JP4269230B2 - Axis alignment method for hybrid machining apparatus and hybrid machining apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a shaft alignment method for a hybrid processing apparatus and a hybrid processing apparatus. The present invention relates to a method of aligning a hybrid machining apparatus that performs the above machining and a hybrid machining apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a hybrid processing apparatus that performs a required cutting process by irradiating a workpiece with a laser beam transmitted through the liquid flow while injecting a high-pressure liquid flow onto the workpiece ( For example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
In such a conventional hybrid processing apparatus, a high-pressure liquid is supplied to the nozzle, a high-pressure liquid flow is ejected from the opening at the tip of the nozzle to the workpiece, and laser light is guided in this liquid flow to the workpiece. It is guided and irradiated. In such a conventional apparatus, the axis of the liquid flow ejected from the nozzle and the optical axis of the laser beam are made to coincide with each other before the start of processing. That is, by aligning the axial center of the liquid flow with the optical axis of the laser light, the amount of leakage of laser light from the liquid flow to the outside is minimized to suppress energy loss.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-1621. JP 2001-321977 A.

By the way, in the above-described conventional processing apparatus, in order to check whether or not the axial center of the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser beam coincide with each other, a waterproof energy monitor is installed. However, the conventional apparatus cannot accurately measure whether the axis of the liquid flow coincides with the optical axis of the laser beam, and the axis of the liquid flow and the light of the laser beam during the cutting process. There is a drawback that it is not possible to measure whether or not the axis coincides.
Furthermore, since the diameter of the liquid flow in the conventional hybrid processing apparatus is set to about 50 μm and is very thin, the liquid flow axis and the optical axis of the laser beam are caused by temperature change or vibration during processing of the workpiece. There is also a drawback that the shift easily occurs.

In view of the circumstances described above, the first aspect of the present invention is a hybrid in which a high-pressure liquid flow is ejected toward a workpiece, and laser light is transmitted through the liquid flow before being irradiated on the workpiece. In processing equipment,
The intensity of Raman scattered light generated when laser light passes through the liquid flow is measured, and the liquid flow and the laser light are moved relative to each other so that the intensity of the Raman scattered light is maximized. The heart and the optical axis of the laser beam are made to coincide with each other.
Further, the second aspect of the present invention is a hybrid machining apparatus in which a high-pressure liquid flow is ejected from a nozzle toward a workpiece, and a laser beam is transmitted through the liquid flow before being irradiated on the workpiece. In
A measuring means for measuring the intensity of Raman scattered light generated when laser light is transmitted through the liquid flow; and an axis moving means for relatively moving the axis of the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser light. The axial center of the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser light are moved relative to each other by the axial movement means so that the intensity of the Raman scattered light measured by the above is maximized, so that the axial center of the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser light coincide with each other. It is what I did.

According to the present invention described above, the axial center of the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser light can be easily matched by measuring the intensity of the Raman scattered light.
Therefore, it is possible to provide an axial alignment method and a hybrid machining apparatus for a hybrid machining apparatus, in which the alignment of the liquid flow axis and the laser beam axis is easier than in the prior art.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a hybrid machining apparatus 1, which cuts a workpiece 2 into a required shape by a water jet stream (liquid stream) W and laser light L. can do.
The hybrid machining apparatus 1 includes a machining table 3 on which a thin plate-like workpiece 2 is placed, a laser oscillator 4 that oscillates laser light L, a water jet stream W toward the workpiece 2, and a laser beam. A machining head 5 for irradiating L and a pump (not shown) for feeding high-pressure water to the machining head 5 are provided.
A water jet stream W is ejected from the nozzle 6 provided in the machining head 5 to the workpiece 2 on the machining table 3 and at the same time, the laser beam L transmitted through the water jet stream W from the nozzle 6 is processed. The workpiece 2 can be cut into a required shape by irradiating the workpiece 2 and moving the machining table 3 and the machining head 5 relative to each other in the XY directions on the horizontal plane.
In this embodiment, a laser oscillator that oscillates a YAG laser or a semiconductor laser is used as the laser oscillator 4. The workpiece 2 is assumed to be a semiconductor wafer, but the present invention can also be applied to ceramics and metals.

The processing head 5 is formed in a stepped cylindrical shape and provided with a first holder 8 provided with a condenser lens 7 for condensing the laser light L, and is formed in a stepped cylindrical shape and provided with a nozzle 6 in the center of the lower end. A second holder 11 is provided.
The first holder 8 is connected to the movable base 12 that is moved in the XY directions perpendicular to the horizontal plane and supported in the vertical direction. When the laser light L is oscillated from the laser oscillator 4, the laser light L is After being guided to the condensing lens 7 of the first holder 8 through a reflecting mirror (not shown) and the like, the light is irradiated toward the nozzle 6 on the lower side. The first holder 8 provided with the condensing lens 7 so as to adjust the position of the condensing lens 7 with respect to the optical axis of the laser light L may be attached to the movable base 12 so as to be movable up and down. The movable base 12 may be movable in the XY directions on the horizontal plane.

On the other hand, the second holder 11 provided with the nozzle 6 is supported in the vertical direction by a support member 14 provided in a position adjusting means 13 described later. As will be described in detail later, by moving the second holder 11 in the XY directions orthogonal to the laser light L by the position adjusting means 13, the light of the laser light L condensed by the condenser lens 7 of the first holder 8. The shaft and the axis of the water jet flow W ejected from the nozzle 6 provided in the second holder 11 can be made to coincide with each other.
The internal space of the second holder 11 is divided into two upper and lower sections by a transparent glass window 15 fitted to the lower inner periphery thereof, and the interior of the second holder 11 that is on the lower side of the glass window 15. The space is a liquid supply passage 16. High-pressure water can be fed into the liquid supply passage 16 from a pump (not shown) via two conduits 17. Since the upper end portion of the nozzle 6 is positioned in the liquid supply passage 16, when high-pressure water is fed into the liquid supply passage 16, the lower end opening of the nozzle 6 is directed toward the workpiece 2 on the lower side. The water jet stream W is ejected as a liquid column.
A lower end portion of the first holder 8 holding the condenser lens 7 is inserted into the upper internal space of the second holder 11. The laser beam L condensed by the condenser lens 7 is irradiated to the workpiece 2 through the glass window 15, the water supply passage 16 and the water in the nozzle 6, and the water jet flow W ejected from the nozzle 6. It has become so. At that time, as shown in FIG. 3, the laser beam L is reflected by the inner surface of the nozzle 6, passes through the lower end opening of the nozzle 6, and then has a cylindrical boundary surface in the water jet flow W ejected from the nozzle 6 ( The workpiece 2 is irradiated after being guided downward while being repeatedly reflected by the boundary between the atmosphere and the water jet flow W).

A substantially rectangular flange portion 11A is formed at the upper end portion of the second holder 11, and the outer peripheral portion below the flange portion 11A passes through the through hole 14A of the support member 14 with a slight play. I am letting.
A nut member 18 is embedded in a pair of opposite corners of the flange portion 11A, and an adjustment screw 21 is threaded through the nut member 18 from above to support a lower end portion of the adjustment screw 21. It is placed on the upper surface of the member 14. Further, a hemispherical protrusion 11B is formed on the lower surface of one corner of the flange portion 11A, and the protrusion 11B is placed on the upper surface of the support member 14. In this way, the second holder 11 is supported on the support member 14 in the vertical direction.
Then, by rotating the adjustment screws 21 and 21 forward and backward by a required amount, the inclination of the axis of the second holder 11 and the nozzle 6 provided on the second holder 11 can be adjusted with the position of the protrusion 11B as a fulcrum. Yes. In the present embodiment, the nut member 18, the adjusting screw 21, and the protrusion 11 </ b> B constitute the tilt adjusting means 22 that adjusts the tilt of the axis of the nozzle 6.
In this embodiment, the tilt adjusting means 22 and the position adjusting means 13 constitute an axis moving means 30 for relatively moving the axis of the laser light L and the axis of the water jet flow W.

Next, the position adjusting means 13 includes an X direction adjusting member 23 composed of a fixed portion 23A and a movable portion 23B provided on the movable base 12 in parallel with the X direction, and an L on the movable portion 23B of the X direction adjusting member 23. A Y-direction adjusting member 24 comprising a fixed portion 24A and a movable portion 24B provided in parallel with the Y direction and attached to the character-shaped bracket 10 and horizontally connected to the movable portion 24B of the Y-direction adjusting member 24. The support member 14 is configured.
An adjustment screw 25 with a memory similar to the micrometer is provided from the fixed portion 23A to the movable portion 23B of the X-direction adjusting member 23. By rotating the adjusting screw 25 forward and backward by a required amount, the nozzle 6 provided in the second holder 11 can be moved in the X direction via the movable portion 23B, the Y-direction adjusting member 24, and the support member 14. . Further, an adjusting screw 26 similar to the adjusting screw 25 is provided from the fixed portion 24A to the movable portion 24B of the Y-direction adjusting member 24. By rotating the adjusting screw 26 forward and backward by a required amount, the nozzle 6 provided in the second holder 11 can be moved in the Y direction via the movable portion 24B and the support member 14.
In the present embodiment, the position adjusting means 13 can adjust the position of the nozzle 6 provided in the second holder 11 in the XY directions orthogonal to the laser light L condensed by the condenser lens 7. It has become. Further, as described above, the inclination of the nozzle 6 provided in the second holder 11 can be finely adjusted by the inclination adjusting means 22 provided in the second holder 11.
By adjusting the position and inclination of the nozzle 6 in the X and Y directions by the position adjusting means 13 and the inclination adjusting means 22 constituting the axis moving means 30, the laser light L emitted from the condenser lens 7 toward the nozzle 6 is adjusted. The axis of the water jet flow W ejected from the nozzle 6 can be made to coincide with the optical axis.

Therefore, before processing by the hybrid processing apparatus 1, it is necessary to make the axis of the water jet flow W jetted downward from the nozzle 6 coincide with the optical axis of the laser beam L that transmits the water jet.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the measuring means 27 is provided at the lower end portion of the second holder 11, and the intensity of the Raman scattered light generated when the laser light L is transmitted through the water jet flow W is determined by the water jet flow W. Measurement is performed from the side by the measuring means 27, and based on the measurement, the axis moving means 30 matches the axis of the water jet flow W with the optical axis of the laser light L.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the measuring means 27 includes an optical fiber 31 that is fixedly attached to the lower end portion of the second holder 11 via an annular attachment member 28, and the other end of the optical fiber 31. The photodiode 32 is connected to 31B. The tip 31A of the optical fiber 31 is mounted so that the distance from the lower end of the nozzle 6 to the tip 31A does not fluctuate while being supported in a direction orthogonal to the jet direction of the water jet stream W jetted from the nozzle 6. It is fixed to the member 28.

Further, a filter 33 is provided on the end face of the other end 31B of the optical fiber 31, and even if a plurality of types of light enter the optical fiber 31 from the tip 31A, the filter 33 provided at the other end is used. Light other than Raman scattered light is prevented from entering the photodiode 32. That is, only the Raman scattered light is incident on the photodiode 32.
By the way, “Raman scattering” is a phenomenon in which scattered light with a wavelength shifted to the long wavelength side of the wavelength of light passes through the transparent medium. The light is called “Raman scattered light”. “Raman scattering” and “Raman scattered light” are known. In the present embodiment, when the water jet stream W is ejected from the nozzle 6 in the state where the water jet stream W is ejected from the nozzle 6, the laser beam L is transmitted from the upper side to the “Raman scattered light”. Occurs.
In an experiment conducted by the inventor of the present application, when the axis of the water jet stream W and the optical axis of the laser beam L are relatively moved in the XY direction, the water axis is coincident with the optical axis. The amount of leakage of the laser light L from the jet flow W was minimized. Further, it has been confirmed that the intensity of Raman scattered light is maximized when the leakage amount of the laser light L is minimized.
Based on such knowledge, in this embodiment, while measuring the intensity of Raman scattered light by the measuring means 27, the position adjusting means 13 and the inclination adjusting means 22 are used to move the nozzle 6 to the laser light L. It is moved in the XY directions with respect to the axis, and the inclination of the nozzle 6 is adjusted if necessary.
And the nozzle 6 is moved so that the intensity | strength of the Raman scattered light measured by the measurement means 27 may become the maximum, and the nozzle 6 is hold | maintained. This is the position where the axis of the water jet stream W coincides with the optical axis of the laser beam L, and the amount of leakage to the outside when the laser beam L passes through the interior of the water jet stream W is the smallest. This is the position where the energy of the laser beam L reaching the object 2 is maximized.
In the present embodiment, the axial center of the water jet flow W and the optical axis of the laser beam L are made to coincide with each other as described above, and then the workpiece 2 is cut by the hybrid machining apparatus 1 as required. Processing is performed.
In the present embodiment, the intensity of the Raman scattered light is measured by the measuring means 27 in a non-contact state from the side of the water jet flow W, and therefore the Raman scattered light is measured by the measuring means 27 even during the cutting process. The intensity can be measured. If the intensity of the Raman scattered light becomes smaller than the intensity before the start of machining during the cutting process, it can be determined that the axis of the water jet flow W and the optical axis of the laser beam L are shifted. In that case, once the cutting process is interrupted, the position and inclination of the nozzle 6 in the X and Y directions are adjusted by the position adjusting means 13 and the inclination adjusting means 22 constituting the axis moving means 30, so that the water jet flow W The machining is resumed after the axis of the laser beam L coincides with the optical axis of the laser beam L.

  According to the present embodiment described above, the axis of the water jet flow W as the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser light L can be easily matched by measuring the intensity of the Raman scattered light. Therefore, as compared with the prior art, it is possible to provide the hybrid processing device 1 and the hybrid processing device 1 which can easily align the axial center of the water jet flow as the liquid flow and the axial center of the laser beam L.

In the present embodiment, water is suitable as the transparent medium, and a laser oscillator 4 that oscillates a YAG laser or a semiconductor laser is used. Any laser oscillator that can oscillate laser light may be used. Since the CO ₂ laser is easily absorbed by water, a laser oscillator that oscillates the CO ₂ laser is not suitable as the laser oscillator of this embodiment.
Further, a combination of a transparent medium other than water and a laser beam that is hardly absorbed by the transparent medium may be used.
In the above embodiment, only one measuring means 27 is provided. However, a plurality of measuring means 27 are provided, and the distal end portion 31A of the optical fiber 31 is provided on the lower surface of the mounting member 28 in the circumferential direction. The positions may be shifted, that is, fixed at positions orthogonal to each other, or a plurality of positions may be provided in the vertical direction. Thus, by providing a plurality of measuring means 27, it is possible to increase the accuracy when the axis of the water jet flow W and the optical axis of the laser light L are matched.
Moreover, you may enable it to raise / lower the 2nd holder 11 in which the nozzle 6 was provided.
In the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that the workpiece 2 is cut. However, the hybrid machining apparatus 1 is applicable not only to the cutting process but also to cleaning and surface treatment such as resist removal. .

The front view which showed the principal part which shows one Example of this invention in the cross section. The bottom view of the hybrid processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. The schematic block diagram which shows the principal part of the hybrid processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Hybrid processing apparatus 2 ... Workpiece 6 ... Nozzle 7 ... Condensing lens 13 ... Position adjustment means 22 ... Inclination adjustment means 27 ... Measuring means 30 ... Axis movement means W ... Water jet flow L ... Laser beam

Claims (4)

In the hybrid machining apparatus in which a high-pressure liquid flow is ejected toward the workpiece, and the workpiece is irradiated with laser light transmitted through the liquid flow.
The intensity of Raman scattered light generated when laser light passes through the liquid flow is measured, and the liquid flow and the laser light are moved relative to each other so that the intensity of the Raman scattered light is maximized. An axis alignment method for a hybrid machining apparatus, characterized in that a core and an optical axis of a laser beam coincide with each other. In the hybrid machining apparatus in which a high-pressure liquid flow is ejected from the nozzle toward the workpiece, and the workpiece is irradiated with laser light transmitted through the liquid flow.
A measuring means for measuring the intensity of Raman scattered light generated when laser light is transmitted through the liquid flow; and an axis moving means for relatively moving the axis of the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser light. The axial center of the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser light are moved relative to each other by the axial movement means so that the intensity of the Raman scattered light measured by the above is maximized, so that the axial center of the liquid flow and the optical axis of the laser light coincide with each other. A hybrid processing apparatus characterized by the above. 3. The hybrid machining apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the axis moving unit includes a position adjusting unit that moves the axis of the liquid flow relative to the optical axis of the laser beam in a direction that intersects the axis. 4. The hybrid machining apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the axis moving unit includes an inclination adjusting unit that adjusts an inclination of an axis of the liquid flow with respect to an optical axis of the laser beam.

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