JP2000158174A - Laser beam machining equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent twisting of an optical fiber cable to transmit laser beams by connecting the cable to a torch portion in such a way that it can rotate around the centerline. SOLUTION: A sleeve 30 is fixed to an end portion on the side of a torch portion 7 of an optical fiber cable 5 connected to the rear end of the torch portion 7 via a holding member 20 with an adhesive agent. The holding member 20 attached to the torch portion 7, holds the sleeve 30 in such a way that it can rotate around a centerline C of the torch portion 7. When the work is machined with the laser beam machining equipment 1, the torch portion 7 moves in three-dimensional way toward the cable 5 in accordance with the shape of the work. When a force works in a cable twisting direction on the point where the optical fiber cable 5 is connected to the torch portion 7, the sleeve 30 rotates against the holding member body 21 via a rolling bearing 31 to absorb the twisting, resulting in almost no twisting of the cable 5. Since the sleeve 30 turnable against the holding member body 21 is sufficiently smaller in diameter than the torch portion 7, the machining head is not large.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus, and more particularly to an improvement in a connection structure between an optical fiber cable for transmitting a laser beam and a torch portion of a processing head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a laser processing apparatus is generally
The laser beam generated by the laser oscillator is transmitted to the torch portion of the processing head, and the workpiece is irradiated with the laser beam while moving the processing head to process the workpiece.

For example, in a laser processing apparatus using a YAG laser, an optical fiber cable is generally used for transmitting laser light from a laser oscillator to a torch. The optical fiber cable is fixedly connected to the torch via a fixing member. This fixing member
The optical fiber cable is a member to which an end on the torch portion side is inserted and fixed by bonding or the like, and is fixed to the rear end surface of the torch portion so that the optical fiber cable is positioned on the center line of the torch portion.

[0004]

By the way, the laser processing apparatus is capable of high-speed processing with technical improvements such as improvement of laser output. On the other hand, for example, in a laser processing apparatus that performs three-dimensional processing on an object to be processed, the torch part may perform a complicated movement including a rotational movement and the like. The optical fiber in the cable may be cut in some cases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to connect a torch portion even when high-speed processing is performed by a laser processing apparatus for performing three-dimensional processing. An object of the present invention is to suppress the occurrence of twisting of the optical fiber cable in the portion so that the optical fiber is not cut.

[0006]

According to the present invention, an optical fiber cable is connected to a torch portion so as to be rotatable around its center line, thereby suppressing the twisting of the cable.

More specifically, a first solution of the present invention is to provide a laser oscillator for generating a laser beam, and irradiate the laser beam transmitted from the laser oscillator to the workpiece to irradiate the workpiece. It is premised on a laser processing apparatus in which a movable torch portion for processing is connected by an optical fiber cable for transmitting laser light. The optical fiber cable includes a sleeve fixed to the end of the optical fiber cable on the torch portion side, and a holding member fixed to the torch portion and holding the sleeve rotatably around the center line of the torch portion.

[0008] A second solution taken by the present invention is:
In the first solution, the holding member has a holding hole penetrating in the center line direction of the torch portion and having a holding hole having a diameter larger than an outer diameter of the sleeve; and a holding hole of the holding member body. And a bearing mounted so as to rotatably hold the sleeve.

According to the first solution, the sleeve fixed to the end of the optical fiber cable on the torch portion side is rotatably held by the holding member fixed to the torch portion. If the torch moves in a torsion manner, the sleeve will rotate around the center line of the torch. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the optical fiber cable from being twisted at the connection portion with the torch portion.

In the second solution, the sleeve rotates with respect to the holding member main body via the bearing.
The movement of the sleeve becomes smooth, and the twist of the optical fiber cable can be more reliably prevented.

[0011]

According to the first solution, the optical fiber cable can be prevented from being twisted at the connection with the torch, so that the torch moves at high speed in a laser processing apparatus for performing three-dimensional processing. Even in such a case, it is possible to prevent the optical fiber from being broken in the cable.

In order to simply prevent twisting of the optical fiber cable, the torch may be rotatable around the center line of the torch with respect to the member holding the torch. In this case, the rotation mechanism must be enlarged because the torch has a large diameter. On the other hand, according to the first solution, the sleeve having a diameter sufficiently smaller than the torch is held. Since the member is used to be rotatable with respect to the torch portion, it is possible to easily prevent an increase in the size of the mechanism.

Further, according to the second solution, the sleeve is smoothly rotated by using the bearing, so that the twisting or disconnection of the optical fiber can be more reliably prevented. Further, since the bearing is mounted between the holding member main body and the sleeve, the rotation mechanism can have a simple configuration and can be easily reduced in size.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the laser processing apparatus 1 includes a processing machine main body 2, a laser oscillator 3 for generating a laser beam such as a YAG laser, and a control panel 4. The laser processing apparatus 1 is configured to transmit a laser beam from a laser oscillator 3 to a torch portion 7 of a processing head 6 via an optical fiber cable 5 and move the torch portion 7 three-dimensionally to process a workpiece. ing.

The processing machine main body 2 has a structure in which a processing head 6 is movably held by a portal frame 10 composed of two columns 11 fixed to the floor and a beam member 12 fixed to the upper end thereof. It has become.

The beam member 12 of the frame 10 is configured as an X-axis guide member for guiding the movement of the processing head 6 in the X-axis direction. This X-axis guide member 12 is a Y-axis guide member.
13 is slidably held in the X-axis direction, and the Y-axis guide member 13 is configured to be movable in the X-axis direction by an actuator (not shown).

The Y-axis guide member 13 holds the Z-axis guide member 14 so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis guide member 14 is configured to be movable in the Y-axis direction by an actuator (not shown). The Z-axis guide member 14 holds the Z-axis moving member 15 slidably in the Z-axis direction, and the Z-axis moving member 15 is configured to be movable in the Z-axis direction by an actuator (not shown).

At the lower end of the Z-axis moving member 15, as shown in FIG. 3, an arm 16 inclined with respect to the Z-axis is provided so as to be rotatable around a φ-axis (= Z-axis) by an actuator (not shown). Have been. This arm 16 has a processing head
6 is held. The processing head 6 is configured such that the distal end portion 6a rotates around a θ-axis substantially orthogonal to the inclination angle of the arm 16. The torch 7 is fixed to the tip 6a via a bracket 6b.

As shown in FIG. 4, the optical fiber cable 5 is connected to the rear end of the torch 7 via a holding member 20. A sleeve 30 is fixed to the end of the optical fiber cable 5 on the side of the torch section 7 with an adhesive or the like. The sleeve 30 is rotatably held around the center line C of the torch 7 by the holding member 20 fixed to the torch 7. In addition, inside the torch part 7,
A condensing optical system (not shown) including a plurality of lenses is provided. Then, the laser light L emitted from the tip of the optical fiber is emitted from the tip of the torch portion 7, and the laser light L is converged at a position substantially on the surface of the workpiece, so that the workpiece can be processed. ing.

The holding member 20 includes a holding member main body 21 and a bearing 31.
It is composed of The holding member body 21 is a substantially cylindrical member, and flanges 22 and 23 are formed at both ends thereof. A protrusion 24 is formed at the end of the holding member main body 21 on the torch portion 7 side, and the protrusion 24 fits into a hole 7a formed on the rear end surface of the torch portion 7, and 21 torch part 7
It is comprised so that it may position. Further, the holding member main body 21 is configured to fix the flange 22 to the rear end face of the torch portion 7 with a bolt 25. Reference numeral 26 denotes a positioning member for positioning the distal end of the optical fiber cable 5 on the center line C of the torch 7.

The holding member body 21 has a center line C
A holding hole 27 penetrating in a direction along the line is formed. The holding hole 27 is formed to have a larger diameter than the outer diameter of the sleeve 30. A bearing 31 for rotatably holding the sleeve 30 is mounted in the holding hole 27.

The bearing 31 includes an inner ring 33 fitted and fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve 30, an outer ring 34 fitted and fixed to the holding hole 27 of the holding member main body 21, and an inner ring 33 and an outer ring 34. And a rolling member 32 rolling between the inner ring 33
A solid lubricant (not shown) is sealed between the outer ring and the outer ring. As this type of bearing, for example, a polylube bearing (manufactured by NTN Corporation) in which heat-solidified grease that hardens after heat treatment is sealed can be used.

This heat-set type grease is mainly composed of lubricating grease and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, and is hardened by heating once and then cooling (heat treatment) while retaining a large amount of lubricant, and is solid. Therefore, the lubricant has a property that the lubricant hardly leaks even when used in a portion having vibration or a portion where the temperature becomes high.

Reference numerals 35 and 36 denote spacers, 37 denotes a bearing nut, and 38 denotes a retainer. Retainer 38 is
It is fixed to the flange 23 of the holding member main body 21 by a bolt 39 to prevent the bearing 31 and the sleeve 30 from coming off the holding member main body 21. Reference numeral 40 denotes a spring for protecting the optical fiber cable 5.

-Operating Operation- In the laser processing apparatus 1, when processing a workpiece, the torch unit 7 moves three-dimensionally in five directions according to the shape of the workpiece. At that time, the operation of the torch unit 7 is often
It is not a simple operation such as linear movement or rotation, but a complicated operation combining operations in a plurality of directions.

In the case where the torch part 7 operates in such a complicated manner, if a force in the direction in which the optical fiber cable 5 is connected to the torch part 7 in the direction of twisting the cable 5 acts, the cable 5 is actually The sleeve 30 rotates with respect to the holding member main body 21 with almost no twist, and the twist is absorbed. In particular, in the present embodiment,
Since the sleeve 30 is smoothly rotated with respect to the holding member main body 21 using the rolling bearing 31, the torsional force applied to the optical fiber cable 5 can be extremely reduced.

-Effects of Embodiment- According to the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress the force in the torsion direction applied to the optical fiber cable 5 when the torch part 7 moves. However, disconnection of the optical fiber in the cable 5 can be prevented.

Also, the large diameter torch 7 is not made rotatable with respect to the arm 16, but has a diameter slightly larger than that of the optical fiber cable 5, but a sufficiently smaller diameter than the torch 7. Since the rotating member 30 is configured to be rotatable with respect to the holding member main body 21 via the rolling bearing 31, the rotating mechanism does not become large and the processing head 6 can be prevented from becoming large in size as a whole.

Further, since the lubricant encapsulated in the rolling bearing 31 is solid and hardly melts out of the bearing 31 even when the surrounding temperature becomes high, contamination of the surrounding environment is prevented particularly when processing is performed in a clean environment. There are advantages that can be done.

[0031]

Other Embodiments of the Invention The present invention may be configured as follows with respect to the above embodiment.

For example, the above embodiment is a laser processing apparatus using a YAG laser.
The laser beam is not limited to the AG laser, but may be another laser beam as long as it can be transmitted by an optical fiber. Also, the processing machine body 2
The present invention is applicable as long as the torch part 7 is movable, and the operation direction is not limited to five directions.

Further, in the above embodiment, the rolling bearing 31 in which the solid lubricant is sealed is used.
Depending on the environment in which 1 is used, a rolling bearing filled with a lubricant such as ordinary grease may be used, or a sliding bearing made of a sintered material containing a lubricant may be used. . When a slide bearing is used, the size of the rotation mechanism can be further reduced than in the example of FIG.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the laser processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view showing a processing head of the laser processing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a connection structure of a torch part and an optical fiber cable of the laser processing apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Laser processing device 2 Processing machine body 3 Laser oscillator 4 Control panel 5 Optical fiber cable 6 Processing head 7 Torch section 10 Frame 20 Holding member 21 Holding member body 27 Holding hole 30 Sleeve 31 Bearing 32 Rolling member 33 Inner ring 34 Outer ring

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A laser oscillator for generating a laser beam, and a torch portion movably configured to irradiate the workpiece with the laser beam transmitted from the laser oscillator and process the workpiece. A laser processing device connected by an optical fiber cable for transmitting a laser beam, comprising: a sleeve fixed to an end of the optical fiber cable on a torch portion side; and a sleeve fixed to the torch portion and having the sleeve around a center line of the torch portion. And a holding member rotatably holding the laser beam. 2. A holding member body having a holding hole penetrating in the direction of the center line of the torch portion and having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the sleeve, and a sleeve inserted into the holding hole of the holding member body. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a bearing mounted so as to be rotatably held.