JP3106973B2 - Laser marking device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a laser marking device. In particular, the present invention relates to a scanning laser marking apparatus that performs marking on an object by scanning a laser beam.

[0001]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as a device for marking a product name or a product number on an object such as an IC package, a scanning (scanning) type laser marking device for directly marking the object with a single stroke by scanning with a laser beam is known. It is being used.

However, this method has a problem in that the drawing speed of the laser beam is slow and the marking throughput is low as compared with the mask method in which a target is irradiated with a laser beam using a mask pattern. Was.

As a technique for improving the marking throughput, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-175818 discloses a "laser marking method and apparatus". This laser marking device shown in FIG.
A laser beam 32 from a laser oscillator 31 is split by a beam splitter 33 into a plurality of, for example, two laser beams 35 according to an object 34 to be marked, and one of the laser beams 35 is condensed by an fθ lens 37a via a scanning mirror 36a. , The other through the scanning mirror 36b and the fθ lens 3
By condensing light by 7b and simultaneously irradiating the two objects 34 to perform marking of the same pattern, the marking throughput is almost doubled.

[0004]

However, in this conventional laser marking device, one laser beam is split into a plurality of laser beams by a beam splitter.
Only the same pattern can be marked on a plurality of objects. In addition, since there is no position correction mechanism when the relative position of the object is shifted, there is a problem that marking cannot be performed unless the shapes of the objects are all the same.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to simultaneously mark a plurality of objects, not to mention the case where the objects are of the same type, but to correspond to each of the objects even if they are of different types. An object of the present invention is to provide a laser marking device capable of marking a pattern and improving the marking throughput.

The different types include two types: different types having the same shape (hereinafter referred to as different types) and different types having different types (hereinafter referred to as different types).

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser marking apparatus for marking an object by scanning a laser beam. , A plurality of scanning optical systems, and each scanning optical system has a plurality of scanning optical systems.
A lens, and transmits and reflects an incident laser beam to
The plurality of laser beams that are branched and reflected
A beam splitter that scans one of the scanning lenses of
It is characterized by having .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the laser marking apparatus according to the first aspect,
The scanning optical system includes a marking position correcting unit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser marking apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the optical path switching means includes a switching position detecting means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the laser marking apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the laser marking apparatus is positioned on the optical path of the laser beam switched by the optical path switching means. It is characterized by comprising an optical path branching means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser marking apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, further comprising means for detecting a position of an object.

In the laser marking apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, a transporting device for the object may be provided independently of the scanning optical system.

In the present invention, the laser beam optical path switching means switches the optical path of the laser beam from the laser oscillator so that the laser beam is incident on one of the plurality of scanning optical systems to be marked. Therefore, if the marking patterns of the respective scanning optical systems are made to correspond to the objects, marking is performed on the corresponding patterns even if the objects are of the same type or different types.

The marking position correcting means of the scanning optical system corrects the marking position independently according to the shape of the object. Therefore, even if the position of the target of each scanning optical system to be marked changes due to a change of the target or the like, the irradiation position of the laser beam is corrected to respond.

The switching position detecting means of the optical path switching means detects, for example, the switching position of the reflecting mirror of the optical path switching means. Therefore, the position of the reflecting mirror with respect to the scanning optical system is accurately determined, and the optical path of the laser beam is accurately switched. Also, since it is detected which of the plurality of scanning optical systems is in operation, it is possible to determine which pattern of marking should be performed on the object of which scanning optical system.

The laser beam path splitting means splits the laser beam switched by the optical path switching means into a plurality of pieces, and simultaneously marks a plurality of objects of the scanning optical system.

Further, since the object position detecting means detects the position of the object, the marking position of the laser beam can be corrected and the irradiation position of the laser beam can be determined more accurately.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, an embodiment of a laser marking device according to the present invention will be described.

The laser marking device shown in FIG.
The control unit 4, the laser oscillator 5, the first drive unit 2, the second drive unit 3, the scanning optical systems 1a and 1b, the optical path switching unit 11 as an optical path switching unit, and the position correction of marking And a position correction unit 10 as means.

The laser oscillator 5 is connected to the control unit 4,
The laser beam 8 is emitted toward the reflecting mirror 12 of the optical path switch 11. As the laser oscillator 5, for example, a YAG laser, a CO2 laser, an excimer laser, or the like can be used.

In this case, the optical path switch 11 is a reflecting mirror 12
Are rotated to change the optical path of the laser beam 8. Reflector 12 in position A
When the reflecting mirror 12 is at the position B, the laser beam 8 is incident on the scanning optical system 1b.
Is incident on the scanning optical system 1a. The reflecting mirror 12 may be driven by being attached to a galvanometer (not shown).

Further, as the switching position detecting means of the reflecting mirror 12, light emitting elements 13, 13 'and light receiving elements 14, 14' are provided for the positions A, B of the reflecting mirror 12, respectively. Accordingly, the light emitted from the light emitting element 13 is
The light detected by the light receiving element 14 only when the reflecting mirror 12 is at the position A, and the light emitted from the light emitting element 13 ′
Is detected by the light receiving element 14 'only when is at the position B.

The scanning optical system 1a comprises a reflecting mirror 6a, fθ
And a scanning optical system 1b.
Is composed of a reflecting mirror 6b and an fθ lens 7b.
As the reflecting mirrors 6a and 6b, for example, a galvanometer-type reflecting mirror (usually composed of an X-deflecting mirror and a Y-deflecting mirror) may be used.

When the reflecting mirror 12 of the optical path switch 11 is at the position B, the laser beam 8 enters the scanning optical system 1a, changes the optical path by the reflecting mirror 6a, and condenses by the fθ lens 7a. Then, the object 21a is irradiated with the laser beam 9a. Similarly, when the reflecting mirror 12 is at the position A, the laser beam 8 is incident on the scanning optical system 1b and the optical path is changed by the reflecting mirror 6b.
The laser beam 9b is condensed by the lens 7b and irradiated to the object 21b. At this time, the reflecting mirrors 6a and 6b
The laser beam 9a, 9b is moved at a high speed by the first drive unit 2 controlled by the control unit 4 to change the laser beam 9a, 9b to an optical path corresponding to the pattern to be marked.

The first drive unit 2 is connected to the scanning optical systems 1a and 1b via the position correction unit 10, and operates the reflecting mirrors 6a and 6b according to the pattern to be marked. Further, the second drive unit 3 is connected to the optical switch 11 to operate the reflecting mirror 12.

The position correcting section 10 is a signal 1 which is obtained by adding the marking pattern signal 2a from the first driving section 2 and the laser beam focal position correcting signal 4a from the control section 4.
0a and 10b are sent to the scanning optical systems 1a and 1b, respectively.
For example, in the scanning optical system 1a, upon receiving the signal 10a, the reflecting mirror 6a moves at high speed in accordance with the marking pattern, and the focal position of the laser beam is adjusted by the fθ lens 7a, so that the target object 21a should be marked correctly. The position is marked with the correct pattern. The same applies to the scanning optical system 1b. Therefore, the object 21
Since the scanning optical systems 1a and 1b can be operated independently of each other with respect to the objects 21a and 21b.
Even if 21b is different, accurate marking of the corresponding pattern is performed.

The control unit 4 receives the pattern data of the marking according to the object and the correction data of the focal position of the marking according to the shape of the object, and the like. Depending on the position detection signal, etc.
The first drive unit 2, the second drive unit 3, the position correction unit 10, and the laser oscillator 5 are operated as described above.

The transporter 25a sequentially supplies the objects 21a under the scanning optical system 1a under the control of the controller 4.
The transfer device 25a may be a horizontal transfer type handler, a robot IC handler, or the like.

Next, the operation of the laser marking device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The laser beam 8 emitted from the laser oscillator 5 shown in FIG. 1 first enters the reflecting mirror 12 of the optical path switch 11. When the reflecting mirror 12 is at the position B, the laser beam 8 is incident on the scanning optical system 1a, and the reflecting mirror 6a
The light path changes to an optical path corresponding to the pattern to be marked, and is condensed by the fθ lens 7a to irradiate the object 21a as a laser beam 9a.

Similarly, when the reflecting mirror 12 is at the position A, the laser beam 8 is incident on the scanning optical system 1b and changes into an optical path corresponding to the pattern to be marked by the reflecting mirror 6b. The laser beam 9b is condensed by the laser beam 7b and irradiates the object 21b as a laser beam 9b.

Then, the surface temperature of the portions of the objects 21a and 21b irradiated with the laser beams 9a and 9b rises instantaneously, and the surface layer of the portions is scraped off. The same pattern (not shown) is formed, and marking is performed on the objects 21a and 21b.

Here, the scanning optical systems 1a and 1b can perform a marking operation when the reflecting mirror 12 of the optical path switch 11 is at the position A and the position B. A timing chart thereof will be described with reference to FIG. .

From time t1 to time t2, the reflecting mirror 12
Is at the position A, and marks the object 21b on the transporter 25b. At this time, the transporter 25a shown in FIG.
The upper object 21a is transported.

Next, from time t2 to time t3, the reflecting mirror 12 is at the position B and the object 21a on the transporter 25a is moved.
Marking on At this time, the target object 21b on the transfer device 25b is transferred.

This operation may be repeated from time t3.

In this case, the object 21a and the object 21b
If are the same type, marking of the same pattern is performed, and if they are of different types, marking of different patterns corresponding to each is performed. To change the pattern, only the input data to the control unit 4 needs to be changed. Also,
If the relative position of the marking with respect to the reference position changes due to a difference in the shape of the target or the target is changed, the position can be changed by inputting position correction data to the position corrector 10. Of course, in the case where the target is changed to a heterogeneous object, the position correction data may be input as 0 only by changing the pattern.

As described above, two markings are performed alternately, although strictly at the same time. However, transporters 25a and 25b are provided for the scanning optical systems 1a and 1b, respectively. When one of the markings is performed, the other is conveyed to the marking position, which leads to an overall improvement in throughput. Of course, marking can be performed even if one transporter is provided for the scanning optical systems 1a and 1b.

Accordingly, different patterns can be marked with a single laser marking device, and the marking positions can be corrected independently, so that even if the objects arranged in a plurality of scanning optical systems are of the same type, In addition, even if they are of different types, marking of a pattern corresponding to each of the objects can be performed. This is very effective for marking a large number of kinds of small IC packages and the like.

The objects 21a and 21 shown in FIG.
If the position detecting means 28 is provided for each of the objects b, the object 2
The positions of the laser beams 9a and 9b are detected by detecting the positions of the laser beams 9a and 9b.
b, the marking positions of the objects 21a and 21b are corrected.
Can be accurately marked. As the position detecting means 28, for example, one having the same structure as the position detecting means of the reflecting mirror 12 provided in the optical path switch 11 described above can be used.

Next, another embodiment of the laser marking device according to the present invention will be described. The scanning optical system 1a of the laser marking device shown in FIG. 3 includes a reflecting mirror 6a 'also serving as a beam splitter as a laser beam splitting unit, an fθ lens 7a', a reflecting mirror 6a, and an fθ lens 7a. Be composed. Similarly, the scanning optical system 1b
Comprises a reflecting mirror 6b 'also serving as a beam splitter, an fθ lens 7b', a reflecting mirror 6b, and an fθ lens 7b. Other parts are the same as those described above. When the reflecting mirror 12 is at the position B, the laser beam 8
The light enters the scanning optical system 1a and is split into two beams by a reflecting mirror 6a 'also serving as a beam splitter. One of the beams is condensed by an fθ lens 7a' to form a laser beam 9a 'on an object on a carrier 25a. 21a is irradiated to perform marking, and the other is changed the optical path by a reflecting mirror 6a and focused by a fθ lens 7a to form a laser beam 9a.
As a, the object 21a on the transporter 25a is irradiated,
Perform marking. In this case, the two objects 21a are marked with the same pattern.

When the reflecting mirror 12 is at the position A, the light enters the scanning optical system 1b and the same operation is performed.
The two objects 21b on 5b are marked.

Therefore, each object 21a, 2a
1b is alternately marked on each two,
When one of the markings is performed, the other performs the transport to the marking position two by two, so that the throughput can be further doubled as compared with the above-described apparatus. Of course, in this case, the objects 21a and 21b may be of the same type or of different types.

[0044]

According to the present invention, a plurality of scanning optical systems can be operated independently by the laser beam path switching means, so that even if the objects are of the same type, they can be of different types (different types, different types, different types). Even if they have the same shape, marking of the corresponding patterns can be performed.

Therefore, the marking throughput can be improved, and conventionally, when simultaneously marking different types of objects, two or more laser marking devices are required. However, in the present invention, one marking device can be used. it can.

Further, if the marking position correcting means is provided, the marking positions can be corrected separately, so that different types of objects can be easily handled. Further, a plurality of markings can be performed by the scanning optical system, and the marking throughput can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, and is a configuration diagram of a laser marking device.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the operation of the laser marking device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, and is a configuration diagram of a laser marking device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional laser marking device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b Scanning optical system 2 First driving unit 3 Second driving unit 4 Control unit 5 Laser oscillator 6a, 6b Reflecting mirror of scanning optical system 6a ', 6b' Reflecting mirror serving also as beam splitter 10 Position correction Unit 11 Optical path switcher 12 Reflector mirror of optical path switcher 13, 13 'Light emitting element 14, 14' Light receiving element 21a, 21b Object 25a, 25b Carrier 28 Object position detecting means

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A laser marking device to mark the object by scanning a laser beam, comprising a light path switching means of the laser beam, and a plurality of scanning optical system, the
The scanning optical system consists of multiple scanning lenses and an incident laser
Transmits and reflects the beam, splits it into two, and reflects it
Laser beam to one of the plurality of scanning lenses
A laser marking device comprising a beam splitter for scanning . 2. The laser marking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scanning optical system includes a marking position correcting unit. 3. The laser marking device according to claim 1, wherein the optical path switching means includes a switching position detecting means. 4. The laser marking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an optical path branching unit so as to be located on an optical path of the laser beam switched by the optical path switching unit. 5. The laser marking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a target position detecting unit.