JPH05198869A - Cooling equipment for laser oscillator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize an equipment, reduce cost, and improve reliability, in an equipment for supplying cooling water to a laser oscillator. CONSTITUTION:Ion-exchange resin body 12 and a filter 14 are arranged in a tank 10 which is made of transparent resin and accommodates cooling water to be supplied to a laser oscillator 20. An inlet 10a of the tank 10 functions as an inlet 12a of the ion-exchange resin body 12, and an outlet 10b of the tank 10 functions as an outlet 14b of the filter 14. The cooling water which has flown over from the ion-exchange resin body 12 and once stayed in the tank 10 permeates into the filter from the outer peripheral surface of cylindrical filtering medium, penetrates to a water path (center groove) inside the inner peripheral surface, and goes out to the outlet 14b (10b) side from the water path.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for cooling a laser oscillator with cooling water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a solid-state laser oscillator such as a YAG laser, for the purpose of improving oscillation efficiency and stabilizing oscillation operation,
The laser rod and the excitation lamp are forcibly cooled with cooling water. Usually, the laser rod and the excitation lamp are respectively put in glass tubes, and cooling water is caused to flow in these glass tubes. Since the cooling water passes through the electrodes of the excitation lamp, if the electric conductivity of the water is high, there is a risk of discharge, electrolysis, plating, or the like. Therefore,
Pure water is used as the cooling water, and the purity is always maintained.

FIG. 5 shows the overall structure of a conventional cooling device for a solid-state laser oscillator. In this cooling device, the cooling water is supplied from the pump 102 to the tank 100, the filter 104, and the laser oscillator 10 via piping.
6, it circulates between the heat exchanger 108 and the ion exchange resin body 110. In the laser oscillator 106,
Cooling water is made to flow in a glass tube containing a laser rod and an excitation lamp, and a predetermined water channel provided in the oscillator block.

The cooling water emitted from the laser oscillator 106 is cooled by the heat exchanger 108 and then collected in the tank 100. Most of the cooling water pumped out from the tank 100 by the pump 102 is supplied to the laser oscillator 106 via the filter 104, but part of the cooling water is sent to the ion exchange resin body 110, where the ions are removed. It is designed to return to the tank 100 after increasing the degree of pure water. As described above, the ion exchange resin body 110 is connected in parallel to the laser oscillator 106 and only a part of the cooling water pumped by the pump 102 is sent to the ion exchange resin body 110 because the ion exchange resin body 110 is a cartridge. Because it is a type, the maximum flow rate is limited.

Flow rate adjusting valves 112 and 114 are connected in parallel and in series with the ion exchange resin body 110. Further, between the pump 102 and the laser oscillator 106, a temperature sensor 116 for detecting the temperature, pressure and electric conductivity of the cooling water before being supplied to the laser oscillator 106, respectively.
A pressure sensor 118 and a conductivity sensor 120 are provided. Incidentally, 122 is a pump drive motor, 124 is a flow switch, 126 is a tank drain, and 128 is an electromagnetic valve.

[0006]

In the conventional cooling device for the laser oscillator as described above, the laser oscillator 106 is used.
Tank 100, which is indispensable for supplying cooling water to
The pump 102, the motor 122, and the heat exchanger 10
Even if it is unavoidable, the filter 104 and the ion-exchange resin body 110 additionally provided for keeping the purity of the cooling water have a relatively large volume and space, and the entire apparatus has been enlarged. Further, since the filter 104 and the ion exchange resin body 110 complicate the pipes and joints, the cost is high, and the number of connecting points is large, which causes water leakage.

Further, since the ion exchange resin body 110 is a cartridge type and the maximum flow rate is limited, the pump 1
A part of the cooling water sent from 06 is divided and supplied to the ion exchange resin body 110 to perform ion exchange little by little, so that the ion exchange efficiency was low. Therefore, multiple ion-exchange resin bodies are connected in parallel to increase the ion-exchange efficiency, but that means that many ion-exchange resin bodies and pipes and joints are used, which results in cost and water consumption. There was a problem that the problem of leakage became more prominent.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a cooling device for a laser oscillator, which realizes cost reduction and improvement in reliability by downsizing the device and greatly reducing pipes and joints. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the laser oscillator cooling apparatus of the present invention cools the laser oscillator by circulating cooling water between the ion exchanger, the filter and the laser oscillator. In the laser oscillator cooling device thus configured, the ion exchanger and the filter are incorporated in a tank that stores cooling water to be supplied to the laser oscillator.

Further, the tank is made of a transparent material so that the water level in the tank and the state of the ion exchanger can be visually detected from the outside.

[0011]

The cooling water returned to the tank enters the ion exchanger directly from the inlet of the tank, where unnecessary ions are removed and the purity of water is restored. The cooling water discharged from the ion exchanger once stays in the tank and then enters the filter directly, that is, without passing through piping etc., is filtered there, and then is pumped out through the outlet of the filter, that is, the outlet of the tank. , To the laser oscillator.

In the present invention, the tank functions as a common housing for the ion exchanger and the filter, the inlet of the tank functions as the inlet of the ion exchanger, and the outlet of the tank functions as the outlet of the filter. This eliminates the need for housings for ion exchangers and filters, installation space, pipes and fittings.

Further, by forming the tank with a transparent body, it becomes possible to visually detect the water level in the tank and the degree of discoloration, that is, the deterioration of the ion exchanger from the outside, and open the lid of the tank. The trouble of seeing the situation of is unnecessary.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a cooling device for a laser oscillator according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this cooling device, an ion exchange resin body 12 and a filter 14 are arranged in a tank 10 that stores cooling water to be supplied to a laser oscillator 20 in a state of being submerged in the cooling water. The inlet 12a of the ion exchange resin body 12 is the inlet 10 of the tank 10.
A is connected to the outlet 22b of the heat exchanger 22, and the outlet 14b of the filter 14 is connected to the inlet 16a of the pump 16 as the outlet 10b of the tank 10.

The cooling water discharged from the outlet 16b of the pump 16 has a water temperature of, for example, 28 ° C to 30 ° C.
It is supplied to the laser oscillator 20 via the variable flow rate adjusting valve 18. In the laser oscillator 20, cooling water flows in a glass tube containing a laser rod and an excitation lamp, and a predetermined water channel provided in the oscillator block.

The cooling water emitted from the laser oscillator 20 has risen, for example, by several degrees C., and the secondary side inlet 2 of the heat exchanger 22.
2a. The cooling water that has entered the heat exchanger 22 is deprived of heat there by heat exchange with the primary side cooling water, and is cooled to, for example, 25 ° C. The cooling water discharged from the secondary outlet 22b of the heat exchanger 22 is sent to the inlet 10a of the tank 10, that is, the inlet 12a of the ion exchange resin body 12.

The cooling water that has entered the ion exchange resin body 12 is
Then, the ion exchange resin removes unnecessary ions,
Restore pure water. The cooling water discharged from the ion exchange resin body 12 passes through the filter 14 in the tank 10 to remove (filter) organic substances and the like, and then is pumped out to the pump 16 side and supplied again to the laser oscillator 20. There is.

Between the pump 16 and the laser oscillator 20, the temperature of the cooling water before being supplied to the laser oscillator 20,
A temperature sensor 24, a pressure sensor 26 and an electric conductivity sensor 28 for detecting pressure and electric conductivity, respectively, are provided. In addition, 30 is a motor for driving the pump 16, 32 is primary cooling water (city water) for the heat exchanger 22.
Is a solenoid valve for controlling the supply of water, 34 is a flow switch for detecting the flow rate, and 36 is a drain for discharging the cooling water from the tank 10.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of the main part of the present cooling device. The tank 10, the pump 16, and the motor 30 are installed on a substrate 40 fixed to the bottom surface of the device.

The tank 10 is made of a transparent resin, and the water level in the tank 10 and the state of the ion exchange resin body 12, the filter 14 and the like can be visually seen from the outside.

The upper surface of the ion exchange resin body 12 is open so that cooling water whose pure water level has been recovered will spring out from the inside. Inside the ion exchange resin body 12, an ion exchange resin 12c is packed in a permeable or mesh cloth bag made of nylon, for example, to prevent the resin from jumping out. As described above, the ion exchange resin body 12 in the present cooling device is not a cartridge type using a dedicated housing as in the related art, but the tank 10 having a significantly larger capacity than the dedicated housing is used as the housing. Ion exchange can be efficiently performed at the same flow rate as that flowing to the.

In the filter 14, a cylindrical filter material such as polypropylene / cotton 14c is exposed as it is without being put in the casing. The cooling water that has sprung out from the ion exchange resin body 12 and once stayed in the tank 10 enters into the inside from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical filter filtering material 14c and escapes into the water supply (center groove) inside the inner peripheral surface. Exit 14
It is designed to go out to side b. Thus, unlike the conventional cartridge type, the filter 14 in the present cooling device does not use a dedicated housing, and is therefore inexpensive. In addition, in FIG.
J5 is a pipe, which is simply shown by a chain line.

3 and 4 are a sectional view and a top view showing the structure in the tank 10 more specifically. The eyelid 42 is arranged near the upper opening of the ion exchange resin body 12, and the ion exchange resin 12c is selected from the inside of the ion exchange resin body 12.
Even if a mesh bag containing is trying to pop out, this eyelid 4
It is supposed to be stopped by 2. Further, other than the eyelid structure, any holding structure can be used. At the bottom of the tank 10, a heater 46 for keeping the cooling water in the tank at an appropriate temperature, for example, 30 ° C., and a thermometer 48 for measuring the temperature of the cooling water in the tank are provided.

As described above, in the cooling device according to the present embodiment, unnecessary ions and organic substances are removed from the cooling water supplied to the laser oscillator 20 to remove the pure water (insulation degree) and cleanliness of the cooling water. The ion exchange resin body 12 and the filter 14 for maintaining are housed together in the cooling water tank 10, and the tank 10 is used as a housing for the ion exchange resin body 12 and the filter 14, respectively.
A is an inlet of the ion exchange resin body 12, and an outlet 10b of the tank 10 is an outlet 14b of the filter 14.

As described above, by incorporating the ion exchange resin body 12 and the filter 14 in the tank 10, a special installation space for the ion exchange resin body 12 and the filter 14 is not required, and the entire apparatus can be greatly improved. It is possible to reduce the size.

Further, the tank 10 is composed of the ion exchange resin body 12
By functioning as a housing for each of the filter 14 and the filter 14, a dedicated housing for the ion exchange resin body 12 and the filter 14 becomes unnecessary, the cost is reduced accordingly, and the ion exchange resin body 12 is housed in the dedicated housing. It becomes possible to flow the cooling water at a larger flow rate than that of the conventional case, the ion exchange capacity is improved, and it becomes unnecessary to connect a large number of ion exchange resin bodies in parallel as in the conventional case.

Further, in the tank 10, the ion exchange resin body 1
The cooling water coming out of No. 2 is filtered as it is without going through the pipe.
4, so the piping on the outlet side of the ion exchange resin body 12
No joints or piping / joints on the inlet side of the filter 14 are required, and the inlet 12a of the ion exchange resin body 12 is not required.
And the outlet 14b of the filter 14 is the inlet 1 of the tank 10.
Since it functions as 0a and the outlet 10b, the pipes and joints are halved in this regard. In this way, by greatly reducing the number of pipes and joints, the cost is reduced, the risk of water leakage is eliminated, and the reliability is improved.

Further, since the tank 10 is made of transparent resin, the water level in the tank and the degree of discoloration or deterioration of the ion exchange resin can be visually detected from the outside, and the tank lid 44 is not frequently opened. I'm done.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the ion-exchange resin is used as the ion-exchanger, but other ion-exchange substances such as an ion-exchange membrane and ion-exchange cellulose may be used. .. Further, although the above-described embodiment relates to the cooling device for the solid-state laser oscillator, the present invention can be applied to cooling devices for other types of laser oscillators.

[0030]

As described above, according to the cooling device for a laser oscillator of the present invention, the tank for storing the cooling water to be supplied to the laser oscillator has the ion exchanger and the filter built therein. Function as a common housing for the ion exchanger and the filter, the inlet of the tank functions as the inlet of the ion exchanger, and the outlet of the tank functions as the outlet of the filter. Since pipes and joints are not required, the device can be downsized, the cost can be reduced, and the reliability can be improved at the same time. Also,
By configuring the tank with a transparent body, the water level in the tank and the degree of discoloration, that is, the degree of deterioration of the ion exchanger can be visually detected from the outside, and the maintenance labor of the maintenance staff can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a cooling device for a solid-state laser oscillator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of a cooling device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view specifically showing the structure inside the tank in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top view specifically showing the structure inside the tank in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a conventional laser oscillator cooling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Tank 12 Ion Exchange Resin Body 14 Filter 20 Laser Oscillator 22 Heat Exchanger

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cooling device for a laser oscillator, wherein cooling water is circulated between an ion exchanger, a filter and a laser oscillator to cool the laser oscillator, and cooling water to be supplied to the laser oscillator is stored. A cooling device for a laser oscillator, characterized in that the tank contains the ion exchanger and the filter. 2. The cooling device for a laser oscillator according to claim 1, wherein the tank is made of a transparent material.