JP2803902B2 - Cutting device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutting device, and more particularly to a cutting device for cutting a fabric by irradiating a laser beam.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a cutting device having a mechanism as shown in FIG. 2 has been used. The head 14 has a cutting laser beam 8 inside.
And a condenser lens 2 for condensing the laser beam 8 on the cloth 6 placed on the cutting board surface 13.

The front part of the condenser lens 2 is a nozzle part 4, and a pressure chamber defined in the nozzle part 4 is supplied with an assist gas 9 via an assist gas supply port 3 during laser irradiation at the time of cutting. Supply.

By injecting the assist gas 9, when the fabric 6 is cut by the laser beam 8, the fabric 6 is brought into close contact with the cutting board surface 13, and by the cooling by the assist gas 9 injection, the scorch of the fabric 6 is reduced and cutting quality is improved. At the same time, the condenser lens 2 can be protected. Assist gas 9
, An air, an inert gas or the like is used.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In FIG. 2, it is experimentally known that the smaller the distance h between the nozzle portion 4 and the cloth 6, the greater the above-mentioned effect. There have been problems with workability such as the fabric 6 getting stuck on the nozzle portion 4 when setting and removing the previous fabric 6, and it is difficult to position the fabric 6.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and improve the workability of a cutting device without lowering the cutting quality.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To solve the above problems, according to the present invention, the assist gas is injected from the nozzle portion of the cutting head to the cloth on the cutting board surface, and the cloth is irradiated with a laser beam. Means for slidably coupling the nozzle portion to the base of the cutting head in a direction away from the fabric and in a direction close to the fabric, and a direction in which the nozzle portion is separated from the fabric. And a means for supplying an assist gas to the cutting head at the time of cutting when the laser beam is irradiated, wherein the nozzle section is urged by the pressure of the assist gas supplied at the time of the laser beam irradiation. A configuration is employed in which the cutting head is moved from a position away from the cloth to a position close to the cloth against the base of the cutting head against the urging force of the means.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the cutting head can be brought close to the predetermined distance from the fabric only during laser irradiation at the time of cutting, and can be separated from the fabric in other periods.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples shown in the drawings. Members that are the same as or correspond to those of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a cutting apparatus employing the present invention. The head 14 in FIG. 1 is not an integral structure as in FIG.
The nozzle part 4 and the head base 16 are divided.

The nozzle part 4 and the head base part 16 are connected like a syringe. That is, the head base 16 is slidable longitudinally in the rear part of the nozzle part 4 like a piston of a syringe.

Mirror 1, condenser lens 2, and assist gas supply port 3
Is provided on the head base 16 side. The optical axis of the laser beam 8 reflected by the mirror 1 passes through the condenser lens 2 and the center of the nozzle port 7 at the tip of the nozzle unit 4.

A pressure chamber for the assist gas 9 is defined between the head base 16 and the nozzle 4 in front of the condenser lens 2. A return spring 5 is elastically mounted between the front end of the head base 16 and the flanges 10 and 10 'at the rear end of the nozzle portion 4. When the assist gas 9 is not supplied from the assist gas supply port 3, the return portion 5 It stops at the position indicated by the solid line due to the urging force of No. 5.

The head 14 is fixed to a device main body (not shown) at a head base 16 portion. In this case, the head 14 is fixed such that the distance between the tip of the nozzle portion 4 and the cloth 6 on the cutting board surface 13 becomes H during standby when the assist gas 9 is not supplied from the assist gas supply port 3.

On the other hand, at the time of cutting, the nozzle portion 4 descends to the position indicated by the dashed line due to the pressure of the assist gas 9 as described later.
The distance from the rear end of the head base 16 to the flange 10 'and the front end of the nozzle portion 4 to the flange 10 is determined so that the distance between the head and the nozzle is the same as the conventional one.

The sliding portions (the flanges 10, 10 ', etc.) of the head base 16 and the nozzle portion 4 may be provided with air-tight members,
It is conceivable to use a sealing member, a bearing member, or the like.

In the above configuration, at the time of cutting, the laser beam 8 is irradiated simultaneously with the supply of the assist gas 9 from the assist gas supply port 3 or after a predetermined time. At this time,
Nozzle part 4 at the position (height H) indicated by the solid line during standby
Lowers to the position (height h) indicated by the alternate long and short dash line.

According to such a configuration, the height of the nozzle portion 4 is set to h as in the conventional case only for a very short period at the time of cutting using the pressure of the assist gas 9 for bringing the cloth 6 into close contact with the cutting board surface 13, and the other periods In this case, H can be made sufficiently higher than before.

Thereby, the work of setting and taking out the fabric 6 can be performed very easily without being hooked, and the workability can be remarkably improved.

Further, in the above configuration, since the nozzle portion 4 is floatingly supported by the return spring 5, even if the nozzle portion 4 hits the fabric 6 or another obstacle when the head 14 moves, the fabric 6, the obstacle, Alternatively, there is an effect that damage to the nozzle portion 4 itself can be minimized.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, an assist gas is supplied at the time of cutting, and the nozzle pressure of the cutting head is moved to a position close to the fabric by the gas pressure. The jetting force of the assist gas to the fabric can be increased, and the close contact of the fabric on the cutting board surface is further ensured, and good cutting by the laser beam is guaranteed.

In addition, in the present invention, the nozzle portion of the cutting head is moved to a position apart from the fabric at times other than when the assist gas is not supplied, so that setting of the fabric and the like are facilitated and workability is improved, The nozzle portion is less likely to collide with a fabric or an obstacle such as scissors placed on the fabric by mistake. Also, even if the nozzle portion collides with the fabric or obstacle during cutting, the nozzle portion can slide with respect to the cutting head base, so that the energy of the collision can be absorbed by sliding in a direction away from the fabric. Can,
Damage to the nozzle can be minimized.

Further, in the present invention, the nozzle portion is brought close to the fabric by using the gas pressure of the assist gas which is jetted in order to bring the fabric into close contact with the cutting board surface, and is separated from the fabric by the urging force of the urging means. In addition, no special mechanism is required for moving the nozzle portion, and the entire apparatus can be simplified.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a cutting device employing the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a conventional cutting device. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mirror, 2 ... Condenser lens 3 ... Assist gas supply port 4, ... Nozzle part 5 ... Return spring, 6 ... Fabric 7 ... Nozzle port, 8 ... Laser light 9 ... Assist gas , 10… flange 13… cutting board surface, 14… head 16… head base

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cutting apparatus for injecting an assist gas from a nozzle portion of a cutting head to a fabric on a cutting board surface and irradiating a laser beam to cut the fabric, wherein the nozzle portion is attached to the base portion of the cutting head. Means for coupling in a sliding direction in a direction away from the cloth and in a direction close to the cloth; a urging means for urging the nozzle portion in a direction away from the cloth; and a cutting head when cutting with a laser beam. Means for supplying an assist gas to the nozzle from the position separated from the cloth with respect to the base of the cutting head against the urging force of the urging means by the pressure of the assist gas supplied at the time of laser beam irradiation. A cutting device, wherein the cutting device is moved to a position close to a cloth.