JP2018094616A - Laser processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

SOLUTION: In a main processing step, a laser processing having a required form is applied to a die board (workpiece) 2 set in a laser processing apparatus 1. At this time, a positioning mark 31 is formed on the die board 2 in association with a position of the required laser processing. Thereafter, the die board 2 is removed from the laser processing apparatus in a removal step. Further thereafter, an additional laser processing is applied to the die board 2 as necessary. In this additional processing step, the positioning mark 31 is detected by an imaging means 32 from the die board 2 set on the laser processing apparatus 1, and an additional laser processing is applied to the workpiece on the basis of the detection result.EFFECT: An additional laser processing can be easily applied to a required laser processing applied in a main processing step by detecting a positioning mark.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus and a laser processing method, and more specifically, after the required laser processing is performed on a workpiece by a main processing step, when the additional laser processing is necessary, the workpiece Is set in a laser processing apparatus, and the laser processing apparatus and the laser processing method can perform additional laser processing on the workpiece subjected to the required laser processing.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a laser processing apparatus is known in which a groove having a required shape for embedding a punching blade (Thomson blade) is formed on a die board made of wood as a workpiece (Patent Document 1).
When the groove is formed on the die board by the laser processing apparatus, a punching blade is embedded in the groove to form a punching die, and a sheet serving as a base of a package (paper container) such as a carton is extracted from the original fabric by a press machine equipped with the punching die. I am doing so.
By the way, there is a case where it is desired to add a punching blade to the initially manufactured punching die. In that case, of course, it is preferable from the viewpoint of cost reduction to perform laser processing (additional machining) again on the once-manufactured die, rather than making a new die from scratch. Conventionally, when additional machining is required, in order to process the additional groove at an accurate position with respect to the groove already formed on the die board, the required processing already formed on the processing table of the laser processing apparatus is performed. The die board was set while being accurately positioned by hand so that the laser processing position coincided with the additional laser processing position.
Conventionally, when performing an additional machining process, the workpiece on the machining table is imaged by the imaging means to acquire the laser machining area and the unmachined area that are already formed on the workpiece, It is known to perform additional laser processing on the processing region (Patent Document 2).

JP 2014-161901 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-320143

According to the laser processing apparatus of Patent Document 1, since it is necessary to position the die board manually during the additional machining process, there is a disadvantage that the positioning operation is complicated and takes a long time.
On the other hand, according to the laser processing apparatus of Patent Document 2, there is an advantage that it is easy to set the workpiece on the processing table of the laser processing apparatus because the workpiece need only be imaged by the imaging means. In order to recognize the laser processing pattern already applied to the workpiece and obtain its position with high accuracy, there is a drawback that sophisticated and complicated software is required. In particular, when the workpiece is a die board, the cutting blade is already attached to the groove of the required shape, so that even if the pattern of the cutting blade can be recognized by the imaging means, the groove already applied It was difficult to recognize the pattern.
In view of the above-described circumstances, the present invention provides a laser processing apparatus and a laser processing method that enable highly accurate additional machining with a simple configuration.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser oscillator for generating laser light, a processing table for supporting a workpiece, a processing head for irradiating the workpiece with laser light, and a relative movement between the processing table and the processing head. A laser processing apparatus comprising: a moving unit that controls the laser oscillator, a processing table, and a moving unit, and the control unit performs a required laser processing on the workpiece.
The control means performs the required laser processing and a positioning mark associated with the required laser processing position when the required laser processing is performed on the workpiece. .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the laser processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the laser processing apparatus includes an imaging unit that images the workpiece supported by the processing table,
The control means detects the positioning mark from the imaging means when performing additional machining on the workpiece, and performs additional laser machining on the workpiece based on the detection result. It is.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the laser processing apparatus according to the second aspect, the positioning mark is formed so as to penetrate the workpiece, and the imaging unit is configured to detect the workpiece when the positioning mark is formed. The positioning mark can be detected from the back side.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a main processing step in which a workpiece is set in a laser processing apparatus and the workpiece is subjected to the required laser processing, and the workpiece to which the required laser processing has been performed is applied to the laser processing apparatus. And a removal process for removing from the laser machining apparatus, and an additional machining process for setting the workpiece removed from the laser machining apparatus on the laser machining apparatus and performing additional laser machining on the workpiece subjected to the required laser machining. In the laser processing method,
When performing the required laser processing on the workpiece in the main machining step, a positioning mark is formed on the workpiece, and in the additional machining step, the positioning mark is detected, and the workpiece is detected based on the detection result. It is characterized in that an additional laser processing is performed on the workpiece.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the laser processing method according to the fourth aspect, the positioning mark is formed through the workpiece, and the positioning mark is the workpiece when the positioning mark is formed. The position of the required laser processing is recognized by being detected from the back surface side.

According to the invention of claim 1, claim 2 and claim 4, when the required laser processing is performed on the workpiece, the positioning mark associated with the position of the required laser processing is provided on the workpiece. Therefore, when additional machining is required, if a positioning mark is detected, it is possible to perform additional laser processing with high accuracy based on the detection result.
At that time, it is only necessary to detect the positioning mark, so that the software can be simplified as compared with the conventional technique, and it is not necessary to position the processing table of the laser processing apparatus and the workpiece with high accuracy. The positioning operation can be facilitated.
According to the third and fifth aspects of the invention, since the positioning mark is a positioning mark penetrating from the front surface to the back surface of the workpiece, the position of the positioning mark can be detected from the back surface side of the workpiece. Become. Therefore, especially when the workpiece is a die board, it is possible to perform additional machining from the rear surface side with the punching blade attached to the front surface side of the workpiece.

The perspective view of the laser processing apparatus 1 which shows the Example of this invention. The top view which shows the die board 2 as a to-be-processed object. The enlarged front view of the principal part of the processing head 5 of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the processing table 4 in FIG. 1. The side view of the support plate of FIG. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the positioning operation | work in an additional process.

FIG. 1 shows a laser processing apparatus 1 according to the present invention, in which a die board 2 as a workpiece is irradiated with laser light to penetrate the die board 2 to form a slit 2a. It has become.
The die board 2 is formed by laminating a plurality of pieces of wood, and the slits 2a are intermittently formed along the outer edge of the developed cardboard box as shown in FIG.
In each of the slits 2a, although not shown, a metal and long thin plate-like punching blade is inserted and mounted so that the tooth portion protrudes from the surface of the die board 2.

In FIG. 1, the laser processing apparatus 1 includes a laser oscillator 3 that generates laser light, a processing table 4 that supports a die board 2, a processing head 5 that irradiates the die board 2 with laser light, a processing table 4, Control means 6 is provided for controlling the machining head 5 to form the slit 2a by the laser beam on the die board 2.
The processing table 4 supports the lower surface of the die board 2 on its upper surface and includes an X direction table 7 and a Y direction table 8 as moving means so that the die board 2 can be moved in a horizontal two-dimensional direction. It has become.

The processing head 5 is provided above the processing table 4, and the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator 3 is guided by a light guide means (not shown) and then collected in the processing head 5. The light is condensed by the lens 5 a and irradiated onto the die board 2 supported on the processing table 4.
The processing head 5 includes elevating means 9 for moving the processing head 5 up and down, and a touch sensor 10 for adjusting the distance between the die board 2 and the condenser lens 5a. When the workpiece is a wooden die board 2, the touch sensor 10 is used because a capacitance sensor cannot be used. As shown in FIG. 3, the touch sensor 10 includes a contact 10 a that contacts the surface of the die board 2 and a potentiometer 10 b that detects the amount of elevation of the contact 10 a.
Based on the lift amount of the contact 10a, the lift means 9 is controlled so that the distance between the condenser lens 5a of the processing head and the die board 2 is constant.
It should be noted that the diameter of the focal point of the laser beam may be adjusted by raising and lowering the condenser lens 5 a inside the processing head 5. In this embodiment, the X direction and Y direction tables 7 and 8 are used as moving means for relatively moving the processing table 4 and the processing head 5 two-dimensionally. However, the processing head 5 is moved in the two-dimensional direction. It is good also as a structure moved to. Further, instead of the touch sensor 10, a non-contact type sensor such as a laser distance meter may be used.

The control means 6 controls the X and Y direction tables 7 and 8 of the processing table 4, the Z direction elevating means 9 of the processing head 5 (condensing lens 5a), the output of the laser oscillator 3, and the like. In order to generate a machining program for performing this control, a machining figure for the slit 2a formed in the die board 2 is created in advance in a machining figure creation means 11 such as CAD (Computer Aided Design).
The processed figure data created by the machined figure creating means 11 is converted into the machining program by the machining program creating means 12 such as CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing).

The machining program includes, for example, the machining figure as information on the relative two-dimensional movement direction of the machining table 4 and the machining head 5 by the X direction and Y direction tables 7 and 8 for forming the slit 2a. For each of the movement trajectories from the start point to the end point of each slit 2a constituting the slit, coordinate values centering on the origin coordinate of the machine coordinate system of the machining table 4 are described. In addition, the height of the machining head 5 and Information such as the position of the condenser lens is described.
The machining program creation means 12 may have a CAD function in addition to the CAM function.
When the control means 6 reads the machining program, the control program 6 processes the machining program in order from the first line, moves the X and Y direction tables 7 and 8 in the machining table 4, and lifts and lowering means 9 of the machining head 5. Thus, the slit 2a based on the processed figure is formed on the die board 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the machining table 4. A fixed block 22 is attached to the left side of the frame 21 constituting the machining table 4 in FIG. 4, and the left side of the square die board 2 is applied to the fixed block 22. It can be touched.
Rails 23 are attached in parallel to the vertical position of the frame 21 in FIG. 4, and a plurality of support plate receivers 24 are fixed between the rails 23 in parallel with the rails 23 at equal intervals. A plurality of support plates 25 are detachably arranged at equal intervals on the upper surfaces of the plurality of support plate receivers 24 so as to be orthogonal thereto.
As shown in FIG. 5, each of the support plates 25 has an upper surface formed in a mountain shape, and can support the lower surface of the die board 2 at the apex of each mountain shape.

A moving block 26 is provided between the two rails 23, and the moving block 26 is guided by the rail 23 and can move left and right.
Fixing means 27 for fixing the moving block 26 to the frame 21 is provided at one end of the moving block 26, and a pusher 28 for pressing the die board 2 toward the fixing block 22 is provided on the left side of the moving block 26. .
A locator 29 is provided at the left end of the lower rail 23 in contact with the fixed block 22, the left side of the die board 2 is brought into contact with the fixed block 22, and the lower side of the die board 2 is brought into contact with the locator 29. The die board 2 can be positioned with respect to the processing table 4. In this state, the pusher 28 of the moving block 26 is brought into contact with the right side of the die board 2, and the moving block 26 is fixed to the frame 21 by the fixing means 27, so that the die board 2 can be fixed to the processing table 4. It is like that.
At this time, the pusher 28 is urged toward the fixed block 22 by an air cylinder or the like (not shown) provided on the moving block 26, thereby firmly fixing the die board 2 between the fixed block 22 and the pusher 28. I can do it.

(Main machining process)
The main processing step of forming the slit 2a in the die board 2 is executed by the laser processing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration.
In the main machining step, the die board 2 is first positioned and fixed on the machining table 4 as described above.
When the die board 2 is fixed on the machining table 4 and an operation start command is input to the control means 6, the control means 6 forms the slit 2a based on the above-described machining figure on the die board 2 based on the machining program. To do.
When the control means 6 forms the slit 2a, the control mark 6 continues to form the positioning marks 31 at a plurality of locations on the die board 2. The positioning mark 31 may be formed before the slit 2a is formed.
In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the positioning mark 31 has a “+” shape, and is formed at two positions on the diagonal of the die board 2 across a plurality of slits 2a based on the processed figure. Yes.

The two positioning marks 31 are formed to calculate the center of the machine coordinates (origin coordinates) on the die board 2 and the inclination of the die board 2 with respect to the machine coordinate system when the main machining process is performed. That is, the positions of the two positioning marks 31 are detected, and the position on the die board 2 corresponding to the center of the mechanical system coordinates can be calculated from the center point of the center coordinates of each mark. From the straight line connecting the center coordinates, the inclination of the machine coordinate system of the die board 2 with respect to the X axis (the moving direction of the X direction table 7) and the Y axis (the moving direction of the Y direction table 8) can be calculated. In short, the position of the positioning mark 31 and the slit 2a based on the processed figure is determined in relation to each other.
Each “+”-shaped positioning mark 31 is formed so as to penetrate the die board 2 similarly to the slit 2a.

When the main machining step described above is completed, the die board 2 is removed from the machining table 4 (removal step), and unillustrated cutting blades are respectively attached to the slits 2a. Further, usually, a cushioning sponge is attached to the die board 2 adjacent to each punching blade to complete the punching die.
The punching die (die board 2) to which the punching blade and the sponge are attached is mounted on a press machine (not shown) so that the base sheet of a package (paper container) such as a carton is extracted from the plate material by the punching blade. Become.
By the way, there is a case where it is desired to add a punching blade to the punching die. In this case, it is necessary to subject the die board 2 to an additional process for additionally forming a slit for mounting an additional punching blade.

(Additional process)
Before performing the additional machining process, an additional slit is first added to the machining program used in the main machining process.
In the additional process, the die blade 2 with the punching blade and the cushioning sponge (not shown) attached to the dieboard 2 with the punching blade and the cushioning sponge facing the bottom surface, that is, with the front and back surfaces of the dieboard 2 reversed. The die board 2 is set on the processing table 4.
At this time, in order to prevent the punching blade or the cushioning sponge from interfering with the support plate 25, the support plate 25 that may interfere with the support plate 25 is removed from the support plate receiver 24. For example, among the five support plates 25 illustrated in FIG. 4, the three support plates 25 inside the left and right support plates 25 are removed from the support plate receiver 24 while leaving the left and right support plates 25.
Then, the die board 2 is positioned and fixed on the processing table 4 in the same manner as in the main processing step described above. However, in this state, each side of the die board 2 is often damaged by the above-described sheet extraction operation. Therefore, even if the die board 2 is positioned and fixed on the processing table 4, the positioning accuracy is often poor. .
However, in this additional processing step, even if the positioning accuracy of the die board 2 on the processing table 4 is poor, the processing of the die board 2 can be performed with high accuracy by detecting the positions of the two positioning marks 31 applied in the main processing step. The position of the slit 2a based on the figure can be detected.

That is, in order to detect the position of the positioning mark 31, as shown in FIG. 1, an imaging means 32 such as a camera is provided in the vicinity of the processing head 5, and the positioning mark 31 is photographed by the imaging means 32. It is made to be able to.
As shown in FIG. 6, since the imaging means 32 is provided with a cross guide line 32a in its field of view, the center of the cross guide line 32a coincides with the center of the "+"-shaped positioning mark 31. Then, the processing table 4 is moved by the manual operation of the operator. At this time, since the positioning mark 31 is formed through the die board 2, the positioning mark 31 can be recognized from the upper surface side even when the front and back of the die board 2 are reversed.
When both the centers coincide with each other, the position of the positioning mark 31 at that time is read by the control means 6 as the machine coordinates of the laser processing apparatus 1.
This operation is also performed for the other positioning mark 31, and if the positions of the two positioning marks 31 are known, even if the die board 2 is inverted, the position corresponding to the origin coordinate of the machine coordinate system in the die board 2 is as described above. In addition, the inclination of the die board 2 with respect to the machine coordinate system can be calculated. This makes it possible to associate the coordinates between the die board 2 and the CAD data.
If the coordinates of the die board 2 and the CAD data are associated in this way, the laser processing apparatus 1 may be controlled by the control means 6 to form a slit to be added.

  When the additional machining process is completed in this manner, the die board 2 is detached from the machining table 4 in the same manner as at the end of the main machining process, and the cutting blade is attached to the newly formed slit, and at a position adjacent to the cutting blade. If a cushioning sponge is attached, a punching die with additional processing can be completed.

In the above-described embodiment, the “+”-shaped positioning mark 31 is used as the positioning mark 31. However, the positioning mark 31 is not limited to this, and is related to the slit 2a based on the machining figure applied in the main machining process. Any shape can be used as long as the position can be determined. Further, the positions where the positioning marks 31 are formed are not limited to two, and may be three or more.
Moreover, in the said Example, although the cutting blade is mounted | worn with both the slit 2a formed in the main process, and the additional slit formed in the additional process, it formed in the main process as needed. While the punching blade is removed from the slit 2a, it is also possible to attach the punching blade only to the additional slit and use only the punching blade.
Furthermore, since the center position of the machine coordinates only needs to be the same, the machining program used in the main machining process and the program used in the additional machining process may be different.
Furthermore, the laser processing apparatus that performs the main processing step and the laser processing apparatus that performs the additional processing step need not be the same, and separate laser processing apparatuses may be used.

1 Laser processing equipment 2 Die board (workpiece)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Laser oscillator 4 Processing table 5 Processing head 6 Control means 7 Y direction table 8 X direction table 31 Positioning mark 32 Imaging means

Claims (5)

A laser oscillator for generating laser light; a processing table for supporting the workpiece; a processing head for irradiating the workpiece with laser light; a moving means for relatively moving the processing table and the processing head; and the laser In a laser processing apparatus comprising a control means for controlling an oscillator, a processing table, and a moving means, and performing the required laser processing on the workpiece by the control means,
The control means performs the required laser processing and a positioning mark related to the position of the required laser processing when performing the required laser processing on the workpiece. . The laser processing apparatus includes an imaging unit that images the workpiece supported by the processing table,
The control unit detects the positioning mark from the imaging unit when performing additional machining on the workpiece, and performs additional laser machining on the workpiece based on the detection result. Item 2. The laser processing apparatus according to Item 1.   The positioning mark is formed to penetrate the workpiece, and the imaging means can detect the positioning mark from the back side of the workpiece when the positioning mark is formed. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 2. A main processing step of setting a workpiece on a laser processing apparatus and performing the required laser processing on the workpiece; a removing step of removing the workpiece subjected to the required laser processing from the laser processing device; and In a laser processing method having an additional processing step of setting an additional work to be processed on the workpiece subjected to the required laser processing, by setting the workpiece removed from the laser processing device on the laser processing device,
When performing the required laser processing on the workpiece in the main machining step, a positioning mark is formed on the workpiece, and in the additional machining step, the positioning mark is detected, and the workpiece is detected based on the detection result. A laser processing method, wherein an additional laser processing is performed on a workpiece.   5. The positioning mark according to claim 4, wherein the positioning mark is formed so as to penetrate the workpiece, and the positioning mark is detected from the back side of the workpiece when the positioning mark is formed. Laser processing method.

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