JP6108962B2 - Laser welding apparatus having groove monitoring device and groove monitoring method for laser welding device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a laser welding apparatus having a groove part monitoring device that directly monitors a groove part to be laser welded and welds with high accuracy, and a groove part monitoring method of the laser welding apparatus.

  Patent Document 1 proposes a laser welding apparatus that welds a laser beam by weaving, and includes error detection means for detecting a groove portion. This error detection means is arranged in front of the irradiation position of the laser beam and is composed of an optical system sensor such as a laser sensor.

JP 2003-170284 A

  The welding groove having a thickness exceeding 50 mm has a narrow groove width of several mm, whereas the beam spot of laser welding is small, so that it is necessary to weave the beam spot at high speed and with high accuracy. In Patent Document 1, the groove portion is detected by a laser sensor in front of the irradiation position of the laser beam. However, since the beam spot is small, it is affected by slight fluctuations and displacements of the laser welding apparatus and the base material. Cheap. Therefore, it is desirable to monitor the groove portion at the actual laser beam irradiation position.

  The present invention provides a laser welding apparatus having a groove portion monitoring device capable of monitoring the position of a groove wall with high accuracy from a base material melted state at a beam spot irradiation position, and a groove portion monitoring method of the laser welding apparatus. The purpose is to do.

The invention described in claim 1
Weaving mirror that is swingably arranged on the optical axis of the laser beam, and weaving the weaving mirror to weave the beam spot into a wave shape having peaks and valleys in a direction perpendicular to the welding line A weaving driving device,
An imaging device for imaging an image of a groove weld from the optical axis;
An operation output unit that outputs a weaving waveform signal to the weaving driving device and outputs an imaging trigger signal to the imaging device, and an image of the imaging device, from among the pixel columns along the welding line, A pixel row having a large gradient of luminous intensity is determined as the position of the groove wall of the welding groove portion, and a weaving control device having an image processing / determination unit for obtaining a groove width and a groove center ,
The imaging trigger signal is set so as to drive the shutter of the imaging device at or near the peak and valley of the weaving waveform in synchronization with the weaving operation.

The invention according to claim 2 is the configuration according to claim 1,
A photo sensor for detecting light emitted from the groove weld through a detection mirror arranged on the optical axis is provided.
In the weaving control device, a sensor signal determination unit that calculates a sensor output determination value from a sensor detection waveform detected by a detection signal of the photosensor, and a fluctuation in the sensor output groove width determined by the image processing / determination unit or a groove center A signal comparison / determination unit is provided that outputs a warning signal when the sensor output determination value exceeds a threshold with reference to the sensor output determination value obtained by the sensor signal determination unit when the position fluctuation of the sensor is large. It is characterized by.

The invention described in claim 3 is the configuration described in claim 2,
The photosensor is characterized by detecting near-infrared light and / or visible light of a groove weld.

The groove monitoring method of the laser welding apparatus according to claim 4,
The laser beam irradiated along the optical axis is irradiated to the groove welded portion through the weaving mirror, and the beam spot irradiated to the groove welded portion by swinging the weaving mirror is applied to the welding line. Weaving into a wave shape with peaks and valleys in the orthogonal direction,
An imaging trigger signal for driving a shutter at a peak portion and a valley portion of the weaving waveform or in the vicinity thereof during laser beam irradiation based on a weaving waveform signal output to a weaving drive device that swings the weaving mirror. Is input to the imaging device, and the imaging device captures an image of the groove weld portion taken out from the optical axis,
From the image of the imaging device, out of the pixel rows along the welding line, a pixel row having a large gradient of luminous intensity of the adjacent pixel row is determined as the position of the groove wall of the weld groove portion, and the groove width and the opening width are determined. It is characterized by obtaining the center of the tip .

The invention according to claim 5 is the method according to claim 4,
Obtain the sensor output judgment value from the sensor detection waveform detected from the light emitted from the groove weld by the photo sensor,
When a change in groove width or a position change in the groove center obtained from the image of the imaging device is large, a warning signal is output when the sensor output judgment value is referred to and the value is outside the threshold value.

According to the structure of Claim 1 or Claim 4, the image of the groove weld part taken out from the laser beam optical axis during laser beam irradiation by the imaging device Since the image is taken in the vicinity and the groove wall is obtained from the light intensity gradient of the pixel row of the image, it is possible to accurately detect the groove width and the groove center in the welding state and to monitor the welding state well. it can. Therefore, even a welded portion with a wide groove width or a welded portion with low groove accuracy can be laser-welded with high accuracy by weaving.

  According to the configurations of claims 2 and 5, when a photosensor that captures the irradiation position of the laser beam with high brightness is installed, and the groove width and the groove center obtained from the imaging device are greatly varied, the photosensor The sensor output judgment value obtained from the output sensor detection waveform is referred to, and when the sensor output judgment value falls outside the threshold value, an alarm is issued. Can be done with precision.

(A) And (b) shows the Example of the laser welding apparatus which has the groove part monitoring apparatus based on this invention, (a) is a block diagram, (b) shows the screen of the groove part by an imaging device. Is. It is a block diagram which shows the operation output part of a weaving control apparatus. FIG. 3 is an output waveform diagram of the block of FIG. 2. (A) And (b) is a picked-up image by an imaging device, (a) is a composite image figure of a groove welding part, (b) is a graph which shows the luminous intensity of the pixel row | line | column of the image. (A)-(c) are the captured images by an actual imaging device, (a) is the image figure imaged at the right end (mountain part), (b) is a graph which shows the luminous intensity of the pixel row | line | column of the image, (c) These are the graphs which show the luminous intensity of the pixel row | line in a left end (valley part) image figure. (A) And (b) is a graph which shows the sensor detection waveform obtained with the photo sensor, (a) shows each detection current, (b) shows the sensor detection waveform and filter processing waveform of near-infrared light. . (A)-(d) is a graph which shows the expansion sensor detection waveform and filter processing waveform of a photosensor for near-infrared light, (a) is a weaving waveform, (b) is a groove width wider than a weaving width. In the case, (c) shows a case where the weaving width and the groove width are substantially the same (appropriate), and (d) shows a case where the groove width is narrower than the weaving width. It is a flowchart explaining the process in a signal comparison judgment part.

[Example 1]
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[Laser welding equipment]
As shown in FIG. 1, this laser welding apparatus introduces a laser beam (CO ₂ laser, YAG laser, etc.) LB transmitted from a laser resonator 11 through a fiber cable 12 and a collimation lens 13 and horizontally. The light is reflected by a reflection mirror (weaving mirror) 14 disposed on the optical axis Oh in the direction, refracted by 90 °, and introduced onto the optical axis Ov in the vertical direction. Then, the beam is condensed by the focus lens 15 and irradiated to the groove welding portion 16 with the beam spot BS. The reflection mirror 14 is swingably supported by a weaving drive device (electric motor) 17, and the beam spot BS is orthogonal to the welding line WL by swinging the reflection mirror 14 with a predetermined amplitude and frequency. Weaving into a wave shape having peaks and valleys in the direction of the movement. Here, the amplitude of the weaving waveform is set corresponding to the groove width W of the groove weld portion 16. Corresponding to the output and size of the beam spot BS, the frequency (period) of the weaving waveform is set in the range of several tens to several hundreds Hz.

[Weaving control device]
Reference numeral 41 denotes a weaving control device, which includes an operation output unit 42 that outputs a weaving waveform signal to the weaving drive device 17. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation output unit 42 includes a transmitter 43, a frequency divider 44, an address counter 45, a waveform table 46 (Sin table), an AD converter 47, an R position comparator 48R, and an L position comparator. 48L, a shutter position setter 49, and an OR calculator 50 are provided. The transmitter 43 is, for example, a voltage control type transmitter that sets the weaving frequency, and can adjust the transmission frequency from the outside. The frequency divider 44 sets the frequency transmitted from the transmitter 43 to 1 / n. For example, the address counter 45 divides one cycle of the Sin waveform into m and writes the calculated value to the memory of the waveform table 46. The address (address) for repeating one cycle is stored in the memory value of the waveform table 46. ) Is specified. Then, the Sin waveform is output as a weaving waveform signal to the weaving control unit 17a of the weaving drive device 17 via the AD converter 47 for each cycle in which this address is repeated.

Therefore, the weaving frequency (period) can be changed by changing the transmission frequency of the transmitter 43 or changing the number of divisions in the frequency divider 44.
Although the weaving waveform in the waveform table 46 is a Sin waveform here, a triangular waveform or a trapezoidal waveform can be output as a weaving waveform by controlling the weaving drive device 17 using a galvanometer capable of controlling current. it can.

[Groove part monitoring device]
An entrance-side dichroic mirror (detection mirror) 18 and an exit-side dichroic mirror (illumination mirror) 19 each including a dichroic mirror that transmits the wavelength of the laser light are disposed on the optical axis Ov. These dichroic mirrors 18 and 19 transmit the laser beam LB and reflect visible light and near-infrared light with a predetermined reflectance, and are arranged with an inclination of 45 ° with respect to the optical axis Ov.

  Corresponding to the exit side dichroic mirror 19, an illumination light source 20 that irradiates the groove welding portion 16 with illumination light is installed. In addition, one imaging device 21 and two photosensors 22 and 23 are arranged corresponding to the entrance-side dichroic mirror 18.

  That is, the imaging dichroic mirror 24, the sensing condensing lens 25, and the sensing dichroic mirror 26 are sequentially arranged on the branch optical axis Os1 incident from the entrance-side dichroic mirror 18. On the branched optical axis Os2 of the imaging dichroic mirror 24, the imaging device 21 is installed via a band cutoff filter 27 for cutting light having the same wavelength as the laser beam LB. The imaging device 21 includes a high-speed shutter capable of imaging at 40 to 200 frames / second, and the shutter is operated at high speed via the shutter control unit 21a by an image trigger signal input from the operation output unit 42 of the weaving control device 41. It is operated by. Further, an optical filter that irradiates the groove welding portion 16 with illumination light of a selected single wavelength from the illumination light source 20 and passes the illumination light preferentially from the reflected light is used in combination with the band cut filter 27. Thus, an image with excellent contrast can be obtained. The exit side dichroic mirror 19 can be set at an arbitrary position on the optical axes Oh and Ov, and the installation position of the illumination light source 20 is not limited to the position shown in FIG.

  Visible light reflected from the groove weld 16 and incident through the entrance-side dichroic mirror 18 is received by the visible light photosensor 22 disposed on the branch optical axis Os1. Further, the near-infrared light reflected by the sensing dichroic mirror 26 is received by the near-infrared light photosensor 23 disposed on the branch optical axis Os3.

[Weaving control device]
The weaving control device 41 receives detection signals from the image processing / determination unit 51 to which imaging data is input from the image output unit 21 b of the imaging device 21 and the visible light sensor output unit 22 a of the visible light photosensor 22. Visible light sensor signal determination unit 52, near-infrared sensor signal determination unit 53 to which a detection signal is input from near-infrared sensor output unit 23a of near-infrared light photosensor 23, image processing / determination unit 51, and visible light A signal comparison / determination unit 54 to which detection data of the groove walls 32R and 32L are input from the optical sensor signal determination unit 52 and the near-infrared sensor signal determination unit 53 is provided. The signal comparison / determination unit 54 compares the detection data of the groove walls 32R and 32L input from the image processing / determination unit 51, the visible light sensor signal determination unit 52, and the near-infrared sensor signal determination unit 53, respectively. A warning signal can be output when the displacement amount of each position is larger than a predetermined threshold.

Further, a display device 55 for displaying the positions of the groove walls 32R and 32L, the groove width: W, and the groove center: C, and an alarm device 56 for issuing an alarm based on the input data are provided.
(Imaging trigger signal)
The shutter timing of the image pickup device 21 is optimal when the center of the beam spot BS is located on the groove walls 32R and 32L, but within a range that does not hinder the position detection of the groove wall, Part) and the vicinity of the valley part (left end part). Further, the shutter timing of the imaging device 21 is not necessarily set to the same cycle as the weaving waveform. When the weaving frequency is high, the same effect can be obtained even if imaging is performed every cycle / n.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the R side position comparator 48R and the L side position comparator 48L provided in the operation output unit 42 compare counter address values indicating the maximum value and the minimum value of the Sin signal, respectively. When the accumulated value of the Sin signal output from the address counter 45 coincides with the maximum value and the minimum value of the Sin signal, the imaging trigger signal is sent via the OR calculator 50 to the imaging device 21. To the shutter control unit 21a. The imaging trigger signal can be set so as to drive the shutter of the imaging device 21 at an arbitrary position near a peak or valley of a weaving waveform or a peak or valley.

(Imaging device and image processing / determination unit)
FIG. 1B shows a screen when the imaging device 21 is not welded, and a groove weld portion 16 having groove walls 32R and 32L is formed between the left and right base materials 31R and 31L. Reference numeral 33 denotes a shielding gas nozzle, and 34 denotes a filler filled in the groove weld portion 16.

  The image processing / determination unit 51 obtains the average value of the luminous intensity of the pixels j1 to j2 in the predetermined range of the pixels i1 to i2 along the welding direction from the image taken by the imaging device 21. Then, the pixel columns L (i) and R (i) having a large gradient of light intensity with respect to the light intensity of the pixels in the adjacent pixel columns are determined as the positions of the groove walls 32R and 32L of the welding groove portion 16. It is configured.

  That is, FIG. 4A is a composite image obtained by superimposing two images taken at the left and right end portions of the weaving for convenience of explanation, and includes pixels i1 to i2 in the width direction (left and right direction) and height direction ( An image is captured in a range of pixels j1 to j2 in the direction of the weld line).

  As shown in FIG. 4B, when P (i, j) is the brightness of the pixel (i, j),

The average value of the brightness of the pixels j1 to j2 in each pixel i1 to i2 column: f (i) is expressed by the equation (1).
In adjacent pixels i + 2 to i-2 columns,
L (i) = {f (i + 2) + f (i + 1)} − {f (i−1) + f (i−2)} (iL in which L (i) represented by the equation (2) is the maximum value. It is determined that there is a left groove wall 32L.

  R (i) = {f (i−2) + f (i−1)} − {f (i + 1) + f (i + 2)} (iR in which R (i) expressed by the equation (3) is the maximum value. It is determined that there is a right groove wall 32R. Further, the groove width is represented by W = iR−iL, and the center of the groove welded portion 16 is represented by C = (iR + iL) / 2. In the image processing / determination unit 51, the position and groove width: W of the groove walls 32R and 32L of the groove welding part 16 and the groove center: C of the groove welding part 16 are obtained by the above image processing.

  Actually, as shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of beam spots BS do not appear in one captured image, and as shown in FIG. 5A, the peak portion (right) of the weaving waveform. FIG. 5B shows a captured image having a beam spot BS imaged in the vicinity. As shown in FIG. 5B, an average brightness value f (i) of pixels j1 to j2 in the pixel i1 to i2 columns in the captured image is The position of the right groove wall 32R is obtained. Then, as shown in FIG. 5C, from the captured image captured in the vicinity of the valley (left) of the weaving waveform, the average brightness of the pixels j1 to j2 in the pixel i1 to i2 column: f (i) And the position of the left groove wall 32L is obtained.

(Photo sensor and sensor signal determination unit)
The visible light photosensor 22 and the near infrared light photosensor 23 complement the accuracy of the groove width W detected by the imaging device 21 and the groove center C of the groove weld 16. For example, when laser-induced plume / plasma, which is a high-luminance luminescent material, is ejected from the weld pool of the groove weld 16, it becomes a disturbance of groove position detection by the image of the imaging device 21, and the groove width: W or groove Center: There is a risk of sudden fluctuations in C. Even in such a case, the detection signals of the photosensors 22 and 23 are not easily affected by the light emitter. Therefore, when a sudden change in the groove width: W or the groove center: C occurs, a warning image is displayed on the display device 55 only when the change is large with reference to the detection signals of the photosensors 22 and 23. A warning signal to be displayed and a warning signal for operating the alarm device 56 to be turned on are output.

  The detection current of the visible light photosensor 22 and the near-infrared light photosensor 23 is a visible-light sensor detection waveform (sensor output judgment value) or a near-infrared light sensor detection waveform (sensor output) that is substantially synchronized with the weaving waveform. Judgment value), which is input to the visible light sensor signal judgment unit 52 and the near-infrared sensor signal judgment unit 53 and processed.

  FIG. 6A shows that the weaving width (amplitude) is constant, the groove width W is gradually narrowed from a state larger than the weaving width, changed to a state smaller than the weaving width through the weaving width, The sensor detection waveforms of visible light and near-infrared light in a state where welding is performed are shown. According to FIG. 6A, when the groove width W is larger than the weaving width, the amplitudes of the sensor detection waveforms of the two photosensors 22 and 23 are large, and the groove width W is small through the weaving width. Then, the amplitudes of the sensor detection waveforms of the two photosensors 22 and 23 are gradually reduced. Therefore, when the amplitude (sensor output judgment value) of the sensor detection waveform of the photosensors 22 and 23 is within a predetermined range (threshold value), it can be said that the groove width W and the weaving width are in an appropriate range.

  Further, in the visible light sensor signal determination unit 52 and the near-infrared sensor signal determination unit 53, as shown in FIG. 6A, the moving average value (sensor output determination value) of the sensor detection waveform is calculated and displayed. This moving average value is high when the groove width W is larger than the weaving width, and tends to appear low when the groove width W is smaller than the weaving width. This remarkably appears in the sensor detection waveform of the near-infrared light photosensor 23. Therefore, if an appropriate threshold value is set in advance by experiments so that the groove width W is substantially equal to the weaving width, and the groove width W and the groove center C are suddenly changed, the photo sensors 22 and 23 are used. It is determined whether or not the moving average value of the sensor detection waveform by is within a threshold value. When it is within the threshold value, the groove width W and the weaving width are appropriate, and laser welding is continued. When it is outside the threshold value, the groove width W and the weaving width are inappropriate, so a warning signal for displaying a warning image on the display device 55 and a warning signal for operating the warning device 56 to be turned on are output. Thereby, it is possible to eliminate the influence of disturbance when detecting the groove position from the image.

Instead of the method of calculating the moving average value of the sensor detection waveform, for example, a graph passing through a 1 Hz low-pass filter can be obtained and used as the sensor output determination value.
The lower part of FIG. 6B shows a filter processing waveform obtained by processing the sensor detection waveforms of visible light and near-infrared light with a band-pass filter. This band pass filter passes only a band (for example, 10 to 30 Hz) close to a weaving frequency (for example, 20 Hz). The filter processing waveform makes it possible to clearly grasp the amplitude and fluctuation of the sensor detection waveform. That is, when the weaving width and the groove width W are appropriate, the amplitude of the sensor detection waveform is relatively large, and when the groove width W is larger or smaller than the weaving width, the amplitude of the sensor detection waveform. Is relatively small. In this case, the near-infrared light photosensor 23 is more preferable than the visible-light photosensor 22 because near-infrared light shows more remarkable fluctuations than visible light.

  In the sensor detection waveform shown in FIG. 7B, when the groove width W is larger than the weaving width (amplitude), the sensor detection waveform shown in FIG. 7C has substantially the same weaving width and groove width W. When appropriate, the waveform shown in FIG. 7D is a case where the groove width W is smaller than the weaving width, and the waveform obtained by performing the band-pass filter process is shown at the bottom of each figure. When the groove width W is appropriate with respect to the weaving width, the filter processing waveform has a regular and large amplitude waveform as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the groove width W is larger or smaller than the weaving width, an irregular waveform with a small amplitude appears as shown in FIGS. For this reason, whether the relationship between the weaving width and the groove width W is appropriate by setting a threshold value in a predetermined range where the amplitude of the filter processing waveform is large and setting the threshold value in a predetermined range where the filter processing waveform is regular It can be judged whether it is inappropriate.

  Therefore, when the amplitudes of the sensor detection waveforms of visible light and near-infrared light are within a predetermined threshold range, the groove width W is appropriate with respect to the weaving width, and the amplitude of the sensor detection waveform is outside the threshold value. In this case, it can be determined that the weaving width and the groove width W are inappropriate.

  In addition, in the filter processing waveform obtained by filtering the sensor detection waveform of visible light and near infrared light with a band pass filter in a band close to the weaving frequency, when the amplitude is within the threshold value and the waveform is within the regular threshold range, If the groove width W is appropriate with respect to the waving width, and the amplitude is less than the threshold value or the waveform is irregular and out of the threshold value, it can be determined that the weaving width and the groove width W are inappropriate.

  In the signal comparison / determination unit 54, as shown in FIG. 8, the groove width W is calculated and input by the image processing / determination unit 51 for the image data captured by the imaging device 21 (STEP.1). The width W is displayed on the display device 55. Then, detection data detected by the near-infrared light photosensor 23 is processed by the near-infrared light sensor signal determination unit 53 and input to the signal comparison determination unit 54 (STEP.2), for example, a filtered waveform. Is displayed on the display device 55. The signal comparison / determination unit 54 monitors the fluctuation of the groove width W and the groove center C calculated from the image data in real time, and changes the groove width W or the groove center C in a set time. If the width is greater than or equal to the threshold (STEP.3), whether the moving average value of the sensor detection waveform is within the threshold range, or whether the amplitude of the sensor detection waveform that has filtered the detection current is within the threshold, Alternatively, it is determined whether the waveform is regular or irregular (STEP.4). When the sensor detection waveform or the filter processing waveform is outside the threshold value, a warning signal for displaying a warning image is output on the display device 55 (STEP.5), and further, a warning signal is output to the alarm device 56 to generate an alarm. Sound (STEP.6). The operator adjusts the center position and amplitude of the weaving using a warning image or warning (STEP.7).

  In addition, since near infrared light appears brightly (with high luminance) in the melted portions of the base materials 31R and 31L and the filler 34, the melted state and melt temperature of the groove welded portion 16 can be appropriately displayed. Although the near-infrared light photosensor 23 is used, the visible light photosensor 22 can also be used. In the case of the visible light photosensor 22, the base material 31R, 31L or the filler 34 appears brightly at the start of melting. . Of course, both the near-infrared light photosensor 23 and the visible light photosensor 22 can be used. In this case, the amplitude and / or moving average value of the sensor detection waveform, which is the sensor output judgment value, depends on the welding conditions. One or both of the visible light photosensor 22 and the near-infrared light photosensor 23 can be selected. In addition, regarding the filter processing waveform which is another sensor output judgment value, one or both of the visible light photosensor 22 and the near-infrared photosensor 23 can be selected.

  According to the first embodiment, the image of the groove welded portion taken out from the optical axis Ov of the laser beam LB through the entrance-side dichroic mirror 18 by the imaging device 21 Since the image is taken in the vicinity and the positions of the groove walls 32R and 32L, the groove width W, and the groove center C are obtained from the gradient of the luminous intensity of the pixel row of the image, the groove width and groove center in the welded state can be accurately determined. It can detect and can monitor a welding state favorably. Therefore, even a welded portion with a wide groove width or a welded portion with low groove accuracy can be laser-welded with high accuracy by weaving.

  In addition, a near-infrared light photosensor 23 capable of capturing the melted portion with high luminance at the irradiation position of the laser beam LB is installed, and the groove width W and the groove center C obtained from the image of the imaging device 21 are set. Since the amplitude variation of the sensor detection waveform obtained from the near-infrared light photosensor 23 is referred to when the variation is large and the amplitude variation of the sensor detection waveform is large, a warning signal is output. 21. Disturbances are eliminated when a disturbance occurs, such as when a laser-induced plume / plasma, which is a high-luminance illuminant, is ejected from the molten pool in a short-term fluctuation of the groove width W and the groove center C obtained from the image 21. It is possible to prevent malfunction such as outputting a warning signal, and it is possible to monitor the groove welded portion by laser welding with high accuracy.

Oh Optical axis Ov Optical axis LB Laser beam 14 Reflecting mirror (mirror for weaving)
16 Groove welded portion 17 Weaving drive device 18 Inlet dichroic mirror (detection mirror)
19 Exit side dichroic mirror (lighting mirror)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Illumination light source 21 Imaging device 22 Photosensor 23 for visible light Photosensor 24 for near-infrared light Imaging dichroic mirror 27 Band cut filter 31R, 31L Base material 32R, 32L Groove wall 41 Weaving control device 51 Image processing and judgment part 52 Visible Light Sensor Signal Determination Unit 53 Near-Infrared Sensor Signal Determination Unit 54 Signal Comparison Determination Unit 55 Display Device 56 Alarm Device

Claims (5)

Weaving mirror that is swingably arranged on the optical axis of the laser beam, and weaving the weaving mirror to weave the beam spot into a wave shape having peaks and valleys in a direction perpendicular to the welding line A weaving driving device,
An imaging device that captures an image of a groove weld from the optical axis during laser beam irradiation ; and
An operation output unit that outputs a weaving waveform signal to the weaving driving device and outputs an imaging trigger signal to the imaging device, and an image of the imaging device, from among the pixel columns along the welding line, A pixel row having a large gradient of luminous intensity is determined as the position of the groove wall of the welding groove portion, and a weaving control device having an image processing / determination unit for obtaining a groove width and a groove center ,
The groove portion monitoring device is characterized in that the imaging trigger signal is set to drive the shutter of the imaging device at or near the peak and valley of the weaving waveform in synchronization with the weaving operation. Laser welding equipment. A photo sensor for detecting light emitted from the groove weld through a detection mirror arranged on the optical axis is provided.
In the weaving control device, a sensor signal determination unit that calculates a sensor output determination value from a sensor detection waveform detected by a detection signal of the photosensor, and a fluctuation in the sensor output groove width determined by the image processing / determination unit or a groove center A signal comparison / determination unit that outputs a warning signal when the sensor output determination value exceeds a threshold with reference to the sensor output determination value obtained by the sensor signal determination unit when the position fluctuation of the sensor is large is provided. A laser welding apparatus comprising the groove monitoring device according to claim 1. The laser welding apparatus having a groove portion monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein the photosensor detects near-infrared light and / or visible light of the groove weld portion. The laser beam irradiated along the optical axis is irradiated to the groove welded portion through the weaving mirror, and the beam spot irradiated to the groove welded portion by swinging the weaving mirror is applied to the welding line. Weaving into a wave shape with peaks and valleys in the orthogonal direction,
An imaging trigger signal for driving a shutter at a peak portion and a valley portion of the weaving waveform or in the vicinity thereof during laser beam irradiation based on a weaving waveform signal output to a weaving drive device that swings the weaving mirror. Is input to the imaging device, and the imaging device captures an image of the groove weld portion taken out from the optical axis,
From the image of the imaging device, out of the pixel rows along the welding line, a pixel row having a large gradient of luminous intensity of the adjacent pixel row is determined as the position of the groove wall of the weld groove portion, and the groove width and the opening width are determined. A method for monitoring a groove portion of a laser welding apparatus, wherein a tip center is obtained. Obtain the sensor output judgment value from the sensor detection waveform detected from the light emitted from the groove weld by the photo sensor,
The warning signal is output when the fluctuation of the groove width obtained from the image of the imaging device or the position fluctuation of the groove center is large, and the sensor output judgment value is referred to, and it is out of the threshold value. 5. A method for monitoring a groove portion of a laser welding apparatus according to 4.