JPS6213611B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to means for confirming the shape of a laser beam when using it.

In recent years, the use of laser beams has been actively attempted in various fields such as research on the physical properties of materials, precision processing, and even surgery. In either case, the shape of the laser beam must be precisely controlled, and as a precondition for this, it is necessary to accurately know the beam shape.

The conventional method for this purpose is to irradiate a small piece of plastic material with laser light and determine the shape of the beam by looking at the outline of the burn marks or depressions that occur there. These burn marks are caused by melting or thermal decomposition of the plastic, so they have the disadvantage that they do not necessarily reflect the beam shape accurately enough, as the melting extends to areas adjacent to the irradiated area, causing the contour to collapse. be. The odor and smoke generated by the thermal decomposition of plastics are unpleasant, and it is also troublesome to select and use plastic materials that are compatible with the wavelength of the laser beam.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above problems at once,
To provide a laser beam shape confirmation tool that can accurately indicate the shape of an irradiated laser beam, does not generate odor or smoke, and can cover any wavelength of laser light.

To achieve this objective, the present invention employs a combination of a dye and an inorganic substance. That is, the laser beam shape confirmation tool of the present invention is
It has a basic structure in which an inorganic material carrier carries a dye that decomposes and decolorizes when irradiated with laser light. As is immediately understood from this configuration, the beam shape is determined by utilizing the decomposition and decolorization of dye by laser light.

The type of inorganic material used as a carrier is not limited as long as it can withstand the generation of heat due to laser beam irradiation and maintain its shape. However, in order to fulfill the role of a carrier, it should be formed porous, and it is desirable that the dye can be retained by adsorption or ion exchange. For example, alumina,
These are clays such as silica, calcium silicate, zirconium phosphate, zeolite, and montmorillonite, and not only one type but two or more types can be used in combination.

Dyes include acid dyes, basic dyes, reactive dyes,
Many types of dyes, such as disperse dyes, can be used, and those that quickly decompose and decolorize when irradiated with laser light are preferred. Many dyes are decomposed and decolorized by laser light over a wide spectral range, but some dyes are particularly sensitive to light in a specific wavelength range, so by combining two or more of them, it is possible to confirm wavelength ranges to a certain extent.

There are no restrictions on the shape of the carrier, and it can be arbitrarily selected depending on the purpose, such as a sheet, pellet or tablet, or strip.

There are various methods for supporting dyes; it is possible to support dyes on a powdered carrier material, for example by adsorption from an aqueous solution or by ion exchange, and then mold this powder into a desired shape. A molded body may be prepared from the material and then the dye may be supported thereon by adsorption or ion exchange. The molded body can be produced by a pressing method, a sintering method, or a combination of both, and if necessary, an appropriate binder can be used.

Alternatively, a method may be used in which the dye powder and the carrier material powder are mechanically mixed and pressed, or wet-mixed to form a slurry. Supporting includes the case where the dye is in a mere mixed state as described above, as long as the dye is retained in the carrier molded body.

There are no particular limitations on the amount of dye supported, or in other words the concentration in the carrier material. In the case of adsorption or ion exchange, the upper limit is determined by the capacity, but in practice, less is sufficient.
Since the amount of dye supported can be controlled by the concentration and amount of the dye solution brought into contact with the carrier material, the optimum concentration for each application can be found through some experimentation.

The method of using the laser beam shape confirmation tool of the present invention is no different from conventional tools.

The dye in the area hit by the laser beam quickly decomposes and decolorizes, so it is divided into two areas with strong contrast separated by a clear boundary from the non-irradiated area, making it easy to confirm the beam shape. The temperature of the carrier increases as it receives laser energy, but
Since porous inorganic materials have low thermal conductivity, there is no need to worry about the heat from the irradiated area reaching a high temperature that would decompose the dye in the surrounding area. Therefore, the contour created by laser beam irradiation does not collapse due to secondary reasons, and a bleached area that is extremely faithful to the beam shape is maintained.

Since the dye that decomposes is in a very small amount, partly because its concentration in the carrier matrix is low, the generation of odor and smoke due to decomposition products can be said to be virtually zero.

Example 1 100 g of porous calcium silicate powder was adsorbed into 1000 ml of a 5% aqueous solution of cationic dye (Kayacryl Blue GSL manufactured by Nippon Kayaku), filtered to remove the liquid, and washed with ethanol. , passed again.

After drying until almost no moisture is felt, it is press-formed at a pressure of 10 kg/cm ² and has a diameter of 40 mm.
Pellets with a thickness of 3 mm and a thickness of 3 mm were produced. The pellets had sufficient strength to withstand handling.

To this, an argon laser beam with an output of 0.6W is applied.
When irradiated for 10 seconds, the irradiated area was almost completely bleached and became nearly white, while the non-irradiated area remained deep blue with strong contrast and the beam shape could be clearly seen.

Example 2 A porous glass powder was prepared in which the same cationic dye was adsorbed in the same manner as in Example 1, and 1 part (by weight) of the same was mixed with 3 parts of calcium silicate and pelletized in the same manner. did.

The results of irradiation of this pellet with argon laser beam were also satisfactory as in Example 1.

Example 3 Using Na-type montmorillonite as a carrier material, the same cationic dye as in Example 1 was made into an aqueous solution and supported by ion exchange.

This pulp was made into a sheet to obtain a sheet with a thickness of 0.1 mm.

By irradiating the sheet with a 0.6W argon laser beam for 60 seconds, the beam shape could be clearly read on the sheet.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A laser beam shape confirmation tool comprising an inorganic material carrier supporting a dye that decomposes and decolorizes when irradiated with laser light. 2 The inorganic material carrier is clay such as alumina, silica, calcium silicate, zirconium phosphate, zeolite, montmorillonite, etc., and the dye is an acid dye, a basic dye, a reactive dye, or a disperse dye. Laser beam shape confirmation tool in Section 1. 3. The laser beam shape confirmation tool according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic substance carrier is an ion-exchangeable substance and the dye is an ionic dye with which ions can be exchanged. 4. The laser beam shape confirmation tool according to claim 1, wherein the carrier has a shape of a sheet, pellet, tablet, or strip. 5. Claim 1 obtained by molding an inorganic powder that supports a dye by adsorption or ion exchange.
Laser beam shape confirmation tool. 6. The laser beam shape confirmation tool according to claim 1, which is obtained by supporting a dye on a molded body of inorganic powder by adsorption or ion exchange.