JP2014083592A - Laser beam machine and cooling method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laser beam machine capable of inhibiting dew condensation from occurring in a holder of an external optical system while inhibiting the weight increase of a processing head, and to provide a cooling method of the laser beam machine.SOLUTION: A laser beam machine 10 includes: a laser oscillator 21 for generating a laser beam; a laser processing head 40 which condenses the laser beam and radiates the laser beam to a workpiece; a chiller unit 28 which cools the laser oscillator 21; a cooling tube 81 which supplies a coolant from the chiller unit 28 to the laser oscillator 21; and a cooling tube 82 which discharges the coolant from the laser oscillator 21 to the chiller unit 28. A cooling tube 56a which cools the laser processing head 40 is branched from the cooling tube 82.

Description

  The present invention relates to a laser beam machine and a cooling method for the laser beam machine.

  In a laser processing machine, an optical component disposed in a laser beam path is guided by a laser beam to guide a laser beam. When the laser beam is continued or repeated, the coating material on the surface of the optical component is gradually peeled off. The life of the battery may be shortened. In particular, recently, there has been a tendency to increase the laser output for the purpose of improving the efficiency of laser processing and the like, and this problem may occur remarkably.

  In order to cope with such problems, conventionally, a cooling pipe is extended from the cooler for cooling the external optical components to the processing head separately from the cooler for cooling the inside of the oscillator, and an external device for further holding the optical components. A cavity is formed in the holder of the optical system, and cooling water is circulated and supplied into the cavity. For example, when the external optical component is a mirror, a configuration in which cooling is performed from the back side has been proposed. Further, there may be a configuration in which the external optical component is cooled by changing the set temperature between the laser oscillator cooling bath and the external optical component cooling bath by using two coolers for the laser oscillator. However, in the conventional cooling methods for external optical systems such as these, a cooler for external optical components is provided separately from the cooler for laser oscillators, or for external optical components separately from the cooling tank for laser oscillators. It was necessary to provide a cooling tank, resulting in an increase in the size and cost of the apparatus. Also, if the laser oscillator cooler is to be used as a cooler for external optical components, the cooling water is set at a temperature that efficiently cools the laser oscillator, so condensation occurs on the holder of the external optical system. Resulting in. On the other hand, when the temperature of the cooling water is set to a temperature at which dew condensation does not occur in the holder of the external optical system, there is a problem that the laser oscillator cannot be efficiently cooled.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preventing condensation on the mirror holder by disposing a fan device on a mirror holder that holds a mirror that is one of optical components.

JP 2000-187107 A

  However, in the cooling method described in Patent Document 1, a fan device is provided in the machining head, which may cause the machining head to be heavy and affect the cutting speed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a laser processing machine and a laser capable of suppressing the occurrence of condensation on the holder of the external optical system while suppressing an increase in the weight of the processing head. It is providing the cooling method of a processing machine.

(1) a laser oscillator that generates laser light;
A processing head for condensing and irradiating the workpiece with laser light;
A cooler for cooling the laser oscillator;
A first cooling flow path for supplying cooling water from the cooler to the laser oscillator;
A second cooling flow path for discharging cooling water from the laser oscillator to the cooler, and a laser processing machine comprising:
A laser processing machine, wherein a third cooling flow path for cooling the machining head is branched from the second cooling flow path.
(2) The third cooling flow path is provided with a valve member that switches connection or disconnection according to an operating state of the laser oscillator,
The laser processing machine according to (1), wherein the valve member is opened when the laser oscillator is in operation, and is closed when the laser oscillator is not in operation.
(3) The third cooling channel cools the exit end of a fiber cable that transmits laser light from the laser oscillator to the processing head and the condenser lens of the processing head (1) or ( The laser beam machine according to 2).
(4) a laser oscillator that generates laser light;
A processing head for condensing and irradiating the workpiece with laser light;
A cooling method for cooling the laser oscillator, comprising:
A cooling method for a laser processing machine, wherein the processing head is cooled using return water from the laser oscillator to the cooler.
(5) The method for cooling a laser beam machine according to (4), wherein the return water is supplied to the machining head only when the laser oscillator is in operation.

  According to the aspect described in (1) above, the third cooling channel for cooling the machining head is branched from the second cooling channel from which the cooling water that has cooled the laser oscillator is discharged. Since the heated cooling water flows to the processing head, the occurrence of condensation on the processing head, particularly the holder of the external optical system, is suppressed. In addition, since the processing head is also cooled using a laser oscillator cooler, there is no need to provide a cooler for external optical components separately from the laser oscillator cooler, which increases the size and cost of the apparatus. Can be suppressed. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to provide a fan device for the machining head, it is possible to avoid the weight of the machining head and to suppress the influence on the cutting speed.

  According to the aspect described in (2) above, it is possible to avoid low-temperature cooling water from flowing to the machining head when the laser oscillator is not operating, and to more reliably suppress dew condensation on the holder of the external optical system. it can.

  According to the aspect as described in said (3), the deterioration of the efficiency of a laser processing can be suppressed by cooling the outgoing end of a fiber cable and the condensing lens of a processing head which are easy to generate | occur | produce a heat | fever.

  According to the aspect described in (4) above, the cooling water warmed by the laser oscillator flows to the machining head by using the return water from the laser oscillator to the cooler. The occurrence of condensation on the holder is suppressed. In addition, since the processing head is also cooled using a laser oscillator cooler, there is no need to provide a cooler for external optical components separately from the laser oscillator cooler, which increases the size and cost of the apparatus. Can be suppressed. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to provide a fan device for the machining head, it is possible to avoid the weight of the machining head and to suppress the influence on the cutting speed.

  According to the aspect described in (5) above, it is possible to avoid low-temperature cooling water from flowing into the machining head when the laser oscillator is not operating, and to more reliably suppress dew condensation on the holder of the external optical system. it can.

1 is a schematic plan view of a laser beam machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic side view of the laser processing machine shown in FIG. It is a perspective view of a processing head drive mechanism. It is a perspective view of a processing head. It is a rear view of the laser processing machine shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the cooling circuit of the laser beam machine shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a laser beam machine according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the laser processing machine 10 is connected to the processing machine body 20, a laser oscillator 21 and a control device 22 built in the processing machine body 20, and the processing machine body 20. Pallet changer 23, an assist gas supply unit 27 including a booster compressor 24, an air compressor 25, or an oxygen gas cylinder 26 used to separate nitrogen gas in the air, a laser oscillator 21, and a laser processing head 40. A chiller unit 28 for supplying cooling water for cooling (hereinafter referred to as a processing head) and a dust collector 29 for removing dust generated during processing are mainly provided.
In the present embodiment, the front represents a direction closer to the processing machine main body 20 in the arrangement direction of the processing machine main body 20 and the pallet changer 23 (X direction in FIG. 1), and the rear represents the pallet in the arrangement direction. This represents the direction closer to the changer 23. Further, the left side and the right side are represented by directions when the front is viewed from the rear in a direction (Y direction in FIG. 1) orthogonal to the arrangement direction.

  In the cabin 30 of the processing machine main body 20, a pallet driving mechanism 32 that drives the pallet 31 in the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the cabin 30, which is a predetermined direction, and the workpiece W mounted on the pallet 31 are cut by heat. A processing head 40 for irradiating a laser beam for processing, a processing head drive mechanism 49 for driving the processing head 40, and a recovery conveyor 60 for recovering chips and the like cut during processing are accommodated.

As shown in FIG. 3, the machining head 40 can be moved in the X direction, the width direction (Y direction) of the cabin 30, and the vertical direction (Z direction) of the cabin 30 by a machining head drive mechanism 49. Specifically, a pair of support bases 41 provided on the left and right sides are arranged so as to straddle a beam-shaped X-direction movable base 42, and the X-direction movable base 42 is driven in the X direction by an X-axis motor 43. . The X-direction movable table 42 is provided with a Y-direction movable table 45 that is driven by a Y-axis motor 44 and can move in the Y direction. The Y-direction movable table 45 is driven in the Y direction by a rack and pinion mechanism in which a not-illustrated pinion fixed to the rotation shaft of the Y-axis motor 44 meshes with a rack (not illustrated) arranged in the X-direction movable table 42. The Further, the machining head 40 is disposed on the Y-direction movable table 45 so as to be movable in the Z direction using a rack and pinion mechanism driven by a Z-axis motor 46.
Note that the machining head 40 indicated by the solid line in FIG. 1 and the dotted line in FIG. 2 represents the most forward position in the X direction, and the machining head 40 indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIGS. The state located at is shown.

  A fiber cable (only the tip is shown) 50 extending from the laser oscillator 21 is connected to the processing head 40 by being routed through an X-direction cable bear 48x and a Y-direction cable bear 48y. Further, in the processing head 40, a collimator lens 51 for collimating the laser beam emitted from the emission end of the fiber cable 50, and a condensing lens 52 for condensing the collimated laser beam. And the condensing lens 52 is provided such that its position can be adjusted in the Z direction with respect to the processing head 40. The collimator lens 51 and the condenser lens 52 are held by a holder (not shown) of an external optical system. Note that a well-known configuration can be applied to the configuration of the laser oscillator 21 that generates the laser light, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 4, cooling pipes 56 a to 56 d connected to a chiller unit 28 constituting a cooling circuit 80 to be described later are connected around the processing head 40, and the output end of the fiber cable 50 and the collecting end are collected. The periphery of the optical lens 52 is cooled. Further, around the processing head 40, a gas supply pipe 57 that supplies an assist gas of nitrogen gas or oxygen gas from the assist gas supply unit 27 to the processing head 40 and the vicinity of the laser nozzle 53 of the processing head 40. In addition, another gas supply pipe 58 connected to the side nozzle 54 for blowing an assist gas of nitrogen gas or oxygen gas is provided.

  The cooling pipes 56a to 56d and the gas supply pipes 57 and 58 pass through the Z-direction cable bear 48z and then to the X-direction cable bear 48x and the Y-direction cable bear 48y together with the fiber cable 50. It is routed and connected to the chiller unit 28 and the assist gas supply unit 27.

  When the processing head 40 operates the laser oscillator 21, the laser light is collimated by the collimator lens 51 via the fiber cable 50, and the collimated laser light is incident on the condenser lens 52 and condensed. Then, the workpiece W is processed by being irradiated from the laser nozzle 53 onto the processing portion of the workpiece W. At the time of processing, the assist gas supplied from the assist gas supply unit 27 is ejected from the laser nozzle 53 and the side nozzle 54 toward the processing unit of the workpiece W, and the molten metal generated during the processing is blown off.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pallet driving mechanism 32 is disposed at a position facing the right side surface of the pallet 31 along the X direction, and an endless chain 34 that is rotationally driven by a drive motor 33, and the pallet 31. A plurality of rollers 36 provided on the lower surface side of the roller are guided to roll and have a rail 35 that supports the pallet 31. When the endless chain 34 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 33, a pin (not shown) provided on the endless chain 34 engages with an engaging portion (not shown) of the pallet 31, and the pallet on the rail 35. 31 is moved in the X direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the cabin 30 is provided with a gull wing 38 as an opening / closing door on the front surface 30F, and a loading / unloading port 37 formed in a horizontally long slit shape on the back surface 30R opposite to the front surface 30F. Is provided corresponding to the pallet changer 23. Thus, when processing a large lot product, the pallet 31 on which the workpiece W is placed is loaded / unloaded via the loading / unloading port 37, and when processing a small lot product, the workpiece W is loaded / unloaded from the gull wing 38 to correspond to the size of the lot. Can be carried out.

  Further, a first operation panel 75 is disposed on the front side 30F on the side of the gull wing 38, and a second operation panel 70 is disposed on the left side surface 30L closer to the rear surface 30R. Further, a foot switch 76 that can be operated by the operator's foot is disposed below the gull wing 38 on the front surface 30F of the cabin 30.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, the pallet changer 23 is disposed to face the back surface 30 </ b> R of the cabin 30 provided with the loading / unloading port 37. The pallet changer 23 has a movable frame 62 that is driven up and down by a drive mechanism 61 shown in FIG. 1, and two pallets 31 are placed on a substantially U-shaped rail 63 provided on the left and right sides of the movable frame 62. Two stages can be arranged vertically.

  The upper pallet 31 is placed on the upper rail surface 63 a of the U-shaped rail 63, and the lower pallet 31 is placed on the lower rail surface 63 b of the U-shaped rail 63. . The pallet 31 arranged in two stages on the U-shaped rail 63 moves the pallet 31 on the substantially U-shaped rail 63 up and down by driving the movable frame 62 up and down by the drive mechanism 61, so that the cabin The height of the pallet 31 can be adjusted so as to be the same height as the rail 35 disposed in the pallet 30, and the pallet 31 positioned at the same height as the rail 35 is connected to the pallet changer 23 and the cabin 30 via the loading / unloading port 37. You can carry in and out.

  Also, below the movable frame 62, a work lifter 66 having a free bearing 64 for moving the work W on the pallet 31 so as to abut on the reference of the pallet 31 is provided to be movable up and down. (See FIG. 5). 1 and 2, reference numeral 65 denotes a foot switch for operating a drive mechanism 67 that drives the work lifter 66 up and down.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a sensor composed of a projector 71, a reflector 72, and a light receiver 73 is disposed at each corner of the work area WA surrounding the pallet changer 23, and the light emitted from the projector 71 is By reflecting on the three reflecting plates 72 and receiving the light on the light receiver 73, the entry / exit of the worker or the like into the work area WA is monitored. In addition, an area sensor 74 is disposed on the back surface 30R of the cabin 30 to detect the presence or absence of an operator or the like in the work area WA. When the sensor composed of the projector 71, the reflector 72, and the light receiver 73 or the area sensor 74 is activated, it is determined that there is an operator or the like in the work area WA, and the carrying-in / out operation of the pallet changer 23 is prohibited. This ensures the safety of workers and the like.

Here, the cooling circuit 80 of the laser beam machine 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
Although not shown, the chiller unit 28 constituting a part of the cooling circuit 80 includes a tank and a refrigerator that cools water discharged from the tank. The refrigerator is a compressor, a condenser that condenses the refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor, a heat exchanger that evaporates the refrigerant discharged from the condenser and cools water from the tank using latent heat, and It has. Then, the water cooled by the heat exchanger is supplied into the laser oscillator 21 and the inside of the laser oscillator 21 is cooled.

  The tank of the chiller unit 28 is connected to the laser oscillator 21 by two cooling pipes 81 and 82, an oil pump (not shown) is connected to the cooling pipe 81 side, and cooling water passes through the cooling pipe 81 to the laser oscillator 21. Supplied. The cooling water that has cooled the laser oscillator 21 is discharged to the cooling pipe 82 and returns to the tank. A cooling pipe 56 a connected to the machining head 40 branches from the cooling pipe 82, and a part of the cooling water that has cooled the laser oscillator 21 is supplied to the machining head 40. The tank is connected to the machining head 40 by a cooling pipe 56d, and the cooling water that has cooled the machining head 40 is configured to return to the tank.

  One end of the cooling water supplied to the processing head 40 is connected to the upper end of the front end of the fiber cable 50 from the cooling pipe 56a connected to the upper end of the output end of the fiber cable 50. The discharged cooling pipe 56b is discharged. The other end of the cooling pipe 56b is connected to the upper rear part of the condenser lens 52, and the cooling water supplied from the upper rear part of the condenser lens 52 through the cooling pipe 56b cools the rear periphery of the condenser lens 52. , One end is supplied to the front upper part of the condenser lens 52 through the cooling pipe 56 c connected to the front upper part of the condenser lens 52. The cooling water supplied to the front upper part of the condenser lens 52 cools the front periphery of the condenser lens 52 and then returns to the tank through the cooling pipe 56d.

  The cooling pipe 56 a branched from the cooling pipe 82 is provided with a solenoid valve 85 that is electrically connected to the control device 22 that controls the laser oscillator 21. The solenoid valve 85 opens in synchronization with the drive signal to the laser oscillator 21 and closes in synchronization with the drive signal to the laser oscillator 21 being stopped. Accordingly, the solenoid valve 85 is opened only when the laser oscillator 21 is in operation and supplies cooling water to the machining head 40, and is closed when the laser oscillator 21 is not in operation to shut off the supply of cooling water to the machining head 40. To do.

  The laser oscillator 21 is provided with a dehumidifier 21a such as a dehumidifier or an air conditioner. The water temperature in the tank of the chiller unit 28 is set to 20 to 25 ° C., for example, but the dehumidifying device 21a prevents the occurrence of condensation even in an environment where the internal temperature of the laser oscillator 21 rises and condensation can occur. Is done. On the other hand, the processing head 40 is not provided with a dehumidifying device. However, since the return water from the laser oscillator 21 to the tank of the chiller unit 28 is supplied to the processing head 40 through the cooling pipe 56a branched from the cooling pipe 82, the cooling water having a temperature higher than the set temperature in the tank is processed. It is supplied to the head 40. As a result, the condensation of the processing head 40, particularly the holder of the external optical system, which is generated when the cooling water that is too low relative to the ambient temperature of the processing head is supplied to the processing head 40 is suppressed.

  Further, the cooling pipe 56a branched from the cooling pipe 82 is provided with a solenoid valve 85 that switches between opening and closing in synchronization with the operation / non-operation of the laser oscillator 21, so that when the laser oscillator 21 is not in operation, That is, in an environment in which the temperature rise of the cooling water cannot be expected so much, the supply of the cooling water to the processing head 40 is interrupted, so that the condensation of the processing head 40 is more effectively suppressed.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the pipe 56 a for cooling the machining head 40 is branched from the pipe 82 from which the cooling water that has cooled the laser oscillator 21 is discharged. Since the cooling water flows to the processing head 40, the occurrence of condensation in the processing head 40, particularly the holder of the external optical system, is suppressed. Further, since the machining head 40 is also cooled by using the chiller unit 28 for the laser oscillator 21, it is not necessary to provide a cooler for external optical components separately from the chiller unit 28 for the laser oscillator 21, and the size of the apparatus is increased. , Increase in cost can be suppressed. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to provide a fan device in the processing head 40, it is possible to avoid the weight of the processing head 40 and to suppress the influence on the cutting speed.

  Further, since the solenoid valve 85 can prevent the cooling water from flowing into the machining head 40 when the laser oscillator 21 is not in operation, the condensation of the machining head 40 can be more reliably suppressed.

  Further, by cooling the exit end of the fiber cable 50 and the condensing lens 52 of the processing head 40, which are likely to generate heat, it is possible to suppress deterioration in the efficiency of laser processing.

In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably.
The present invention is not limited to the fiber laser processing machine 10 of the present embodiment, and can be applied to any laser processing machine.

  The cooling pipes 56a to 56d around the machining head 40 return the cooling water to the tank of the chiller unit 28 from the cooling pipe 56a to which the return water from the laser oscillator 21 to the tank of the chiller unit 28 is supplied. The cooling pipe 56d should just be arrange | positioned. In addition, the cooling unit is not particularly limited as long as the cooling of the processing head 40 is at least the cooling of the condenser lens 52.

10 Laser processing machine 21 Laser oscillator 28 Chiller unit (cooler)
40 Laser processing head 50 Fiber cable 52 Condensing lens 56a Cooling pipe (third cooling flow path)
81 Cooling pipe (first cooling flow path)
82 Cooling pipe (second cooling flow path)
85 Solenoid valve (valve member)

Claims (5)

A laser oscillator for generating laser light;
A laser processing head for condensing and irradiating a workpiece with laser light;
A cooler for cooling the laser oscillator;
A first cooling flow path for supplying cooling water from the cooler to the laser oscillator;
A second cooling flow path for discharging cooling water from the laser oscillator to the cooler, and a laser processing machine comprising:
A laser processing machine, wherein a third cooling flow path for cooling the machining head is branched from the second cooling flow path. The third cooling flow path is provided with a valve member that switches connection or disconnection according to the operating state of the laser oscillator,
The laser processing machine according to claim 1, wherein the valve member is opened when the laser oscillator is in operation, and is closed when the laser oscillator is not in operation.   The said 3rd cooling flow path cools the exit end of the fiber cable which transmits a laser beam from the said laser oscillator to the said process head, and the condensing lens of the said process head. Laser processing machine. A laser oscillator for generating laser light;
A processing head for condensing and irradiating the workpiece with laser light;
A cooling method for cooling the laser oscillator, comprising:
A cooling method for a laser processing machine, wherein the processing head is cooled using return water from the laser oscillator to the cooler. 5. The method of cooling a laser beam machine according to claim 4, wherein the return water is supplied to the machining head only when the laser oscillator is in operation.

Images