JPH1174586A - Water-leakage detector for solid laser head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To promptly detect water leakage by preventing water-leakage from entering nearby peripheral device, at a laser head part. SOLUTION: The water-leakage detecting device comprises a solid laser head 1 which is divided into a lower part housing 1a wherein a laser excitation lamp 3 and laser medium solid 2 are housed in an opening part 5 where a cooling liquid is packed and an upper part housing 1b as a lid body for the lower part housing, cooling liquid supply channels 12 and 13 for supplying the cooling liquid to the opening part 5 or the lower part housing of the solid laser head 1, and cooling liquid discharge channels 15 and 16 wherein the cooling liquid is discharged through the opening part 5 of the lower part housing of the solid laser head 1. Here, a leaked water reservoir 20 which surrounding the solid laser head 1, comprises a bottom surface where a side wall higher than the lower part housing and the laser head 1 are placed and fixed, and a water-leakage detecting means 23 for detecting a leaked water from the solid laser head 1 which flows in the leaked water reservoir 20 are provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solid-state laser head leakage detecting apparatus for detecting a leakage of a cooling liquid filled in a solid-state laser head containing a laser excitation lamp and a solid for a laser medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a solid-state laser such as a YAG laser, a laser excitation lamp is irradiated on a YAG rod to generate laser light. At this time, the energy injected into the excitation lamp is converted into laser light. The ratio is very small, and therefore it is necessary to apply a very large power to the operation of the excitation lamp. Further, a laser excitation lamp and Y
The power consumed there is much larger than the size of the container (laser head) in which the AG rod is stored.

Therefore, in a YAG laser, usually,
A method of forming a cooling water channel in a laser head and immersing a laser excitation lamp, a YAG rod, a condensing reflector, and the like in a cooling liquid such as pure water for cooling is used. The cooling liquid is supplied from a tank provided outside the laser head by a pump, and the discharged liquid is circulated so as to be cooled and then returned to the tank.

In a YAG laser, a laser head housing includes a lower housing containing a laser excitation lamp, a solid for a laser medium, and the like, for performing regular replacement of an excitation lamp and maintenance of internal components. The upper lamp is divided into an upper housing as a lid, and the work is performed by removing the upper housing when the excitation lamp is periodically replaced. When removing the upper housing, the operation is performed by discharging the cooling water filled in the housing. Also, if the cooling water filled in the laser head leaks for some reason, the temperature of the laser head becomes high and it is dangerous. Therefore, in the conventional YAG laser, the water level is stored in the tank for supplying the cooling liquid. And a sensor for detecting water leakage is provided. In this water level sensor,
If the water level is set to detect water leakage only slightly, the water leakage detection signal will be generated just by circulating the coolant normally. Is set to generate a water leak detection signal when the water level of the falls by about ４ to ２.

[0005]

As described above, the conventional Y
In the case of the AG laser, since the water leak detection signal is not generated unless the cooling water in the laser head is significantly reduced, peripheral devices including a power supply device and a control board housed below the laser head are not used. Leaked water entered and caused these failures.

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, as described above, the housing of the laser head is divided into a lower housing and an upper housing as a lid in order to perform periodic replacement of the excitation lamp and maintenance of internal parts. Although the lamp is divided, when the lamp is periodically replaced, the upper housing is tightened and fixed to the lower housing again by mounting bolts after the lamp replacement is completed. However, at this time, if the tightening of the mounting bolts is insufficient, the upper housing and the lower housing are temporarily sealed with an O-ring, but a gap is generated between the upper housing and the lower housing.

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, when the mounting bolt for the upper housing is insufficiently fastened, when the laser operation is started by supplying cooling water into the laser head, the cooling is performed through the above-described gap. The liquid spouted and dripped, and this water leakage caused a failure of a peripheral device arranged below the laser head. In such a case, a considerable amount of cooling water has already leaked before the water leak sensor provided in the cooling liquid supply tank detects a decrease in the tank water level.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has a water leak detecting device for a laser head in which the water leak at a laser head portion is detected promptly without entering surrounding peripheral devices. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a lower housing containing a laser excitation lamp and a solid for a laser medium in an opening filled with a cooling liquid, and an upper portion as a lid of the lower housing are provided. A solid state laser head divided into a housing, a cooling liquid supply passage for supplying a cooling liquid to the opening of the lower housing of the solid state laser head, and a cooling liquid from the opening of the lower housing of the solid state laser head. In the solid-state laser head leak detection device having a coolant discharge passage to be discharged, a side wall surrounding the solid-state laser head and having a height higher than the lower housing and a bottom surface for mounting and fixing the laser head are provided. Water leak detecting means for detecting water leak from the solid-state laser head flowing into the water leak reservoir having the same It is so equipped with a.

In this invention, the laser head is accommodated in a water leakage reservoir surrounding four sides of the laser head and having a height higher than that of the lower housing and formed of a side wall and a bottom surface. Is to be detected. That is, the coolant leaked from the laser head is stored in the surrounding water reservoir and does not leak out of the water reservoir. Further, when the coolant flows down from the laser head into the water leak reservoir, the water leak is immediately detected by the water leak detecting means.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the water leak reservoir is provided, it is possible to prevent the water leak from the laser head from entering the peripheral equipment. Further, since the water leaking into the water leak reservoir is detected, even if the water leak occurs, the water leak can be immediately detected.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a YAG laser.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the laser head 1 with the lid 1b removed, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2.

In these figures, a laser head 1
Lower housing 1a in which YAG rod 2 and arc lamp 3 for excitation are stored, and upper housing 1b as a lid
The lower housing 1a and the upper housing 1b are sealed by an O-ring 4 provided on the lower housing 1a. The lower housing 1a has a YAG rod 2, an excitation arc lamp 3
And the like, and an opening space 5 for circulating a cooling liquid (pure water or the like) for cooling them is formed. The upper housing 1b is fastened and fixed to the lower housing 1a by the mounting bolts 6. If the fastening of these mounting bolts 6 is insufficient, a gap is generated between the lower housing 1a and the upper housing 1b, which causes water leakage.

The laser head 1 is mounted and fixed on a laser base 7. Actually, between the laser head 1 and the laser base 7, a base 10 having a water leakage passage opening 8, cooling liquid bypass passages 9 a and 9 b for cooling other equipment, and the like is interposed. The laser head 1 is mounted and fixed on the base 10. A recess 17 is formed in the laser base 7 at a position where the laser head 1 is mounted and fixed. For this reason, grooves 17a are formed in four sides of the base 10 on which the laser head 1 is mounted and fixed. Will be.

The laser base 7 is supplied with a cooling liquid supplied from a tank by a pump (not shown) to a cooling liquid inlet 11 of the laser base 1, and is discharged from a cooling liquid outlet 14 of the laser base 1. Discharge passages 15 and 16 for discharging the cooled coolant are formed. The cooling water discharged from the discharge passage 16 is returned to the tank after being cooled by a heat exchanger (not shown).

The coolant bypass passages 9a and 9b formed in the base 10 are connected to hose joints 25 provided on the base 10.
a, 25b. This hose joint 25a, 2
Cooling liquid pipes 26a and 26b are further connected to 5b, and other devices such as a Q switch and a YAG rod holder are cooled using the cooling water flowing through the cooling liquid pipes 26a and 26b.

On the inner wall surface 18 of the laser base 7 forming the recess 17 is mounted a water leakage blocking cover 20 which forms a blocking wall for blocking water leakage from the laser head 1. That is, the water leakage blocking cover 20 surrounds the laser head 1 on all sides.

The height of the water leakage blocking cover 20 is set to be higher than the height of the divided surface of the lower housing 1a and the upper housing 1b of the laser head, that is, the height of the lower housing. Water leaks can be shut off. At the upper part of the water leakage blocking cover, three of the four walls are bent inwardly in an L-shape to form an eave, so that the cooling water is less likely to scatter outside.

That is, in this embodiment, the laser head 1 is accommodated in a water leakage reservoir having the water leakage blocking cover 20 as a side wall and the upper surface of the laser base 7 as a bottom surface, and cooling water leaked from the laser head 1 is temporarily stored therein. We are trying to accumulate it.

In the laser base 7, a water leakage discharge passage 21 is formed at a position corresponding to the water leakage passage opening 8 formed in the base 10. Therefore, the laser base 1
The cooling water leaked at the groove 17 is formed around the groove 17 formed around the base 10.
Then, as shown by the arrow F in FIG. 2, the fluid flows into the water leakage passage opening 8 and then is discharged to the lower part of the laser base 1 through the water leakage discharge passage 21.

Below the laser base 1, there is formed a second water reservoir for storing the water leaked through the water discharge passage 21 by the water leak sensor mounting cover 22. A water leak sensor 23 is arranged at a position corresponding to the passage 21. The water leak sensor 23 generates a water leak detection signal when detecting the adhesion of the liquid, and the water leak detection signal is input to a controller (not shown). When a water leakage detection signal is input from the water leakage sensor 23, the controller immediately stops a pump for supplying cooling water to the laser head 1 and stops supplying cooling water to the laser head 1.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the laser head 1 is surrounded by the water leakage blocking cover 20, and water leakage from the laser head 1 is stored in the water leakage reservoir formed by the water leakage blocking cover 20. It is possible to prevent leaks from entering peripheral devices below or beside the head 1. If a leak occurs,
Leakage is quickly detected by the leakage sensor 23 through the leakage passage opening 8 and the leakage discharge passage 21, and the supply of cooling water is stopped at this detection stage, so that the water leakage is stopped at a stage where the amount of leakage is small. be able to.

In the case of this embodiment, the water leakage blocking cover 2
0 is a hose joint 25a, 25b disposed on the base 10.
, It is possible to block not only water leakage from the laser head 1 but also water leakage from these hose joints 25a and 25b.

In the embodiment, the water leakage sensor 23 is arranged below the laser head. However, in principle, the water leakage sensor 23 may be arranged inside the water leakage blocking cover 20. Can detect water leakage more quickly.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a YAG laser. However, the present invention can be applied to other solid-state lasers such as a ruby laser.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing a state in which a lid of a laser head is removed according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Laser head 1a ... Lower housing 1b ... Upper housing 2 ... YAG rod 3 ... Excitation lamp 4 ... O-ring 5 ... Opening space 7 ... Laser base 8 ... Opening for water leakage 9a, 9b ... Coolant bypass passage 10 ... Base 11 ... Coolant inlet 12,13 ... Coolant supply passage 14 ... Coolant outlet 15,16 ... Coolant discharge passage 17 ... Recess 17a ... Groove 20 ... Waterproof cut-off cover 21 ... Leakage discharge passage 22 ... Leakage sensor mounting cover 23 ... Leakage Sensor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A solid laser head divided into a lower housing having a laser excitation lamp and a solid for a laser medium accommodated in an opening filled with a cooling liquid, and an upper housing serving as a lid of the lower housing. A coolant supply passage for supplying a coolant to the opening of the lower housing of the solid-state laser head; and a coolant discharge passage for discharging the coolant from the opening of the lower housing of the solid-state laser head. A leak detector that surrounds the solid-state laser head and has a side wall having a height higher than that of the lower housing and a bottom surface for mounting and fixing the laser head; And a water leak detecting means for detecting water leak from the solid state laser head. Leak detection device of the solid state laser head. 2. The water leakage detection means is disposed at a water discharge passage for discharging the water leaked into the water leakage reservoir, and at an outlet of the water discharge leakage discharge passage, and detects water leakage when water leakage is detected. The solid-state laser head leakage detection device according to claim 1, further comprising: a leakage sensor that generates a signal. 3. The liquid storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a second water reservoir for storing a liquid discharged from an outlet of the water leakage discharge passage, wherein the water leakage sensor is installed in the second water reservoir. The device for detecting water leakage of a solid-state laser head according to claim 2. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said water leak sensor generates a water leak detection signal when detecting the adhesion of liquid. 5. The solid-state laser head according to claim 2, further comprising a supply stop means for stopping the supply of the coolant through the coolant supply passage when a leak detection signal is generated from the water leak sensor. Detection device.