JP2005118849A - Laser beam machining device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laser beam machining device capable of cutting a plurality of sheets of working objects superposed on each other to desired shapes without causing to weld to each other. <P>SOLUTION: Works 3 and 4 are irradiated with a laser 9 from an exit port of a nozzle 1. The assist gas from an assist gas sending port 10 formed on the side face of the nozzle 1 is jetted and sprayed from the laser exit port. The upper stage work 3 and the lower stage work 4 are disposed in the state of a two-sheet pile on a tool 2 and the lower stage work 4 adjoining a work suction pore 7 is attracted to the tool 2. The assist gas is diffused along a horizontal end surface 5 toward an outer peripheral direction, by which the clearance between the nozzle horizontal end surface 5 and the upper stage work 3 is made lower in the static pressure than in the other parts and the upper stage work 3 is kept to be attracted toward the nozzle horizontal end surface 5. The works 3 and 4 are therefore separated from each other and are subjected to the laser beam cutting in the state of having the clearance and consequently the occurrence of the situation that the works weld to each other is suppressed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus, and more particularly to a laser processing apparatus suitable for laser processing of a thin plate.

  The laser processing technique is a technique for performing welding, cutting, drilling, or the like of a workpiece by irradiating the surface of the workpiece with a laser having a high power density and raising the workpiece temperature at the irradiation point to a boiling point to melt the workpiece.

  In particular, the work cutting process will be described. While performing laser irradiation on the workpiece processing part, the assist gas is sprayed from the outside at the same time, and the melted part generated by the laser irradiation is scattered and removed by the assist gas. Create a gap in the workpiece.

  Further, at this time, by moving the laser irradiation and the spraying of the assist gas in an arbitrary direction, the gap becomes a line from a point, and finally, cutting along an arbitrary cutting line becomes possible. Simply put, laser cutting can be said to be “melting and cutting a workpiece with heat”.

  Patent Document 1 describes a method of holding a workpiece by generating a negative pressure with a special nozzle shape in a laser processing apparatus.

  That is, in Patent Document 1, a laser is irradiated onto a workpiece from a laser output port formed for each laser head, and an assist gas is also ejected from the laser output port toward the workpiece. As the assist gas passes between the workpiece and the laser head, the static pressure between the workpiece and the laser head decreases, and the workpiece is held by the laser head in a non-contact manner.

  Patent Document 2 describes a method of sucking dross or the like with a suction nozzle provided in the vicinity of a processing site in a laser processing apparatus.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-40071

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-141764

  In the conventional technique described above, laser cutting is performed on a single workpiece. However, in laser cutting processing, for the purpose of “reducing machining time” and “cutting a multilayer structure workpiece” It is convenient if the two workpieces can be cut into a desired shape at the same time in a state where the two workpieces are stacked (or a workpiece that is structurally stacked two).

  However, as described above, the laser cutting process can be said to be “melting and cutting a workpiece with heat”. However, when two workpieces are simultaneously stacked in this melting and cutting method, they are overlapped with each other. There arises a problem that the workpieces welded together.

  That is, when irradiating a laser to a workpiece in a state where two sheets are stacked and performing cutting, the cutting part is in a molten state, so that after the processing is finished, the upper part work and the lower part work are at the cutting part. It may be welded as if it were welded. This is particularly likely to occur when the workpiece is thin.

  It is also conceivable to cut the upper and lower workpieces without welding each other by adjusting the laser power, frequency, cutting time and other various processing parameters. However, when considering laser cutting for various types of workpieces, there is a limit to cutting without welding to all types of workpieces, only by adjusting the machining parameters. The types of workpieces are also limited.

  An object of the present invention is to realize a laser processing apparatus capable of cutting a plurality of workpieces stacked on each other into a desired shape without causing mutual welding.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

  (1) Laser processing including laser generation means, a jig on which a laser processing object is disposed, and a nozzle having a laser irradiation port for irradiating the processing object disposed on the jig with a laser. In the apparatus, the nozzle is opposed to a gas ejection port for ejecting a gas to a workpiece to be processed disposed on the jig and a surface on which the workpiece to be processed of the jig is disposed, and the gas ejected from the ejection port. And a flat surface for sucking the workpiece to the nozzle is formed, and the jig has a suction hole for sucking the workpiece to the jig, and the jig suction hole Is provided with a gas suction means for sucking the workpiece.

  (2) Preferably, in the above (1), an assist gas supply port is formed in the nozzle, and the assist gas supplied from the assist gas supply port is ejected from the ejection port.

  (3) Preferably, in the above (1) or (2), the laser irradiation port also serves as the gas ejection port.

  By applying a special shape to the nozzle, the diffusion direction after spraying the assist gas generally used when cutting the workpiece is controlled, and a suction mechanism is attached to the jig that holds the workpiece. To prevent the welding of the upper and lower workpieces by physical means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the laser processing apparatus which can be cut | disconnected to a desired shape can be implement | achieved, without producing | generating a mutual welding with respect to the several workpieces piled up mutually.

  For this reason, the cutting work time of a workpiece can be shortened.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a main part enlarged explanatory view of a laser processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of the laser processing apparatus to which the first embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is. FIG. 3 is a schematic functional block diagram of the laser processing apparatus shown in FIG.

  2 and 3, the laser oscillator 13 is supplied with power from the laser oscillator power supply 12, and the main controller 15 controls the laser oscillation.

  The laser emitted from the laser oscillator 13 is guided to the nozzle 1 via the processing head 14. Then, the laser is irradiated from the nozzle 1 toward the workpieces (processing objects) 3 and 4 disposed on the jig 2. In the nozzle 1, assist gas (oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) is supplied from an assist gas supply source 18, and the supplied assist gas is injected toward the workpiece.

  The jig 2 is disposed on the XY table 16, and the operation of the XY table 16 is controlled by the main controller 15. The jig 2 is connected to the vacuum pump 17.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 1, the principal part of the 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.

  In FIG. 1, the nozzle 1 has a cylindrical shape, and a laser 9 is irradiated toward the workpieces 3 and 4 from an emission port formed at the tip. Further, an assist gas delivery port 10 is formed on the side surface of the nozzle 1, and the assist gas taken in from the assist gas delivery port 10 is jetted and sprayed from the same exit port as the exit port of the laser 9 toward the workpiece. Is done.

  The jig 2 is a table for holding a workpiece, and two workpieces 3 and 4 are arranged on the jig 2 so as to overlap each other. Further, the jig 2 is formed with a laser escape groove 6, a workpiece suction hole 7, and a main suction hole 8 (in FIG. 1, the jig 2 shows a partial cross section). The main suction hole 8 communicates with the air suction port 11 and is connected to the vacuum pump 17.

  A plurality of workpiece suction holes 7 are formed in the jig 2 and communicate with the main suction holes 8 respectively. The laser escape groove 6 is also in communication with the main suction hole 8. The laser escape groove 6 has a shape along the planned cutting shape of the workpieces 3 and 4. The laser escape groove 6 is used to attenuate the laser 9 and prevent damage to the jig 2 when the jig 2 takes a certain spatial distance from the laser 9 irradiated from the nozzle 1. is there.

  A nozzle horizontal end surface 5 is formed on the surface of the nozzle 1 facing the workpiece, and the assist gas injected from the nozzle 1 is located between the horizontal end surface 5 and the workpiece 3 and is in the outer peripheral direction of the nozzle 1, that is, Then, it diffuses in a direction substantially parallel to the horizontal flat surface 5.

  As described above, the upper work 3 and the lower work 4 are arranged on the jig 2 in a state of being overlapped. When the vacuum pump 17 is operated, the workpiece suction hole 7 is in a vacuum state through the main suction hole 8, and the lower work 4 in contact with the workpiece suction hole 7 is attracted to the jig 2 and is in close contact with the jig 2.

  By moving the XY table 16, the nozzle 1 is scanned along the laser escape groove 6 formed in the jig 2, and the upper workpiece 3 and the lower workpiece 4 are irradiated with laser to melt the cut portion. Do. At this time, the assist gas is sprayed and blown from the tip of the nozzle 1 to the workpieces 3 and 4, and the workpieces 3 and 4 are cut while being removed by sucking the melted portion into the groove 6.

  The assist gas after spraying and spraying on the work is diffused at high speed along the nozzle horizontal end surface 5 in the outer peripheral direction. As the assist gas diffuses in the outer peripheral direction, the static pressure in the gap between the nozzle horizontal end surface 5 and the upper work 3 is lowered from the other parts, and the upper work 3 is sucked in the direction of the nose horizontal end face 5. The horizontal end surface 5 is held in a state where a certain distance is maintained.

  On the other hand, the work 4 is sucked in the direction of the jig 2 by the work suction hole 7 and sucked in the direction opposite to the work 3.

  That is, the upper work 3 is sucked toward the nozzle horizontal end surface 5, that is, upward, and the lower work 4 is sucked and brought into close contact with the jig 2, that is, downward, so that the upper and lower works 3, 4 are opposite to each other. Try to move to.

  For this reason, since the workpieces 3 and 4 are separated from each other and laser-cut by a state having an interval, occurrence of a situation of welding to each other is suppressed.

  Therefore, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to realize a laser processing apparatus capable of cutting a plurality of workpieces stacked on each other into a desired shape without causing mutual welding. be able to.

  For this reason, the cutting work time of a workpiece can be shortened.

  4A and 4B are a top view (FIG. 4A) and a cross-sectional view (FIG. 4B) of the jig 2 in the laser processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except for the structure of the jig 2, the illustration and explanation of the other parts are omitted.

  In FIG. 4, a workpiece suction hole 7 is formed at the center of the jig, and a rectangular laser escape groove 6 is formed around the workpiece suction hole 7. The jig 2 is formed with a work suction air suction port 19 and a dust collection air suction port 20.

  The workpiece suction hole 7 communicates with the workpiece suction air suction port 19, and the laser escape groove 6 communicates with the dust collection air suction port 20.

  The work suction air suction port 19 and the dust collection air suction port 20 may be connected to a vacuum pump provided separately, or may be connected to a single vacuum pump provided with a suction path separately. It may be connected.

  In the second embodiment, since the workpiece suction air suction port 19 and the dust collection air suction port 20 which are not in communication with each other are formed in the jig 2, the jig 2 is adapted to each application. It is possible to adjust the suction force.

  Also in the second embodiment of the present invention, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  In addition, although embodiment mentioned above is an example when using assist gas, this invention is applicable also when not using assist gas. In this case, a negative pressure generating gas (air or the like) may be supplied to the supply port 10.

  In addition, a negative pressure generating gas supply port may be formed in the nozzle 1 separately from the assist gas supply port 10.

  The processing target of the present invention is not limited to a metal plate, and can be applied to a case where a plurality of resin plates are cut.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, the tip of the nozzle 1 has a convex portion, but the convex portion may not be formed and may be flush with the nozzle horizontal end surface 5.

  Further, the injection amount of the assist gas per unit time can be appropriately set depending on the object to be processed.

It is principal part expansion explanatory drawing of the laser processing apparatus which is the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 1 is an overall schematic configuration diagram of a laser processing apparatus to which a first embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 3 is a schematic functional block diagram of the laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2. It is the upper surface and sectional drawing of the jig | tool in the laser processing apparatus which is the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nozzle 2 Jig 3, 4 Work 5 Nozzle horizontal end surface 6 Laser escape groove 7 Work suction hole 8 Main suction hole 9 Laser 10 Assist gas supply port 11 Air suction port 12 Laser oscillator power supply 13 Laser oscillator 14 Processing head 15 Main Controller 16 XY table 17 Vacuum pump 18 Assist gas supply source

Claims (3)

In a laser processing apparatus having a laser generating means, a jig on which a laser processing object is disposed, and a nozzle on which a laser irradiation port for irradiating the processing object disposed on the jig is formed.
The nozzle is opposed to a gas ejection port for ejecting gas to a workpiece to be processed disposed on the jig, and a surface on which the workpiece to be processed of the jig is disposed, and guides the gas ejected from the ejection port. , A flat surface for sucking the workpiece toward the nozzle is formed,
The jig is formed with a suction hole for sucking the workpiece toward the jig,
A laser processing apparatus comprising gas suction means for sucking a workpiece by the suction hole of the jig.   2. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an assist gas supply port is formed in the nozzle, and the assist gas supplied from the assist gas supply port is ejected from the ejection port.   3. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laser irradiation port also serves as the gas ejection port.

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