JP2000022250A - Laser device and laser marker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To output a preliminary signal in response to a fluctuating threshold voltage, by a method wherein a first information is changed based on memory contents of a first memory means. SOLUTION: A laser control part 2 stores input results from an input and display device 1 in a memory 212 integrated in a microcomputer 21. The microcomputer 21 imparts a preliminary signal based on frequency data and a duty ratio stored in the memory 211 to a laser device 3, and also imparts a printing signal based on a frequency and a duty ratio stored in the memory 211 to the laser device 3, and also a scanning part 4 imparts a scanning signal. The laser device 3 excites carbon gas in a laser oscillator 31 based on the duty ratio of the preliminary signal or printing signal, and laser-oscillates from the laser oscillator 31 in response to the printing signal. The scanning part 4 operates a scanner 41 imparted from the microcomputer 21, thereby polarizing to make scan laser beams on a surface of a work W.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a laser marking device and a laser device constituting the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A laser marking apparatus that irradiates the surface of various articles with a laser beam to mark patterns such as characters and figures can form a pattern that does not disappear. Responsibility Act) has been receiving attention with the enforcement of the Act.

[0003] In such a laser marking apparatus, a laser marking apparatus using carbon dioxide gas (CO ₂ gas) as an excitation medium is composed of a laser control section, a laser apparatus, a scanning section and the like.

[0004] The laser control section comprises a microcomputer and a power supply. The microcomputer is
The apparatus further includes a memory for storing patterns such as characters and figures, and a frequency and a duty ratio of a print signal corresponding to the pattern, and supplies a print signal based on the stored contents of the memory to the laser device. Further, the microcomputer supplies a scanning signal based on the pattern to the scanning unit. On the other hand, the power supply has a function as a constant voltage power supply, and applies a predetermined voltage to the laser device.

The print signal is turned on / off by a HI / LOW signal. One pulse of the print signal corresponds to one pulse of the laser beam to be oscillated, and the laser signal is generated according to the pulse width at the HI. It is a PWM signal whose intensity can be adjusted. Since the frequency is generally fixed, the laser intensity per unit time is determined according to the duty ratio of the print signal.

The laser device has a laser oscillator filled with carbon dioxide gas, and the laser oscillator has electrodes inside. The laser device excites carbon dioxide in the laser oscillator based on the pulse width of the print signal provided from the laser control unit, and performs laser oscillation.

The scanning section has a scanner, and drives a galvano motor provided in the scanner based on a scanning signal given from the laser control section, so that a total reflection mirror provided on an output shaft of the scanner is driven. Rotate. Thereby, the laser beam oscillated from the laser device is deflected and scanned, and various patterns are marked on the surface of the article to be marked.

In the laser marking apparatus as described above, it is necessary to oscillate the laser beam in a short time in accordance with the HI of the print signal in order to speed up the transfer tact of the article to be marked. In order to achieve this, a spare signal which has a duty ratio smaller than that of the print signal and which always outputs a spare signal such that an applied voltage based on the duty ratio is lower than a minimum voltage for causing laser oscillation, that is, smaller than a threshold voltage. A generator was provided in the laser controller.
Therefore, by making the applied voltage based on the preliminary signal as close as possible to the threshold voltage, the laser beam can be oscillated in a shorter time with the print signal.

[0009]

Incidentally, the threshold voltage inevitably fluctuates due to a temperature rise accompanying excitation of the laser oscillator. However, since the duty ratio of the spare signal is fixed, there is a problem that the spare signal cannot be output in response to the fluctuation of the threshold voltage.

In particular, when the threshold voltage is lowered,
If the duty ratio of the spare signal is set to be relatively large, the laser beam is oscillated by the spare signal, while the duty ratio of the spare signal is set to be relatively small to avoid this. In this case, there is a problem that the time until the laser beam is oscillated becomes long even when the print signal is supplied, and there is also a problem that it is very difficult to select a preset duty ratio.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a laser marking device capable of outputting a preliminary signal corresponding to a fluctuating threshold voltage by adjusting a duty ratio of the preliminary signal. It is an object to provide a laser device constituting this device.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser device which supplies a signal having a pulse width smaller than a threshold pulse width for causing laser oscillation to a laser oscillator based on first information. A laser device that excites the laser oscillator without oscillation, and performs laser oscillation from the laser oscillator by providing a signal having a pulse width larger than the threshold pulse width to the laser oscillator based on second information; 1 storage means for storing the information, and output means for outputting the first information based on the storage content of the storage means, wherein the first information is changed.

A laser device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the laser device of the first aspect, further comprising an input unit for inputting the first information, and storing an input result by the input unit in the storage unit. It is characterized by the following.

A laser device according to a third aspect of the present invention is the laser device according to the first or second aspect, further comprising display means for displaying the first information.

A laser marking device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention
Exciting the laser oscillator without laser oscillation based on information related to the first pulse signal having a pulse width smaller than a threshold pulse width for causing laser oscillation, and having a pulse width larger than the threshold pulse width. Laser oscillation is performed from the laser oscillator based on information related to a second pulse signal that becomes one pulse of the laser beam whose pulse is oscillated, the oscillated laser beam is scanned, and a character or a figure is marked on the surface of the article. A laser marking device, comprising: storage means for storing information related to the first pulse signal; and output means for outputting the first pulse signal based on the storage content of the storage means.
The information related to the pulse signal is changed.

A laser marking device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention
The laser marking device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the laser marking device further comprises an input unit for inputting information relating to the first pulse signal, and stores an input result by the input unit in the storage unit.

A laser marking device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention
The laser marking device according to the fourth or fifth aspect of the present invention is further characterized by further comprising a display means for displaying information relating to the first pulse signal.

According to the laser marking device according to the first and fourth inventions and the laser device constituting the device, a signal (or a first pulse signal) having a pulse width smaller than a threshold pulse width for generating laser oscillation. Generating a spare signal according to the first information (or information related to the first pulse signal) for generating the signal, and generating a signal (or a second pulse signal) having a pulse width larger than the threshold pulse width. In a laser marking device that generates a print signal based on second information (or information related to a second pulse signal) and a laser device that constitutes the device, first information (or a first pulse signal) for generating a preliminary signal is generated. Related information) is stored in the storage means, and the information stored in the storage means can be changed. Together to excite the laser oscillator without laser oscillation based on information duty ratio or the like, and information such as the frequency and duty ratio of the preliminary signals can be adjusted in accordance with the fluctuation of the threshold voltage mentioned above.

According to the laser marking device according to the second and fifth inventions and the laser device constituting the device, the input for inputting the first information (or the information related to the first pulse signal) stored in the storage means. Since the configuration further includes means, the user can externally change information such as the frequency and the duty ratio of the spare signal.

According to the laser marking device according to the third and sixth inventions and the laser device constituting the device, the first information (or the information related to the first pulse signal) stored in the storage means is displayed. Since the display device further includes a display unit, for example, by displaying the duty ratio of the spare signal stored in the storage unit and displaying the duty ratio corresponding to the threshold voltage, the user can visually check the state of the spare signal. In addition to being able to easily know the new duty ratio, the user can easily predict a new duty ratio to be input from the input means described above.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example in which a laser device 3 according to the present invention is configured as a laser marking device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the laser marking device according to the present invention comprises an input / display 1, a laser control unit 2, a laser device 3, a scanning unit 4, and the like.

The input / display 1 is a touch panel type L
In addition to displaying information provided from the laser control unit 2 connected to the CD, the duty ratio of the preliminary signal is mainly input by the user, and the input result is provided to the laser control unit 2. Note that a configuration including a numeric key and a function key may be employed.

The laser control unit 2 includes a microcomputer 21 and a power supply 22, and stores an input result from the input / display unit 1 in a memory 211 built in the microcomputer 21. The memory 211 stores, in addition to the input result from the input / display unit 1, the duty ratio of the print signal, the frequencies of the preliminary signal and the print signal, and patterns of characters and figures. The microcomputer 21 supplies a preliminary signal based on the frequency and the duty ratio stored in the memory 211 to the laser device 3, and at the time of marking, outputs a print signal based on the frequency and the duty ratio stored in the memory 211. And a scanning signal based on the pattern stored in the memory 211 to the scanning unit 4. The power supply 22 has a function as a constant voltage power supply, and applies a predetermined voltage to the laser device 3.

The laser device 3 contains carbon dioxide gas (C
A laser oscillator 31 filled with O ₂ ) and an electrode (not shown) provided in the laser oscillator 31 are provided, and the laser oscillator 31 is provided based on a duty ratio of a preliminary signal or a print signal provided from the microcomputer 21. To excite the carbon dioxide gas of the laser oscillator 31 according to the print signal.
Laser oscillation.

The scanning section 4 is provided adjacent to the oscillation side of the laser oscillator 31 and includes a scanner 41. The scanning unit 4 operates a galvano motor (not shown) provided in the scanner 41 based on a scanning signal given from the microcomputer 21, and thereby a total reflection mirror (not shown) provided on an output shaft of the galvano motor. The laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator 31 is deflected and scanned to mark the surface of the workpiece W to be marked.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the waveforms of the preliminary signal and the print signal output from the microcomputer 21. A signal with a small duty ratio shown in the left half of FIG. 2 is a spare signal, and a signal with a large duty ratio shown in the right half is a print signal. Each signal is stored in the memory 21
1 is a PWM signal output at a frequency pre-stored in No. 1 and ON / O of the laser beam according to its HI / LOW.
Switch FF. Further, the laser intensity is determined according to the duty ratio, and one pulse in the print signal corresponds to one pulse in the oscillated laser beam.

Although the preliminary signal does not appear to be output in the print signal area in FIG. 2, it is actually always output. As a result, the carbon dioxide gas in the laser oscillator 31 is brought into a state immediately before the laser oscillation, and the laser oscillation is achieved in a short time with the HI of the print signal corresponding to the applied voltage exceeding the threshold voltage. Further, the scanner 41 of the scanning unit 4 scans the laser beam so as to be the next irradiation position during the LOW state of the printing signal, and the laser beam deflected in the scanning unit 4 by this scanning causes the surface of the work W to be irradiated. Mark the pattern on.

The laser marking device according to the present invention and the laser device 3 constituting this device are configured as described above, and do not require a conventional spare signal generator for outputting a spare signal. A microcomputer 21 provided generates a preliminary signal and a print signal. In addition, the duty ratio of the spare signal, which has been conventionally fixed, can be changed, and accordingly, the duty ratio of the spare signal can be changed in accordance with the fluctuation of the threshold voltage accompanying the temperature rise in the laser oscillator 31 due to the excitation. It can be maintained at an optimal size. Since the change of the duty ratio is performed by the processing of the input / display 1 and the microcomputer 21,
The processing will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the processing contents of the input / display unit 1 when the duty ratio of the preliminary signal is changed. First, a command for requesting information for displaying this change processing screen is sent to the microcomputer 21 (step 1), and a standby state for reception from the microcomputer 21 is entered (step 2). Repeat at predetermined time intervals.

On the other hand, if there is a reception from the microcomputer 21, a change processing screen is displayed based on the reception information (step 3). On the change processing screen, information related to the currently set spare signal such as the frequency and the duty ratio of the spare signal is displayed in a form of a numerical value and a graph. It should be noted that a configuration may be employed in which an applied voltage and a threshold voltage corresponding to the preliminary signal are displayed, or information regarding a print signal such as a duty ratio, a frequency, and an applied voltage of the print signal may be displayed.

Then, the user enters a standby state for a change processing input operation of the duty ratio set value displayed on the change processing screen (step 4). If there is no change processing input, step 4 is repeated at predetermined time intervals. If there is a change processing input, the change value of the duty ratio is displayed (step 5), and this change value is
1 (step 6).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the microcomputer 21 of the laser control unit 2 when the duty ratio of the preliminary signal is changed. First, the input / display 1 enters a standby state for receiving a request command for displaying a change processing screen (step 1). If no request command is received, step 1 is repeated at predetermined time intervals.

When the request command is received, the change processing screen information is sent to the input / display 1 (step 2). Subsequently, a standby state is received for receiving a changed value of the duty ratio from the input / display 1 (step 3). If no changed value is received, step 3 is repeated at predetermined time intervals.
On the other hand, when a change value of the duty ratio is received, this change value is used as the duty ratio of the spare signal in the memory 211.
(Step 4). Next, the frequency and duty ratio of the spare signal stored in the memory 211 are read (step 5), and the spare signal is output to the power supply 22 based on the read result (step 6).

[0035]

As described in detail above, in the laser marking device according to the present invention and the laser device constituting the device, a signal (or first pulse) having a pulse width smaller than a threshold pulse width for generating laser oscillation is provided. A spare signal is generated according to first information (or information related to the first pulse signal) for generating the signal, and a signal (or a second pulse signal) having a pulse width larger than the threshold pulse width is generated. Marking device that generates a print signal based on second information (or information related to a second pulse signal) for use in a laser marking device, and first information (or first pulse) for generating a preliminary signal in a laser device that forms the device. (Information related to the signal) is stored in the storage means, and the information stored in the storage means can be changed. And together to excite the laser oscillator without laser oscillation on the basis of the information such as the duty ratio, the information such as the frequency and duty ratio of the preliminary signals can be adjusted in accordance with the fluctuation of the threshold voltage mentioned above.

[0036] Further, since the apparatus further comprises input means for inputting the first information (or information relating to the first pulse signal) stored in the storage means, the user can externally input the frequency and duty ratio of the spare signal from the outside. Can be changed.

Further, the apparatus further comprises display means for displaying the first information (or information related to the first pulse signal) stored in the storage means, so that, for example, the spare signal stored in the storage means is provided. In addition to displaying the duty ratio of the standby signal and the duty ratio corresponding to the threshold voltage, the user can not only easily and visually know the state of the preliminary signal, but also a new input from the input means described above. The present invention has excellent effects such that the user can easily predict the duty ratio.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example in which a laser device according to the present invention is configured as a laser marking device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of waveforms of a preliminary signal and a print signal output by a microcomputer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing contents of an input / display unit when a duty ratio of a preliminary signal is changed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing contents of a microcomputer of a laser control unit in response to a change in a duty ratio of a preliminary signal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input / display 2 Laser control part 3 Laser device 4 Scanning part 21 Microcomputer 22 Power supply (constant voltage) 31 Laser oscillator 211 Memory

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein a signal having a pulse width smaller than a threshold pulse width for causing laser oscillation is supplied to the laser oscillator based on the first information, thereby exciting the laser oscillator without laser oscillation. A laser device that causes the laser oscillator to oscillate by providing a signal having a pulse width larger than the threshold pulse width to the laser oscillator based on the following: storage means for storing the first information; An output unit that outputs the first information based on the stored content, wherein the first information is changed. 2. The laser device according to claim 1, further comprising an input unit for inputting the first information, wherein an input result by the input unit is stored in the storage unit. 3. The laser device according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays the first information. 4. Excitation of a laser oscillator without laser oscillation based on information related to a first pulse signal having a pulse width smaller than a threshold pulse width for causing laser oscillation, and a pulse larger than the threshold pulse width. The laser oscillator oscillates the laser based on information relating to a second pulse signal which becomes one pulse of the laser beam whose one pulse having a width is oscillated, scans the oscillated laser beam, and converts a character or a figure into an article. A laser marking device for marking on the surface of the device, comprising: storage means for storing information related to the first pulse signal; and output means for outputting the first pulse signal based on the storage content of the storage means, A laser marking device for changing information related to a first pulse signal. 5. The laser marking device according to claim 4, further comprising an input unit for inputting information related to the first pulse signal, wherein an input result by the input unit is stored in the storage unit. 6. The laser marking device according to claim 4, further comprising display means for displaying information related to the first pulse signal.