KR102204156B1 - Chamber type inner wall laser welding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a chamber type laser welding device for an inner diameter surface, which comprises: a chamber; a transfer table disposed inside the chamber and transferring an object to be welded having a through-hole in a random direction; an emission gun disposed in the outside of one side wall of the chamber to irradiate a welding laser beam toward the through-hole of the object to be welded installed in the transfer table and the inside of the chamber; an extension arm disposed on the other side wall of the chamber to be extended toward the through-hole of the object to be welded and the inside of the chamber; a reflector disposed the extended bottom part of the extension arm to enable the laser beam to be reflected toward a predetermined welding portion of an inner diameter surface; and a control computer controlling operation of the emission gun for controlling irradiation of the laser beam and controlling transfer operation of the transfer table in accordance with a shape of the welding portion.

Description

Chamber type inner diameter laser welding device {CHAMBER TYPE INNER WALL LASER WELDING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a laser welding apparatus, and more particularly, to a laser welding apparatus for welding an inner diameter surface of a through-type cavity provided in a weldment disposed in the chamber including a chamber.

A laser welding device for welding a predetermined welding point set on the inside of a weldment cavity having a through-type cavity, for example, on the inner diameter surface of a pipe, using a laser beam, International Application Publication No. WO92/03249 (Title: A device and method for laser welding a pipe) (hereinafter, prior art) may be mentioned.

The laser welding apparatus disclosed in the prior art is for laser welding the inner circumference of the pipes 12 and 14, as shown in FIG. 1, and includes a probe 1 inserted into the pipe.

Moreover, at least one imaging member (41, 65) for focusing and deflecting the laser beam (57) propagating along its longitudinal axis (10) inside the probe; An emission port 45 for emitting a deflected and focused laser beam 59 generated by the imaging member from the probe; Means (70, 78a, 78b, 79) for guiding the inert gas to the discharge port; And means (73, 74, 76) for conveying the inert gas to the outer surface of the probe.

Since the laser welding apparatus according to the prior art must have both a space for guiding the laser beam 57 and a space for guiding an inert gas inside the probe 1 extending into the pipe, it is based on the prior art. Therefore, if you want to manufacture a probe for laser welding the inner diameter surface of a cavity with a diameter of only a few cm, a precise design and manufacturing technique are required, and the probe will be very expensive.

The present invention is to provide a laser welding device capable of laser welding the inner diameter surface of a through-type cavity provided in a weldment, and more precisely, the inner diameter surface of a very small cavity by being constructed in a simple structure using a minimum number of parts. Even though it is intended to provide a laser welding device capable of precisely welding.

Chamber type inner diameter laser welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, the chamber; A transfer table disposed inside the chamber and capable of transferring a weldment having a through-type cavity in an arbitrary direction; An emission gun disposed on one side wall of the chamber to irradiate a laser beam for welding toward the cavity of the welded material installed on the transfer table and toward the inside of the chamber; An extension arm disposed on the other side wall of the chamber and extending toward the cavity of the weldment and extending toward the inside of the chamber; A reflector disposed at an extended end portion of the extension arm and reflecting the laser beam toward a predetermined welding portion of the inner diameter surface of the weldment; And a control computer for controlling the operation of the emission incident to control the irradiation of the laser beam, and controlling the transfer operation of the transfer table according to the shape of the welding portion.

In this case, the chamber may be maintained in a vacuum or inert gas atmosphere while welding is performed by operating the emission event.

Meanwhile, the emission event may include: an optical fiber guiding the laser beam; A focus lens for changing the focus of the laser beam so that the laser beam emitted from the optical fiber and guided into the chamber and reflected by the reflector can be focused at the welding portion; And a focus adjustment means for transferring the focus lens in the optical axis direction, in which case, the control computer controls the operation of the focus adjustment means in response to the transfer operation of the transfer table, Even if the welding part moves, the focus of the laser beam can be maintained at the welding part.

In addition, the emission event further includes an anti-reflecting mirror for reflecting the laser beam emitted from the optical fiber toward the focal lens, and the anti-reflecting mirror reflects the laser beam and transmits other rays. Consisting -, in addition, the chamber-type inner diameter surface laser welding apparatus of another embodiment: further includes a scope configured to observe a light beam that has passed through the anti-reflector coming out of the welding area by the flash generated by the welding at the welding area. Can include.

In addition, the chamber-type inner mirror surface laser welding apparatus according to another embodiment may further include a coolant passage for cooling the reflector heated by the laser beam.

In addition, the chamber-type inner diameter laser welding apparatus according to another embodiment is disposed on another side wall of the chamber, toward a predetermined second welding portion on the outer surface of the weldment, toward the inside of the chamber, and second welding It may further include a second emission event for irradiating the laser beam, in which case, the control computer controls the operation of the second emission event in connection with the emission event and control of the transfer table.

The chamber-type inner diameter laser welding apparatus according to the present invention with the above configuration can be configured with a simple structure using a minimum number of parts, and can precisely weld even a very small inner diameter surface.

1 is a view showing the configuration of a laser welding apparatus for a pipe according to the prior art.
2 is a view schematically showing the structure of a chamber type inner diameter surface laser welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of a chamber type inner diameter surface laser welding apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the chamber type inner diameter surface laser welding apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. For reference, since terms referring to each component of the present invention are exemplarily named in consideration of their functions, the technical content of the present invention should not be predicted and limited by the term itself.

2 is a view schematically showing the structure of a chamber type inner diameter surface laser welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the drawings, the chamber-type inner diameter surface laser welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a chamber 100, a transfer table 10, an exit gun 20, an extension arm 30, and a reflector. (40) and a control computer (50).

In the chamber 100, the physical structures proposed in the present invention are installed or accommodated. That is, at least the transfer table 10, the extension arm 30, and the reflector 40 may be disposed inside the chamber 100, and the exit gun 20 may be installed on any wall surface of the chamber 100. , The control computer 50 may be connected to the necessary components through a predetermined communication line at a location away from the chamber 100.

Since welding is performed by a laser beam inside the chamber 100, the inside of the chamber 100 must be maintained in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere. Accordingly, the chamber 100 may be configured to have a cover on one side to input and remove the object to be welded (W), and be configured to be connected to a vacuum pump or a gas exchange pump to adjust the internal atmosphere. Yes (not shown).

The transfer table 10 is disposed inside the chamber 100 and is configured so that the object W to be welded can be seated. The transfer table 10 is configured to transfer the weldment W horizontally or vertically or in a rotating direction by an actuator such as a motor. Power supply and input/output of control signals to the transfer table 10 may be controlled by the control computer 50.

In the present invention, an object having a through-type cavity can be used as a welding object W to be welded. For example, a tube-shaped object in which the wall surface is completely closed and a cavity penetrates both sides, or an object in which at least a part of the wall surface is open may be assumed. In the drawings attached to the present specification, an object in which a through-type cavity is formed in a straight line is shown as a welding object W.

In particular, the welding object (W) in the present invention, since the extension arm 30 and the laser beam should be input from both sides of the cavity (that is, the extension arm is input to one side and the laser beam is input to the other side) In addition, a through-type cavity must be provided.

Meanwhile, the emission gun 20 is disposed on one side wall of the chamber 100 (or outside the side wall), and irradiates a laser beam toward the inside of the chamber through an opening formed in the side wall. That is, the emission gun 20 irradiates a laser beam toward the welded portion of the weldment W, in particular, toward the reflector 40 through the cavity of the weldment W. Welding may be performed when a laser beam is output from the emission event 20, and this laser beam output operation (or welding operation) may be automatically controlled by the control computer 50 or manually by an operator.

The emission gun 20 may be provided with an optical fiber, an anti-reflecting mirror 26, a focus lens 22, and a focus adjustment means 24.

The optical fiber can guide a welding laser beam output from an external laser output device (not shown) in an arbitrary direction.

The focus lens 22 may be disposed in an opening formed in one side wall of the chamber 100, so that the laser beam emitted from the optical fiber can focus at the welding site (the laser beam passing through the focus lens is immediately welded It can reach the site, or it can be reflected by the reflector to reach the welding site), refracting the laser beam. The focus lens 22 may be composed of one lens or may be composed of a plurality of lenses.

In general, as the focus lens 22, various types of lenses having a fixed focal length may be prepared. For example, there may be a focus lens 22 fixed to a focal length of 100 mm, 130 mm, 250 mm, or the like, and an operator may select a focal lens having a required focal length and manually attach it to the focus adjustment means.

The focus adjustment means 24 may transfer one or more focus lenses 22 in the optical axis direction to adjust the focal length of the laser beam that has passed through the focus lens 22. The transfer operation of the focus adjustment means 24 may be performed automatically by the control computer 50 or manually by an operator.

Before or during welding, the transfer table 10 is operated to move the welded object W in various directions, and accordingly, the distance from the focus lens 22 to the welded portion may be changed. Therefore, by controlling the focus adjustment means 24 in real time according to the transfer operation of the transfer table 10, it is possible to always maintain the focus at the welding area.

In addition, the emission gun 20 may further include an anti-reflecting mirror 26 disposed in an optical path between the optical fiber and the focus lens to reflect the laser beam emitted from the optical fiber toward the focus lens 22. The reflector 26 may be implemented to reflect a laser beam and transmit other light rays. As a result, the laser beam for welding emitted from the optical fiber is reflected by the reflector 26 and can proceed to the welding site through the focus lens 22, and as the welding is performed, the beam of the flash generated at the welding site and/or A predetermined ray of light emitted from the welding portion passes through the anti-reflective mirror 26 and can be observed by the scope 60 to be described later (see FIG. 3). As an example, the anti-reflector 26 is configured to reflect 99.99% of the laser beam and to transmit other light rays as it is, since there is no backside coating.

In general, the exit gun 20 will be disposed on the side of the chamber 100. In order to reduce the width of the laser welding device or to reduce the overall size of the device, the optical fiber of the exit gun 20 is connected to the outer wall of the chamber 100. There is a need to arrange them side by side. In this case, a reflector (ie, anti-reflector) is required to guide the path of the laser beam emitted from the optical fiber and traveling in parallel with the outer wall of the chamber 100 into the chamber.

The extension arm 30 is a component installed on an arbitrary wall of the chamber 100 and extending into the chamber, and at one side of the extension arm 30, in particular, a reflector 40 at an end extending into the interior of the chamber 100 Can be provided. The extension arm 30 may extend to the position of the weldment W, in particular, to the inside of the cavity of the weldment W. The extension arm 30 may be in a form in which a member of a certain length is fixed to the inner wall of the chamber 100, but the length can be stretched or contracted, or can be rotated using the length direction as a rotation axis, or in an arbitrary direction if necessary It may be configured to be refracted. Change of this shape of the extension arm 30 can be controlled automatically by the control computer 50 or manually by an operator.

The reflector 40 totally reflects the laser beam. In addition, the reflector 40 may be implemented to totally reflect a predetermined light beam from a welding portion or all light rays coming from the surroundings. For example, since the surface of one side of the reflector 40 is coated with aluminum, all light rays can be reflected.

Since the reflector 40 is disposed at the distal end of the extension arm 30, as the extension arm 30 extends from one side of the cavity to the inside of the cavity, it is located inside the cavity. Of course, depending on the position of the welding portion, the extension arm 30 may not enter the cavity, and thus, the reflector 40 may not be located inside the cavity. On the other hand, by the reflector 40, the laser beam coming from the other side of the cavity may be reflected to the inner mirror surface of the cavity. The laser beam is focused on the inner mirror surface after being reflected by the reflecting mirror 40 by adjustment of the focus lens 22, whereby welding is performed at the welding portion of the inner mirror surface.

In the chamber-type inner mirror surface laser welding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention having this configuration, the reflector 40 and the laser beam are respectively input from both sides of the through-type cavity formed in the weldment W, and are reflected by the reflector 40 The laser beam is configured to weld the inner diameter surface of the cavity. In addition, by maintaining the interior of the chamber in a vacuum or inert gas atmosphere, there is no need to provide a path forming part, a nozzle, etc. for injecting an inert gas around the laser beam.

Therefore, according to this configuration, it is not necessary to insert a complex and precise structure such as a welding probe (see Fig. 1) into the cavity of the weldment (W), and only a reflector is inserted, so that the inner mirror surface welding device can be easily implemented. You will be able to. In addition, by controlling the size of the reflector 40 and the diameter of the laser beam, welding can be performed even on the inner diameter surface of the cavity having a very small diameter.

In addition, by controlling the shape of the extension arm 30 and/or controlling the transfer operation of the transfer table 10, welding can be performed for various types of inner diameter surfaces and for various types of welding parts.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, a structure of a chamber-type inner diameter laser welding apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the chamber-type inner diameter surface laser welding apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention illustrated and described in FIG. 3, in the above structure, the scope 60 and the external surface welding emission event (or the second emission event ) 90, and a reflector cooling means 44 is characterized in that it further comprises. Therefore, in the following description, the description of the same configuration as the above-described structure may be omitted.

The scope 60 may be configured to be able to observe a welding portion of the weldment W through a camera or with the naked eye at an arbitrary position on the side wall of the chamber 100. However, preferably, the scope 60 may be disposed behind the reflective surface of the anti-reflective mirror 26 provided in the emission gun 20, and the light rays that have passed through the anti-reflecting mirror 26 from the welding area ( Light rays other than the laser beam). That is, the scope 60 may be coaxial with the optical axis of the laser beam from the anti-reflecting mirror 26 to the reflecting mirror 40.

When the light beam passing through the scope 60 is photographed by a camera (not shown), the photographed image is automatically recognized by the control computer 50 or displayed on a separate monitor so that the operator can directly check it. I can.

In a further configuration, a luminaire may be provided for illuminating all or part of the interior of the chamber, in particular the welding area (not shown). In addition, after the light beam of the luminaire is reflected from the welding area and incident on the scope, it can be observed by an operator or a camera.

On the other hand, since the reflector 40 is a component in which a laser beam for welding having strong energy reaches and is reflected directly, it may be heated as welding is performed, thereby deteriorating reflection performance. Accordingly, in this embodiment, a refrigerant flow path 44 flowing along the rear surface of the reflector 40 is formed, and the refrigerant flow path 44 is disposed in an extension flow path installed inside the extension arm 30 or outside the extension arm. It is connected to a refrigerant circulation device (not shown) outside the chamber through an extended tube or the like. With this structure, even if the reflector 40 of the chamber-type inner mirror surface laser welding device is used for a long time, welding with a certain performance can be performed. The refrigerant flow path, the extension flow path or the extension tube, and the refrigerant circulation device constitute the reflector cooling means 44.

In addition, in the present embodiment, it is disposed on an arbitrary side wall of the chamber 100, and directed toward a predetermined welding portion (or a second welding portion) on the outer surface of the welding object W, a welding laser beam (or, A second laser beam) may be further provided with an exit gun 90 for welding the outer surface. The second focal lens 92 may also be provided in the exit gun 90 for external welding, so that the distance to the second welding portion set on the external surface of the weldment W seated on the transfer table 10 You can adjust the focus of the laser beam accordingly. If necessary, the second focus lens 92 may also be provided with a second focus adjustment means that can be controlled by the control computer 50.

The control computer 50 controls the welding operation of the emission gun 20 for welding the inner diameter surface of the cavity and the emission gun 90 for welding the outer surface at the same time, alternately or independently, and ), the inner and outer surfaces of the cavity can be welded simultaneously or alternately or independently.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are merely illustrative of the technical spirit of the present invention, and the scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims. In addition, those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains will be able to make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent to the present invention are the present invention. It should be interpreted as being included in the scope of rights of

Claims (6)

Chamber 100;
A transfer table 10 disposed inside the chamber 100 and capable of transferring a weldment W having a through-type cavity in an arbitrary direction;
An exit incident 20 disposed on one side wall of the chamber 100 to irradiate a laser beam for welding toward the inside of the cavity through one end of the cavity of the weldment W installed on the transfer table 10 );
An extension arm (30) disposed on the other side wall of the chamber (100) and extending toward the other end of the cavity of the weld (W) and extending toward the inside of the chamber (100);
A reflector disposed at the extended distal end of the extension arm 30 to reflect the laser beam irradiated into the cavity through one end side of the cavity toward a predetermined welding portion of the inner surface of the welded material W ( 40); And
A chamber comprising a control computer 50 that controls the operation of the emission gun 20 to control the irradiation of the laser beam, and controls the transfer operation of the transfer table 10 according to the shape of the welding portion In the inner diameter surface laser welding device,

The above events (20) are:
An optical fiber guiding the laser beam;
A focus lens for changing the focus of the laser beam so that the laser beam emitted from the optical fiber and guided into the chamber 100 and then reflected by the reflector 40 can be focused at the welding area (22); And
And a focus adjustment means 24 for transferring the focus lens 22 in the optical axis direction,
The control computer 50, in response to the transfer operation of the transfer table 10, so that the focus of the laser beam can be maintained at the welding area even if the welding area of the welding material W moves. Control the operation of the focus adjustment means 24,

The above events (20) are:
By reflecting the laser beam and transmitting other light rays, further comprising a reflection mirror 26 reflecting the laser beam emitted from the optical fiber toward the focus lens 22;

The chamber-type inner diameter laser welding device:
The chamber-type inner surface laser, characterized in that it further comprises a scope (60) configured to observe a light beam that has passed through the anti-reflector (26) coming out of the welding region by a flash generated by the welding at the welding region Welding device. The method of claim 1,
The interior of the chamber 100 is characterized in that, while the emission gun 20 is operated and welding is performed, the chamber-type inner diameter laser welding apparatus is maintained in a vacuum or inert gas atmosphere. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The extension arm (30) further comprises a coolant flow path (44) for cooling the reflector (40) heated by the laser beam. The method of claim 1,
The chamber-type inner diameter laser welding device:
It is disposed on another side wall of the chamber 100 to irradiate a second welding laser beam toward a predetermined second welding portion on the outer surface of the weldment W, toward the inside of the chamber 100 Including a second incident (90) further,
The control computer 50, characterized in that for controlling the operation of the second emission event 90 in connection with the control of the emission event 20 and the transfer table 10, chamber type inner mirror surface laser welding Device.

Images