motor, 10... Discharge part, 11
,12. . Electrode support plate, 13.14... Base, 13a, 14
a... Concavity, 15.16... Discharge electrode, 17...
Laser gas inlet, 18... Contraction channel, 19... Laser gas outlet, 20... Expansion channel.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a gas laser body in which a laser gas is sealed; a blowing means for circulating the laser gas inside the gas laser body;
A cooling means for cooling the circulating laser gas, a pair of discharge electrodes provided in the laser gas circulation flow path and buried in the base leaving a part where discharge occurs, and a cooling means provided at the laser gas inlet to the discharge electrodes. 1. A gas laser oscillation device comprising: a discharge section having a contracted flow path, and an enlarged flow path provided at a laser gas outlet from the discharge electrode.