JP2843399B2 - Processing condition setting device for laser processing machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a processing condition setting device of a laser processing machine capable of easily and appropriately setting various processing conditions of laser processing.

(Prior Art) A laser beam output from a laser oscillator is guided to a laser processing head, and the processing head or the work is relatively moved along a processing shape defined by an NC program, thereby causing the laser to move the work. In a laser processing machine that performs laser processing with a beam, the following processing operation conditions must be appropriately set for a given work.

Machining operation conditions • Machining speed • Nozzle height Laser output condition • Power (maximum value of electric power) • Pulse frequency • Duty ratio Assist gas condition • Assist gas type • Assist gas pressure After performing mechanical adjustments such as nozzle centering and lens focusing, predetermined processing conditions are set for predetermined setting targets, for example, as shown in the following table.

In the above table, the processing speed, nozzle height, laser power, and assist gas type are specified on the NC program, the gas pressure is set manually, and other conditions are set on the operation panel. ing. However, the laser power may be set on the operation panel.

In the condition setting method as described above, the programmer sets conditions to be specified on the NC program, and the operator sets remaining conditions, and strives to perform optimal machining.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional method for setting the processing conditions of the laser processing machine as described above, trial and error, trial processing, or fine adjustment are performed for conditions in which various conditions are mutually related. However, since all necessary processing conditions are set on the operator side, there is a problem that the burden on the operator side is too large and the optimum conditions cannot be grasped.

Also, for this reason, there is a problem that much time is required to set the optimum processing conditions, and the processing efficiency is reduced accordingly.

Therefore, the present invention provides a laser processing apparatus capable of easily understanding the various processing conditions by both the programmer and the operator, and setting the optimum processing conditions easily, thereby improving the working efficiency, the processing efficiency and the processing quality. It is an object of the present invention to provide a condition setting method and apparatus.

[Constitution of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention guides a laser beam output from a laser oscillator to a laser processing head, and connects the processing head or work to an NC. By relatively moving along the processing shape defined by the program, in the processing condition setting device of the laser processing machine that performs laser processing of the work with the laser beam, the work material and plate thickness, and the NC program An operation condition input unit for inputting a processing speed defined in the above, a data file selection unit for selecting a predetermined data file from data files created according to the material and plate thickness of the work, and A processing condition calculating unit that calculates a laser beam output condition and a set pressure of the assist gas by applying a processing speed to the file; Has been a processing condition setting unit for the machining conditions set for the controller of the controller and the assist gas in the laser oscillator, the processing speed and the processing conditions of the power calculated by the calculation unit,
And an override setting device for individually multiplying the override with respect to the frequency, duty and gas pressure.

(Embodiment) Referring to the system of FIG. 2, a laser processing machine 1 has a laser processing head 2 and emits a laser beam LB downward from a nozzle at the tip of the processing head 2 as a focal light. ing. Further, below the processing head 2, the work W is moved relatively to the processing head 2 so that the work W is laser-processed at the focal position of the laser beam LB.

In this example, it is assumed that the work W is gripped at one end of a work clamp device (not shown) and the shape 3 is cut by positioning the clamp device with an XY positioning device.

An NC device 4 is arranged to control an XY servo motor (not shown) that forms a part of the XY positioning device.

The NC device 4 includes a servo control unit 5 for controlling the drive of the servo motor, an actuator control unit 6 for controlling a laser beam machine and actuators, and a laser for controlling a laser oscillator 7 for outputting the laser beam LB. It is configured by adding a control unit 8 and a digital signal input / output unit (Di · Do) 9 for inputting / outputting a digital signal between each device.

The laser oscillator 7 includes a laser oscillator 10 having a laser tube therein, and a laser controller for controlling the laser oscillator.
11 and an adjuster 12 for adjusting its output such as power. The laser controller 11 is connected to the digital signal input / output unit 9.

On the other hand, nitrogen (N ₂ ), oxygen (O ₂ ), air (air), and a mixture of nitrogen and air (N ₂ + air) were packed to supply an assist gas to the processing head 2 of the laser processing machine 1. The cylinders 12, 13, 14, 15 are arranged, and each cylinder is connected to the processing head 2 via an electromagnetic on-off valve 16, 17, 18, 19, and an electromagnetic pressure regulating valve 20. Each on-off valve 16, 17, 18, 19
And the pressure regulating valve 20 is connected to the gas controller 21,
It is controlled under this controller 21. The gas controller 21 is connected to the digital signal input / output unit 9.

The NC device 4 includes a control panel 24 having a manual data input device (MDi) 22 and an override setting device 23.
Is connected to

In the system having the above-described configuration, when an NC program is set in the NC device 4 and a start command is output, a laser beam LB is output, and the workpiece W is relatively moved with respect to the processing head 2 to process the shape 3. Is performed.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing details of the override setting device.

As shown in the figure, in the override setting device of this example, in addition to a switch 25 for setting an override (%) for the processing speed, the power of the laser beam, the pulse frequency, the duty ratio, and the pressure of the assist gas are covered with a transparent cover. Switches 26, 27, for setting overrides for
28 and 29 are provided. The reason why the transparent cover is applied is that these switches 26, 27, 28 and 29 do not always need to be operated.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the processing shape 3 on the workpiece W.

In the example shown, after piercing at the point Q ₀ , the points Q ₁ , Q
_2, Q ₃ ... through, has a shape which performs the laser machining up to the point Q _1.

In such shaping, later to pause at point Q _0, enter the point Q _1, then, according to the linear distance to each passing point, or high-speed V _F corresponding to an arc portion, medium speed V _M ,
The processing speed can be automatically set, such as a low speed V _S. The processing speed set in this way can be specified on the NC program.

At this time, the type of assist gas can be set according to the material and the plate thickness of the work W.

By the way, the NC program created as above
It is made into an NC tape, stored in a storage medium such as a proppy disk or an IC card, or provided to the NC device 4 via an online communication line, and is provided for laser processing.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram showing a processing condition setting device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a processing condition setting device 30 of the present example includes a calculation condition input unit 31, a data file selection unit 32, a processing condition calculation unit 33, a laser controller 11, and a gas controller 21.
Are provided with setters 34 and 35 for setting control values for.

The calculation condition input unit 31 extracts and inputs the material, the thickness of the work W, and the speed set value for each machining pressure from the NC program input to the NC device 4. However, when only one speed value is set for the entire section in the NC program, one speed value is input as the speed value for the entire section instead of the speed for each section. As for the machining speed, if the machining speed is overridden, the override value is input.

The data file selection unit 32 searches the data file 36 classified according to the work condition according to the input material and thickness of the work W, and determines a predetermined data file Fij (i is a material number, j is a plate thickness number). Select

The processing condition calculation unit 33 uses the selected data file and applies the input processing speed to the selected data file to calculate optimum power, pulse frequency, duty ratio, and assist gas pressure for one processing speed. . When the processing speed is set for each section, the condition value for each section is calculated.

The laser controller condition setting unit 34 automatically sets the calculated values for the power, pulse frequency, and duty ratio of the laser beam. Condition setting device for gas controller
35 automatically sets the value calculated for the assit gas pressure.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure for executing the laser processing by inputting the NC program as described above.

First, in step 101, prior to processing, adjustment work of each device is performed. The adjustment here is performed in addition to the alignment of the optical system, the centering of the nozzle, the focusing of the lens, and the operation of the laser oscillator 7 from the operation panel 24 shown in FIG.
, Outputting a predetermined output command, and setting an adjustment value such that the power of the laser beam oscillated based on the actually measured value becomes equal to the command value.

After the above adjustment work is completed, the NC program is input in step 102, and in step 103, the override setting unit 2 shown in FIG.
Set manual override using 3 and
When a start command is given in 04, processing conditions are automatically calculated and set in steps 105 to 109, and processing is started.

The override setting in step 103 is performed first for the processing speed, and then for other processing conditions, laser power, frequency, duty ratio, and gas pressure.

Here, it should be noted, with respect to the override machining speed, the machining speed of the NC program and V _0, when multiplied by the override value m (percent) which, actually machining speed V, V = V ₀ (M ₁ ) / 100, and the other processing conditions are the values L ₀ , f ₀ , D ₀ , G ₀ calculated by the processing condition calculation unit 33 shown in FIG. 1 (B). is there.

Therefore, in step 103, the processing conditions of the laser output and the assist gas pressure are overridden by m2, m3, m4, m5.
If has been applied, each condition L, f, D, G _{are, L = L 0 · (m2} ) / 100 f = f 0 · (m3) / 100 D = D 0 · (m4) / 100 G = G ₀ · (m5) / 100.

As a result, the operator first can freely override the processing speed, and for other processing conditions, if the processing speed is changed, the optimally calculated value is output using the data file 36. In view of this point and the fact that it is possible to further apply an override to the value calculated optimally, it is possible to perform free adjustment.

When the machining speed is set for each section of the machining shape 3 as described above, an optimum value is calculated for each section, but the override is common to all sections.

When the processing conditions are output in step 109, the output of the laser beam LB and the assist gas pressure are controlled as set values.

Next, in step 110, the workpiece W is moved with respect to the processing head 2, and laser processing is performed.

When the program ends in step 111, the quality of the cut is determined by the operator in step 112.
The next processing is performed continuously.
The process proceeds to step 103, and the processing conditions are appropriately changed by adjusting the override setting device 23. At this time, if the processing speed changes, other processing conditions are calculated again. Unless this is changed, the other conditions will be the values set by the override switch based on the previously calculated values.

As described above, according to the processing condition setting device 30 of the present embodiment, the laser output (power, pulse frequency, duty ratio) and the assist gas pressure are automatically set and can be appropriately overridden. Becomes extremely easy, the set value becomes appropriate, and the processing quality can be improved.

Further, since all the fine adjustments can be entrusted to the operator side on the programmer side, work efficiency is improved.

In the above embodiment, adjustment of each processing condition was performed using the override switches 25 to 29, but these adjustments are not limited to this. For example, an MDi input may be used, or another adjuster may be provided. However, since the override switch has been used for adjusting the processing speed, the handling method is clear.
It is more convenient to use this from the viewpoint of work efficiency.

Further, in the above embodiment, the laser output condition and the assist gas pressure are calculated again each time the processing speed is changed. However, a check switch for determining whether to calculate these processing conditions is provided, and the check switch is turned on. The calculation may be performed each time, or may be performed under arbitrary conditions, such as when the NC program is input or only during the first processing.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the processing conditions after the calculation are all set automatically for the corresponding controller. However, a part of, for example, the assist gas pressure is calculated, and the calculation result is displayed and referred to. Can also be set.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be implemented in an appropriate mode by making appropriate design changes.

[Effects of the Invention] As can be understood from the above description of the embodiment, in the present invention, the laser output condition and the gas pressure of the assist gas are automatically set according to the processing speed, and the processing speed and the gas pressure are Of course, the calculated power, frequency and duty of the laser output conditions can be individually multiplied by overrides, and each can be fine-tuned, so that laser processing under appropriate conditions can be easily performed. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 (A) is a flowchart of a laser processing method in which a method for setting conditions of a laser processing machine according to one embodiment of the present invention is performed, and FIG. 1 (B) is a processing condition setting device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a condition setting device for a laser beam machine according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system example of the laser beam machine. Is a front view showing an example of an override setting device,
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an example of a processing shape. 30: Processing condition setting device 31: Calculation condition input unit 32: Data file selection unit 33: Processing condition calculation unit 34: Laser controller condition setting unit 35: Gas controller condition setting unit 36: Data File L: Power f: Pulse frequency D: Duty ratio G: Assist gas pressure m1 to m5: Override value (%)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A laser beam (LB) output from a laser oscillator (7) is guided to a laser processing head (2), and the processing head (2) or a work (W) is processed by a processing shape (NC) defined by an NC program. In a processing condition setting device of a laser processing machine for performing laser processing of the work (W) with the laser beam (LB) by relatively moving the work (W), the material and thickness of the work and the NC program An operation condition input unit (31) for inputting the processing speed specified above,
A data file selection unit (32) for selecting a predetermined data file (36) from data files created according to the material and plate thickness of the work (W), and a processing into a selected data file (36) A processing condition calculation unit (33) for calculating the output conditions of the laser beam (LB) and the set pressure of the assist gas by applying a speed; and a controller (34) of the laser oscillator (7) for calculating the calculated processing conditions. And a processing condition setting unit (33) set for the controller (35) of the assist gas, and a power, frequency, duty, and gas pressure of each processing condition calculated by the processing speed and the calculation unit (33). A machining condition setting device for a laser beam machine, comprising: an override setting device (23) for individually applying an override.