JPS6032378A - Oscillation vessel of gas laser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the reliability of hermetically sealing an oscillation vessel of a gas laser by forming a welding structure to remove a necessary portion in the maintenance of the vessel, thereby eliminating the machining of a bonding surface as much as possible. CONSTITUTION:A discharge unit 12, gas chamber 13, and a blower 14 are formed in an integral structure by welding. A flange 3a is bonded by a welding unit 6 to a gas chamber 3, and hermetically sealed by a packing 8 inserted into a slot 3b. When most of an oscillating vessel is formed in an integral welding structure, most of flanges and packings can be eliminated, the steps of forming a vessel forming member can be reduced. Since the composition of the welding unit does not vary for a long period, its hermetical seal can be permanently maintained during the later use unless an initial leakage occur.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a gas laser oscillation container that generates laser light using a gas such as carbon dioxide gas.

[Technical Background of the Invention] In general, when generating laser light, various solids, liquids, and gases are used as the medium, but gas is used especially when extracting high-output laser light. Carbon dioxide lasers that are a mixture of carbon dioxide and other gases are known.

The present invention relates to an oscillation container for a gas laser typified by the above-mentioned carbon dioxide laser, and a conventional example thereof is shown in FIG. The figure shows a cross-flow type oscillator in which the gas flow F and the laser beam are perpendicular to each other. Wind tunnel 3. Blower 4
and a side plate 5, and has an airtight structure in which carbon dioxide gas and other gases are sealed at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure.

That is, as is clear from the cross-sectional view of FIG.

Discharge part 2. Wind tunnel 3. The blower 4 has flanges 2a, 3a, and 4a that are connected by welds 6, respectively, and these are joined to the side plate 5 to form the oscillation container 1. At this time, in order to keep the container 1 airtight, grooves 2b,
3b and 4b are formed, and gaskets 7, 8, and 9 such as O-rings are inserted therein, and the flanges and side plates of each part are integrally tightened with bolts 10 through these gaskets.

[Problems with Background Art] However, in the above conventional configuration, the discharge section 2. Wind tunnel 3. The blower 4 has flanges 2a, 3a,
When attaching 4a by welding, thermal strain inevitably occurs on the flange joint surface. Therefore, the accuracy of the joint surface cannot be obtained unless the grooves 2b, 3b, 4b, etc. for retaining the gaskets formed on the joint surface are processed after the flanges are welded to each unit member.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, gas lasers are used for large outputs, so the container is large. Therefore, according to the above-mentioned conventional configuration, there was a problem in that machining of the flange joint surface required a lot of time and expense.

In particular, regarding the wind tunnel 3 and the side plate 5, after the wind tunnel 3 is manufactured, accessories are placed there and connected to the side plate 5 via the gasket 8, but this part occupies most of the total joint surface. In addition to raising processing costs, there was also a need to reduce the joint area from the viewpoint of airtight reliability.

[Purpose of the Invention] In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas laser oscillation container that is airtight and highly reliable, as well as reducing the number of joints during assembly and facilitating the manufacturing and assembly work. do.

[Summary of the Invention] For this reason, the present invention uses a welded structure for all parts except those necessary for maintenance of the oscillation container, thereby reducing processing of the joint surfaces as much as possible, thereby improving the reliability of airtightness. It is characterized by

[Embodiments of the invention] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the assembled laser oscillation container according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicate the same or corresponding parts. It shows. In FIG. 3, the left half view shows the flanges 2a, 3a, and 4a shown in FIG. 2 removed, and the discharge portion 12. wind tunnel 13
．． The blower 14 is made into an integral structure by welding, and the gaskets 7, 8, and 9 in Fig. 2 are also removed. On the other hand, the structure is the same as the conventional structure, and a flange 3a is joined to the wind tunnel 3 by a welded portion 6, and airtightness is maintained by a packing 8 inserted into a groove 3b.

By forming most of the single-oscillation container into an integrally welded structure in this way, most of the flanges and packings required in the conventional structure are no longer necessary, and the number of processing steps for the above-mentioned container components can be reduced.

Also, in the assembly process, conventionally, discharge parts and wind tunnels were used.

It was necessary to assemble the main parts such as the blower in sequence, but in the configuration of this example, the main parts are integrally welded, so the number of unit parts is only 2, and the assembly cost can be significantly reduced. .

By the way, in the case of a tightening structure using a gasket, the tightening member such as a bolt is located outside the gasket, so it is not easy to check for leaks in the vacuum container. In addition, the elasticity of materials such as rubber used as packing materials has a limited lifespan, and it is difficult to maintain airtightness over a long period of time, so regular inspections are necessary, but for the reasons mentioned above, it may take a long time to discover them. become.

However, in this embodiment, most of the joints are welded, so even if there is a leakage part, its location can be easily confirmed and repairs can be made easily. Moreover, since the composition of the weld does not change over time, its airtightness is maintained permanently during subsequent use, provided there is no initial leakage. That is, this means that the deterioration of the discharge characteristics that would be inhibited by air entering the discharge section from the leakage location is prevented, and greatly contributes to stabilizing the discharge characteristics.

Further, in the configuration of this embodiment, if an unexpected accident occurs, such as a malfunction in the electric motor of the blower, it is possible to deal with the problem by removing the bolts that fix the wind tunnel 3.

FIG. 4 shows another example of the present invention in order to further facilitate the above-mentioned measures, in which a one-sided flange-shaped blower 4 is fixed inside a cylindrical member 15. After removing the wind tunnel 3, the blower 4 can be easily pulled out by removing the fixing bolts.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, most of the container is made into a welded integral structure, which eliminates the need for packing and other tightening members, which reduces the cost of machining the joint surfaces and reduces the assembly time. In addition to being able to shorten the time, the reliability of airtightness is greatly improved, and the price is lower.

A laser oscillation container excellent in both quality can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional laser oscillation container, and Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional laser oscillation container.
3 is a sectional view of the center of a laser oscillation container showing one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the center of a laser oscillation container showing another embodiment of the present invention. It is. 1... Oscillation container, 2, 12... Discharge part, 2a,
3a, 4a...flange, 3,13...wind tunnel,
4, 14...Blower, 5...Side plate, 6...Welded part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A discharge section that generates laser, a blower section that circulates sealed gas, a pair of side plate sections provided with openings for gas circulation, and a device necessary for gas circulation between the blower section and the discharge section. In the gas laser oscillation container comprising a pair of wind tunnel sections, the discharge section. A gas laser oscillation container characterized in that a blower part, a side plate part, and one wind tunnel part are integrally formed in advance, and the other wind tunnel part is joined to this. (2. In claim 1, the discharge section, the blower section, the side plate section, and one wind tunnel section are integrally formed in advance by welding, while the connection with the other wind tunnel section is made through a packing. A gas laser oscillation container characterized by flange coupling.