JPH07193300A - Optical shutter and laser marker using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an optical shutter excellent in balance wherein the rotary shaft is scarcely deteriorated, and a laser marker using the shutter. CONSTITUTION:An optical shutter 16 is formed to be cylindrical, and rotatably retained while the shaft core is set as the center. The shutter 16 is equipped with a shutter part 44 having through holes 47, 48, and a shutter driving part 45 which cuts off and opens a laser optical path A in the through holes 47, 48 by rotatably retaining the shutter part 44 and rotating it. A laser maker using the optical shutter 16 is equipped with the following; a lamp house in which a laser rod or the like is built, resonator mirrors arranged on both sides of the lamp house, the optical shutter 16 which cuts off the optical path A and compulsorily interrupts the resonance of laser light, and an irradiation part which irradiates the laser light on an object to be marked. The shutter part 44 rotates smoothly with well balance, and deviatoric wear of the rotary shaft or the like can be prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical shutter and a laser marker for marking with laser light emitted from a laser resonator using the optical shutter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as an optical shutter, one using a light-shielding blade 1 as shown in FIG. 6 is known.
The light shielding blade 1 is supported by the rotary solenoid 2. The light blocking blade 1 is rotated by the rotary solenoid 2 to block or open the optical path.

[0003]

However, in the optical shutter having the above-mentioned structure, the light-shielding blade 1 is the rotary solenoid 2.
Since it is supported in a cantilevered state, the balance is poor,
There is a problem that the rotary shaft of the rotary solenoid 2 is easily deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical shutter that is well balanced and has little deterioration of the rotation axis, and a laser marker using the same.

[0005]

In order to solve the problems, an optical shutter according to the first invention is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape or a solid cylindrical shape and is rotatably supported around its axis. A shutter unit having a through hole in a direction intersecting the axis, and a shutter driving unit for rotatably supporting and rotating a shutter unit provided with the through hole aligned with an optical path to block or open the optical path. It is characterized by having.

A laser marker according to a second aspect of the present invention is a laser marker including a laser oscillator and an irradiation unit that irradiates an object to be marked with laser light emitted from the laser oscillator, wherein the laser resonator is a laser resonator. It is characterized in that it has an optical shutter for interrupting the laser optical path to forcibly stop the resonance, and the optical shutter according to claim 1 is used as the optical shutter.

[0007]

In the optical shutter according to the first aspect of the invention, the optical path passes through the inside of the through hole by disposing the shutter portion so that the through hole matches the optical path. In this state, when the shutter drive section is rotationally driven by the shutter drive section, the shutter section rotates about its axis and blocks or opens the optical path at the through-hole. As a result, the shutter portion rotates in a well-balanced manner and prevents uneven wear due to cantilever.

In the laser marker according to the second invention, the first
Since the optical shutter according to the invention is used, the laser optical path in which the laser light resonates can be blocked as necessary, and the resonance can be forcibly and surely stopped.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an optical shutter according to the present invention and a laser marker using the same will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the laser marker, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the laser marker. Reference numeral 11 in the drawing is a base. On this base 11, a lamp house 12, resonator mirrors 13 and 14, a Q switch 15, an optical shutter 16 are provided.
Etc. are arranged on the optical axis.

The lamp house 12 has a laser rod and an excitation lamp (neither shown) provided in parallel inside thereof, and the excitation rod excites the laser rod. The resonator mirrors 13 and 14 resonate the laser light generated in the lamp house 12.
It is arranged on both sides with 2 in between. The Q switch 15 is for adjusting the Q value when the lamp house 12 and the resonator mirrors 13 and 14 resonate to obtain a high-power laser beam, and is mounted between the lamp house 12 and the resonator mirror 13. Has been. The optical shutter 16 is used when the laser light path A is blocked by a shutter portion 44 described later to forcibly stop the resonance of the laser light.
And the resonator mirror 14 are provided.

In addition to the above, a beam expander 18 for expanding the laser beam diameter, an irradiating section 19 for irradiating an object to be marked with laser light, a semiconductor laser device 20, and a pinhole 21 are provided on the base 11. It is installed.
The irradiation unit 19 controls the laser beam expanded by the beam expander 18 in the X and Y directions to draw marks on the object and the galvano mirrors 23 and 24, and focuses on the surface of the object whose distance differs depending on the irradiation position. And an f.theta. Lens 25 for adjusting. The semiconductor laser device 20 outputs laser light in the visible region to an optical system and aligns each optical member on the optical axis. Specifically, the visible light laser 2
7 and two mirrors 28 and 29 for guiding the laser light from the visible light laser 27 to the optical axis. Note that reference numerals 30 and 31 are protective covers. The laser rod of the lamp house 12 and the two resonator mirrors 13 and 14
A laser resonator is constituted by the lamp house 12, the resonator mirrors 13 and 14, the Q switch 15, the optical shutter 16 and the pinhole 21.

The optical shutter 16 is constructed as shown in FIGS. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing the optical shutter 16, FIG. 2 is a side view showing the optical shutter 16 without the shutter drive section 45, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a shutter section 44 used for the optical shutter 16. It is a figure.

The optical shutter 16 mainly comprises a support base 41.
Support plate 42 fixed to the support plate 42, a shutter support part 43 attached to the support plate 42, and a shutter support part 43.
The shutter unit 44 is rotatably supported by the shutter unit 44, and the shutter drive unit 45 is fixed to the support plate 42 and is connected to the shutter unit 44.

The shutter portion 44 is formed in a cylindrical shape and is rotatably supported by the shutter support portion 43. Two through holes 47 and 48 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical shutter portion 44 from the center thereof, and a first light guide path 49 is formed by the two through holes 47 and 48. The first light guide path 49 is set in a direction intersecting with the axis of the shutter section 44, and the laser light path A is passed through the inside in a state where the optical shutter 16 is assembled to the base 11.

One side portion (right side portion in FIG. 1) of the shutter portion 44 is closed by a wall 44A. This wall 44A
A rotary shaft insertion hole 44B into which the rotary shaft 45A of the shutter drive unit 45 is inserted is provided in the. In addition, 44C is a screw hole, and the rotary shaft 45A inserted in the rotary shaft insertion hole 44B.
The fixing screw 50 for fixing the is screwed.

The shutter support portion 43 includes a shutter portion 44.
A shutter receiving portion 43A for rotatably supporting the light guide member and a first light guide passage 49 in a state in which the shutter portion 44 is rotated at a predetermined angle to form a light guide passage through which the laser light path A passes. Two light guide paths 43B are formed. The shutter receiving portion 43A is set such that its axial center position is shifted downward from the laser optical path A by an interval B. Shutter unit 44
Is controlled by the shutter drive unit 45 so as to rotate 45 degrees with respect to the laser optical path A, and the laser optical path A is surely blocked by the rotation of 45 degrees and the deviation of the interval B.

The shutter drive unit 45 is composed of a rotary solenoid. This shutter drive unit 45
The rotation shaft 45A is attached to the support plate 42 in a state where it coincides with the axis of the shutter portion 44. In this state, the rotation shaft 45A of the shutter drive unit 45 is inserted and fixed in the rotation shaft insertion hole 44B of the shutter unit 44, and the shutter unit 44 and the shutter drive unit 45 are connected to each other. The rotation of the shutter drive unit 45 is controlled by a control device (not shown).

In the laser marker constructed as described above, the laser rod is excited by the excitation lamp in the lamp house 12, and the excitation light is resonated by the resonator mirrors 13 and 14 to output the laser light. This laser light is emitted by the irradiation unit 1.
The irradiation direction is controlled by 9 and the mark is printed on the object.

At this time, in the optical shutter 16, the excitation light is resonated along the laser optical path A that passes through the inside of the first light guide path 49 and the second light guide path 43B. When the resonance is forcibly stopped, the shutter section 44 of the optical shutter 16 is rotated about its axis to shut off the laser optical path A. Specifically, the shutter drive unit 45 rotates the shutter unit 44 rotatably supported by the shutter support unit 43.
Rotate 5 degrees. As a result, the first light guide path 49 is inclined by 45 degrees, and the laser light path A that passes through the inside of the second light guide path 43B is blocked with certainty along with the deviation of the interval B. As a result, the resonance of the laser light is completely stopped.

As described above, since the shutter portion 44 is formed in a cylindrical shape and is rotatably supported by the shutter support portion 43, and the laser light path A is blocked or opened by rotating the shutter portion 44. , Shutter section 4
It is possible to reliably prevent uneven rotation of the rotary shaft 45A of the shutter drive unit 45 by smoothly rotating the laser beam path 4 in a well-balanced manner to block the laser optical path A. That is, the optical shutter 16 can be made less deteriorated and excellent in durability.

Further, by using the optical shutter 16 as a laser marker, the resonance of the laser light is blocked as necessary,
Resonance can be forcibly and surely stopped.

Although the shutter portion 44 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. Good.

Further, in the above embodiment, the shutter portion 44 is rotatably supported by the shutter support portion 43, but the shutter support portion 43 is not provided and the shutter portion 44 is not provided.
May be directly supported by the shutter drive unit 45. In this case as well, the overall balance of the shutter portion 44 is good, so it is possible to reliably prevent uneven wear of the rotation shaft 45A of the shutter drive portion 45.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the laser marker having the structure in which the laser beam is operated by the galvano mirrors 23 and 24 and the f.theta. Lens 25 to make the mark has been described as an example, but the structure to make the mark by using the mask is described. Also in the case of the laser marker, the same operation and effect as in the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, in the optical shutter according to the present invention, the shutter portion is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape or a solid cylindrical shape and is rotatably supported, and the shutter portion is rotated. Since the optical path passing through the inside of the through hole is blocked or opened, the shutter portion can rotate smoothly in a well-balanced manner, and uneven wear of the shutter drive portion can be reliably prevented. Thereby, the optical shutter can be made less deteriorated and excellent in durability.

Further, in the laser marker, since the optical shutter is used, the resonance of the laser light can be interrupted if necessary, and the resonance can be forcibly and surely stopped.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view showing an optical shutter according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the optical shutter shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which a shutter driving unit is removed. ← (Delete)

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a shutter unit used in the optical shutter of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a laser marker according to the present invention.

5 is a plan view of the laser marker shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional optical shutter.

[Explanation of symbols]

16 ... Optical shutter, 43 ... Shutter support, 43A ...
Shutter receiving portion, 43B ... Second light guide path, 44 ... Shutter portion, 45 ... Shutter driving portion, 45A ... Rotation shaft, 47, 4
8 ... through-hole, 49 ... 1st light guide path.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A shutter portion which is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape or a solid cylindrical shape and is rotatably supported about its axis and has a through hole in a direction intersecting with the axis, and the through hole in an optical path. An optical shutter, comprising: a shutter driving unit that rotatably supports and rotates a shutter unit disposed together with the shutter drive unit that blocks or opens the optical path. 2. A laser marker comprising a laser oscillator and an irradiating unit for irradiating an object to be marked with laser light emitted from the laser oscillator, wherein the laser optical path is provided in a laser resonator of the laser oscillator. A laser marker having an optical shutter that shuts off and forcibly stops resonance, wherein the optical shutter according to claim 1 is used as the optical shutter.