JP4779917B2 - Gas laser oscillator - Google Patents

Description

    The present invention relates to a gas laser oscillation device.

In general, in a gas laser oscillation apparatus, an output mirror composed of a partial reflecting mirror and a final mirror composed of a reflecting mirror are arranged at both ends of a discharge tube having laser gas inside, and these output mirror and final mirror are respectively connected to an output mirror holder and a final mirror. Position restricting means for holding the stage mirror holder and maintaining the parallelism of the output mirror holder and the final stage mirror holder and position restricting means for maintaining the position of the discharge tube are provided. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
A conventional laser oscillation apparatus will be described below with reference to FIG.

    101 is a discharge tube, 102 and 103 are electrodes for applying energy to the laser gas inside the discharge tube 101, 104 is a power source connected to the electrodes 102 and 103, 105 is a discharge space in the discharge tube 101, and 106 is a discharge tube 101 A final stage mirror having a reflectance close to 100% arranged on the laser optical axis from 107, an output mirror consisting of a partial reflecting mirror arranged on the laser optical axis from the discharge tube 101, and 110 connected to the discharge tube 101 The laser gas flow path 111, 112 is a heat exchanger for cooling the laser gas, and 113 is a blower for circulating the laser gas. The blower 113, the heat exchanger 112, the laser gas flow path 110, the discharge tube 101, the heat exchanger 111, the blower 113 The laser gas was circulated through the head.

    The output mirror 107 is held by an output mirror holder 115a, the final mirror 106 is held by a final mirror holder 115b, and the output mirror holder 115a and the final mirror holder 115b are connected by a plurality of mirror holder connecting rods 114. The discharge tube 101 was supported by the discharge tube holder base 117 via the discharge tube holder 116.

    Here, the support relationship between the discharge tube, the final stage mirror, and the output mirror will be described.

    The rotation support unit 200 is connected to a connecting flange 117a for supporting the output mirror holder 115a on the discharge tube holder base 117. A support portion 120a for supporting the output mirror holder 115a so as to be perpendicular to the laser optical axis is disposed below the output mirror holder 115a. A rotating shaft support 120b is disposed on the connecting flange 117a.

    The support portion 120a and the rotation shaft support portion 120b have holes for inserting the rotation shaft 119. By inserting the rotary shaft 119 into the support portion 120a and the rotary shaft support portion 120b, the output mirror holder 115a and the discharge tube holder base 117 are combined through the connecting flange 117a. As described above, the rotation shaft 119, the support portion 120a, and the rotation shaft support portion 120b constitute the rotation support portion 200 in order to support the output mirror holder 115a on the discharge tube holder base 117. The rotation support unit 200 has a degree of freedom in the rotation direction of an arrow 202 shown in the drawing.

    On the other hand, a support rod 121 is attached to the lower part of the last stage mirror holder 115b. In the connecting flange 117 b on the discharge tube holder base 117 side, a rotating body 122 and a rotating body support portion 123 that supports the rotating body 122 are configured to support the support rod 121. Thus, a slider structure 220 that is slidable in the optical axis direction is formed. This slider structure 220 has a degree of freedom in the optical axis direction of the arrow 222 shown in the figure.

  With this configuration, the output mirror holder 115a and the discharge tube holder base 117 are fixed with respect to the direction perpendicular to the laser optical axis direction. However, the output mirror holder 115a and the discharge tube holder base 117 have a degree of freedom only in the rotation direction within a plane including the laser optical axis direction. As a result, the mirror holder 115a on the output mirror side and the discharge tube holder base 117 can be coupled without misalignment of the optical axis.

  On the other hand, the final stage side mirror holder 115b and the discharge tube holder base 117 are fixed with respect to the direction perpendicular to the laser optical axis direction (strictly speaking, they are free in the upward direction). That is, it is considered that the final stage side mirror holder 115b and the discharge tube holder base 117 are fixed by the weight (self-weight) of the mirror holder 115b. Of course, this configuration is free in the sliding direction in the optical axis direction and in the rotation direction in the plane including the optical axis direction. As a result, the mirror holder on the final stage mirror side and the discharge tube support are also coupled together without any misalignment of the optical axis, similar to the output mirror side.

Note that the discharge tube holder base 117 serving as a support base of each part is connected to the discharge tube holder 116 by welding using a hollow metal pipe from a rigid surface.
International Publication No. 01/93380 Pamphlet

    However, in the structure of the conventional discharge tube holder base and the discharge tube holder described above, it takes a very long time, such as annealing to reduce welding distortion, and performing machining after performing rust prevention treatment such as painting and plating. The process was expensive.

    An object of the present invention is to provide a gas laser oscillation apparatus having an optical bench that is inexpensive and highly accurate in view of the above-described conventional problems.

In order to achieve the above object, a gas laser oscillation apparatus of the present invention includes an electric discharge tube for energizing a laser gas disposed therein, and an optical axis of laser light emitted from the laser gas excited by the discharge tube. The first mirror, the second mirror, the first mirror, the first mirror holder for holding the second mirror, the second mirror holder, and the first mirror holder And a plurality of mirror holder connecting members that connect between the second mirror holder, a plurality of discharge tube holders that hold the discharge tube, a discharge tube support part that supports the discharge tube via the discharge tube holder , The first mirror holder is fixed in the laser beam axis direction and in the direction perpendicular to the laser beam axis with respect to the discharge tube support, and the first mirror holder has a degree of freedom in the rotation direction within a plane including the laser beam axis direction. Solid And a second fixing part that fixes the second mirror holder to the discharge tube support part in a direction perpendicular to the laser optical axis and is slidable in the laser optical axis direction. The discharge tube support portion joins the portions where the two plate-shaped metal members are in contact with each other so as to abut each of the U-shaped opening portions of the two plate-shaped metal members having a U-shaped cross section. A hollow rectangular column, a spacer disposed in the space inside the rectangular column and between two joints, a connecting tool using bolts and nuts passing through the spacer, and a discharge tube holder disposed on the outer periphery of the rectangular column. And a plurality of flanges screwed to adjust the height for supporting the discharge tube .

    More preferably, the contact portions of the two U-shaped metal plates are fixed with an organic solvent such as an adhesive and a bolt passing through the pipe, and the two U-shaped plates are fixed. The metal member is structured to be accurately combined with a small hole that has been previously machined by a positioning means such as a rivet.

    According to this configuration, the two U-shaped plate-shaped metal members can be manufactured only by relatively inexpensive machining such as press molding and a highly versatile machine tool such as a brake, and also can be assembled. Since it is easy, it can be manufactured at a lower cost than the conventional structure.

    In addition, rigidity, which is an original function, can be improved by inserting a plurality of spacers inside. Moreover, the post-treatment such as painting can be omitted by using a pre-surface treated material such as a plated steel plate as the base material.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to provide a gas laser oscillation device having a good inexpensive optical bench precision at high rigidity.

(Embodiment)
Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

    In FIG. 1, 1 is a discharge tube, 2 and 3 are electrodes for applying energy to the laser gas inside the discharge tube 1, 4 is a power supply connected to the electrodes 2 and 3, 5 is a discharge space in the discharge tube 1, and 6 Is a final mirror disposed on the laser optical axis from the discharge tube 1 and having a reflectance close to 100%, 7 is an output mirror composed of a partial reflecting mirror disposed on the laser optical axis from the discharge tube 1, and 10 is a discharge. A laser gas flow path connected to the tube 1, 11 and 12 are heat exchangers for cooling the laser gas, and 13 is a blower for circulating the laser gas. The blower 13, the heat exchanger 12, the laser gas flow path 10, the discharge tube 1, and the heat exchanger 11, the laser gas is circulated to the blower 13.

    The output mirror 7 is held by an output mirror holder 15a, the final stage mirror 6 is held by a final stage mirror holder 15b, and the output mirror holder 15a and the final stage mirror holder 15b are connected by a plurality of mirror holder connecting rods 14. The discharge tube 1 is supported by a discharge tube holder base 17 via a discharge tube holder 16.

    Here, the support relationship between the discharge tube, the last stage mirror, and the output mirror is omitted because it is the same as the conventional one, but in the gas laser oscillation device, the deviation of the optical axis greatly affects the laser output performance and processing performance. In addition, a stable discharge tube holder base is required.

    Next, the discharge tube holder base 17 will be described with reference to FIGS.

    The discharge tube holder base 17 is formed into a hollow quadrangular column by abutting the opening portions of the two plate-shaped metal members 17a and 17b having a U-shaped cross section, and the two plate-shaped metal members 17a. , 17b is applied to a part where the adhesive agent 18 such as an organic solvent is applied and joined to each of the parts, and a spacer 19 disposed between the two joint parts in the square column inner space, and a bolt 20 and a nut 21 passing through the spacer 19 A plurality of flanges 22 for position adjustment with the discharge tube 1 fixed by connecting tools and screwed to the outer periphery of the rectangular column are provided.

    The two plate-like metal members 17a and 17b are combined with a small hole 23 that has been opened in advance by a positioning means 24 such as a rivet with high precision, and the position with the screwed discharge tube 1 The adjustment flange 22 can be accurately arranged in the laser optical axis direction.

  The assembly order of the discharge tube holder base 17 is as follows. First, a spacer 19 is temporarily attached to the U-shaped space of the plate-like metal member 17b with adhesive or the like, and the plate-like metal member 17a on the outer periphery of the plate-like metal member 17b. A bonding agent 18 is applied to the contact surface. Next, before the bonding agent 18 is hardened, the U-shaped opening of the plate-shaped metal member 17b is fitted into the U-shaped inner side of the plate-shaped metal member 17a so that the small holes of the plate-shaped metal members 17a, 17b are obtained. Then, the positioning means 24 is used for positioning (for example, fastening with rivets). Thereafter, the bolts 20 are passed through the spacers 19 and fixed with the nuts 21. The height of the flange 22 for position adjustment is adjusted with an assembly jig prepared separately, and then fixed to the two plate-like metal members 17a and 17b with screws.

  Since it comprised in this way, the mechanical rigidity of the discharge tube holder base 17 can be improved with the spacer 19 arrange | positioned between the said junction parts, the volt | bolt 20 and nut 21 which pass this. As a means for increasing the rigidity, it is desirable to arrange a large number of the spacers 19 and the bolts 20 and nuts 21 passing therethrough. However, in the present embodiment, they are arranged at intervals of 200 mm to 300 mm because of cost. The two plate-like metal members 17a and 17b are made of rust-proofed surfaces such as plated steel plates.

  Further, since the position adjusting flange 22 is fixed after the height adjustment, it can be arranged with high accuracy in the direction perpendicular to the laser optical axis.

    The discharge tube holder base of the present invention can be constructed with high accuracy and at low cost, and is useful for a gas laser oscillation device or the like.

Schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention It is sectional drawing which shows the discharge tube holder base in embodiment of this invention, (A) is sectional drawing of the vicinity which gave bonding agent, a spacer, a volt | bolt, and a nut, (B) is a vicinity of the small hole and the positioning means arranged. Cross section Schematic configuration diagram of a conventional laser oscillation device

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Discharge tube 2, 3 Electrode 4 Power supply part 5 Discharge space 6 Final stage mirror 7 Output mirror 10 Laser gas flow path 11, 12 Heat exchanger 13 Blower 14 Mirror holder connecting rod 15a Output mirror holder 15b Final stage mirror holder 16 Discharge tube holder 17 Discharge tube holder bases 17a and 17b Sheet metal member 18 Binder 19 Spacer 20 Bolt 21 Nut 22 Flange 23 Small hole

Claims (2)

A discharge tube that energizes and excites the laser gas placed inside;
A first mirror disposed on the optical axis of laser light emitted from the laser gas excited by the discharge tube, a second mirror,
A first mirror holder for holding the first mirror, a second mirror, and a second mirror holder;
A plurality of mirror holder connecting members for connecting the first mirror holder and the second mirror holder;
A plurality of discharge tube holders for holding the discharge tubes;
A discharge tube support for supporting the discharge tube via the discharge tube holder ;
The first mirror holder is fixed in the laser beam axis direction and in the direction perpendicular to the laser beam axis with respect to the discharge tube support, and the first mirror holder has a degree of freedom in the rotation direction within a plane including the laser beam axis direction. A fixed part;
A laser oscillation device having a second fixing portion that fixes the second mirror holder to the discharge tube support portion in a direction perpendicular to the laser optical axis and is slidable in the laser optical axis direction;
The discharge tube support part is configured to join the portions where the two plate-shaped metal members are in contact with each other in an arrangement in which the respective U-shaped opening portions of the two plate-shaped metal members having a U-shaped cross section are abutted. Without a hollow quadrangular prism,
A spacer disposed between the two joints in the interior space of the rectangular column, and a connecting tool using bolts and nuts passing through the spacer,
A laser oscillation device comprising a plurality of flanges arranged on an outer periphery of the rectangular column and screwed so as to be adjustable in height for supporting the discharge tube via the discharge tube holder . 2. A hole through which the positioning means passes is fixed at a corresponding position on a surface where each of the two plate-like members arranged so as to abut each of the U-shaped openings. The laser oscillation device described in 1.

Images