JPS61182893A - Automatic cutting device with laser beam - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the machining head to travel only in one direction and to obtain the device of compact size by controlling a turning drum and a working head by the numerical control system to cut out a material to be cut on the outer peripheral surface of the turning drum by a laser beam into a shape of an optional shape. CONSTITUTION:While the laser beam is oscillated, the turning drum 2 turns in the direction specified according to the machining data command delivered from the numerical control system 29, and the machining head 3 moves in the axial direction of the turning drum 2 at the same time. During these operations, the machining head 3 concentrates. the laser beam on the material 28 to be cut to cut it with its energy continuously to a desired prescribed shape. The material 28 after cutting is separated from the turning drum 2 by the air blown out from the air blow chamber, and stored in a storage box.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention controls a rotating drum and a processing head by commands from a numerical control device, and cuts a material to be cut into an arbitrary shape using a laser on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum. Regarding laser automatic cutting equipment.

PRIOR ART Conventional laser-based cutting devices include one in which the processing head is moved parallel to the X-Y coordinate axis on a flat cutting table, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 15156/1983, and another that uses a honeycomb conveyor. These are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-40677.

In these conventional technologies, the processing head is moved in parallel in the X-Y coordinate axis direction, so when cutting a large area of cutting material, the range of movement of the processing head becomes large, resulting in an increase in the size of the device and the need for installation space. had no choice but to grow. Furthermore, the laser beam must be routed and the optical axes must be aligned in the X-axis and Y-axis directions, which complicates the configuration of the movable parts and the arrangement of the optical path and electric wires.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention It is an object of the present invention, in order to solve the problems of the prior art, to limit the movement of the processing head to one direction based on a completely new idea, and to The goal is to downsize the cutting device.

Means for Solving the Problems Therefore, the present invention fixes the material to be cut by means of uniformly adsorbing it on the outer peripheral surface of a rotating drum, and attaches it to a processing head that moves in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of this rotating drum. A laser is guided to irradiate the outer circumferential surface of the rotary drum while condensing the laser, and the rotational drive means of the rotary drum and the drive means of the processing head are controlled by numerical control. Here, the rotating drum moves the material to be cut in the circumferential direction by rotation.

At this time, the processing head moves the laser in the axial direction of the rotating drum, that is, in the direction of the generatrix of its outer peripheral surface. In this way, the material to be cut is cut into an arbitrary shape by the rotational movement of the rotating drum and the linear movement of the processing head in the axial direction.

As a means for uniformly suctioning, it is desirable that the outer circumferential surface of the rotating drum be formed of a honeycomb structure, and that negative pressure air be used to suck air from inside the rotating drum. This rotating drum having a honeycomb structure is effective in minimizing inertia during rotational movement, improving rotational responsiveness, and downsizing the rotational drive device. Further, as the material for the honeycomb structure, a material that reflects laser and has a small specific gravity, such as an aluminum alloy, is suitable.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the structure of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described in detail below.

First, FIG. 1 shows a laser automatic cutting device 1 of the present invention. This laser automatic cutting device 1 includes a rotating drum 2 and a processing head 3 as main parts.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rotating drum 2 is constituted by a cylindrical honeycomb structure 4 made of, for example, an aluminum alloy. This honeycomb structure 4 is
It is fixed to a pair of left and right rings 6 together with a plurality of inner connecting plates 5 at the openings at both ends thereof, and is rotatably supported by a support member 8 via a bearing 7 . Note that this support member 8 is attached to opposing surfaces of a pair of left and right beds 9.

The inside of this honeycomb structure 4 is partitioned by, for example, a T-shaped partition plate 10, and the upper half forms an adsorption area by a suction chamber 11, and a part of the lower half is separated by a blowing chamber 12. forming a region. The suction chamber 11 and the blowout chamber 12 are connected to the suction side and the discharge side of suction means, for example, two blowers 14, through communication passages 13 formed in the support member 8 and the bed 9, respectively.

On the other hand, this rotating drum 2 receives rotational force from a DC servo motor 15 and a speed reducer 16 as rotation driving means at one end or both ends, and rotates at a predetermined speed. That is, this DC servo motor 15 is mounted on the bed 9, and its rotation is reduced by a reducer 16 and transmitted to a drive gear 17 and an internal gear 18 formed on the outer surface of the ring 6. .

Next, the processing head 3 is supported by a saddle 19 and a beam 20 so as to be movable on the rotating drum 2 in its axial direction, that is, in the generatrix direction of the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum 2 . In other words, the beam 20 is suspended on a pair of beds 9 in a state parallel to the axial direction of the rotating drum 2, and supports the saddle 19 in a movable state in the generatrix direction of the rotating drum 2. There is. The saddle 19 is movable on the upper surface of the beam 20 by a plurality of internal guide rollers 21, and a DC servo motor 22 as a driving means in the moving direction is fixed on the upper surface. The rotation of this DC servo motor 22 is controlled by the output gear 23
, pinion gear 26 by the intermediate gear 25 of the intermediate shaft 24.
is transmitted to. This pinion gear 26 meshes with a rack 27 fixed in the longitudinal direction of the beam 20, and its rotation moves the saddle 19 in the axial direction of the rotating drum 2.

The amount of rotation of the rotary drum 2 and the processing head 3
The amount of movement is controlled by the attached numerical control device 29.
It is set by a servo motor 15.22.

Operation of the Invention Next, the operation of the automatic laser cutting device 1 will be explained together with the operation of the invention.

During cutting, the upper side of the rotating drum 2 is always sucked, and one of the lower sides is the blowing side. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the long material to be cut 28 is wrapped around the outer circumferential surface of the rotating drum 2 and is fixed by suction at the outer circumferential portion of the suction chamber 11, while being fixed at the outer circumference of the suction chamber 11. The paper leaves the surface of the rotating drum 2 and is sent to the next device, such as a spreading machine or a delivery conveyor.

In this state, the rotary drum 2 and the processing head 3 are moved by numerical control, and the processing head 3 is moved to a predetermined position on the material to be cut 28 . Thereafter, while oscillating the laser, the rotary drum 2 is given rotation in a predetermined direction according to a machining data command from the numerical control device 29, and at the same time, the machining head 3 is given movement in the axial direction of the rotary drum 2. . At this time, the processing head 3 focuses the laser on the circumferential surface of the rotating drum 2, that is, on the part of the material to be cut 28, and uses the energy to continuously cut the material to be cut 28 into a predetermined shape. By the combination of the rotational movement of the rotary drum 2 and the linear movement of the processing head 3, the material to be cut 28 is accurately cut into a predetermined shape. The cut material 28 after cutting is separated from the surface of the rotating drum 2 by the blowing action of air from the blowing chamber 12, and is stored in a predetermined storage box or transported to a flat belt conveyor for the next process. There, the cut pieces are organized by leaf. A large amount of smoke is generated during this cutting, but a large amount of air is blown at the cutting position to blow the smoke away, and the smoke is drawn into the suction chamber 11 and discharged to the outside. The suction action of the suction chamber 11 not only fixes the material to be cut 28 but also helps purify the working environment.

Modifications of the Invention The above embodiments have been described assuming that a long material 28 to be cut is to be continuously processed. However, the present invention
It can also be used to continuously cut a small material to be cut 28, such as a piece of cloth, into a predetermined shape. In that case, only the suction chamber 11 is sufficient inside the rotating drum 2. Therefore, by stopping the suction in the suction chamber 11, the cut material 28 after cutting naturally falls from the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum 2 and is automatically stored in a predetermined position.

Effects of the Invention In the present invention, by combining the rotational movement of a rotating drum and the linear movement of a processing head that is movable in the axial direction of the rotating drum, the material to be cut can be automatically shaped into any shape based on numerical control technology. Because it can be cut in a precise manner, the following unique effects can be obtained.

First, since the material to be cut is wrapped around the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum, the entire device can be made smaller and requires less installation space than a conventional table-type cutting device.

Second, since the processing head moves only in the axial direction of the rotating drum, that is, in one direction, the optical axis of the laser can be easily aligned, and the preparation work can be performed efficiently.

Thirdly, since the rotating drum is constituted by a honeycomb structure, its inertia is small, and a general-purpose servo motor with a small rated output can be used, and the rotating drum can be made smaller.

Fourth, in the embodiment in which the outer circumferential surface of the rotating drum is divided into an adsorption area and a removal area, a continuous long piece of material to be cut, such as a piece of fabric, can be cut continuously, and a series of work processes can be automated.

Fifth, since the material to be cut is adsorbed by the suction air flow on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum, its fixation and separation can be easily controlled by the presence or absence of adsorption action. Moreover, a large amount of inert gas is blown at high speed from above onto the cutting area, and the lower surface of the entire moving range of the processing head is always the suction area, so the smoke generated within the fabric during cutting is absorbed by the inside of the rotating drum. The smoke is quickly sucked in, so no smoke odor remains in the fabric, and the upper part of the fabric is also exhausted separately, so any smoke coming out of the upper surface is immediately removed, and the working environment is always purified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cutaway slope view of the automatic laser cutting device of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the driving portion of the rotating drum, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the rotating drum, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the supporting portion of the processing head. l... Laser automatic cutting device, 2... Rotating drum, 3...
・Processing head, 4. Honeycomb structure, 11. Suction chamber, 12. Blowout chamber, 15. DC servo motor as rotational drive means, 22. DC servo motor as movement drive means, 28. Target Cutting material, 29...Numerical control device. '-,,)I ii-, Il Figure 2

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A rotating drum that holds the material to be cut while uniformly adsorbing it on its outer circumferential surface, and a rotating drum that moves in a direction parallel to the axis of this rotating drum to focus the laser beam and irradiate it onto the outer circumferential surface of the material to be cut. and a numerical control device that controls the driving of the rotating drum and the processing head, and is characterized in that the material to be cut adsorbed to the outer periphery of the rotating drum is cut into free shapes by the laser of the processing head. Laser automatic cutting equipment. (2) The automatic laser cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the outer circumferential surface of the rotating drum is formed of a honeycomb structure. (3) The automatic laser cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the suction range of the outer circumferential surface of the rotating drum is limited to the laser irradiation range, and the rest is the separation area.