JPH0351513B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an eyeless suture needle drilling method in which the eyeless suture needle is punched using a pulsed laser beam.

<Prior art> A method and apparatus for manufacturing an eyeless suture needle by drilling a blind hole in a needle material using a laser beam are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-37918, which was invented by the present applicant. It is known by.

In addition, as a technique for continuously drilling punching holes at predetermined intervals using a laser beam that is intermittently oscillated on the processing line of the workpiece, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983
It is known from the publication No.-4391.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, in the former known technology, when drilling holes using a laser beam, the laser oscillation device is only activated after the needle material is accurately supplied to the positioning and fixing device. was activated and oscillated a laser beam to process the needle material.

However, in the conventional method, the laser beam is emitted only after confirming that the needle material is accurately positioned, focusing on the needle material supplied to the positioning and fixing device. Since the spacing is not always constant, the laser beam is unstable, making it difficult to drill holes with uniform depth and shape in fine needle material.

The suture needles targeted by the present invention include those with a thickness of 30 microns (approximately one-half the size of a hair), a length of 3 mm, and a hole of 15 microns, and the needle material is extremely light and Since some needle tips are sharpened before drilling and the needle tips are already finished, it is not possible to feed the needle while making contact with the vicinity of the needle tip, which is easily damaged. However, it has been difficult to accurately supply these needle materials to the positioning and fixing device at a constant timing at an industrially profitable high speed.

Furthermore, irradiating a laser beam when there is no needle material will destroy the needle material holder, so this must be avoided at all costs.

Therefore, when trying to oscillate laser light in accordance with the supply of needle material, there was a problem that the oscillation interval of the laser light was not constant.

The pulsed laser beam oscillation device used for drilling holes in this type of needle material has an excitation lamp that lights up.
This light hits an elliptical mirror, focuses it on an oscillating rod, and is excited. The rod generates a laser beam. This laser beam is amplified by going back and forth between mirrors at both ends of the rod, and finally from a semi-reflecting mirror. The structure is such that it emits outward light as a laser beam.

For this reason, during oscillation, the elliptical mirror, rod, total reflection mirror, half reflection mirror, etc. are each heated by the excitation lamp, and each expands due to this heating.
It cools down over time and returns to its original state. The laser beam is affected by this expansion, and there is a problem in that the power energy of the laser beam is different between the laser beam emitted when the expansion is small and the laser beam emitted when the expansion is large.

For example, the end face of the rod becomes convex due to heating and expansion, the laser beam changes and its power becomes weaker, and the holding part of the reflection mirror also slightly deforms, causing the mirror to tilt slightly and the intensity within the beam spot to change. , the overall energy also changes.

Therefore, if the oscillation interval of the laser beam is not always the same as in the prior art, even if the elliptical mirror, rod, total reflection mirror, half reflection mirror, etc. are heated to the same temperature, the cooling time will be different. Since the expansion is not constant, there is a drawback that the laser beam changes slightly, causing a change in the output energy of the laser beam, or a change in the strength of the laser beam spot.

Therefore, when the conventional drilling method as described above is carried out, it is difficult to drill holes with uniform depth and shape in the needle material because the laser beam is not always the same.

When drilling a through hole 2 in a plate 1 as shown in FIG. 1A when drilling with a laser beam, uniform holes can be easily drilled as long as the laser beam has a contour and a certain amount of energy. However, the drilling process for eyeless needles is different from this, as shown in Figure B, a small blind hole 4 of a certain depth is made in the needle material 3, and the wall thickness around the hole 4 is made very small. Since the hole has to be drilled with a hole, the heat capacity is small and the processing heat is not transferred to the surrounding area, and the processing heat tends to be trapped on the wall of the hole. If there is a partial strength or weakness in the hole 4, the hole 4 may become bent, the depth may change, or spatter 5 may adhere to the entrance of the hole 4, as shown in C, D, E, F, etc. of the same figure. There were problems such as hole tearing phenomenon.

The latter known technique, as shown in FIG. 1A, is a technique for drilling through holes in a plate-shaped workpiece using a laser beam. Therefore, like the former,
There is no need to worry about various problems arising when drilling a blind hole in a needle material that has a small heat capacity and the processing heat is not sufficiently transmitted to the surrounding area and tends to get trapped in the wall of the hole. Ta.

Therefore, in the technique of drilling a through hole with a laser beam, even if the oscillation interval of the laser beam is not always the same, that is, the oscillation interval of the laser beam when continuously processing the processing line of the workpiece, There is no problem at all even if the oscillation interval of the laser beam that starts processing again after replacing the workpiece is different, but this technique can be applied by using a blind hole at the proximal end of the eyeless suture needle as in the present invention. When used for drilling, there is a risk that problems similar to those of the former known technique may occur.

The present invention is a technology developed in view of these conventional problems.In particular, the present invention focuses on a laser beam emitted from a laser oscillation device, and the needle material processed by this laser beam. The present invention provides a method for making holes in a needle material by obtaining a uniform and stable laser beam by controlling the supply.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention provides a method for drilling blind holes at the distal end of an eyeless suture needle using pulsed laser light. An eyeless device characterized by oscillating a laser beam, positioning and fixing the needle material while supplying it in time with the oscillation interval of the laser beam, and drilling a blind hole at the base end of the needle material. This is a method for making holes in suture needles.

<Function> As described above, in the present invention, the laser oscillation device always oscillates the laser beam at the same interval, so the laser beam can be stabilized at all times, and the output energy of the laser beam, the intensity within the laser beam spot, etc. can be controlled. It is possible to always make the hole uniform, and therefore, it is possible to machine a uniform and highly accurate blind hole at the base end of the needle material that is supplied in time with the oscillation interval of the laser beam.

<Example> In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present inventor has researched the properties of laser light for many years, and as a result,
Although it is impossible to eliminate the heating of the laser beam oscillator and thereby prevent the deformation of the rod, mirror, etc., if the laser beam is always oscillated at the same intervals, the optical The heating by the excitation lamp light of the laser device and the cooling over time are not equal, and the temperature rises with each shot, so the expansion during each shot is not the same, and the laser light is unstable.
It was discovered that, with the exception of 10 to 20 oscillations, the output energy of the subsequent laser beams and the intensity within the laser beam spot were uniform and always constant.

The present invention actively utilizes this principle to perform hole drilling for eyeless suture needles.

An example of an apparatus for carrying out the method according to the present invention will be explained with reference to the figures.
is a laser beam oscillation device, 7 is a dichroic mirror, and 8 is a condenser lens, which can condense the laser beam 9 oscillated by the oscillation device 6 and whose direction has been changed by the mirror 7. It is structured as follows. 10 is a needle material for an eyeless suture needle, and is placed on a positioning and fixing device 11.
Next, 12 is a shutter, and the oscillation device 6
It is slidably interposed between the mirror 7 and the mirror 7, and is attached so as to be able to shield the laser beam 9 as necessary.

An example of implementing the method of the present invention using the above-mentioned device will be described. In this method, the laser beam 9 is emitted from the laser beam oscillation device 6 at constant intervals to the fixing device 1 on which the needle material 10 is placed. If the needle material 10 is not placed in the device 11, or if the needle material 10 is not yet fixed in a predetermined precise position in the device 11, the drive device of the shutter 12 (Fig. (not shown), slides the shutter 12 and emits the laser beam 9.
can be completely shielded.

In the above embodiment, the shutter 12 is interposed between the oscillation device 6 and the mirror 7, but the shutter 12 can be placed at any position through which the laser beam 9 passes.

Therefore, if the above-mentioned device is used when carrying out the method of the present invention, if the needle material 10 is not positioned and fixed in synchronization with the oscillation interval of the laser beam, that is, the needle material 10 is not placed in the fixing device 11. If not,
Alternatively, if the feeding and positioning and fixing of the needle material 10 is not completed, the laser beam 9 is shielded or released by the shutter 12, thereby preventing the laser beam 9 from irradiating the needle material 10 or the device 11, and preventing the needle material 10 from being irradiated. Therefore, damage to the needle material or the device 11 can be prevented.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, in the method according to the present invention, the laser beam oscillation device always oscillates the laser beam at the same interval, so the output energy is always constant and the intensity within the laser beam spot is constant. It is possible to irradiate the needle material with laser light that does not change parts,
As a result, it is possible to perform extremely uniform and highly accurate drilling on the proximal end of the needle material. Furthermore, the present invention provides the same effect even if the hole drilled with a laser beam is not used as a thread attachment hole as it is, but is used for the purpose of preparing a hole for finishing by another means. Needless to say, it has its own characteristics.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1A to 1F are cross-sectional explanatory views when a workpiece is processed by laser light, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of an apparatus that implements the method of the present application. 3 and 10 are needle materials, 4 is a hole, 6 is an oscillating device, 7 is a mirror, 8 is a lens, 9 is a laser beam, 11 is a fixing device, and 12 is a shutter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In the method of drilling a blind hole at the distal end of an eyeless suture needle using pulsed laser light, a laser oscillation device always emits laser light at the same interval, and the oscillation of this laser light The needle material is positioned and fixed while being supplied in time with the interval, and a blind hole is drilled at the base end of the needle material, and the needle material is not positioned and fixed in synchronization with the oscillation interval of the laser beam. A method for drilling a hole in an eyeless suture needle, which is characterized by shielding or letting laser light escape by a shutter device when the laser beam is removed.