JP2003088987A - Device for supporting laser beam machining head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for supporting a laser beam machining head of a laser beam machining device with which the compactness is assured and a welding of high quality with an excellent working efficiency is performed. SOLUTION: A penetration hole is formed at the central part of a supporting body 41 for laser beam machining head supported on a Z-axis table 37 which is provided vertically slidably (in the Z-axis direction) and a hollow rotating body 50 at the central part of which a penetration hole 51 is formed is freely rotatably supported with a bearing 52 at the penetration hole of the supporting body. A laser beam machining head 43 is fixed on the lower end face of the hollow rotating body 50 with a supporting bracket 42 with an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the vertical rotating shaft core V of the hollow rotating body 50 and the focusing point F of the laser beam is so arranged to coincide with the extension line of the vertical rotating shaft core V. A gear 53 is formed on the outer periphery of the upper end of the hollow rotating body 50 and is so constructed to be rotationally driven via a timing belt 54 by a gear 55 fixed on a servo motor M4 for rotating the laser machining head 43 fixed on the supporting body 41 for laser machining head. Wires 44 and pipes 45 for the laser beam machining head 43 are introduced through the penetration hole 51.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser processing head supporting device in a laser processing machine such as a laser welding machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional orthogonal three-axis type laser welding machine is further provided with a vertical rotary shaft (fourth shaft) and a horizontal rotary shaft (fifth shaft) at the tips of the three shafts, and a laser processing head on the fifth shaft. A machine in which is provided on an extension of a vertical rotation axis is generally known. Then, the laser processing head is position-controlled by the X-axis and the Y-axis, and is vertically position-controlled by the Z-axis orthogonal to the X-axis, and the laser processing head is directed to the welding location by the horizontal rotation axis (the fifth axis). Welding is performed while tilting and controlling the rotation of the vertical rotation axis (fourth axis).

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional 5-axis control laser welding machine, since the laser focusing point of the laser processing head is offset from the vertical rotation axis, a large operation is performed as compared with the welding spot. There is a problem that the range is required and the machine becomes large. Also, when circular or elliptical welding is required, continuous welding at 360 degrees cannot be performed because the wiring and piping of optical fiber cables and the like are entangled. For example, a flat plate 60 as shown in FIG.
When the fillet-welding 63 of the elliptical through-wall 61 is performed along the intersection line of the upper surface of the penetrating wall 61, the laser-working head is mounted on the horizontal rotary shaft (fifth axis).
Inclining at about 45 degrees toward No. 3, vertical position control is performed with the Z axis orthogonal to the X axis, and fillet welding is performed while controlling the X axis and the Y axis along the welding line. Since the arc-shaped portion is welded while the laser processing head is rotated by the vertical rotation axis (fourth axis), wiring such as an optical fiber cable and piping are entangled, and it is impossible to rotate 360 degrees in one cycle. Therefore, there is a problem in that the arc portions at both ends have to be welded by 180 degrees in at least two cycles, the working time becomes long, and the continuity of the welded portions is lost, and the quality of welding is deteriorated.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a laser processing head supporting device for a laser processing machine which solves the above problems, ensures compactness, and is capable of high quality welding with good working efficiency. is there.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a laser processing head supporting device of the present invention rotatably supports a hollow rotating body having a through hole at its center on the tip shaft of a laser processing machine. Then, a laser processing head is attached to the lower surface of the hollow rotating body so as to be inclined with respect to the rotary shaft center such that the laser focusing point is aligned with an extension line of the rotary shaft center of the hollow rotary body. It is what

Further, the tip axis of the laser processing machine is characterized by being controlled by orthogonal three axes, and the laser processing machine controlled by the orthogonal three axes is a cantilever type of three-axis rectangular coordinates. It is a feature. Further, the laser processing head is attached so as to be inclined about 45 degrees with respect to a rotation axis of the hollow rotating body, and
The axis of rotation of the hollow rotating body is a vertical line.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A laser processing head supporting apparatus of the present invention rotatably supports a hollow rotating body having a through hole at its center on the tip end shaft of a laser processing machine, and a laser is provided on the lower surface of the hollow rotating body. Since the processing head is attached so as to be inclined with respect to the rotary shaft center so that the laser condensing point coincides with the extension line of the rotary shaft core of the hollow rotating body, the optical fiber cable connected to the laser processing head is hollow. It can be introduced from the through hole of the rotating body, and the laser processing head 360 can be used without entanglement or breakage of the optical fiber cable.
A continuous rotation of a degree becomes possible. Therefore, a circular tube on a flat plate,
When fillet welding an elliptic tube or the like, 360 ° welding can be performed in one cycle, and high quality welding can be performed in a short time.

Further, since the tip axis of the laser processing machine is controlled by three orthogonal axes, laser processing of various shapes becomes possible, and laser processing of three-axis rectangular coordinate type cantilever type orthogonal three-axis control laser processing. By using a machine, it is compact as a whole, and the work can be easily handled. Further, the laser processing head is attached at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the axis of rotation of the hollow rotating body, which is convenient for processing such as fillet welding. It is preferable that the hole has a size capable of ensuring a radius of curvature of the optical fiber cable of about 100 mm or more. By making the axis of rotation of the hollow rotating body vertical, it is possible to provide a compact and easy-to-machine laser processing machine.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a laser processing head supporting device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall front view of a cantilever type three-axis rectangular coordinate type laser processing machine equipped with a laser processing head supporting device of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an overall side view thereof.
FIG. 3 is an overall plan view thereof. The laser processing head supporting device of this embodiment is mainly composed of an L-shaped scale 1 having an L-shaped cross section when viewed from the side (FIG. 2), and its horizontal base 1
1 is provided with a work table 13 on which a workpiece W is placed and fixed, and a column 12 which is a vertical portion of the work table 13 is formed wide in the left-right direction (X-axis direction) when viewed from the front view of FIG.

When viewed from the front view of FIG. 1, an X-axis mounting surface 14 extending in the left-right direction (X-axis direction) is formed on the upper surface of the column 12, and the X-axis guide unit 2 is provided on the X-axis mounting surface 14 so as to be orthogonal to the X-axis. A cantilever type Y-axis mounting bracket 26 extending in the direction (Y-axis direction) is mounted slidably in the X-axis direction. A slide body fitted in the X-axis guide groove formed in the X-axis guide unit 2 is fixed to the slide body by rotating an X-axis servomotor M1 by a feed screw (not shown) provided along the X-axis direction. X-axis Y-axis mounting bracket 26
It is configured to be slidable in the axial direction. Reference numeral 23 denotes an L-shaped bracket fixed to the Y-axis mounting bracket 26, and a guide groove 25 formed at the lower end of the L-shaped bracket is provided on an X-axis linear guide 24 formed on the back surface of the column 12 in parallel with the X-axis guide. It is provided to increase the rigidity of the X-axis guide unit by fitting them. With this structure, the rigidity of the cantilever type Y-axis mounting bracket 26 is increased, and its deflection can be suppressed to a minimum against an eccentric load by the laser processing head 43.

The Y-axis mounting bracket 26 has a Y-axis table 36 on its side surface via the Y-axis guide unit 3 and a Y-axis table 36.
It is mounted slidably in the axial direction. The Y-axis guide unit 3 also has basically the same configuration as the X-axis guide unit 2. That is, the Y-axis table 36 has L
The bracket 33 is fixed, and the guide groove 35 formed at the lower end of the bracket is fixed to the upper part of the rear surface of the Y-axis mounting bracket 26.
By fitting the Y-axis linear guide 34 formed in the axial direction, the rigidity of the Y-axis guide unit can be increased, and the deflection of the Y-axis guide unit against the unbalanced load by the laser processing head 43 can be suppressed to the minimum.

Further, a Z-axis table 37 is vertically attached to the Y-axis table 36 via the Z-axis guide unit 4 (Z direction).
The Z-axis table 37 is provided so as to be slidable in the axial direction), and the Z-axis table 37 is provided with a laser processing head support 41 that rotatably supports the laser processing head 43. Then, the laser processing head 43 can be slid in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) by rotating the Z-axis feed screw (not shown) by the Z-axis feed screw driving servomotor M3 provided on the Y-axis table 36. It is configured. M1 is the X-axis mounting surface 1
3 is an X-axis feed screw driving servo motor, M2 is a Y-axis feed screw driving servo motor provided on the Y-axis mounting bracket 26, and M3 is a Z-axis provided on the Y-axis table 36. A feed screw driving servomotor M4 is a servomotor for rotating the laser processing head 43.

Next, the laser processing head supporting device in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The laser processing head 43 is supported by the hollow rotating body at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the axis of rotation (vertical line) V of the laser processing head 43 so that fillet welding is possible. It is configured to perform processing while rotating around the rotation axis V. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a laser processing head supporting portion, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the laser processing head. Y
The Z-axis table 36 is attached to the Z-axis guide unit 4 through the Z-axis guide unit 4.
An axis table 37 is provided slidably in the vertical direction (Z axis direction), and the Z axis table 37 is provided with a laser processing head support 41 having a through hole formed in the center thereof.
A through hole is formed in the center of the laser processing head support 41, and a hollow rotating body 50 having a through hole in the center thereof is rotatably supported by a bearing 52 in the through hole. A gear 53 is formed on the outer periphery of the upper end of the hollow rotating body 50, and a timing belt 54 is formed by a gear 55 fixed to a servomotor M4 for rotating the laser processing head 43 fixed to the laser processing head support 41.
It is configured to be rotationally driven via. A laser processing head 43 is fixed to the lower end surface of the hollow rotating body 50 by a support bracket 42, and the laser processing head 43 is fixed at an inclination angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the vertical rotation axis V of the hollow rotating body 50. It

As shown in FIG. 5, the laser processing head 43 has a structure in which an optical fiber cable 44 is connected to a connector 4 as shown in FIG.
6, the laser beam is condensed by the reflecting mirror 48 and the condenser lens 49, and the laser condensing point F is formed outside the laser processing head 43.
At that time, the laser processing head 43 is fixed so that the laser focusing point F coincides with the extension line of the vertical rotation axis V. In the figure, 47 is a shield gas supply means, and the shield gas is supplied to the welded portion by the shield gas supply pipe 45. The optical fiber cable 44 and the shield gas supply pipe 45 are guided above the laser processing head 43 through the central through hole 51 of the hollow rotating body 50. In this embodiment, the laser processing head 43 is fixed at about 45 degrees with respect to the vertical rotation axis V, but
If the laser focusing point F of the laser processing head 43 coincides with the extension line of the vertical rotation axis V, the inclination angle is not limited to 45 degrees.

The operation of the laser processing machine provided with the laser processing head support device of the present embodiment having the above-described structure will be described. The workpiece W to be laser-welded is placed and fixed on the work table 13, the vertical rotation axis V position of the laser processing head 43 is positionally controlled in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, respectively. 43 is controlled in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) to perform positioning control so that the position F of the condensing point F of the laser beam comes to a predetermined machining position of the workpiece W. Therefore, while irradiating the laser beam, the focal point F of the laser beam
X so that the position can move along the machining line of the workpiece W
Axis, Y axis, Z axis drive servomotors M1, M2, M3
Is controlled by controlling. Further, regarding the processing of the arc portion, the processing can be easily performed by driving and controlling the laser processing head 43 and the servomotor M4 for rotational drive.

That is, the workpiece having the shape shown in FIG. 6 is laser-welded. The work piece has a flat plate 60 and an elliptical through wall 61 formed on the upper surface thereof by fillet welding 63. When the flat plate 60 is placed on the work table 13, the penetrating wall 61 becomes vertical, and the laser beam from the laser processing head 43 irradiates the penetrating wall 61 at 45 °. The fillet weld 63 can be performed along the intersection line. In order to move the laser processing head 43 along the elliptical through wall 61, the X axis, Y
The servomotors M1, M2, M3 for driving the axis and the Z-axis are controlled and the servomotor M4 for driving the rotation of the laser processing head 43 is drive-controlled for the arc portion. In order to perform laser welding on the entire circumference, the laser processing head 43 is rotated 360 degrees. In the laser processing machine of the present embodiment, the laser processing head 43 is fixed to the hollow rotating body 50 having a through hole formed in the center thereof, and the hollow rotating body 50 is formed by the gear 53 formed on the outer periphery of the upper end portion thereof. Since it is rotated, the laser processing head 43 can easily rotate 360 degrees. At that time, since the optical fiber cable 44 and the shield gas supply pipe 45 are guided upward through the central through hole 51 of the hollow rotating body 50, they are not entangled and can be operated in one cycle of 36.
Processing of 0 degree is possible. Further, since the central through hole 51 has a certain size, the bent portion of the optical fiber cable 44 that occurs when it is connected to the laser processing head 43 does not become extremely extreme, and the optical fiber is not broken and the laser beam is not broken. Propagation of light rays is performed smoothly.
The minimum bending radius of an ordinary optical fiber is about R = 100mm
The size of the central through hole 5 is large enough to ensure a bending radius larger than that (depending on the optical fiber).
It is preferably 1.

The laser processing head supporting device of this embodiment is
Since it is mounted on a cantilever type orthogonal three-axis Cartesian coordinate type machine body, the structure is simpler and the laser processing machine becomes more compact. In addition, the cantilever type orthogonal three-axis Cartesian coordinate type machine equipped with the laser processing head support device of this embodiment has X
Since the X-axis linear guide 24 and the Y-axis linear guide 34 are added to the axis guide unit 2 and the Y-axis guide unit 3, respectively, the rigidity of the cantilever type sliding table is high and the cantilever type is used. Nevertheless, the deflection can be suppressed to a minimum against an eccentric load by the laser processing head 43, so that welding accuracy is improved.

In the above-described embodiment, the laser processing head tilted about 45 degrees with respect to the vertical rotation axis V is used. However, even when the straight laser processing head is attached to the vertical hollow rotating body, the optical fiber cable is hollow. Compact because it can be introduced from the through hole of the rotating body, 3
A laser welder capable of rotating 60 degrees can be constructed.

Although the laser welding machine has been described in the above embodiments, the laser processing machine of the present invention can also be used as a laser fusing machine.

[0020]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is applied to the tip axis of a laser processing machine,
A hollow rotating body having a through hole at its center is rotatably supported, and a laser processing head is provided on the lower surface of the hollow rotating body so that the laser focusing point is aligned with the extension line of the rotation axis of the hollow rotating body. Since the optical fiber cable connected to the laser processing head can be introduced from the through hole of the hollow rotating body because it is attached so as to be inclined with respect to the axis of rotation, the optical fiber cable can be entangled or broken without breaking the laser. The machining head can be continuously rotated by 360 degrees.
Therefore, when a circular pipe, an elliptical pipe or the like is welded to a flat plate by fillet welding, 360 ° welding can be performed in one cycle, and high-quality welding can be performed in a short time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a cantilever type three-axis rectangular coordinate laser processing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a cantilever type three-axis rectangular coordinate type laser processing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a cantilever type three-axis rectangular coordinate type laser processing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a laser processing head support device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a laser processing head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of fillet welding.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: L-shaped scale 2: X-axis guide unit 3: Y-axis guide unit 11: Bed 12: Column 13: Work table 14: X-axis mounting surface 26: Y-axis mounting bracket 36: Y-axis table 37: Z-axis table 42: Support bracket 43: Laser processing head 44: Optical fiber cable 50: Hollow rotating body 51: Through hole 52: Bearing M1, M2, M3, M4: Servo motor for driving W: Workpiece V: Vertical axis of rotation F: Laser focusing point

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Fumio Otake             1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya city, Aichi             Machine Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhisa Sanpei             1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Auto             Car Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Satoshi Takahashi             1 Toyota Town, Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture Toyota Auto             Car Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 4E068 BD02 CD15 CE05

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A hollow rotating body having a through hole at its center is rotatably supported on the tip axis of a laser processing machine, and a laser processing head is mounted on the lower surface of the hollow rotating body such that its laser focusing point is the hollow rotating body. A laser processing head supporting device, which is attached so as to be inclined with respect to the axis of rotation of the body so as to be aligned with an extension line of the axis of rotation of the body. 2. The laser processing head support device according to claim 1, wherein the tip axis of the laser processing machine is controlled in three orthogonal axes. 3. The orthogonal three-axis control laser processing machine has three
3. The laser processing head supporting device according to claim 2, wherein the device is a cantilever type of an axis rectangular coordinate type. 4. The laser processing head according to claim 1, wherein the laser processing head is mounted at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the axis of rotation of the hollow rotating body. Laser processing head support device. 5. The laser processing head support device according to claim 1, wherein the axis of rotation of the hollow rotating body is a vertical line.