JP3871240B2 - Hybrid processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hybrid machining apparatus, and more particularly to a hybrid machining apparatus that performs required laser machining by irradiating a laser beam simultaneously with jetting a pressure liquid onto a workpiece.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a hybrid machining apparatus having the following configuration is known.
That is, a laser oscillator that oscillates a laser beam, a condensing lens that condenses the laser beam oscillated from the laser oscillator, a nozzle that ejects a pressure liquid from an opening at a tip toward a workpiece, and the nozzle Pressure liquid supply means for supplying the pressure liquid to the internal space of the laser beam, and the laser beam condensed by the condenser lens is guided to the inside of the pressure liquid ejected from the nozzle and then irradiated onto the workpiece. In addition, there is known a device that performs a required processing on a workpiece (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-1621).
In the processing apparatus of the above-mentioned conventional publication, the workpiece is cut by the laser beam, and at the same time, the cutting portion is cooled by the pressure liquid and the processing waste is removed. In such a conventional hybrid processing apparatus, carbonization of the workpiece during processing can be prevented. Therefore, the conventional hybrid processing apparatus is often used for processing a semiconductor wafer or a synthetic resin thin plate.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the conventional hybrid machining apparatus described above, since the YAG laser oscillator is used as the laser oscillator, the following drawbacks have been pointed out.
That is, since the YAG laser oscillator is large and expensive, the conventional hybrid machining apparatus has the disadvantages that the entire apparatus becomes large and the manufacturing cost increases.
Further, when the inner surface of the nozzle is simply conical, there is a disadvantage that the pressure liquid ejected from the lower end opening of the conical nozzle diffuses.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a hybrid processing apparatus that is smaller than the above-described conventional one, is low in manufacturing cost, and does not scatter pressure liquid ejected from a nozzle.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
That is, the present invention relates to a laser oscillator that oscillates a laser beam, a condensing lens that condenses the laser beam oscillated from the laser oscillator, and a nozzle that ejects a pressure liquid from an opening at a tip toward a workpiece. And pressure liquid supply means for supplying pressure liquid to the internal space of the nozzle, and guides the laser beam condensed by the condenser lens into the pressure liquid ejected from the nozzle and then processed In a hybrid processing device that irradiates an object and performs the required processing on the workpiece,
A semiconductor laser oscillator is used as the laser oscillator, and the inner surface of the nozzle is composed of a conical surface whose tip side is reduced in diameter and a small-diameter cylindrical surface that continues from the small diameter portion of the conical surface to the opening. The laser beam condensed by the condenser lens is further reflected by the conical surface to converge on the cylindrical surface, and the pressure liquid is jetted so as not to diffuse on the cylindrical surface, and the laser beam passes through the pressure liquid. The light is guided to the workpiece .
[0005]
According to such a configuration, since the semiconductor laser oscillator is used as the laser oscillator, the power supply efficiency is improved as compared with the conventional one using the YAG laser oscillator, the entire apparatus can be downsized and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. I can do things. In addition, since a small-diameter cylindrical surface is provided at a position adjacent to the opening on the inner surface of the nozzle, it is possible to prevent the pressure liquid that passes through the cylindrical surface and is ejected from the opening toward the workpiece.
Accordingly, it is possible to provide a hybrid processing apparatus that is small in size, low in manufacturing cost, and has a processing capability equivalent to that of a YAG laser.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a hybrid machining apparatus according to the present invention. The hybrid machining apparatus 1 is a conventionally known machining table 3 that supports a thin workpiece 2 and is movable in the X direction on the horizontal plane, and is disposed above the machining table 3 so that the X on the horizontal plane is set. The machining head 4 is movable in the Y direction orthogonal to the direction.
As the workpiece 2 to be processed by the hybrid processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, a thin semiconductor wafer or an epoxy resin plate is suitable.
In this embodiment, water 6 as a pressure liquid is jetted from the nozzle 5 provided in the machining head 4 to the machining position 2A of the workpiece 2 and at the same time, the laser beam L oscillated from the laser oscillator 7 is introduced into the water 6. The light is transmitted and then irradiated to the processing position 2A of the workpiece 2. In this state, the thin plate-like workpiece 2 is cut into a required shape by relatively moving the processing table 3 and the processing head 4 in the XY directions on the horizontal plane.
[0007]
The processing head 4 of this embodiment includes a plate-like support member 8 that can be moved in the Y direction and can be moved up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown), and a nozzle 5 that is fitted in a lower portion of the through hole 8A of the support member 8. An annular holder 11 attached to the upper surface of the support member 8 at the position of the through hole 8A, and a laser oscillator 7 held by the inner peripheral portion of the holder 11 and directed into the through hole 8A and the nozzle 5 It has.
In this embodiment, a high-power semiconductor laser oscillator is used as the laser oscillator 7, and the laser beam L oscillated from the laser oscillator 7 is condensed by the condenser lens 12 in the nozzle 5. Then, the workpiece 2 is irradiated through the lower end opening 5A of the nozzle 5.
A cooling passage (not shown) through which cooling water can flow is formed in the housing of the laser oscillator 7. A supply pipe 13 for supplying cooling water is connected to one end of the cooling passage, and the other end of the cooling passage is connected. A recovery pipe 14 for recovering the cooling water is connected.
The supply pipe 13 is connected to a pump (not shown), and the operation of the pump and the laser oscillator 7 is controlled by a control device (not shown).
When the laser oscillator 7 is operated by the control device, the pump is also operated, so that cooling water is supplied to the housing of the laser oscillator 7 through the supply pipe 13. At the same time, the heat of the housing of the laser oscillator 7 is also transmitted to the cylindrical holder 11.
That is, the laser oscillator 7 is cooled by the cooling water from the holder 11 and the supply pipe 13. The cooling water supplied to the housing of the laser oscillator 7 is recovered in a recovery tank (not shown) via the recovery pipe 14.
As can be understood from the above description, since the semiconductor laser oscillator is used as the laser oscillator 7 in this embodiment, the laser oscillator 7 itself can be reduced in size, and the laser oscillator 7 can be used as a machining head. It is configured as a part. Further, in this embodiment, by using a semiconductor laser oscillator as the laser oscillator 7, the power supply efficiency is better than when a conventional YAG laser oscillator is used.
[0008]
Next, the nozzle 5 of this embodiment is composed of a ring-shaped lens holder 15 that holds a condenser lens 12 therein, and a cylindrical main body 16 that is integrally attached to the lower surface of the lens holder 15. Yes.
By fitting the lens holder 15 into the through hole 8A of the support member 8 from below, the lens holder 15 and the main body 16 are supported vertically downward, and the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator 7 is irradiated. The L optical axis is aligned with the axis of the nozzle 5.
An annular groove 15A is formed in the inner peripheral portion of the lens holder 15, and the outer peripheral portion of the condenser lens 12 is fitted in the annular groove 15A. An annular seal member 17 is provided on the lower surface of the annular groove 15A, and this seal member 17 is in close contact with the outer peripheral portion of the lower surface of the condenser lens 12. Thereby, airtightness and liquid tightness are maintained between the outer peripheral portion of the lower surface of the condenser lens 12 and the annular groove 15A. A chamber 19 in which the water 6 as the pressure liquid is temporarily stored is constituted by the internal space of the main body portion 16 on the lower side of the condenser lens 12.
[0009]
A horizontal liquid passage 18 penetrating from the outer peripheral surface to the inner peripheral surface is formed in the upper portion of the main body portion 16, and an outer end portion of the liquid passage 18 is connected to the high-pressure pump via a conduit 21. 22 is connected.
The operation of the high-pressure pump 22 is controlled by a control device (not shown), and the high-pressure pump 22 is operated by the control device. Then, the water stored in a water tank (not shown) is sucked by the high-pressure pump 22 to increase the pressure, and then fed to the chamber 19 of the main body 16 through the conduit 21 and the liquid passage 18. When the chamber 19 is filled with water, water 6 as a pressure liquid is jetted to the processing position 2A of the workpiece 2 through the opening 5A at the lower end of the main body 16. In the present embodiment, the water pressure supplied into the chamber 19 of the nozzle 5 by the high-pressure pump 22 can be adjusted according to the material and plate thickness of the workpiece 2.
In this manner, the laser oscillator 7 is operated by the control device in a state where the water 6 as the pressure liquid is ejected from the opening 5 </ b> A of the nozzle 5. Then, the laser beam L from the laser oscillator 7 is guided to the inside of the water 6 in the chamber 19 of the nozzle 5 and the water 6 ejected from the opening 5A, passes through the inside of the water 6 and passes through the inside of the workpiece 2. The machining position 2A is irradiated.
As already described above, in this state, the processing head 4 and the processing table 3 are moved relative to each other in the XY directions in the horizontal plane so that the workpiece 2 is laser-cut into a required shape. The processing position 2A is cooled by the water 6 sprayed from the opening 5A of the nozzle 5, and at the same time, the processing waste generated at the processing position 2A is removed by the water 6 sprayed from the opening 5A of the nozzle 5. ing.
In this embodiment, water 6 is used as the pressure liquid. However, the pressure is not limited to this, and the pressure instead of the water 6 may be used as long as the liquid has a low absorption rate with respect to the laser beam L. Can be used as a liquid.
[0010]
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the inner surface of the main body 16 of the nozzle 5 is improved as follows. That is, the inner surface of the main body portion 16 is formed as a conical surface 16A whose lower end portion (tip portion) side is reduced in diameter, and the substantial lower end portion continuing from the conical surface 16A and the region near the upper side thereof have an inner diameter. The cylindrical surface 16B is the same. The conical surface 16A is formed of an accurate conical surface whose axial cross section is a straight line. The conical surface 16A may be an arc-shaped conical surface whose cross section slightly bulges toward the axial center as in a second embodiment of FIG. 2 described later.
The lower end portion of the cylindrical surface 16B is an opening 5A, and the inner diameter of the cylindrical surface 16B is set to be the smallest in the main body portion 16.
The entire surface of the conical surface 16A and the cylindrical surface 16B, that is, the entire inner surface of the main body 16 constituting the chamber 19, is covered with a conventionally known reflecting material that reflects the laser beam L. Thereby, the laser beam L transmitted through the condenser lens 12 is reflected by the conical surface 16A and the cylindrical surface 16B of the main body portion 16, and is more easily converged.
Further, the nozzle 5 of the present embodiment has a small-diameter cylindrical surface 16B formed at the position of the tip (adjacent upper side of the opening) continuously from the conical surface 16A. Compared with the case where only the conical surface 16A is formed, the water 6 as the pressure liquid ejected from the opening 5A of the nozzle 5 can be prevented from diffusing. Therefore, if the inner diameter of the cylindrical surface 16B is reduced, the cutting width when the workpiece 2 is cut can be reduced. Therefore, a plurality of nozzles 5 having different inner diameters of the cylindrical surface 16B are prepared, and a suitable nozzle 5 can be selected and used according to the plate thickness and material of the workpiece 2.
In this way, it is possible to reduce the diameter of the focal point of the laser beam L that is guided to the inside of the water 6 ejected from the opening 5A and passes through the inside. That is, conventionally, the laser beam L oscillated from the semiconductor laser oscillator can be converged only to a minimum of about 0.8 to 1 mm even if it is condensed by the condenser lens 12.
On the other hand, in this embodiment, when a semiconductor wafer having a plate thickness of about 50 μm is cut as the workpiece 2, the diameter of the opening 5A of the nozzle 5 (the inner diameter of the cylindrical surface 16B) is 150 μm or less. It is also possible to do. In that case, the diameter of the water 6 ejected from the opening 5A can also be 150 μm or less, and the diameter of the focal point of the laser beam L can be reduced by guiding the laser beam L into the water 6. The thickness can be made 150 μm or less, which was not obtained with the semiconductor laser oscillator.
Further, since the injected pressure liquid can be prevented from diffusing, the distance between the nozzle 5 and the workpiece 2 during processing can be increased, and a parallel processing surface can be obtained.
[0011]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the high-power semiconductor laser oscillator is used as the laser oscillator 7, the entire apparatus is compared with the conventional hybrid processing apparatus that uses the YAG laser oscillator as the laser oscillator. The manufacturing cost can be reduced while the size can be reduced.
Moreover, since the small-diameter cylindrical surface 16B is formed at the lower end portion of the inner surface of the main body 16, the water 6 sprayed from the opening 5A of the nozzle 5 can be prevented from diffusing. For this reason, the focal spot diameter of the laser beam L is reduced to the same extent as when a conventional YAG laser oscillator is used, even though a semiconductor laser oscillator that hardly converges the focal spot of the laser beam L to 100 μm is used. can do.
Accordingly, it is possible to provide a hybrid processing apparatus that is small in size and low in manufacturing cost and that has a processing capability comparable to that of a YAG laser oscillator.
Further, when the hybrid processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is viewed as a water jet processing apparatus, no abrasive is required, and water having a lower pressure (about 5 to 50 MPa) than that of a conventional general water jet processing apparatus is used. be able to. Therefore, the running cost and the equipment cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional one.
[0012]
(About the second embodiment)
Next, FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, only one laser oscillator is provided. In the second embodiment, two laser oscillators are provided to increase the output of the laser beam L.
That is, in the second embodiment, the holder 11 is formed in a box shape, and the opening of the holder 11 is connected to the upper surface of the support member 8 so as to be integrally connected, thereby closing the through hole 8A. is doing.
The first laser oscillator 7 is attached to the upper surface of the holder 11 vertically downward, and the second laser oscillator 7 ′ is attached to the side surface of the holder 11 in the horizontal direction.
High-power semiconductor laser oscillators are used as the first laser oscillator 7 and the second laser oscillator 7 ′. These laser oscillators 7 and 7 'are provided with conventionally known beam collecting condensing lenses 25 and 25, respectively. Further, the housings of both the laser oscillators 7 and 7 'are provided with a cooling passage (not shown) as in the first embodiment described above, and cooling water is supplied to the cooling passage from the supply pipe 13 and recovered. The cooling water is recovered by the pipe 14.
Further, the prism 26 is supported inside the holder 11 by support means (not shown). Therefore, when the laser beam L is oscillated from both the laser oscillators 7 and 7 ′, the laser beam L is first condensed by the collecting condenser lenses 25 and 25 and then guided to the prism 26. After the light beam L is converged into one, it is guided to the condenser lens 12 in the nozzle 5 located on the lower side.
Further, in the second embodiment, the conical surface 16A of the nozzle 5 is an arc-shaped conical surface whose axial cross section slightly bulges toward the axial center side. In addition, the conical surface 16A in the second embodiment may be a complete conical surface having a straight section as in the first embodiment. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.
Even with the hybrid machining apparatus 1 of the second embodiment configured as described above, the same operational effects as those of the first embodiment described above can be obtained.
[0013]
In each of the embodiments described above, a semiconductor wafer having a small plate thickness or an epoxy resin thin plate is suitable as the workpiece 2. However, the workpiece 2 may be any material that does not transmit light. That is, a required cutting process can be performed by the hybrid processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment even on a composite material in which metal, ceramics, synthetic resin, and different materials are laminated.
Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the cylindrical surface 16B is provided at the lower end portion of the main body portion 16, and the cylindrical portion provided with the cylindrical surface 16B is integrated with the portion provided with the upper conical surface 16A. Forming. However, the cylindrical portion provided with the cylindrical surface 16B and the portion formed with the conical surface 16A on the upper side may be formed separately and connected together by screws. With this configuration, when the conical surface 16A is damaged by the laser beam L, the portion provided with the conical surface 16A is separated from the cylindrical surface 16B below the portion, and the portion provided with the new conical surface 16A. The damaged part may be exchanged.
[0014]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a hybrid processing apparatus that is small in size and low in manufacturing cost and that has a processing capability equivalent to that of a YAG laser.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Hybrid processing apparatus 2 ... Workpiece 4 ... Processing head 5 ... Nozzle 6 ... Water (pressure liquid) 7 ... Laser oscillator 12 ... Condensing lens 16 ... Main-body part 16A ... Conical surface 16B ... Cylindrical surface 22 ... High pressure pump L ... Laser beam

Claims (4)

A laser oscillator that oscillates a laser beam; a condenser lens that condenses the laser beam oscillated from the laser oscillator; a nozzle that ejects a pressure liquid from an opening at a tip toward a workpiece; and an interior of the nozzle A pressure liquid supply means for supplying the pressure liquid to the space, and the laser beam condensed by the condensing lens is guided to the inside of the pressure liquid ejected from the nozzle and then irradiated to the workpiece. In the hybrid processing device that performs the required processing on the workpiece,
A semiconductor laser oscillator is used as the laser oscillator, and the inner surface of the nozzle is composed of a conical surface whose tip side is reduced in diameter and a small-diameter cylindrical surface that continues from the small diameter portion of the conical surface to the opening. The laser beam condensed by the condenser lens is further reflected by the conical surface to converge on the cylindrical surface, and the pressure liquid is jetted so as not to diffuse on the cylindrical surface, and the laser beam passes through the pressure liquid. And a hybrid processing apparatus characterized by guiding light to a workpiece.   The hybrid processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter of the opening of the nozzle is 150 μm or less.   3. The hybrid machining apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conical surface and the cylindrical surface of the nozzle are covered with a covering member made of a reflective material that reflects a laser beam.   The hybrid processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure liquid is water.

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