JPH0273680A - Laser device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To clean the air in a sealed cage body by installing a filter for removing dust contained in the air in a radiator unit which cools and circulates air in the sealed cage. CONSTITUTION:In a discharge excitation type gas laser device, a sealed cage 1 includes a high frequency power source 2 for laser excitation, a resonator 3, and a radiator unit 7. Also, a Roots blower 4 circulates laser gas in a discharge tube through coolers 5a and 5b. And the coolers 5a is used to cool the laser gas that become high temperature by laser oscillation, and the cooler 5b is used to remove the compression heat by the Roots blower 4. Also, when the operation of the laser device is started, the unit 7 sucks the air of high temperature inside the cage 1, and after removing dust with a filter 373 and cooling the air with a heat exchanger 72, it blows the air against the discharge tube of the resonator 3 so as to cool the discharge tube. The blown air is sucked again by the unit after circulating the inside of the cage body 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a laser device in which each component is housed in a sealed housing, and more particularly to a laser device that can remove dust contained in the air inside the sealed housing.

[Conventional technology]

A laser device uses various precision optical parts such as an output mirror, a total reflection mirror, and a folding mirror, and if dust in the air adheres to these parts, the performance of the laser will be significantly degraded. Therefore, laser devices are generally housed in sealed casings.

On the other hand, when a laser oscillates, a considerable amount of heat is generated from the resonator and the like. For this reason, high-power laser equipment used for metal processing etc. is equipped with a radiator unit consisting of a blower and a heat exchanger, which circulates the air inside the sealed housing and exhausts the heat to the outside. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, when the door of a sealed casing is opened for maintenance work or the like, dust floating outside may get mixed into the sealed casing. If the laser device starts operating in such a state, there is a risk that the mixed dust will be circulated within the sealed casing by the blower, adhere to the optical components, and contaminate them.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a laser device that can remove dust from the air inside a sealed housing.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a laser device in which components such as a resonator, an excitation power source, and a cooling mechanism for a laser medium are housed in a sealed casing, in which the air inside the sealed casing is cooled and A laser device is provided, characterized in that a filter for removing dust contained in the air is attached to a radiator unit that circulates the air.

[Effect]

Attach a filter to the intake port of the radiator unit to remove dust from the air. When the laser device starts operating, the air inside the sealed casing is circulated through the filter, so the dust contained in the air is absorbed by the filter, and the air inside the sealed casing is purified.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic layout diagram inside a housing of a laser device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and here a discharge excitation type gas laser device is shown. In the figure, 1 is a sealed casing. 2
is a high frequency power source for laser gas excitation, and supplies a high frequency voltage of 2 MHz to the discharge tube. 3 is a resonator, and 7 is a radiator unit, the details of which will be described later.

4 is a Roots blower that circulates the laser gas in the discharge tube through coolers 5a and 5b. The cooler 5a is a cooler that cools the laser gas that has become hot due to laser oscillation, and the cooler 5b is a cooler that removes the heat of compression caused by the Roots blower. 6 is a DC power supply for the control circuit of the laser device. In addition, laser gas piping,
There are control circuits, etc., but they are omitted in this figure.

Here, the details of the configuration of the resonator 3 and the radiator unit 4 will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1. In the figure, 31a to 31h are discharge tubes, which are held by joints 32a to 32c and discharge tube holders 33a and 33b, respectively. 34 is an output mirror, and 35 is a total reflection mirror, which are held by a resonator base plate 38a. 36 is a folding mirror block provided to make the resonator compact; folding mirrors 37a and 37b are provided at the positions shown in the figure, and are held by a resonator base plate 38b.

7 is a radiator unit, which is composed of a blower 71 made up of blower blocks 71a to 71d, a heat exchanger 72, and a filter 73.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, explanation will be given. 74a and 74b are water supply pipes and drainage pipes connected to the heat exchanger 72. The heat exchanger 72 introduces cooling water 75a from the outside through a water supply pipe 74a, causes the cooled water 75a to absorb the heat inside the sealed casing 1, and discharges the heat as waste water 75b through a drainage pipe 74b.

When the laser device starts operating, the radiator unit 7
takes in high-temperature air inside the sealed casing 1, removes dust with a filter 73, cools it with a heat exchanger 72, and then blows it onto the discharge tube of the resonator 3 to cool the discharge tube. After the air blown onto the discharge tube circulates inside the sealed casing 1,
The air is sucked into the radiator unit 7 again.

Therefore, even if dust enters the inside of the sealed casing 1, the dust is eventually absorbed by the filter 73, and the air inside becomes clean.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, even if dust is mixed into the air inside the sealed casing, the air always circulates through the filter, so the dust is eventually absorbed by the filter, and the air inside becomes clean.

Therefore, even if the door is opened for maintenance or the like, the dust will be removed after restarting operation, so optical components etc. will not be contaminated, and the life and reliability of the laser device will be improved.

31a to 31h...-----m--Discharge tube 34--Output mirror 35--
-1---- Total reflection mirrors 37a, 37b...
・・・－・・・Folding mirror

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram inside a housing of a laser device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1. Patent applicant FANUC Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Takeshi Hattori 1 - - - - - - Sealed casing 2 - - - - - - - - High frequency power supply 3 - - - - -
-・-・−Resonator 4−・−・−・−Roots blowers 5a, 5b・−・−・・−−−−− Cooler 6・
−・−−1−−・−−−−1 DC power supply 7−・・−・・
・--Radiator unit 71----------One blower 72--Heat exchanger 73--Filter 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a laser device in which components such as a resonator, an excitation power source, and a cooling mechanism for a laser medium are housed in a sealed housing, the air is placed in a radiator unit that cools and circulates the air inside the sealed housing. A laser device characterized by being equipped with a filter that removes dust contained in the laser.