JP6760050B2 - Laser processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus.

Patent Document 1 describes a method of performing a cleaning step of irradiating a work piece with a laser beam having an energy lower than the energy of the laser beam used in the marking step after the marking step using the laser beam. It is disclosed. The cleaning step disclosed in Patent Document 1 aims to clean dirt and irregularities on the surface of the work piece.

By the way, when the material of the work piece is a metal containing a specific element such as steel containing chromium, the energy of the laser beam used in the marking step is used after the marking step using the laser beam. It is known that irradiating a work piece with a low-energy laser beam is effective for forming a protective film on the processed portion.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-34359

When the material of the work piece is a metal containing a specific element, it is effective to irradiate the work piece with a low-energy laser beam as described above for forming a protective film. If the material of the object is not a metal containing a specific element, it is not necessary to irradiate the workpiece with low energy laser light. Therefore, there has been a demand for a laser processing apparatus that efficiently performs protective treatment according to the processing material.

The present application has been proposed in view of the above problems, and an object of the present application is to provide a laser processing apparatus capable of efficiently performing protection treatment according to the material of the work piece.

The present specification includes a laser beam emitting unit that emits a laser beam, a scanning unit that scans the laser beam, and a control unit that controls the scanning unit, and the control unit is a machining object based on a machining pattern. A processing process that performs laser processing using a laser beam with a first energy density, and after the processing process, a laser beam with a second energy density smaller than the first energy density is irradiated to the object to be processed based on the processing pattern. The protection treatment to be performed and the judgment processing for determining whether or not the protection treatment is required according to the material type of the object to be processed are executed prior to the execution of the protection treatment, and it is determined that the protection treatment is not required in the judgment treatment. If this is the case, a laser processing apparatus characterized in that the protection process is not executed will be disclosed. In this way, when it is determined that the laser processing apparatus does not require the protective treatment, the protective treatment is not executed, so that the protective treatment can be efficiently performed according to the material type of the object to be processed.

According to the present application, it is possible to provide a laser processing apparatus capable of efficiently performing protection treatment according to the material of the work piece.

It is a schematic configuration of the laser processing apparatus according to this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of a laser processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the setting execution processing. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the condition setting process. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the scanning setting process. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the processing setting. It is a figure which shows the display screen of a detailed setting. It is a figure which shows the display screen of a scanning setting. It is a figure which shows the protection processing table. It is a figure explaining the method of determining the scanning direction in (c) protection processing based on (a) the processing pattern and (b) the scanning direction in processing processing. It is a figure which shows the protection processing table in another example 1. FIG. It is a graph which shows the correlation of the overlap rate with respect to the scanning speed in Example 1. FIG. It is a graph which shows the correlation of the coefficient with respect to the overlap rate in Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the protection processing table in another example 2.

<Outline configuration of laser processing equipment>
The schematic configuration of the laser processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The laser processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a PC (Personal Computer) 7, a laser processing unit 2, a laser controller 5, and the like. Further, the laser processing unit 2 includes a laser head unit 3, a power supply unit 6, and the like. Based on the information transmitted from the laser controller 5, the laser processing unit 2 performs laser processing for marking characters, symbols, figures, etc. by two-dimensionally scanning the laser beam L on the processing surface WA of the processing object W. Do. In the following description, laser processing may be described as printing.

The PC 7 is realized by, for example, a notebook PC or the like, includes an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 77, a keyboard 76, a mouse 78, and the like, and receives processing commands from the user. The laser controller 5 is realized by a computer or the like, and is connected to the laser processing unit 2 and the PC 7 so as to be capable of bidirectional communication. The laser controller 5 controls the laser processing unit 2 based on print information, control parameters, various instruction information, and the like transmitted from the PC 7. In the following description, the direction shown in FIG. 1 is used as the direction.

The laser head unit 3 includes a main body base 11, a laser light emitting unit 12 that emits laser light L, an optical shutter unit 13, an optical damper (not shown), a half mirror (not shown), a guide light unit 15, and a reflection mirror 17. It has an optical sensor 20, a galvano scanner 18, an fθ lens 19, and the like, and is covered with a housing cover having a substantially rectangular shape (not shown).

The laser beam emitting unit 12 includes a laser oscillator 21, a beam expander 22, and the like. The laser light emitting unit 12 is attached to the main body base 11, and the excitation laser light emitted from the excitation laser light emitting unit 40 (described later) is incident via the optical fiber F. The laser oscillator 21 includes, for example, a YAG laser and a passive Q-switch (not shown). The laser oscillator 21 emits a pulsed laser beam L for processing on the processing surface WA of the processing object W in response to the excitation laser light incident on the optical fiber F. The beam expander 22 is provided coaxially with the laser oscillator 21 and adjusts the beam diameter of the laser beam L. The direction in which the laser oscillator 21 emits the laser beam L is the front direction, and the direction orthogonal to the vertical direction and the front-rear direction of the laser head unit 3 is the left-right direction of the laser head unit 3.

The optical shutter unit 13 has a shutter motor 26 and a flat plate-shaped shutter 27. The shutter 27 is attached to the motor shaft of the shutter motor 26 and rotates coaxially. When the shutter 27 is rotated to a position that blocks the optical path of the laser beam L emitted from the beam expander 22, the shutter 27 reflects the laser beam L to the optical damper. The optical damper absorbs the laser beam L reflected by the shutter 27. On the other hand, when the shutter 27 is rotated to a position that does not block the optical path of the laser beam L emitted from the beam expander 22, the laser beam L emitted from the beam expander 22 is placed on the front side of the optical shutter unit 13. It is incident on the arranged half mirror. The half mirror transmits almost all of the laser beam L incident from the rear side and reflects a part of the laser beam L to the reflection mirror 17. The laser beam L transmitted through the half mirror is incident on the galvano scanner 18. The reflection mirror 17 reflects the incident laser beam L to the optical sensor 20. The optical sensor 20 outputs a signal corresponding to the emission intensity of the incident laser beam L to the laser controller 5.

The guide light unit 15 includes a guide light laser 28 (FIG. 2), a lens group (not shown), and the like. The guide light laser 28 is, for example, a red semiconductor laser that emits visible laser light. The lens group (not shown) converges the visible laser light into parallel light. The guide light unit 15 is arranged on the right side of the half mirror. The half mirror reflects the guide light, which is the visible laser light emitted from the guide light unit 15, toward the galvano scanner 18. Here, the optical path of the guide light reflected by the half mirror and the optical path of the laser beam L transmitted through the half mirror coincide with each other.

The galvano scanner 18 is attached to the upper side of a through hole (not shown) formed at the front end of the main body base 11. The galvano scanner 18 includes a galvano X-axis motor 31, a galvano Y-axis motor 32, a main body 33, and the like. Each of the galvano X-axis motor 31 and the galvano Y-axis motor 32 has a motor shaft and a scanning mirror attached to the tip of the motor shaft. The galvano X-axis motor 31 and the galvano Y-axis motor 32 are attached to the main body 33 so that their motor axes are orthogonal to each other and their scanning mirrors face each other. As the motors 31 and 32 rotate, each scanning mirror rotates. As a result, the laser beam L and the guide light are two-dimensionally scanned. Here, the scanning directions are the Y direction from the front to the back and the X direction from the left to the right in the direction of the laser head unit 3.

The fθ lens 19 converges the laser beam L and the guide light two-dimensionally scanned by the galvano scanner 18 on the machining surface WA of the machining object W arranged below.

The power supply unit 6 includes an excitation laser beam emitting unit 40, an excitation laser driver 51, a power supply unit 52, and the like. The power supply unit 52 is connected to a commercial power supply via a power cord (not shown). The power supply unit 52 converts the AC power to be supplied into DC power and supplies power to each unit of the laser processing unit 2. The excitation laser driver 51 drives the excitation laser light emitting unit 40 in response to a command from the laser controller 5. The excitation laser beam emitting unit 40 is optically connected to the laser oscillator 21 via an optical fiber F. The excitation laser beam emitting unit 40 has a semiconductor laser, and emits an excitation laser beam having a power corresponding to the current value of the drive current supplied from the excitation laser driver 51 into the optical fiber F. The laser oscillator 21 emits one pulse when the internal energy exceeds a predetermined value. Therefore, the pulse frequency of the laser beam L is controlled by the current value of the drive current supplied from the excitation laser driver 51.

<Electrical configuration of laser processing equipment>
Next, the electrical configuration of the laser processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The PC 7 has a control unit 70, a control circuit 74, and the like in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. The control unit 70 includes a CPU 71, a RAM 72, a ROM 73, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 75, and the like. The CPU 71 controls the control circuit 74 and the like by executing various programs stored in the ROM 73. The RAM 72 is used as a main storage device for the CPU 71 to execute various processes. The ROM 73 stores a control program, character parameter information, reflectance information, and the like. The character parameter information is parameter information for each font. For example, in the case of a stroke font, it is information such as the coordinates of a point at the center of the character and the parameter of an expression representing a line connecting each point. Further, in the case of an outline font, it is information such as the coordinates of the points constituting the outline of the character and the parameters of the expression representing the line connecting the points. The HDD 75 stores a program for setting execution processing described later, a program for various application software, various data files, a protection processing table 79 (FIG. 9), and the like. The CPU 71, RAM 72, and ROM 73 are connected to each other by a bus line (not shown). Further, the CPU 71 and the HDD 75 are connected via an input / output interface (not shown).

The control circuit 74 is electrically connected to the LCD 77, the keyboard 76, the mouse 78, and the like, converts the operation received by the keyboard 76 and the mouse 78 into a signal, and outputs the signal to the CPU 71. In addition, the LCD 77 displays a display screen in response to a command from the CPU 71.

The laser controller 5 is realized by, for example, a computer or the like, and has a CPU 41, a RAM 42, a ROM 43, and the like. The CPU 41 controls the galvano controller 56, the guide light laser driver 58, the excitation laser driver 51, and the like, which will be described later, by executing various programs stored in the ROM 43. The RAM 42 is used as a main storage device for the CPU 41 to execute various processes. The CPU 41, RAM 42, and ROM 43 are connected to each other by a bus line (not shown).

In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the laser head unit 3 includes a galvano controller 56, a galvano driver 36, a guide optical laser driver 58, and the like. The galvano controller 56 calculates the drive angle, rotation speed, etc. of the galvano X-axis motor 31 and the galvano Y-axis motor 32 based on the XY coordinate data and the galvano scanning speed information, which will be described later, input from the laser controller 5. , The motor drive information indicating the drive angle and the rotation speed is output to the galvano driver 36. The galvano driver 36 drives the galvano X-axis motor 31 and the galvano Y-axis motor 32 based on the motor drive information input from the galvano controller 56.

<Laser irradiation process>
Next, the laser irradiation process executed by the CPU 71 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9. When the power of the laser processing apparatus 1 is turned on and the application for laser irradiation processing is started on the PC 7, the PC 7 displays the reception screen on the LCD 77. The user inputs print information such as characters, symbols, and figures to be processed on the reception screen. Here, a pattern such as characters, symbols, and figures to be processed by the user is referred to as a processing pattern. For example, when it is desired to process the character of "ABC", the user inputs the character string of "ABC", the position in the processing area of "ABC", the size of the character, the font, etc. as the print information.

Here, the scanning procedure of scanning performed by the galvano scanner 18 will be described. The scanning procedure is predetermined according to the type of processing pattern. If the processed pattern is an unfilled pattern, the galvano scanner 18 vector-scans the outline of the pattern. When the processing pattern is a filled pattern, the galvano scanner 18 first vector-scans the outline of the pattern, and then scans the area surrounded by the outline line by line according to the scanning direction. The defined scanning direction in the processing (described later) is the X direction. An example of a processing pattern with a fill is a character of an outline font with a fill and a figure with a fill, and an example of a processing pattern without a fill is a stroke font and a single line figure.

When the print information is input, the CPU 71 creates print data based on the print information. Here, the print data is XY coordinate data and galvano scanning speed information which are information for printing. For example, when the processing pattern is a character or a symbol, the information corresponding to the font type included in the print information is extracted from the character parameter information stored in the ROM 73, and the size and the size and the size included in the print information are extracted. XY coordinate data is created based on the position and stored in the RAM 72. The XY coordinate data is data in which all the lines of the processing pattern are decomposed into line segments and the start point coordinates and end point coordinates are specified for the line segments. Further, based on the print information, galvano scanning speed information representing the scanning speed of the galvano scanner 18 is created.

Further, the CPU 71 creates guide data for a guide display used by the user to align the machining object W based on the print information. Here, the guide data is XY coordinate data. The guide pattern drawn on the machined surface WA by scanning the visible laser beam with the galvano scanner 18 based on the guide data is a simplified version of the machined pattern. Next, the guide data is output to the laser controller 5. When the guide data is input, the CPU 41 controls the galvano controller 56 and the guide optical laser driver 58 based on the guide data. As a result, the laser processing apparatus 1 displays a guide based on the guide data. The user aligns the machining object W using the guide display.

When the alignment is completed, the user operates the mouse 78 or the like to select a processing setting button (not shown) for accepting processing-related settings displayed on the reception screen. When the machining setting button is selected, the CPU 71 starts the setting execution process shown in FIG.

First, the CPU 71 displays the processing setting screen 80 shown in FIG. 6 on the LCD 77, and determines whether or not the processing material has been changed (S5). Here, the specified value of the processed material is a non-ferrous metal that does not require protective treatment. When the user wants to set a processing material other than the non-ferrous metal, he / she selects a desired processing material from the processing materials displayed in the processing material pull-down menu 83 (FIG. 6) that accepts the processing material. The options for the processed material pull-down menu 83 include non-ferrous metals, steel, and resins. The CPU 71 determines that the processing material has been changed when the processing material selected in the processing material pull-down menu 83 has been changed from the specified non-ferrous metal, and when the processing material has not been changed from the specified non-ferrous metal. , Judge that the processing material has not been changed.

When the CPU 71 determines that the processing material has been changed (S5: YES), the CPU 71 refers to the protection processing table 79 (FIG. 9) stored in the HDD 75 and determines whether or not the material requires protection processing (S7). .. As shown in FIG. 9, the protection processing table 79 is a table in which the items of "material type", "protection treatment", "energy density", "power", and "scanning speed" are set as one set. The values of "material type" include non-ferrous metals, steel, and resins. The value of "protection processing" is necessary or unnecessary. The "energy density", "power", and "scanning speed" are input to predetermined values by experiments and the like. The units of "energy density", "power", and "scanning speed" are [J / m ² ], [W], and [mm / s], respectively. The CPU 71 searches the protection processing table 79 for the processing material selected in the processing material pull-down menu 83, and if the value of "protection processing" of the processing material is "necessary", it is a material that requires protection processing. If it is judged to be present and "unnecessary", it is judged that the material does not require protective treatment.

Here, the protection process will be described. The protection process is a process of irradiating the object W to be processed with a laser at a lower output than the laser output for processing after the laser irradiation for processing. For example, when the material of the object W to be processed is stainless steel, when the irradiated laser is irradiated and the irradiated portion is scraped deeper than the passivation film which is a chromium oxide film, the alloy inside is exposed. Will be. If the protective treatment is not performed, the alloy inside is exposed and rust is generated. Here, when the protective treatment is performed, the generated rust is removed, and a passivation film serving as a protective film is formed again on the surface of the alloy inside. As a result, the corrosion resistance of the object to be processed W can be maintained even after the processing is performed. The material for which the protective treatment is effective is not limited to stainless steel. In some other steels, a dense oxide film is similarly formed on the surface by the protective treatment. In the following description, the process of irradiating a laser for processing is referred to as a processing process in order to distinguish it from the protective process. As described above, when the materials are non-ferrous metals and resins, no protective treatment is required. Therefore, the CPU 71 executes the following steps based on the protection processing table 79 in which the necessity / non-necessity of the protection processing is input in advance, depending on whether or not the material requires the protection processing.

As described above, the value (necessary / unnecessary) of the "protection treatment" in the protection treatment table 79 reflects whether or not the material is effective for the protection treatment. Therefore, in the protection treatment table 79, values are not required for non-ferrous metals and resins for which protection treatment is not effective. Here, there are various materials classified as steel, and some materials, such as stainless steel, for which protective treatment is effective, and some materials for which protective treatment is not effective. An example of a material for which protective treatment is not effective is carbon steel. Therefore, as will be described later, it is possible to select whether or not to execute the protection process in the protection process check box 81 (FIG. 6). As a result, when the material of the object W to be processed is a material classified as steel, but the protective treatment is not effective, the user can prevent the protective treatment from being executed.

When the CPU 71 determines that the material requires protection processing (S7: YES), it determines whether or not the protection processing check box 81 (FIG. 6) is checked (S9). Even in the case of a material for which the value of "protection treatment" in the protection treatment table 79 is required, the user can select whether or not to execute the protection treatment. When the user wants to execute the protection process, the user checks the protection process check box 81. When it is determined that the protection processing check box 81 is checked (S9: YES), the detailed setting button 82 (FIG. 6) is changed from the non-selectable state to the selectable state (S11). The detailed setting button 82 is a button for receiving the setting of the power and the scanning speed in the protection process. The user selects the detailed setting button 82 when he / she wants to confirm or change the power and scanning speed in the protection process. Next, it is determined whether or not the detailed setting button 82 is selected (S13). When it is determined that the detailed setting button 82 is selected (S13: YES), the condition setting process is executed (S15).

The condition setting process will be described with reference to FIG. When the CPU 71 starts the condition setting process, the detailed setting screen 90 shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the LCD 77 (S21). Here, the power text box 91 for receiving the power value and the scanning speed text box 92 for receiving the scanning speed value are displayed with the specified values input. The default value is a value input to the protection processing table 79. When the user is seeking the optimum values of the power and the scanning speed by, for example, an experiment, the optimum values can be input to the power text box 91 and the scanning speed text box 92. Next, it is determined whether or not the scanning setting button 93 is selected (S23). When it is determined that the scanning setting button 93 is selected (S23: YES), the scanning setting process is executed (S25).

The scanning setting process will be described with reference to FIG. When the scanning setting process is started, the CPU 71 detects the longitudinal direction of the machining pattern based on the print information (S41). For example, the CPU 71 calculates an tangential rectangle that is a rectangle in contact with the machining pattern outside the machining pattern, and sets the long side direction of the calculated tangent rectangle as the longitudinal direction. Next, the processing pattern determines whether or not there is a fill (S43). When it is determined that the processing pattern has a fill (S43: YES), the average direction between the fill direction and the longitudinal direction detected in step S41 is obtained, the average direction is determined as the scanning direction in the protection process (S45), and the process proceeds to step S49. move on. On the other hand, if it is determined that the processing pattern is not filled (S43: NO), the scanning direction in the protection process is determined to be the longitudinal direction detected in step S41 (S47), and the process proceeds to step S49.

Steps S41 to S47 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, a case where the processing pattern 200 is an elliptical shape having a fill and lacking a part as shown in FIG. 10A will be described as an example. The longitudinal direction and the scanning direction are defined by the angle of the angle formed with the reference line with the X direction as the reference line. The angle (hereinafter, referred to as the longitudinal angle) d1 formed by the longitudinal direction of the machining pattern 200 and the reference line detected in step S41 is 30 degrees. Further, it is assumed that the scanning direction and the angle formed by the reference line (hereinafter referred to as the scanning direction angle) d2 in the processing process are 0 degrees (FIG. 9B). In this case, since the scanning direction angle d3 in the protection process is the average of the longitudinal angle d1 and the scanning direction angle d2 in the processing process, the CPU 71 calculates it as 15 ((30 + 0) / 2) degrees (FIG. 9 (c)). )).

When the scanning direction and the longitudinal direction in the machining process are different, if the scanning direction of the protective process is the longitudinal direction of the machining pattern, the number of scanning lines is smaller than that in the case of the scanning direction in the machining process. 1 can shorten the time required for scanning. On the other hand, when the scanning direction of the protective treatment is set to the scanning direction in the processing, the rust formed in the groove along the scanning direction formed in the processed portion by the processing can be removed cleanly. As a result, the laser beam L can be applied to the machined surface WA without being blocked by rust. Therefore, when the machining pattern is filled (S43: YES), the average direction between the longitudinal direction and the scanning direction in the machining process is set as the scanning direction in the protection process, so that the time required for scanning is longer than that in the machining process. Rust can be removed cleanly while shortening. On the other hand, when the processing pattern is not filled (S43: NO), since the number of grooves formed in the processing portion along the scanning direction is small, priority is given to shortening the scanning time, and scanning in the protection process is performed. The direction is the longitudinal direction.

Returning to FIG. 5, in step S49, the CPU 71 causes the LCD 77 to display the scanning setting screen 100 shown in FIG. On the scanning setting screen 100, a check box 101, a printing scanning direction text box 102, a longitudinal text box 103, a protective scanning direction text box 104, a scanning radio button 105, an OK button 106, a cancel button 107, and the like are displayed. .. The default value of the scanning radio button 105 is one direction. Here, the display mode of the scanning setting screen 100 differs depending on the determination result in step S43. Note that FIG. 8 shows a display mode when YES is determined in step S43.

If the CPU 71 determines in step S43 that the machining pattern is filled (S43: YES), a check mark is put in the check box 101, and values are put in the print scanning direction text box 102 and the longitudinal text box 103. Display it. Since the longitudinal text box 103 has a value uniquely determined by the machining pattern, it is displayed in gray out. Here, the print scanning direction text box 102 is a text box that accepts input in the scanning direction in the processing process, and 0, which is a default value, is input and displayed. The longitudinal text box 103 is a text box that displays the longitudinal angle d1 detected in step S41. Further, when it is determined that the processing pattern is filled (S43: YES), the value determined in step S45 is input and displayed in the protective scanning direction text box 104. The user can also change the scanning direction of the machining process from the specified value to execute the machining process. When the user wants to change the scanning direction of the processing, the user inputs a desired value in the print scanning direction text box 102. When the CPU 71 determines that the value of the print scanning direction text box 102 has been changed, the CPU 71 determines the scanning direction in the protection process in the same manner as in step S45, and uses the determined value as the input value of the protective scanning direction text box 104. In addition, the user can execute the protection process in the scanning direction in the desired protection process regardless of the scanning direction and the longitudinal direction in the processing process. When it is desired to execute the protection process in the desired scanning direction, the user unchecks the check box 101 and inputs a desired value in the protected scanning direction text box 104.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the machining pattern is not filled (S43: NO), the CPU 71 does not put a check mark in the check box 101, and inputs the value determined in step S47 in the protective scanning direction text box 104. The scanning setting screen 100 is displayed.

The user can specify either one-way or two-way scanning method with the scanning method radio button 105. One-way is a scanning method in which the scanning direction is only one direction, and when scanning from the start point to the end point of the first line is completed, the start point of the second line is scanned as the vicinity of the start point of the first line. is there. On the other hand, bidirectional is a method in which after scanning from the start point to the end point of the first line is completed, the start point of the second line is scanned as the vicinity of the end point of the first line. When the user finishes setting the scanning direction and scanning method of the protection process, the user selects the OK button 106 or the cancel button 107. When the CPU 71 determines whether or not the OK button 106 is selected (S51) and determines that the OK button 106 is selected (S51: YES), the input value of the scanning setting screen 100 is stored in the RAM 72 (S53) and processed. To finish. On the other hand, if it is determined that the OK button 106 is not selected (S51: NO), it is determined whether or not the cancel button 107 is selected (S55), and if it is determined that the cancel button 107 is selected (S55: YES), Step S53 is skipped and the process ends. In this case, the CPU 71 sets the scanning direction in the protection process to the direction determined in steps S45 and S47, and the scanning method is a specified method. On the other hand, if it is determined that the cancel button 107 is not selected (S53: NO), the process returns to step S51, and steps S51 and S55 are repeatedly executed until the OK button 106 or the cancel button 107 is selected.

Returning to FIG. 4, after executing step S25, the CPU 71 determines whether or not the OK button 94 (FIG. 7) is selected (S27), and determines that the OK button 94 is selected (S27: YES). The input value of the screen 90 is stored in the RAM 72 (S29), and the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the OK button 94 is not selected (S27: NO), it is determined whether or not the cancel button 95 (FIG. 7) is selected (S31), and if it is determined that the cancel button 95 is selected (S31). : YES), step S29 is skipped, and the process ends. In this case, the CPU 71 sets the power and scanning speed values as default values. On the other hand, if it is determined that the cancel button 95 is not selected (S31: NO), the process returns to step S23.

Returning to FIG. 3, after executing step S15, the CPU 71 determines whether or not the machining start button 87 (FIG. 6) is selected (S17), and determines that the machining start button 87 is not selected (S17: NO). ), Return to step S5. On the other hand, when it is determined that the processing start button 87 is selected (S17: YES), the laser irradiation process is executed (S19), and the process ends. Specifically, in the laser irradiation process, the CPU 71 outputs print data to the laser controller 5. When the print data is input, the CPU 41 controls the galvano controller 56 and the excitation laser driver 51 based on the print data. As a result, the laser processing apparatus 1 performs processing based on the print data. Next, if the CPU 71 determines YES in step S9, the CPU 71 outputs the print data and each input value determined in the setting execution process to the laser controller 5. When the print data and each input value are input, the CPU 41 controls the galvano controller 56 and the excitation laser driver 51 based on the print data and each input value. As a result, the laser processing apparatus 1 executes the protection process based on the print data and each input value. Each input value refers to power, scanning speed, scanning direction in protection processing, and scanning method. Specifically, when the processing pattern has a fill, the galvano scanner 18 vector-scans the outline of the processing pattern, and then scans the area surrounded by the outline in the scanning direction determined in step S45 or on the scanning setting screen 100. Scan line by line according to the input value. If the machining pattern is not filled, the galvano scanner 18 scans the machining pattern line by line according to the scanning direction determined in step S45 or the input value of the scanning setting screen 100. As a result, when the laser processing apparatus 1 determines YES in step S9, the laser processing apparatus 1 executes protection processing in the scanning direction according to the machining pattern at the power and scanning speed corresponding to the material of the machining object W. be able to.

On the other hand, if NO is determined in step S5, NO is determined in step S7, or NO is determined in step S9, the CPU 71 omits the protection process. By selecting the material of the object W to be processed on the processing setting screen 80, the user can omit the protection process in the case of a material that does not require the protection process. Further, in the case of a material requiring a protective treatment, since the protective treatment table 79 has an energy density value in the protective treatment, the user can easily execute the protective treatment without inputting the energy density value. Can be done.

Here, the laser processing device 1 is an example of a laser processing device, the excitation laser driver 51, the excitation laser light emitting unit 40, and the laser light emitting unit 12 are examples of the laser light emitting unit, and the galvano scanner 18 is an example. The scanning unit is an example, the control unit 70 and the laser controller 5 are examples of the control unit, step S7 is an example of determination processing, step S9 is an example of reception processing, and the protection processing table 79 is an example of the corresponding data. As an example, the HDD 75 is an example of the storage unit, and step S25 is an example of the determination process.

According to the embodiment described above, the following effects are obtained.
If the CPU 71 determines in step S7 that the protection process is not required, the CPU 71 does not perform the protection process in the laser irradiation process in step S19. Further, in step S7, the CPU 71 makes a judgment based on the protection processing table 79 having the necessary / unnecessary values of the protection treatment for each material. As a result, when the laser processing apparatus 1 is a material that does not require the protection treatment, the protection treatment can be omitted in the laser irradiation treatment. On the other hand, when the laser processing apparatus 1 is a material that requires a protective treatment and it is determined that the protective treatment check box 81 has a check indicating that the protective treatment is to be performed (S9: YES), the laser irradiation treatment is performed. In, the protection process is executed. As a result, the laser processing apparatus 1 can efficiently perform the protection treatment according to the material.

If the CPU 71 determines that the material requires protection processing (S7: YES), it determines in step S9 whether or not the protection processing check box 81 has a check indicating that protection processing is to be performed (S9). .. As a result, even when the material requires a protective treatment, the user can select whether or not to cause the laser processing apparatus 1 to perform the protective treatment.

Further, when the cancel button 95 is selected in the condition setting process (S15), the CPU 71 sets the power and scanning speed for realizing the energy density of the protection processing table 79 as the power and scanning speed in the protection process. In this way, the CPU 71 can determine the energy density in the protection process based on the protection process table 79.

Further, in the scanning setting process (S25), the CPU 71 determines the scanning direction in the protection process according to the longitudinal direction of the processing pattern and the presence or absence of filling. When the processing pattern has a fill, the average direction between the longitudinal direction and the scanning direction in the processing process is determined as the scanning direction in the protection process. As a result, the laser processing apparatus 1 can cleanly remove rust while shortening the time required for scanning as compared with the processing process. If the processing pattern is not filled, the longitudinal direction is determined as the scanning direction in the protection process. As a result, the laser processing apparatus 1 can shorten the time required for scanning.

<Another example of condition setting processing 1>
Next, another example 1 of the condition setting process will be described. In the above, it has been explained that the protection treatment table 79 has the energy density value and the power and scanning speed values for realizing the energy density in the row of the material requiring the protection treatment, but instead of the energy density. , A table may be stored in which the ratio of the energy density in the processing process to the energy density in the protective process is stored as an item. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, the value of the energy density in the protection treatment of the protection treatment table 300 is expressed as a ratio. Here, the ratio is a value obtained by dividing the energy density in the protective treatment by the energy density in the processing treatment. According to this configuration, when the energy density in the processing process is changed from the specified value, the energy density in the protective process can be changed according to the change in the energy density in the processing process. The energy density in the protection process is realized by adjusting the pulse frequency of the laser beam L and the scanning speed of the galvano scanner 18. Next, a method of obtaining the scanning speed and the pulse frequency in order to obtain the desired energy density will be described.

FIG. 12 is a graph of the overlap rate with respect to the scanning speed, and FIG. 13 is a graph of the coefficient regarding the energy density received by the workpiece W with respect to the overlap rate. The overlap rate is a numerical value of the amount of overlap of spots. Further, the value obtained by multiplying the energy density per pulse of the laser beam L by a coefficient is the energy density received by the workpiece W. As shown in FIG. 12, the smaller the pulse frequency and the higher the scanning speed, the smaller the overlap rate. As shown in FIG. 13, the smaller the overlap ratio, the smaller the coefficient. That is, if it is desired to reduce the energy density received by the object W to be processed, the pulse frequency may be reduced and the scanning speed may be increased. FIGS. 12 and 13 can be obtained in advance by, for example, an empirical formula or a theoretical formula. In another example 1 of the condition setting process, it is assumed that the functions shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 are stored in the HDD 75 in advance. Here, it is assumed that the energy and the spot diameter per pulse in the protection process are constant.

Here, a case where the average power in the processing is 5 W, the pulse frequency is 30 kHz, the spot diameter is 50 μm, and the scanning speed is 100 mm / s will be described as an example. If the ratio of the energy density is 0.1, that is, if the energy density in the protective treatment is to be 0.1 times the energy density in the processing, the coefficient in the protection treatment may be 1/10 of the coefficient in the processing. ..

Here, the pulse frequency f is set to 3/5 of the pulse frequency f in the processing, that is, 18 (30 × 3/5) kHz. The value of the pulse frequency f in the protection process may be a fixed value, for example, 3/5 of the value of the pulse frequency f in the machining process, and what percentage of the pulse frequency f in the machining process should be set. It may be a function according to the ratio of energy density. Here, it is assumed that the fixed value is stored in the HDD 75. Next, in order to determine the coefficient, first, the coefficient in the processing process is obtained. According to FIG. 12, when the scanning speed is 100 mm / s and the pulse frequency f is 30 kHz, the overlap rate is 93%. According to FIG. 13, the coefficient is 10 when the overlap rate is 93%. Therefore, the coefficient for the protection process may be 1/10 of 10. Here, a coefficient of 1 means that the overlap rate is 0%. From FIG. 12, the scanning speed is 900 mm / s when the pulse frequency is 18 kHz and the overlap coefficient is 0%. Therefore, it may be larger than 900 mm / s. In consideration of the influence of heat, the scanning speed in the protection process is preferably 1000 mm / s, which is 900 mm / s plus a margin value.

In another example 1 of the condition setting process, the laser processing apparatus 1 stores in the HDD 75 a program showing the procedure of the method of obtaining the scanning speed and the pulse frequency in order to obtain the desired energy density described above. The CPU 71 determines the energy density, pulse frequency, and scanning speed in the protection process according to the program.

According to another example 1 of the condition setting process described above, the following effects are obtained.
Even if the values of the scanning speed and the pulse frequency for realizing the energy density in the protection process are not stored in advance, the CPU 71 can realize the energy density in the protection process by changing the scanning speed and the pulse frequency. it can.

<Another example 2 of condition setting process>
Next, another example 2 of the condition setting process will be described. In the above, it was explained that the information on the correspondence between the material type and the energy density is stored as the protection processing table 79, but as a configuration in which the relationship between the material name and the energy density, which is more subdivided than the material type, is stored as information. Is also good. Specifically, the HDD 75 stores the protection processing table 301 shown in FIG. The protection processing table 301 has a "material name" as an item in addition to the items of the protection processing table 79. In the machining setting process, the CPU 71 adds and displays a material name pull-down menu that accepts the selection of the material name, for example, on the machining setting screen 80 (FIG. 6). The option of the material name pull-down menu is the value of the material name possessed by the protection processing table 301. When the user selects steel in the processing material pull-down menu 83, the user further selects a material name. If the CPU 71 determines YES in step S31 of the condition setting process (S15), the CPU 71 determines the energy density value corresponding to the selected material name in the protection process table 301 as the energy density value of the protection process. The power, scanning speed, and frequency values for achieving the desired energy density may be determined with reference to the protection processing table 301 as the configuration of the protection processing table 301 in advance as in the protection processing table 79. It may be determined in the same manner as in another example 1 of the condition setting process. Even when the material type is steel, the optimum value of the energy density in the protective treatment may differ depending on the type of material because the composition is different. For example, the optimum value a of the energy density in the protection treatment of SUS304 is smaller than the optimum value b of the energy density in the protection treatment of SUS410.

According to the second example of the condition setting process described above, the following effects are obtained.
The CPU 71 can determine the energy density in the protection process to a value according to the material name subdivided from the material type such as steel.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various improvements and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the above description, in the protection process, the laser beam L is irradiated based on the print data, that is, the same area as the processing pattern, but the present invention is not limited to this. The irradiation region of the laser beam L in the protection treatment may be a region larger than the processing pattern. In the processing, the vicinity of the irradiation region of the laser beam L is also affected by the laser beam L, and the protective film may be damaged. Therefore, by performing the protective treatment on the region larger than the processing pattern, the protective film can be formed even in the region in the vicinity of being affected.

Further, in the above description, in the protection process, it has been described that the outline is first vector-scanned based on the print data, that is, when the processing pattern has a fill, but the present invention is not limited to this. When the processing pattern has a fill, the outline may be configured to omit vector scanning in the protection processing. As a result, the time required for the protection process can be shortened.

Further, in the above description, when the processing pattern is not filled, it has been described that the protection process scans line by line according to the scanning direction determined in step S45 or the input value of the scanning setting screen 100, but the present invention is not limited to this. If the processed pattern is not filled, the protective process may be performed by vector scanning.

Further, it has been explained that the protection processing table 79, the protection processing table 300, and the protection processing table 301 are stored in the HDD 75 in advance. Each table may be configured to be updatable by the user. As a result, if the user inputs the optimum value of the energy density according to the material obtained by experiments or the like into each table, the input of the energy density can be omitted when performing laser processing.

Further, in step S41, the CPU 71 has described that the long side direction of the circumscribing rectangle of the processing pattern is the longitudinal direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. The longitudinal direction may be obtained as follows. First, the CPU 71 simplifies the processing pattern into a rectangle, and obtains the side having the longest distance between the center of the circumscribed circle of the simplified rectangle and each side of the simplified rectangle. Next, a line passing through the center of the circumscribed circle and orthogonal to the side having the longest distance is obtained, and the direction along the line is set as the longitudinal direction.

1 Laser processing device 2 Laser processing unit 3 Laser head unit 5 Laser controller 7 PC
12 Laser light emitting unit 18 Galvano scanner 40 Excitation laser light emitting unit 41,71 CPU
51 Excitation laser driver 70 Control unit 75 HDD

Claims (7)

A laser beam emitting part that emits laser light and
A scanning unit that scans the laser beam and
A control unit that controls the laser beam emitting unit and the scanning unit is provided.
The control unit
Based on the processing pattern, processing processing that performs laser processing using the laser beam of the first energy density on the processing object, and processing
After the processing, a protective treatment of irradiating the processed object with the laser beam having a second energy density smaller than the first energy density based on the processing pattern.
Prior to the execution of the protective treatment, a determination process for determining whether or not the protective treatment is required according to the material type of the object to be processed is executed.
A laser processing apparatus characterized in that when it is determined in the determination process that the protection process is not required, the protection process is not executed. The control unit
The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that the protection process is required in the determination process, a reception process for accepting a selection as to whether or not to execute the protection process is executed. A storage unit for storing corresponding data for associating the material type with the second energy density is provided.
The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit determines the second energy density to irradiate the processed object in the protective process based on the corresponding data. .. In the protection process, the control unit
The laser according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second energy density is adjusted by changing at least one of the scanning speed of the scanning unit and the pulse frequency of the laser beam. Processing equipment. The control unit
When the longitudinal direction of the machining pattern is detected and the scanning direction of the scanning portion in the machining process is different from the longitudinal direction, a determination process of determining the longitudinal direction as the scanning direction of the scanning portion in the protection process is executed. The laser processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the laser processing apparatus is used. Wherein,
When the longitudinal direction of the processing pattern is detected and the scanning direction of the scanning portion in the processing process is different from the longitudinal direction, the protection process is based on the longitudinal direction and the scanning direction in the processing process. The laser processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a determination process for determining the scanning direction of the scanning unit is executed . The control unit
Detecting the longitudinal direction of the processing pattern,
Judge whether the processing pattern has a fill,
When it is determined that the processing pattern has a fill, the scanning direction of the scanning portion in the protection process is determined based on the longitudinal direction and the scanning direction in the processing, and the processing pattern has a fill. The laser processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein if it is not determined, the determination means for determining the longitudinal direction as the scanning direction of the scanning portion in the protection process is executed. ..

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